camano ridge

THe first thing you will need to do is deglaze them (get rid of the top coat finish) Oil them a bit beat them with a hammer or just fold and flex the uppers a bunch to develop creases and wrinkles. Get some dark brown antique gel and apply wipe off you should now have some dark areas. As stated above apply cordovan shoe polish. SPit shine the toe. Get rid of the ugly shoe laces and get some leather ones. Then wear and let the elements and time do their thing. The above prceedures should cut the time down to about 30 years

Get a hold of Bruce Johnson on these forums. He might be able to help you out or at least give you some information.

It looks like the leather may of come in contact with metal or metal shavings.

Is the crack all the way through or just on the surface. Was this piece baked or just dyed and wet molded? Did you oil imediately after dying? Have you sealed it yet with anything or is it just dyed? The first thing I would do is get a good leather conditioner such as Skidmores leather cream Dr. Jacksons, Aussie cream etc. Give a couple of good rubbings let it soak in 24 hours between each treatment. When did you apply the oil it won't hurt to do another coat of oil let it soak in. It take a while to spread out and be absorbed into the leather. When you dye and or wet mold you are taking nutrients away from the leather you always need to get the nutrient back in to keep the leather from drying and cracking. Each piece of leather behaves differently even sometimes from the same side of leather. I would do the treatment to both bracers. Even though the other onehas not cracked you don't want to take a chance and it needs nutrients also. as for how to deal with the crack it depends on how deep the crack is. Worse case is that you have to make a replacement. Since you now have some clue as to what you are doing you will be able to make it quicker and better. ANswer my questionsabove and I will be able to give you some ideas how might beable to do a repair.

Very nice. I wish him well and look forward to the day you tell us he got to try it out.

Looks like your about there. The proof wil be seeing them on an arm/arms.

I think you are going to have to give us a little more information. Where did you find or in relationship to what was the term being used. As PawPaw eluded to when making holsters there is a term toe plug that goes into the toe of the holster some people glue and stitch it in some only stitch. Not sure if that is what you are talking about.

I am not totaly clear on your question. Are you asking for a complete list of tools he used, or is there something particular? As to the 5:50 yes it is sandpaper, 6:16 black cloth appears to be canvas or other coarse cloth for burnishing. If you are asking about the elctric tool it is called a creasing iron or hot creaser. There was also pricking iron, awl, french skiver etc. Hope this helps.

Do you have a picture? Does it come with any dies for setting?

The dummy guns sold by knifekits.com are made by the Multi holster company and are calle Multi Gun Molds. They are specifically made as holster molds and have sight tracks and other refinments for molding holsters. THey are a little more expensive about $60.00. However you save labor in not having to modify them. http://www.multiholsters.com/Molds.htm

Here is a picture tutorial shows all the pieces you need pretty self explanatory. http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=picture+of+bracers+with+buckles&img=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-LVewXQCO35w%2FUNuOjInpPII%2FAAAAAAAAAHM%2FBXfkYbctusw%2Fs320%2FIMG_0307.JPG&v_t=keyword_rollover&host=http%3A%2F%2Fharooncr.blogspot.com%2F2012%2F12%2Fleather-armor-bracers.html&width=181&height=135&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ft2.gstatic.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AANd9GcSuudezs-NKZpp0OQXHn4XTQUCINtjYbeBSCbrgXYFemAxRWdXs2QOu759M%3A1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-LVewXQCO35w%2FUNuOjInpPII%2FAAAAAAAAAHM%2FBXfkYbctusw%2Fs320%2FIMG_0307.JPG&b=image%3Fv_t%3DimageResultsBack%26page%3D4%26q%3Dpicture%2Bof%2Bbracers%2Bwith%2Bbuckles%26oreq%3D3f4af9be858f4e0eaad51ada714e8c99%26oreq%3D26ea733fcdf04bf0a8ba17231069759b&imgHeight=240&imgWidth=320&imgTitle=buckles+to+the+bracers%2C&imgSize=19534&hostName=harooncr.blogspot.com

Not to hijack the thread, but welcome back Mike. Where you been hiding.

The longer strap is the one that the adjustment holes go in, it is usually called the billet. The shorter piece called the chape holds the buckle. This link http://www.bucklecity.com/How_To_Attach_Belt_Buckle_to_Belt_s/78.htm will give you a good idea of how it goes together. The demonstration uses snaps, you can also use chicago screws, rivets or stitch it close. you will need to locate where you will want to plce your buckle you will cit an oblong slot for the tine of the buckle to fit through. Then punch one to two (depending on how many fasteners you are using) holes on each side for your rivets or what ever you are using make sure the holes line up when the strap is foled over the buckle.

