BIGGUNDOCTOR

You could make them out of leather too. Stack some leather washers up, and shape them using an electric drill, a bolt for an arbor, and some sandpaper.

Hello, I believe what you have are Yugoslav SKS ammo pouches, if they are the shorter version they are for the Yugo M48 Mauser. I worked at a place where we had those for sale. Some were never issued, some had seen a lot of use. The new ones were natural in color, the older ones ran from light to almost black. The colorization is probably a combination of cleaners, oils, greases, dirt, sweat, and general usage, IE: Patina. The Yugo surplus we had varied greatly in materials, and construction. With the web gear the fabrics ranged from coarse weave to very fine, they had various piping in the edges, and closures varied. This is in stark contrast to U.S. web gear where the various contractors made items that looked alike because they had to meet more stringent specs.

And think what may happen if somebody buys that case for $3,500. In reality what would you stand to lose? Make a case that is similar to the other guys in the amount of embellishment, and see if someone bites. For a lot of folks $$$$$=quality. You don't have to scrimp on quality, just up the price, and give it an expensive sounding name. I wouldn't call it the U.S. National debt, but something expensive/valuable non the less. The Rockefeller, Maximilian, Diamond grade, Platinum edition, The "I'm gonna be gone someday, and you are gonna wish you bought one when they were $3,500, and not the $7,000 their gonna get on EBay " edition , etc... I realize it is not all about money. But ones pride can be hurt when you know in your heart that you make a better item than someone else, yet they sell their's for more, or have better recognition.

Some people think that blacksmithing is a dying art, but like leather working it still has a lot of practitioners of the craft. iforgeiron.com has around 14,000 members, and represents 50 countries. They, like this site, are also very forthcoming with information. They realize that to keep the craft alive new members need to be encouraged. If someone just fumbles around with a craft, and has a hard time with the basics, how long will they continue with it? Before getting onto this site the only leather suppliers I knew of were Tandy, and The Leather Factory. To see how many other suppliers are in the game tells me that there are enough people doing leather work to be profitable despite the competition. My Mom stopped doing leather work in the early 80's when the cost of leather got too high for her. I could see with the current economic times where some may stop, but there will always be someone doing the work. Along with that, there will be people willing to buy well made unique items that have been handcrafted.

I was the handicrafts instructor at two camp back in CA for 4 years. I taught wood carving, leather work, basketry, and occasionally another depending on funds/interest of the camp. Some kids thought it was just a one day class, and were floored when I said "Don't even bring your blue cards till Friday." I always pushed/encouraged the kids to do better, and some really did a great job. I actually had more problems with some of the leaders who thought I was being too critical. I had one boy who was carving the Comic Crow neckerchief slide. He kept bringing it to me to get it signed off. Each time I would point something else out that needed some refining. By the end of the week he had done a pretty good job on it. What he said when I finally signed it off has stuck with me all these years "Huh, I can do something." That statement made all of the hassles worth it. Even though I "just taught crafts", it is something I have a passion for, and I tried to relate that passion for creating to the boys in my classes. Some counselors looked at them as gimmie, or fill in badges. I didn't, and I feel that every boy who went through my classes was given an experience that could lead to a lifelong hobby someday.

I second the thrift store/garage sale/flea market fanny pack for the basic pattern. For the belt attachment I would just do a full double piece on the back with open ends-strong, and simple to do. Closures. This really depends on the type of leather that you use. Soft, and flexible, or more rigid. Rigid leathers could be used to make more of a stiff box type pack with a hinged type lid, whereas a flexible leather would need more of a full closure to seal it up. For that I might look at a taller top that could be folded over/rolled before securing.

I was thinking the same thing myself. I think the buckle would show better with a full length shot.

