emr454

I had it in the oven at 300 for a couple minutes and then did some fine tuning with a hair dryer, so I'm not sure why it looks shiny in the pic. An IR thermometer may be my next purchase though... I just built a holster press today so my next attempt should yield better definition and retention This could turn itself into a new hobby/obsession! Eric

Wow, that alot of stitching, talk about sore fingers!

Looks good! Did you hand stitch it or use a machine? Eric

Thanks for the kind words! It amazes me just how much cleaner it looks with uniform stitching. Still not sure how I feel about horsehide, but I can tell these are bottom of the barrel strips, so to speak, and the better Horween hide should be head and shoulders above these. Eric

So here is what I've made from the cheap horse butt strips from Springfield Leather. The first is a pancake for my S&W 6904. This was made from the nicest of the horse butts I received. I love the color of the drum dyed leather! So far, this is my best effort. I'm really getting better with measuring and marking my stitch lines. I just recently got a stitch spacing wheel so that also helps with it's appearance. Next is my first hybrid holster. This was my first experience using kydex as well. The kydex was one of the free samples I got from Springfield Leather and the leather is another piece of the cheap horse butts. This one is sort of a convertible IWB/OWB holster, but since my kydex forming skills are lacking, it works better and has better retention as an IWB holster. Feel free to offer your thoughts and critiques! Eric

I'm sure there will be some wasted leather on these. All 4 of the strips I got are 8"+ at the widest. Even if I only get 2 good holsters it was worth the $12 I spent. Eric

Has anyone used this leather before? I bought 2 black and 2 brown since they were only $2.99 each. How do they case and mold? I plan on making holsters with them. Eric

So to me, it looks like you would cut the front panel oversize, mold it to the flat back panel, and then determine your stitch line once molding was complete? That would save me some hassle when trying to predict where I should stitch. Eric

I've been thinking of making a leather belt for my wife. She just recently got her pistol permit so It's going to be a sturdy gun belt for supporting a holster. I might be limited to 1.25" width because women's jeans typically have smaller belt loops. Would it be feasible to buy a couple belt blanks and make a double-layer belt? I've never worked with any belt blanks before so I'm unsure of their quality and so forth. This will be done with a minimum of tools as well, so that's why I was considering belt blanks. Any ideas are appreciated! Eric

I had the same problem with Fiebing's medium brown, it looked more like dark brown/black. If you bought the spirit based dye you can thin it some with isopropyl or denatured alcohol. I find that a 3:1 dye/alcohol mix gives me more of what I would call a medium brown color. With that said, using a dauber or sponge may still require more than one coat to get even coverage, at least that was my experience. Definitely try it out on scraps first. Eric

I'll be taking care of that today. Probably be just as easy to chuck it in a vise and use the 4" angle grinder to smooth it out. Eric

Same here. Any bits of cement that ooze out of the edges really gum up any sandpaper I use. Eric

The stamping was done with an old screwdriver bit that I ground down with the dremel into an irregular shape. That's a good idea! I didn't use a stitching groover on this piece, it was a blunt pick/stylus thing I found. I cased the leather for tooling and just made a groove with the stylus. Next time I'll try doing it one side at a time. Eric

Here's my first attempt at a knife sheath. Very simple design just to cover the blade. I need to work on my edges a bit to make them turn out better. I also have decided that I am only going to make a stitch groove on one side of my pieces for now. I chucked a speedy stitcher needle in my drill press (not running, of course) and still couldn't hit both grooves when I punched my holes.

I'll take it! And anyone who's willing to give anything away is cool in my book:thumbsup: PM sent. Eric

Well, it seems I just needed to use a properly weighted mallet and the end of a 4x4. Took about 4 whacks to punch through 2 layers of 6/7 oz. leather. Thank you for the help and suggestions! Eric

I planned on just using the stone from the Dremel kit, by hand. I didnt want to ruin the punch so I had no intentions of using the Dremel itself. Eric

I have a few conical stones that fit in the Dremel, could I use those by hand for the inside? Eric

I found an old C.S. Osborne No.13 round punch in my grandfather's toolbox. It isnt very sharp anymore and you can tell it was used with a metal hammer for years. I tried to cut a hole in some 6 ounce leather but I don't have a heavy mallet, so maybe that is the problem? Is there any good way to sharpen or touch up the edges of a round punch like this? Eric

Thanks! I'm pretty sure I have some denatured alcohol around here somewhere... Eric

I'm using alcohol based dye, can I dilute it with paint thinner or more rubbing alcohol? Eric

I just dyed a couple small projects of mine with Fiebing's medium brown dye. The leather seemed to soak it right in and it looks more black than brown at this point, more like a dark brown/black color. When I tried to wipe off the excess, well there was no excess, it really soaked right in! Will it look more brown once it's dried overnight? Eric

So any waxed cotton thread would suffice? I can get ahold of 6 strand cotton thread and wax it myself as I have a brick of beeswax at my disposal... Eric

How did the harness needles work with the tandy thread? Was it easy to thread the needles? I ask because that seems to be my biggest problem right now, using too thick thread with needles having too small an eye. I should look into getting a proper diamond shape awl as well. Eric Thanks! I may have to make another trip to Tandy this weekend... Eric

Thanks guys! I'll have to post a few pics once I turn out something worth sharing with everyone else. Eric