Thank you the picture and the explanation clarifies greatly. If you were to satay with your original concept in the middle of your elastic cord you could wrap a oiece of leather and stitch it to itself formog a tab you can grab with your fingers and move the elastic cord easily. If you definitely want to go withe broader elastic you could stitch a small strip of leather the to the back of the walllet over the hole youe have the leather would be a little wider then the elastic you would stitch an end of the elastic under each end of the leather creating your loop of elastic that would work the same as the cord.

If you can show us a picture or drawing of what you are trying to do or sew it to it would be better. If you google elastic suspenders with leather ends you will find examples where a piece of leather has benn folded over the end of the elastic and stitched in place this formsa tab that can now be sewn or otherwise attached to your other piece of leather.

Bunk House tools has one http://www.shop.bunk...2-910.htm they are also found on ebay under duckcreektraders and some times have that mold priced less on ebay. I have one and have used it and it works well. Whoops read the post to quick thought it said Black Hawk just realized said Red Hawk. Bunkhouse only has the blackhawk. Not sure how close they are.

Ok, so don't keep us in suspense. To be blunt, how much?

Foamer, I used to do as you did just dampening the surface with a sponge letting return almost to color. I always thought my tooling looked decent. However a few years ago I changed to a method pretty much like Bob's. There was a surprising amount of improvement in my tooling much better defenition. THe difference is that wetting the top surace only you have a psomwhat pliable or compressable surface that may only be a few thousands of an inch in depth. When wetting the entire piece of leather you are not casing the top surface of the leather you are casing the entire piece this leave the leather more compressable deeper into the leather and allows deeper penetration of the tooling hence deeper defenition. Not everyone may agreee with my explanation but thats my story and I am sticking to it.

The only N frame I know of is from Bunkhouse tools they list as Mgnum. THe problem is over the years there has been several variations of the N frame even with in a specific model. I know of no one that has a S&W .500 mag holstermold/training gun/ dummy gun. These are the only manufactures of holster molds/ training guns/dummy guns are Rings - Blue guns, Duncans Outdoor, ASP, Blackhawk, and Multi mold (Multi Holster Company). THere are some smaller producers, Jared a member on these forums makes primarily semi auto molds and they are a limited veriety. If you have not already, let Jason at Duncans know what you want. He keeps a list and if they have enough requests they will make the mold.

Whoops just seen my prior post that was supposed to be a 3/8" punch

Normaly the hook stud is sandwiched between two pieces of leathe of the billet. You punch a hole in the top piece of leatherand insert the hook stud through the hole from the backside, then glue and stitch the bottom piece to the top piece. Make sure you have the hook facing the right direction before you start stitching. Hopefully these pictures will help.

I f she does not answer do a search on this site some one just posted yesterday that hey have added spur blanks you could access them on there facebook page I think it was Pro Rodeo or something like that . they had several styles and sizes seems like they were around $14.00 a pair. I will see if I can find the post agian. Found it here is the link to the face book store for Pro Rodeo Originals https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pro-Rodeo-Originals-Chaps-and-Leather/285191531525805?id=285191531525805&sk=app_251458316228

First of all you said you don't follow advice because you do things your way, yet you asked for advice First of all the guy at Lowes sold you a rotary punch, if he is a leatherworker I would like to see some of his work. The punches smallest hole would probably let you pull a very large thread through. A diamond awl is your best bet to get the cleanest looking stitching holes. You can learn to stitch on your own, however if you want to learn to do a clean proffessional job watch Nigel Armitage's video on saddle stitching. Here Here is a method for measuring your arm for bracers and laying out the patten. http://www.geocities...er_tutorial.htmI see no reason you could not use buckles you are not trying for any period correctness or 100% accuracy in your costume. If you pinterest Bracers or making bracers you will find all the examples and information you need. Nigel does a good job of showing how to stitch no knots needed.

Are you selling as a lot or individual? What is the price for the lot and what would your price be for individual? Also just a question for clarification Volume 2, is 1992, vol3 1993 vol 4 1994 and are labled Leathercrafters Journal. !995 or Vol 5 started Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal. However you said your oldest one was 1995?

I usually use a #/8" punch once you have the top and bottom holes punched take you wood chisel and lay it with the edge parallel to the hole to determine the best width wood chisel to use. Make sure the beveled side of the chisel is facing into the slot when you make your cut.