LederRudi

Clean, well executed work! Isn't there too much wiggle room for the gun to move around, so you can't be sure where exactly you'll find the grip of the weapon should it be necessary to get off your precious single shot? (Hopefully you've loaded the big ir'n with a stack of Cents! ) Joking aside, your post makes me think about trying the Stohlman rig myself.

I don't know how to express AWE and ADMIRATION in English adequately, so I have to Resort to Viennese colloquial German: "Voosh! Bis ten doo deppert!"

Thanks for the info!

Beautiful, clean work! I noticed that you primed the black portions with dark blue. Is that standard procedure? Would you recommend to do it to any project that is to be colored in black?

Thank you all for your kind comments! OdinUK, I'll do a beveled border on the next belt. I've always shied away from beveling borders out of fear that the leather might get too dry because of the additional expenditure of time. But now, since I've had my epiphany... The floral belt is still an early attempt at floral carving, although I've been messing with leather quite a while now since my first untaught attempt at a cowboy rig for my little son. I've kept the earlier ones and every now and then I indulge in the progress from embarrassing to passable. I've looked at your web page ... wow! Impressive! I can see that scrolls and flowers don't really fit into your style. Rohn, I've noticed that you do a lot of basket stamping on your holsters, so your positive assessment means a lot to me! Bob, glad you liked the basket stamping and even the floral carving since you evidently are an expert in the field of western floral carving. My camouflage tool proved itself unusable for the purpose at hand, I think I'll purchase one or two Barry King tools. His veiner saved the scrolls. I also used and liked his flower center beveler. The idea of wavy radiating lines I took from Al Stohlman's Tech-Tips.

The other day I'd converted a belt strap into valuable working experience (beveling on the wrong side, leather too wet etc.). I let the new piece of experience lie in the open, bagged my depression and went with it to bed. In the morning I thought I'd use the strap at least for some practise. I started a little cutting and beveling and found that the leather's moisture content was just perfect now. I applied the newly won insight to some more straps. I'm pleased with the basket weave: real deep impressions and consistent depth. I like the way the basket stamp creates his own borderline. Some of you may miss the border stamping. Tell me what you think! The carving of course leaves a lot to be desired. I especially struggled with the camouflage tool on the scrolls and tried to correct with a small veiner. Comments and hints as always most welcome.

Thank you for explaining, Chief! Rudi

Beautiful work, Chief! How do you join the lacing around back and front with the lacing along the edge of the gusset? In other words: How do you split the lacing into branches respectively join two branches?

Thanks for this concise summarization, Bob!

Thank you both for responding! My son loves the cuff I made for him. Friends and and acquaintances of his love it as well and keep asking for something similar. In order to minimize timme and effort I decided to cut a bunch of cuffs out of Tandy's faux croc. I like the outcome actually better than my own stamping, especially the pieces with the big head ridges. The stuff is thin, a bit stiff and has sharp edges, so it needs lining (with real good glue). I'll rather stitch than lace this time around the edges (splicing is a bitch!). Sunnyboy may give away or sell the cuffs. Monica, croc armor is a great idea! Avoiding the repetition of the embossed pattern (if chosen) might increase the necessary effort considerably. The catchword "armor" let me think rather of asymmetric gladiator stuff (like the steampunk armor that George Hurst builds in an instruction video on Leathercraft Library) than of a knights harness. Be sure to post pictures of the finished product!

Made of Tandy's "crocowdile", lined with 4-5 oz veg tan, finished with Fiebing's leather balm with Atom wax. Not exactly a helluva project but more time-consuming than I thought. Meant as a lacing practice piece. Though I made some mistakes, I think that it turned out well enough to be given to one of my daughters. Comments and suggestions as always welcome.

Voosh! (Viennese German exclamation of awe and admiration) Very originative idea! Time-honored stone carving expertly translated into leather!

Nice Little Project! I especially like the basket weave. May I ask which tool(s) you used?

Whoever invented the male-buckle-on-the-right-hand-side-rule, I have to apologize to him (her) for breaking it for nearly 63 years now. And it's not only me, I'm afraid. In the army we all got our belts the wrong way around our tummies. That's probably because we had no maids to help us dress (and undress), therefore the magazine pouches upside down...no ammo...you know how it ended: Today Austria is a flyspeck on the map. I'm babbling. Great belt, Joe. I like it a lot! Encourages me to abandon the Tandy straps and make a double layered belt like you did. Rudi

I DO like it! Is it a working holster that you wear on Sunday mornings to persuade the Laodicean Christians to attend service? Earnestly: Great piece of work!

Frank, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Rudi

I keep returning to your post for yet another look at your work. Great inspiration indeed! Some of those holsters are obviously lined. Do you glue inside and outside together before bending the leather? If you do, how do you prevent the tooling from being flattened out by the stretch caused by the bending?

'ReneeCanady, thank you for pointing me to the magic word "cuir bouilli" which grants me access to an Aladin's cave of new Information!

Very aesthetic and artful pieces! I found boiling leather rarely mentioned on leatherworker.net. Which qualities do you aim at by the boiling process? My guess would be pliability first and stiffness after drying. I was experimenting once with embrowning a belt in coffee. Being who I am, I rushed it and dunked the piece in a brew that apparently was way too hot. The stain was OK but the leather broke when I flexed it. Since then boilophobia adds to acrophobia, claustrophobia, agoraphobia and the like .

I find myself carried away by the same airstream as WScott! You are quite an artistic couple, like Pablo Picasso & Francoise Gilot or Charles & Alexandra Eames. (For the purpose of sounding erudite I've looked up famous couples on the net )

Nice and clean work! Clever construction! Thanks for sharing!

Same here! I also like the simple rig. I find it hard to refrain from adding a groove here and a row of stamping impressions there and one again here…

Thank you, Dwight!

Hi all, what kind of finish would you recommend after the application of Fiebing’s Professional Oil Dye?

Thank you, Lobo, for your informative reply!