LederRudi

train toy ... that's a good guess! Through one of the discussions here on leatherworker.net I found http://www.leatherburnishers.com/Home_Page.html which also might be of interest for you.

I found them in the wood section together with dowels, globular furniture legs and the like. Another store might might be structured different or might not have such wheels in stock, and I'm speaking of Austrian hardware stores. But as far as my experience goes, American ones aren't any different from ours.

...but I'm pleased with this set auf slickers I made of wooden wheels that can be bought in hardware stores.

Thank you for responding, guys, and for describing your method, Rudi

I just tried the method John Bianchi suggests, using 8-9/5-6 oz. In his video Bianchi speaks of skyving only some 1000ths of an inch. So I just broke the surface of the flesh-side with a french skyver and scraped off some of the liner. It worked well enough for me, although the inside of the fold doesn't feel as smoth as the rest because there are a lot of virtually unvisible micro-puckers. Could be, I should have skyved more, but then, why not use leather of half the thickness for the entire piece? So how much of a pucker do you tolerate? I'd actually prefer to glue the liner in when the outer shell is folded over. But then it's impossible to make a stitching groove on the inside. Bianchi doesn't bother with the backside neither of the gunbelt nor of the holster because he machine stitches. The ones who fold first and then glue: Do you make grooves on the inside?

Awesome work! incredible indeed I'll give away my leathercraft tools!

I like this simple design too. I didn't invent it though. I've seen some variant or other posted here. And I've already ripped it off from Will Ghormley (http://www.willghormley-maker.com/MakingHOGRig.html).

Awesome work! Something to aspire to! Rudi

Thank you for the input, Rory! Last summer I made an unlined belt for myself and also gave it only a coat of oil. The flesh-side absorbed a lot of sweat when I wore the belt in Turkey. Streaks of salt then showed on the grain-side as well. thus I learned that sealing of the inner side is indispensable. I didn't do any skyving on the belt I'm showing here. I don't like the idea of weakening the leather where most of the stress is to be expected. Since I thought of attaching a pouch that contains some essential items (money, credit cards, passport...) I wanted to be on the safe side and preferred screws over snaps. Leatherwork isn't very popular on our side of the pond, therefore I'm pretty dependent on Tandy UK when it comes to hardware or tools. Any import from the US would about double costs. That's a good idea to use the thicknesses of a square! Very simple - and I hadn't thought of it! Rudi

Danke for the compliment, Ray! Rudi

Thank you, Cheryl! Rudi

Beautiful, clean work! I especially love the construction of the pouch!

Thank you for your kind comment and advise, Rudi

Always a pleasure and very inspiring to look at your work!

In fact I did the stitching after dying and finishing, but you are right: it does look dirty. I think this is because the thread is heavily waxed. I thought I could get rid of the excessive wax by running a stitching wheel over the stitching afterwards, but that obviously didn't pan out. I've seen people melting away the superfluous wax with a lighter (is that standard procedure?) but I didn't like the idea of holding a flame to an artificial thread. The thread also dragged up some glue although there were more than 24 hours between glueing and stitching. Could it be that I applied too much glue or/and that I should have waited longer? In the forums here I've read pople going on about so-and-so-many strand linnen threads and the like. What would be the best choice for a project like mine (8-9 oz belt with 4-5 oz lining)? Thanks for your input Rudi

Thank you, Mike!

Thank you all for the input! ...I'll get a belt sander today! Buckle: The buckle is from Tandy. It's the only 1 3/4" buckle I could find on their website. I like its simplicity. Keeper: Since it's a center bar buckle it keeps the protruding end of the billet pretty close to the belt. Nevertheless I plan to add a keeper which is easily done since I used chicago screws. Layout: The layout of the stamping is based on Will Ghormleys "Hand of God Rig" pattern (http://www.willghormley-maker.com/MakingHOGRig.html). I replaced the Mule's Foot by a border tool which I found more easy to control. I had already botched a strap by carelessly stamping away which resulted in tilted Mule's Foot impressions and poor lineup of the two rows. It pays to follow Will Ghormley's instructions and to prepare the stamping with a square and a Wing Divider. Stitching: Instead of a stitching wheel I used diamond-shaped chisels (1, 2 and 4 prong) which I only tapped lightly. The actual stitching holes I created with a diamond-shaped stitching awl that I chucked into a drill that was mounted in a drill press in order to maintain a 90 degree angle, a 45 degree cant and a certain depth (the tip of the blade barely coming out on the backside). For each stab I lifted the belt some till the awl caught the chisel impression, and then pressed down. This method might seem ridiculous to the experienced two-needle-and-awl-jugglers, but it worked for me and for now and enabled me to generate a nice stitching line on the backside of the belt. Only now I created a stiching channel on the inside, rubbing a wooden modelling tool fiercely along a ruler. The actual sewing (two-needle method) was a piece of cake (although time-consuming) except that I should have chosen a good quality thread. Thank you all again for your kind comments, Rudi

I intended a masterpiece and ended up with kind of a "journeyman's piece". All in all I'm content with the outcome. The tool impressions are crisp enough, I'd say, and the edge is sufficiently smooth. I tried to follow Bob Park's tutorial on finishing edges. I made some mistakes though and learned from them: - I nicked the edge when I trimmed the lining - I used thick Tandy artificial thread - overlapping stitches (where I had to start a new thread) are visible - the lining ends about an inch before the buckle slit. Any comments or hints are most welcome.

Thanks for responding, Josh! I'm still self educating and (senselessly) searching for magic formulas. In the end it will be "Whatever Works". Best wishes, Rudi

Piece of art! Can't wait for the holster! Thanks for showing! You did the backgrounding early in the process. Any specific reason for that?

Admirable craftsmanship! Calamity Jane woulda been thrilled! I'm sure, your wife is too!

Speechless...!

I'll join the fan club! Outstanding work! The edges are impeccable. Is your method of edge-treatment similar to Bob Park's?

Thanks guys! I just looked at Frank's recently posted western holsters... Means, I need the positive reinforcement like a starving man needs a piece of bread! And yes, it's the El Dorado, it fits the gun (my son's blank gun) like a glove. Next time I'll concentrate on the edges and will try to do as Bob Park recommends. And I'll definitely avoid the edge paint. Rudi

8-10 oz lined with 4-5 oz, then folded over and sewn together. One coat of oil.