HEy There!
I did up a rope can for my brother in law for christmas, I almost pulled all my hair out! The can had an 8-9oz veggie outter circle about one inch wide with nickle spots. The inside was all hair on, I actually branded his name on the top and brand on the bottom with a four inch concho in the middle. Then I cut an old rope apart and glued it around the very outside. I will post a picture if I figure out how. Hair on looks good but isn't all that easy. You really gotta make sure the hair is all trimmed and going the right way. I don't recomend branding on soft or pliable leather goods as I had already cemented the hide to the can before I branded it so it wouldn't shrink up. I have also done some trial and error stuff with the hair on items. I built one knife sheath and one holster for my ruger single six. Both turned out but neither turned out amazing. The sheath was built out of 8oz latigo with silver spots and by the time i was done it was way to thick (i had too many layers) but I still use it. The holster had far too much hair showing and was weak on the fold and looked like hell, its in the oops bin! With a hair on belt I would start with a chap or garment liner 2-4oz then the hair hide then the tooling leather probably no more than 4-6oz for the top. Leave the liner and hair on glued together as one piece and carefully cut your holes out of the tooling leather to show the hair then do any carving, stamping, spots, conchos etc. on the tooling leather and glue and sew or lace them all together. I haven't been doing this for very long but its only advice!