The subject of pricing was recently brought up on the blacksmithing forum. Certain aspects are easy to price; materials, man hours, etc. It was the perceived value that is the tough one. As a leatherworker you know what goes into making a leather item, but a lot-if not most people don't. The same as with forging, pottery, etc. Then there is the Wal-Mart factor. Why should I buy X for $$$$ when I can get a SIMILAR item for $ at Wal-Mart? They only look similar, the quality is far different. On the opposit end you have people that have more money than brains, and the buy for status. I was at an art village recently where I saw a patio bench with a $1,200 price, and a sold tag. I looked at it closely, and thought to myself " I would of had a hard time asking $300 for that, and I would have done a better job." It was just basic tubing bent, and MIG welded together with a granite slab. The welds were not even dressed. One way to price is when you are talking with a customer, don't give just one price. Keep adding onto it IE; basic case is $$$$, tooling is $, coloring is $, type of hardware is $, etc until you get a reaction from the customer-then stop. What you did was find out what their "pain level" was. For some it will be a lot less, for others it will be even higher. Either way you just found out what your case was worth to them. As mentioned before, your number one priority should be customer service. Make sure that you sell that as much as the case itself. Maybe you need to work on your marketing some. Show the players the quality that goes into your cases compared to the competition. The problem I would have, if I was in the market for a case, would be the made in China part. I do my best to buy U.S.A. mfg. goods, and avoid Chinese products. That, and I would look at it as something I can make myself, and get the satisfaction of making it too. I looked through your site, and you do beautiful work. I never would have guessed that a cue case would have brought that kind of money. I wish you all the luck in your endeavors.

Cool. Now what did you learn from this? CALL your Mother more often. What would have done if you found out she had sold them to someone else, because you hadn't TALKED to her in time??? Secondly, CALL her up, and tell thank you very much. You may also want to make her something with the tools. Does you Mom have anything that your Dad made? You may want to CALL ,and ask. My Mom is gone, but I do have the tools she used, and some of the things she made. Those tools will never be sold by me. My Mom was the one that got me started in leatherworking many years ago. Oh, almost forgot. CALL your Mom.

To second what TJ said. When using a stone the motion is like trying to slice a layer off of it, not dragging it across backwards. I do my sharpening by hand. If the blade has turned colors of the rainbow it has been overheated, and lost the temper in that section of the blade. If the motion is correct, along with the angle, it may be that you just have a crappy knife. Are there any markings as to maker, or country of origin? If it says China, India, or Pakistan toss it, unless you need a small putty knife, scraper, etc.

How many do you need? Being a machinist, I can say that it would be an easy part to make.

Have you looked on any of the fiber/spinning/weaving forums? We have some fiber folks on the blacksmithing forum, so they are out there.

I wouldn't use oak for stopper due to porosity, and tannins. I would use maple, or birch, that is if I was to use wood. Being a machinist, I would probably turn some metal stoppers.

I see granite slabs on CL for free fairly often. Only 3/4"? laminate 2 together, now it is 1.5" thick, or do the concrete thing that was mentioned above. I am a machinist, so I have some surface plates that i use for layout. My big plate is 36" x 60" x 10", and flatness is within .00025" over the entire surface.

Thanks for all of the replies. I just live in horse country,don't mess with them myself, so that is probably why I never would have thought of reins needing to be that thick. Although I figured it was probably more tack related than anything else. Thanks for the PIC katsass. Whereabouts in the Mojave are you?

