ramrod

i bought a rather extensive set off of ebay about 10 years ago. the auction said that they were from the WWll era. no way to tell if that is true. but they are very nice. hardly used. no markings on them, though. the walgreen's option looks like it is a good buy.

excellent thread. i've found that i'm averaging about 4x the length of the project as stated a couple of times here. if you use too long of a thread at once, it gets a bit too hard to handle - along with it getting ratty looking.

that is gorgeous, and i love the color. you did a great job on this.

wow! i like that bag! very nice design....and nothing you spoke of looks like an afterthought to me. it shold hold up very well. i'm looking to make something similar.

that is beautiful! how do you attach the ends to the leather? are they crimped on?

nice tip, impulse. i want to look for tack shop around here to see if they have any brass keepers. that would negate trying to make them.

ah, yes.....those are what i'm talking about. you bought those? where? i've been wanting to use something like that, but haven't found a source.

the keepers in your 6th picture in your link above. your video is shown using flat stock, but how did you make the keepers using the brass in the 6th picture?

nice....but how do you do the round keepers? gotta see that one.

isn't that model used to sew matresses?

i'll bet you're right, dirt......it's easy to solder a coin to a snap or a copper rivet (for instance). i'm betting that's similar to what was done here.

very nice. a great idea with that pin.

RW thank you for the thread. i've been wanting to make this one, but just haven't gotten around to it. but now i know what to do to make it better. are you thinking 4-5 oz chap and maybe 7-8 oz tooling leather would make this one right?

i've actually thought about starting a thread about this. i've had this problem for a long time. all of the snaps that i set have that mark on the top. i always thought that i was being too heavy handed. i will try to grind down the post a bit and see what happens.

ummmm.....don't forget us aprilia riders, jimbob. you got it half right with mention of the laverdas. LOL

o.k.....here goes. you'll probably see this reply a lot. get al stohlman's book on how to hand stitch leather. i think it's called "the art of hand stichning leather". he has an example of making a dice cup. the tutorial is exactly like you are inquiring about. i made it myself (a long time ago). if memory serves me, i think i used a curved awl. both the base and the wrap were bevelled on a 45 degree angle so they fit together well. i made a stitching groove in both parts and wheeled my spacing at 6 stitches per inch. bear in mind that the circumferences are different on both pieces, so i'd mark only the wrap with the stitch wheel. stohlman even shows you how to transfer sewing from the bottom to the side. a good read. does that help?

that is sweet!! nice photography, too. you can posess a pistol in sweden?

here goes - my first time posting ANYTHING with pictures. this is a phone case for my LG vortex. it's made of scrap - like most everyone probably does . the dye is a color that i made up myself - i can't remember what it consists of. i only know that i'd like a bit more yellow in it.

very nice. i've always wanted to make a good looking pair like these. you do really nice work.

what a great read. i think we're not ready for metric over here. we haven't even learned how to spell yet. have you ever noticed how everyone seems to use an apostrophe for everything? "i have to take my kid's to school" "that hotel has jacuzzi's in there room's" "my car need's brake's" rant over.

it's a novel idea and it might work. i'm not sure what a concentration of oil would do to the leather, though. i, for one, just want that smell of nothing but leather. lol

yes, this is an interesting thread. i have not reached the point where i can say "oh, yeah, this one is the best i've ever done"...... "i can't top this one" and so on. every belt i complete, or the biker chaps that i'm about to finish, i always seem to say " probably this one is gonna be nice" or "i like this and this about this piece, but it's only o.k." - yet someone is giving me a lot of money to make it for them. so they must really like something about what i've just made. all of this has brought me to this dilemna: i end up GIVING almost all of my stuff away beacuse i'm not totally convinced that anyone would buy it. in fact, i gave my brother a belt about a month ago. (i really owed him for some favors so i kind of made it up by giving him this belt that he really liked.) anyway my point: when he went back home, he started showing it around. one guy HAD to have one like it. my brother said "hey! for 60 bucks he'll make one for you" i got an order for a belt. here's the irony: had i been there when this guy looked at my brother's belt, i would have probably said "charles, i'll make one for you" and probably never even mention price to him. it took SOMEONE ELSE to make a sale for me because they thought my stuff was worth selling. i gotta get over being my own worst critic. it's crippling me. i'll take your advice, bruce.......pictures, pictures, pictures. i've got to start taking more.

wow! guys! thanks for the info. i'm with you on the hole spacing hidepounder - 5 holes at 3/4" apart. unless it's for me. then it's 3 holes. it's just something i do. o.k.....it gives me a start - 7" from the hole to the tip. i just measured my own belt. it's 8" to the tip. that was siimply by accident. i just eyed it up and it looked right.

i have a question that i'm sure the belt making pros can answer. when making a belt ( of any size) what length do you make the tail? - the part past the last hole thet goes into the belt loop. i've wondered if there is what's considered a proper length to provide for the customer. i've seen them quite long in some cases.

thanks for the tip, drphil. i will try that with the neatsfoot oil. could i still use atom wax as a finisher over the neatsfoot oil? interesting thought about using a neutralized solution. you could give it a try on some scrap and see what happens.