savage_here

Hey all, I need someone to stitch a custom seat cover for a motorcycle seat. I'm in Houston and I'll supply the leather. I'm looking for something similar to the following: But, without the contrast piping. The shape of the seat is slightly different, but pretty close. I already have the seat that's constructed and foam shaped. Can anybody recommend someone to help? Thanks.

I have a #2 and a #5 double creaser for sale. Marked H.F. Osborne. I have them on ebay at the moment (with pics, descriptions, etc.), but will pull the auctions for the right price. Don't know if it's ok to post auction links on here, so just reply and I can email you the links. Thanks. Savage

Ah, sorry, missed that distinction. I make a faint mark on the perimeter of the leather so that I have something to run the overstitch wheel down when marking for the holes. Over the years I've gotten pretty good at making sure the overstitch marks are exactly on that line (if not, you can always adjust of course). Then it's just a matter of actually getting the awl on that mark and exactly straight going through all the layers to the back. This was the hardest part for me. It's pretty easy with two thicknesses, but when you get to four, your awl better be pretty damned sharp and your hand better be pretty damned steady and true. Savage

I should have commented on grooving. I grooved the back side, but didn't groove the front. I ordered this leather for other purposes and, while it's veg tan, it's been staked and softened up quite a bit. Therefore, the grain side is much softer than tooling leather or other leathers that might be used for holsters, sheaths, etc. So, I find that when I tighten my stitches, the thread sinks down into the grain side far enough for my taste. If I groove the grain side, it sinks too far for my liking. I did the back because it will get the most wear/friction. I wanted to make especially sure that the thread was down below the top level of the leather. It should be noted that grooving will tend to keep those slightly "off" stitches in line. It's not magic, but it does help a little. One point. My stitch holes are never parallel to the edge. Per THE BOOK, they are always angled at about a 45 degree angle away from/toward the edge (depending on your perspective and whether we're talking about the top or bottom of the hole). Hope this helps. Savage

Not really anything special. I learned from the Stohlman book and have been doing it for a few years. I'm very, very careful about how I punch my stitch holes (individually with a diamond-shaped awl) and the rest is just repetition and tweaking over the years. A very sharp, quality awl is extremely helpful. With this many layers of leather, strong fingers are a must! Thanks. Savage

I'm pretty new to fixed blades in general and specifically to Swamp Rat knives. But, got my first as a b-day present recently (yeah, I had a considerable amount of input regarding the present!). So, it's such a fine looking knife that I decided it needed a nice leather home. As some on here know, I have some experience in leathercraft, making custom watch straps, but have/had never tried to make a knife sheath. I don't have a sewing machine as I hand-stitch all my leather watch straps. So, I decided to take on the project with only hand stitching. Wow, it's tough getting stitch holes punched through four thicknesses of fairly tough leather. It's also tough hand saddle stitching through those thicknesses. I would never consider this commercially, but if I did, I would HAVE to have a machine. Much respect to those makers that do this for a living! And, I must say that I did borrow some design ideas from several makers. Again, this is not a commercial venture, just a one-off for my own use! Anyway, enough of that, here are the pics: First, the knife: And then the sheath: Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think. Cheers, Savage

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think it's most likely S-lon. The picture is so close-up that I think it makes the thread size look larger than it is. I ordered a bobbin/spool of C-lon, S-lon and C-lon Tex 400 so that I could see them in hand. To my naked eye, without doing any scientific measuring, the S-lon looks the tiniest bit thicker than the C-lon (but, I'm talking barely any difference). The Tx400 is obviously bigger, but I think still ultimately useable for my leatherworking needs in certain situations. I'm going to try them all out and see how they look. Thanks again.

Sorry for the poor pic and the lack of a frame of reference for size. What I've been able to extrapolate is that the bobbin/spool is about 1 1/2" tall. I think the thread is around 346-415 in size and I'm pretty sure it's nylon, but could be poly. At first I thought it might be C-Lon bead cord, but I think it's bigger than that. Anyway, does anybody recognize it? Thanks.

