glennaycock

Theoretically, the angle on the belt loops (downward to the inside) would create a conic section (tighter loop on the bottom), which would force the muzzle inward. However, since a 1.5-2" leather belt is flexible and doesn't apply that much force, the effect is probably negligible. Sorry, reading math books today

What's wrong with the example piece? It looks pretty good!

I inherited my grandmother's 301. It will easily sew 2 layers of 2-3 oz garment/upholstery leather. However, it really struggles on the overlaps of seams, so I bought a Consew 206RB-5 last year. It's great for upholstery and such, but I don't think it's ideal for the majority leatherworking tasks done in these forums, even though you can run up to 207 thread. Without a speed reducer, it's simply too fast for intricate stitching around tight corners. I recently bought a BOSS for my holsters, phone cases and belts. It gives lots of control but my arm sure gets tired of cranking that thing.

Nice work. I noticed a few knots in the stitching on the strap didn't get pulled down near the end. Did you have any problems with the tension?

I used to buy powdered aniline stains from Woodcraft and Stewart-McDonald.

Wow! Holy smoking hot Kara!

You may want to consider using a marine-grade vinyl. I recently recovered my motorcycle seats with some Italian aniline leather, which didn't take the sun/heat (Houston, Texas) well at all.

I second the HF airbrush. You can catch them on sale for $15 every other week, and they are pretty great for the money. You can read my review of it here: http://glennaycockwoodworking.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-harbor-freight-deluxe-airbrush.html

Nice tooling, and the stitching looks perfect!

Many drawing tools like Adobe Illustrator and Freehand, CorelDraw, etc will trace photos and turn them into editable line drawings. This is a very handy feature for pattern making.

Nice job! Was the original handle not strong enough or not long enough to set the snap? Could you have simply stuck a piece of galvanized pipe over the handle to increase the leverage?

Funny, I thought it was Rob Zombie

Also, if it wasn't clear, those dimensions are in feet.

I forgot to mention that this is all top-grain, not splits.

I have a lot of extra upholstery leather partial hides and scraps in a variety of colors. Some are aniline and some are semi-aniline (i believe), as indicated by the apparent coating that's darker than the suede side. They are all soft and supple. Some of the labels I've found are Elmo and Spinneybeck. The sizes vary any where from 1x4+, 2x2, 3x3, 3x4, 4x6, half hides and nearly whole hides. Most of the large pieces have blemishes of some kind, ranging from wrinkles, light scuff marks, discolorations, holes, scars and brands, but I have covered furniture with it and there's a lot of good leather here. I will provide detailed photos of larger pieces on request, along with a description of any major defects; however, this is not feasible for small pieces and scraps. It's perfect for motorcycle seats, clothing items, wallets, purses and bags, liners and small furniture projects. I don't have a lot of large pieces in any particular colors, but I do have quite a few in maroon, burgundy and browns. Also have a few boxes of random scraps and cuttings, mostly black and tan. Colors include: * black * brown (light and dark) * white / off-white * tan * burgundy / maroon * green * gray * blue (light and dark) * yellow * pearl * turquoise * red * more I would like to get $1-2/sqft for the smaller pieces, up to $3/sqft for the larger/more perfect pieces and maybe $5/lb for the scraps if that is reasonable. $20 minimum, please. If anyone is interested, please send requests for colors and sizes. I will ship at cost via UPS or USPS Priority Mail.

I just completed recovering my lounge chair. It was my first furniture upholstery project. It's not fancy or artistic, but I'm proud of it. This is Elmo Yellow-Brown upholstery leather from my good friend at Ergogenesis (ergonomic office chairs), stitched with #69 green thread on my Consew 206. I double-stitched most of the visible seams with twill reinforcement. It should last a LONG time.

Not sure where you stand on air brushes, since this thread is 6 months old, but I have been using the Badger clone from Harbor Freight. It's pretty solid, and at $15, it's a steal. I've been shooting alcohol-based Fiebings with it.

After inspecting this device further, I don't think it would work without significant modification, as the rollers are too close together and the adjustable wheel moves concentric to the top, rather than closer/away. While it may be possible, I don't feel like the time invested would be worthwhile.

Excellent work! Just out of curiousity, what machine did you stitch it with? I have ruined 3 holsters with my Consew 206. I'm starting to get the feeling that walking-foot machines are not meant for holster-making, but hey, I learn the hard way...