This is an interesting thread, as I am a tool maker for a screwmachine shop. To just touch on a couple of things here. I have seen several old tools made from plain steel. The staining you mention may be from the type of tanning done on the leather you have IE: Veg vs Chrome. Stainless vs mild vs carbon steel. All steel has some carbon in it. Cast iron has more than steel. To make steel the carbon is removed from the iron, then added back in at a certain percentage to get the correct alloy. Steel is graded by the major alloying element IE; 10xx, 4xxx, 8xxx, etc. The last 2 digits tell you the carbon content in points. 1000 series steels are plain carbon steels. What you find a a box store is usually 1018 which is considered a low carbon steel. You generally need around 25 points of carbon to get any hardening effect. Files, some springs, etc are made with 1095 which is considered a high carbon steel. With different heat treating you can have a piece of 1095 be as brittle as a file, or flexible as a spring-cool how that works-huh? Chrome-moly steels like 4140 have 40 points of carbon, but the major elements being chrome, and molybdenum make them very tough. These are used for things like shafts for equipment. Stainless steels (stain less than regular carbon steel) have high chrome, and nickel contents. To be called a steel they do have some iron content. The 300 series are the most common; 303,304. 303 is a freer machining alloy than 304. Stainless steels are tough, not really hard. Mainly used when corrosion resistance/sterility is needed. 316 is used for high corrosion applications like tomato processing, cookware, etc. 400 series stainless steels are magnetic, and will stain faster than 300 series. 440C is used in knife blades. As for hardening. You can case harden bolts, nails etc at home by using a product like Kasenite. Case hardening applies a shallow layer of extra carbon into the mild steel allowing it to be surface hardened, This case will be from .003"-.010" deep depending on how it is applied. high carbon steels can be just heated past magnetic (when a steel reaches the transformation stage it loses it's magnetic properties) then quenched in water, or oil. Oil is a slower quench, and will cause less heat related cracking than water will. Only 400 series of stainless can be heat treated. 300 series can be work hardened. Stainless can be passivated in a citric, or nitric acid bath to remove the surface iron content left by machining, and improves it's corrosion resistance. Probably not needed for leather stamps. Now for the second half here. One of the byproducts of the company I work for are bar ends. They run around 7" long, and are what is left over form the 12' bars we start with. We run a lot of stainless steel parts, so we have lots of stainless steel bar ends. The stainless is in diameters from .0625" (1/16)up to around .500" (1/2") sometimes larger. I have bought bar ends in the past for resale to other craftsmen. I can sell you more material for what you folks are paying for bolts,. The USPS flat rate boxes work good for this. I am located in Southern Nevada. We also machine copper, brass, some aluminum, and copper beryllium alloys. The Copper beryllium alloys take special care when performing operations like grinding, and sanding as it is a inhalation hazard. Chronic exposure can lead to berylliosis. On the other hand it can be heat treated , and all manner of tools are made from it. If there is some interest I can put some bundles together, and get current scrap pricing.

You got saggers in KS too, huh?

Soooo, is it pretty common over there to lose your belt? Or is that from having a few too many pints You probably know this, but be careful in your detecting, there is still a lot of ordnance in the fields. Amazing the amounts that were dropped, and never went off.

Sounds like you are spending a lot of time looking for what they want. I would tell them-"you come up with the pattern that you like, and I will make it."

Check some lapidary suppliers. They have buckles that will accept silver dollars. I would look into repairing the original one myself. What is the base material?

As I understand it the rawhide is just wrapped wet, and allowed to dry. As it dries it shrinks, and tightens up. Drill for the handle, and run a screw through the whole mess sideways. Some mallets use water buffalo rawhide, I suspect because it is so thick, and probably less expensive for them to purchase overseas.

http://www.atsko.com...ng-leather.html Dänemark/Danmark FRITIDSGROSSISTEN A/S Lejrvej 23A DK-3500 Vaerloese Tel. 0045-33 33 90 94 Email: info@frigruppen.dk here is a link for the makers of Sno-Seal, and a Denmark distributor. I have used this on all of my hiking boots and it works fantastic. It is beeswax, and you soak it into the leather till it won't take anymore for maximum protection. I use a hairdryer to heat the boots up. It does darken the leather, so that may be a consideration. I would use this myself for this application. Hope this helps.

I am the tool maker for a large screw machine company, and one of our byproducts are bar ends. They usually run around 7" long, but can be up to 12"+ at times. We run Stainless 303/304/416, brass 360, copper C97/etc, aluminum 6061/2024, and copper beryllium alloys. I buy some of the bar ends for resale to home machinists, blacksmiths, and artists. Sizes can run from .0625" up to 1.00", but not in every material . Copper has been up to .875", stainless runs up to .500" or so, lots of small hex at times, Aluminum pipe 1.00", and the beryllium alloys will go .5625". The items we make are mostly electrical, and fiber optic connectors. We have made parts that are on the space shuttle, space station, and the F-22 fighter. Yesterday I bought several hundred pounds of bar ends along with some full 12' bars because the certifications had been lost during the company's reorganization. What I do not buy gets hauled to the California scrapyard, along with all of the machine turnings which we literally generate tons of. If any of you are looking for these types of materials for projects ,shoot me an email,and I will see what is available, and current price. Scrap is headed back up currently. The USPS flat rate boxes work pretty good for these. Since we are a job shop the materials are constantly changing, so if you are interested in something specific let me know, and I will watch out for it.

Anybody out there?

When you are done take the beveler, and use it like a modeling tool by running it over the section you did to iron out the highs, and lows. Don't hit it, just slide it over by hand.