I'm a vinegaroon newbie, so I don't have any direct experience (although I have two batches brewing as we speak!). However, I've read a ton of the old threads and a lot of those folks strain the liquid through a coffee filter or cheesecloth or the like to remove some of the particulate matter prior to use. Maybe there is some residual rust particles or dirt or something like that getting onto the leather surface. Just a guess though. Savage

Well, I got my shipment of Angelus Matte Acrylic Finisher in the mail. I was really hoping that this was going to be a successful solution to my need, so I tested it out as quickly as possible. I'm looking for a solution for sealing dyed and burnished edges so that there's no bleed/transfer of the dye anytime in the near future. BUT, I want the edges to be matte. Hence my original post. So, I prepared an edge, dyed with dark brown dye as normal and burnished. Then I marked two sections on the edge with pen so that I could test the difference between the Angelus and plain ol Resolene. Drumroll please....... Absolutely no difference. Now, I will concede that this was nowhere near a scientific test. But, to my eye, there's absolutely no difference in sheen between these two products. There may be when used on the grain side of leather to seal painting, or elsewhere in some othere application. But, for my purposes, on the edges, it looks exactly like the same sheen as Resolene. Back to the drawing board. Any other suggestions? Thanks. Savage

I just ordered some to try out. Thank you very much for the suggestion. Savage

Looking for a product that seals like Acrylic Resolene, wears like it, etc., but has a matte finish. In other words, no shine at all. Not satin, semi-gloss, etc., but an actual matte finish. Does such a product exist? Thanks.

Is there a reason you're leaving the trigger exposed on some? Seems dangerous.

OK guys and gals. Just finished up my IWB holster for my Glock 23. Thanks for the suggestions on post of my first holster. I must confess that this is really my third holster overall. But, I wasn't thrilled with the progress on the second one (for my HK P7), so I've scrapped it. So, this is the 3rd started, but 2nd completed!! I did dye the edges on this one and did a little more thorough burnishing. I also got just a touch better wet-molding results. I went back to using water for wet-molding after my less-than-satisfying results with alcohol on the second holster. I also used the same method for this one as the first where I stitched the slide side first, then wet-molded, then stitched the trigger side. Again, this was a lesson learned from the second holster where I tried to stitch both sides prior to wet-molding. It's hard to do it the half-and-half method because I'm hand-stitching, but I think the results are worth it. Anyway, looks and feels pretty good to me. We'll see how it rides and feels after a couple of days use. Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions on my first one. It helped! Savage

Sorry for the delay. That's exactly correct, there's a t-nut in between the layers. As for the finishing, there's no dye, just a light coat of neatsfoot oil and then resolene. Regarding the edges...I must admit that I got a little impatient there. I should have dyed them and then sealed. But I just hand-burnished and then sealed them along with the rest. As I commented earlier, I wish the holster rode just about a half-inch lower. So, when I have time to do the replacement I'll work a little harder on the edges. As an aside, I started another IWB holster for my HK P7 and I did a few things differently. First I used a piece of leather with a bit looser grain thinking that I could get greater detail in the wet mold. I also used alcohol instead of water for the molding process. Lastly I stitched both sides prior to wet molding. Frankly I didn't like the results of any of those choices. The loose-fibered leather doesn't work well for the flesh side. Plus, even though I usd alcohol thinking it would stiffen it up, it really didn't get very stiff. Plus, it took a lot of time to get the alcohol smell out of the piece and it left some pretty bad splotches. I didn't quite get the stitching on the trigger guard side right and it was extremely tight when wet molding. So, all in all, I liked the first process (i.e. This holster) better. I may or may not finish the new one. I may just scrap it! Savage

Thanks for all the kind words folks. I really appreciate it. I would be entirely remiss if I didn't thank all those that have posted in this forum regarding the various steps, procedures and techniques in making these types of holsters. I did a significant amount of reading and study prior to even starting this project. I'm sure that the hard work of others and their willingness to post saved me numerous mistakes when it actually was my turn to try. So THANKS!! I'd like to make a black one next, but need to experiment with the whole "vinageroon thing" first before trying that. So, I may make another similar to this one for my Glock 23 and see how that comes out. One thing. I'll second the post that said that cheap hardware doesn't set too well. My snaps moved to the side a little when I set them and that was annoying. I'm gonna have to spring for some DOT ones if I'm going to keep trying. Cheers, Savage

