Soybomb

Thanks for the help, as requested here's a couple more pictures What cut/weight leather would be appropriate to make acceptable purse straps from? i'll try to hit up tandy next week. Thread/needle suggestions would be great too. Thanks again!

My girlfriend is pretty rough on purses. She's found one she likes but its already started to fall apart at the same place they all usually do. The straps and strap attachment points never last. I'd love some suggestions on how we might be able to fix it because I can't think of anything that would look good so far. Here's the damage I've really only done holster work and I stitch by hand so feel free to guide me on what I might need to pickup from tandy, I won't be offended :D Right now I have 5/6 shoulder, 7/8 shoulder, 5/6 belly, 000 harness needles and big ol' waxed thread that is probably too ugly for a purse, and an assortment of chicago screws. Thanks!

Hi all, could anyone point me toward a source for some pink chrome tanned leather? I was going to try to dye my own veggie leather but it seems like I might get a better color with less work if I just use an inner layer of vegetable tanned and a thin outer layer of pink for color. So far all I've been able to find is pink suede though. Thanks!

Thats really encouraging to hear, you haven't noticed the natural color of the leather changing the final color of the lighter color dyes too much then?

Hi guys, glad to see the board is back. I've only done black dye so far but as a special request project I'd like to turn a piece of vegetable tanned shoulder pink. I really favor Angelus dyes right now. If I buy something like "light rose" shown here http://www.turtlefeathers.com/text/angelus/dye.html and put it on, is there a chance it will actually look anything like a nice pink color? Is there a way to bleach it first to take the natural color out? I'm definately open to advice before I just ordering things and hoping for the best :D

Thanks all, I'm using 7/8 oz.

Hey guys I'd appreciate any criticism or advice you have on how to improve on my latest holster. One of the things I'm having a lot of trouble with is the boneing. You can see how little detail I was actually able to capture. I'm casing the leather in the hottest water I can get from my tap with a few drops of dish soap for about 20 seconds and then letting it dry a little before I go at it. I think part of of it is maybe my tools. I don't feel like I can apply much pressure with any of them before they start to mar the surface of the leather. Any tips on using an edge creaser around the corners and where it intersects with a stitch line? My edge creases seem to walk and don't want to follow curves and usually wind up pretty ugly looking. Finally for those of you who use angelus sealer, are you using matte? I bought the satin thinking it would be quite subtle but I feel like what I get is practically high gloss. I've also noticed that it seems to have a tendency to peel or wear off pretty easily. Does this mean I need to buff the piece after dying it more, am I using too much sealer? is it just how sealer is? And yes my kydex needs a bit of work :D

Hmmm I've been using t-nuts on the back of snaps, I never considered it for the clips, that sounds like a great idea! Sadly it looks like mcmaster carr doesn't sell flat t-nuts any smaller than 8-32 and I'll have to go elsewhere for those but I think its worth it. Thanks again!

Heh thanks for the heads up. I've been putting off my ordering of clips because I've heard so many bad things about the build strength and quality of most of them, plastic is definately out!

Hey guys, I've never used rivets for leatherwork before and wanted some advice on what rivet to use. I'm going to pickup a few of these belt clips http://www.ohiotravelbag.com/Graphics/Cata...B1/pages/58.htm and try making some holster with them. I figured I'd just order a bag of rivets cheap from mcmaster carr when I'm ordering some car parts from there.... I have no idea what kind are best suited for this though. It'll be through about 1/4" of leather, and the hole is 3/16". What kind of rivet is the "right way" to do it? Split? Tubular? Jiffy? Thanks all!

:biggrin: I'm guilty of picking this up because it was cheap. http://www.eleatherworks.com/product.php?p...83&cat=0&page=1 How do you use it and is it useful or does it suck? I'm curious if anyone likes it. The creaser portion I'm undecided on. It tracks a little better than an adjustable creaser but it doesn't make a nice looking creaser. It doesn't seem to be a great slicker, and I've not found a use for a folder in holster making yet. I'm thinking the wide end might be a decent boning tool around ejection ports. As I play around more I notice some of the basic tools I started with just don't cut it like the adjustable creaser. I wonder if maybe I just haven't found where this one shines yet.

I believe I've heard one make that claim but I can't put a name to it right off hand. Anyway I've heard very few complaints from anyone about failures of modern concealment holsters. The only ones I can recall though are thread problems and not tears so I think if there is a tradeoff its probably for the best to protect the threads on holsters but I'm not sure its anything to worry about either way. Out of curiosity do the big boys with sewing machines make grooves? My machine stitched holsters don't make it feel like they do.

Oh thank you very much, even if they don't sell to the public at least they give dimensions of the tools there! http://www.csosborne.com/NO21.HTM Looks like I need the #5 edger is probably want I want for 1/8" in lines!