OK, first attempt at a holster. I have some experience with leather and handstitching, but had never tried a holster before. Thoughts after...I sure wish I had a clicker, a hydraulic press, a press for wet-forming, a sewing machine, a burnishing wheel, a snap setter and some dummy guns! Seriously though, it was a good experience. Everything was done by hand, including the stitching, and I was fairly happy with the outcome. BTW, the gun is a Kahr PM9. Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking. Savage

Here is a previous discussion of sharpening bevelers. Hope it helps! http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...l=edge+bevelers

This is obviously true as well. But, I work on a lot of chrome tan and softer leathers, some with texture. I can tell you that on softer stuff, downward pressure does indeed play a role, especially when dealing with a tumbled texture or the like.

I don't want to hijack the thread, so if this is deemed a totally separate question I'll start a new topic. Has anyone ever offered a stitch groover that has some sort of plate attached to the tip that would make the groove a fixed depth? It seems that all I've seen and tried rely on a constant pressure and deft touch to make sure the groove is the same depth around the piece being worked on. Seems to me that some sort of plate integrated into the cutting tip would be perfect to make this a non-issue. Thoughts?

I have some hand tools that I'm thinking of making new handles for. Basically a couple need handles that are more ergonomic for me and others just "need" nicer looking handles. I have some rosewood and bubinga blanks and am going to turn some in the near future. Does anybody know a source for really nice brass ferrules? I'd like some similar to the ones found on Ron's or Horseshoe handtools. Thanks.

Thanks for the responses. I guess I'm just looking for some "real estate" and the flat files seem to fit the bill. It would be great if I could stick, say, 5 or six remnants (i.e. arould maybe 2'x3' or so, maybe a little larger) in one drawer, several smaller pieces (say 2'x1' or smaller) in another drawer and the numerous 1'x6" pieces that I accumulate in a couple of other drawers laid out so that I can see what's what. That coupled with the surface area for cutting would be ideal. I guess the answer is that the flat files are exactly what I'm looking for, they're just not priced at what I want to pay! Back to the drawing board (with nowhere to store the drawings!)... Savage

Not sure if this is the right sub-forum, but here goes... I'm looking for a low drawer cabinet and can't seem to find the perfect thing. Basically I end up with many leather remnants and small pieces and I need a place to house them that's easy to access and where they can be "fairly" organized. I'd like the drawer cabinet to be large enough and the right height so that I can put a piece of MDF on top and use it as a small cutting table. The only thing that I've seen so far that's close is the flat files that are used for housing blueprints, etc. I don't need the drawers to be that shallow though, probably just around 6" or so deep. Plus, those things are expensive!!! Ideally I'd like something with wooden drawers rather than metal. Plus, I think the wood ones will be cheaper. I just need it to be functional, it doesn't have to look nice or anything like that. Here's a Sears tool cabinet that's sort of what I'm talking about. It's just a little small and WAY too expensive. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_0...ts+%26+Cabinets Or, an art-type chest like this, but again, less expensive: http://www.dickblick.com/zz512/20/?wmcp=go...52800-1004-3761 Anyway, anybody have any thoughts??? Thanks. Savage

I prefer to hand-burnish with a canvas type rag and my own mixture of gum trag, etc. , so that's all I do now. However, I did experiment quite a bit with machine burnishing particularly with a dremel type tool. What I found was that the regular dremel's are too fast to do a good job. I ended up using a rotary tool that had a foot pedal attachment and had the ability for much lower rpm's than the normal ones. I used a hardwood "spool" on the end that I made myself out of lignum vitae. I had different width spools and different shapes to produce more or less rounding of the edge. This produced the best results of everything I tried that was a power tool. But, as I said, in the end I prefer the look/feel/etc. of hand-burnishing. It takes longer and is more work, but I believe it's worth it. Savage

Jim- Just looked at the handstitching thread that I was having the problem with and you are exactly correct. It's the opposite twist of all the other thread that I use and like. I will make sure from here on out to get the correct twist. Thanks a million for the tip. Best regards, Scot