I found siegel actually has them in multiple sizes with designations other than small and large https://www.siegelofca.com/itemdetail.asp?prodid=133 Anyone have any idea what number is appropriate to make a line 1/8" in on 7/8 leather? Is the size the thickness of the line, or the distance from the edge, or both? Osborne needs a website :D

I'm still new to all this but so far the worst part by far is making a design and pattern. I've been mostly playing with gun holsters and am starting to get a little better with them. If I'm sewing 2 pieces of leather together I can place my stitch line at 3/8th of an inch from the edge of the gun and get a pretty good fit. I tried to make a small holster for a cell phone today (I've broken more of those plastic ones....) and calling it a failure would be far too kind. The phone is .7" thick, I put my stitch line 3/8" out again thinking I could wet it and stretch it a little if it was too snug. It was far far too snug. After getting it wet and using every odd tool within reach to try to stretch it out more, I decided that was the most I could get out of it and let it dry. I almost had to start cutting to get the phone out when I tried it later. :biggrin: Does anyone have any advice on what guidelines to use to determine where to place a stitch line based on how thick the object is and how tight you want it to be? While the 3/8" works ok for a 1.2" thick gun that I want a tight fit on, it was way way off for the phone. Would 1/2" spaced lines be enough even? On a side note I've got 7/8 shoulder, and 5/6 belly. What would you make a snap on cell phone holder out of? I'm thinking shoulder for the back for a little sturdyness and the belly on the front for a little extra flex? Thanks all, you've been a tremendous help in finding out what I'm doing. I don't think I'm far from making something usable :D

Hey all, I'm looking for some ideas of where to look for really high quality belt clips. These will be used on concealment holsters so they'll need to be big enough to take a 2 layer thick 1.5" gun belt, and sturdy enough to hold the holster on the belt when the gun is drawn. The only thing I've found that seems to come close is this http://www.ohiotravelbag.com/Graphics/Cata...B1/pages/58.htm Any experience with that particular clip, or places to look for another one? What type of rivet is used to secure something like that? I've not yet riveted anything....

You know I never even thought of that, thats an excellent idea. You're talking about something more like these? http://www.eleatherworks.com/product.php?p...68&cat=0&page=1 Anyone have a rough idea what the 2 sizes are?

I've only been trying with one of the metal adjustable edge creasers with the little thumb screw on it so far. I'm not even sure if I'm holding the right direction up really..... :D I'll try the 1 pass thing, I think I'm guilty of doing the short strokes at times. Thanks

I'm curious if anyone could offer any tips on using an edge creaser. I find it has a tendency to drift from the edge a bit as I use it and I don't seem to be really skilled at making my edge lines intersect without going too far past each other.

It looks like they're a fairly cheap set of bags so I don't know if its the fit or the construction but they seem to be wearing where they rub on parts of the bike itself now and then. Looks like a small hole is being worn by the shock or something.... Good point just on thickness though. The shoulder I have is 7/8 and the belly is piece is supposedly 5/6 so I might as well just go thicker. Thanks!

I told a coworker I'd put a couple patches over some wear spots on his motorcycles saddle bags that are going to wear through. My understanding is that the belly tends to be less stiff and more stretchy than the shoulder, but is it any more or less resistant to abrasion? I have both...

Well the first holster (also my first leather project) is done and I'm open to all criticism and advice. I want to try something with snaps or clips but I haven't ordered snaps yet or found a clip that looks sturdy and strong. I decided to try a Yaqui style first since it looked like less stitching and less leather to waste if it turned out horribly. Things I've noticed so far: Centering the belt slot was a HUGE mistake. It doesn't pull the gun in at the right places so it might as well be an elbow rest. It seems like for something like this it needs to be inline with the slide. I'm not thrilled with my belt hole's either, other than straightness I'd like to find a way to make the edges look a little better. The same goes for the burnishing of the edges. So far a slicker on a drill press with bees wax seems to give the best edge but its still not great and I'm not sure its a good solution. Over all the stitching went pretty smoothly with just a couple slip ups. A little practice should do me well. Next time I want room for a double stitch near the trigger guard. The modeling spoon just seems to leave marks no matter how I use it, so far my fingers are working the best but I think I need more practice. Overall I think I could come up with a better design for it too. I don't like the 3 layer thick edge and I don't like that the gun might rub on the stitching. Its quite a learning experience but I can't say I'm disappointed for my first try, I'll be trying to make something else very soon. Thanks!

Hey k-man I believe I've seen some of your fine work for keltec's before. Thanks for the advice. I was actually planning to pick up some other stuff from ohio travel bag but I'm waiting for them to email me back with a price list and how to actually order. They'll sell to anyone as long as you buy the minimum quantity right? Perhaps I'll just throw some of those on that order at first so I don't have to buy hundreds :D

Art - Thats where I've been building my shopping cart already! Its a few more than I want really but I figure if I decide I don't like how they're work and won't use them they'll be easy enough to sell to someone who doesn't want that many either. I'm thinking pull the dots for holsters, some durable dots for show cuffs. Billsotx what size/where do you get the T nuts and screws? I'm not planning for interchangeable loops, but it might be an easier way to mount that side since I don't have a snap press.

Cool, thats kinda how it usually works for me. I just placed my order at zack white last night and figured I'd check before ordering like $90 worth of assorted snaps :D (getting 100 regular and 100 pull the dot). It looks like the post/eyelet is the same for both the durable dot and pull the dot snaps while the socket, cap and stud are different?