NVLeatherWorx

I always rewax my theads and only with pure beeswax. The poly will outlast linen and I have never seen any information that linen can last as long as you have indicated; in fact, it only has a tensile strength about 25psi and after about 10 years it is pretty ratty (even less for those who don't maintain their personal items, which is a large majority of people). Poly cord does not have a transition point as it is a single strand of material which eliminates the need to add to the material as it is "woven" into the final product. Linen, cotton, and nylon threads are all manufactured much the same as yarn is; it is a series of shorter length strands that are woven together at the ends (transition points) to create a longer stranded product. This is the same way that leather lace is manufactured as well; every so many yards there is a splice where they have continued to attach various lengths of material to create the larger spool or huge roll that the end consumer purchases. Poly cord is not manufactured this way which is why it is much stronger and longer lasting. Regarding the heavy feel of wax on threads; if I feel that there is too much I just pull my thread through some denim or canvas to draw out any excess; works like a charm.

I can safely say that once you give it a try you won't look at stitching thread in the same light; I do however use Maine Thread as my primary product as it is just a high quality as Tiger and it is made right here in the U.S. and I prefer to support an American business than one from somewhere else. The colors of Maine Thread are somewhat different than what most have become accustomed to but I am not a fan of the gaudy bright stuff anyway so the more subtle and unique tones that Maine Thread offer are better suited to my personal tastes and that of my client base. Give it a try if you get the chance. There are some sellers on Etsy that offer up to a 40m spool for $12.50 with several supplier options to choose from. I also know that the Buckle Guy (buckleguy.com) sells Tiger and Maine Threads and he is in Massachusetts.

I too respect the job that law enforcement and EMS do and they do put themselves out there every day. However, Harry is right when it comes to the comparison and how improper it is to put us all in the same category. I spent 24 years of my life on Active Duty as a combat operator in the U.S. Army with 18 of those years being away from my immediate family and 10 of those years away from my wife more than 90% of that time. I served from 1981 to 2006 and EVERYTHING that popped off around the globe I was sent to with multiple trips to the majority of them. I would do it all again if I could go back do so but for anyone to say that my service, or that of my fellow operators, is equivalent to that of law enforcement, EMS, or anything else here on the outside is just plain ridiculous and shows how uninformed and inexperienced in the real world some are. We all put ourselves out there in a different fashion and we do so willingly but we aren't all on the same ground. I have left blood and flesh of my own on some of the other countries around the world yet I still stayed in that line of business; show me anyone on the outside in a lower level role that has done the same and would still put everything into it on a daily basis while being separated for months on end from their loved ones. All the respect in the world for the rest of you but we are not the same or even close to equal.

It is made from a series of continuous strands of braided poly that is pretty much the strongest thread available for saddle stitching and it stands up to UV and other natural elements much better than anything else. Tiger thread also is a flat braid so it can lay down flat when stitched, provided you actually pay attention to the lay of the thread in the first place that is. The only other thread that matches the characteristics of Tiger is Maine Thread Co. and their polycord which I put in the exact same class as Tiger. The bulk of the remaining threads are a series of twisted strands of nylon, cotton, or linen which are not made from single strands but a series of strands that have been twisted together to create the length of the run. Polycord is manufactured from materials that allow it to be formed into a single strand as long as you need it to be and that is the most critical thing when it comes to hand stitched items; regular threads will wear at their transition points (where one strand has been melded with the other) and fail, even if you used the saddle stitch method. Do these two premium threads cost more? Yes, but when you start talking quality you either understand what it truly means or you don't. And I can also tell you from my vast years of experience in this trade that when a "great deal" comes along that offers a large amount of thread on a single spool for pretty much next to nothing there is no real deal in it; you will find that the materials will fail, they will fade, and you will be repairing things in relatively short order. I still see some of the things that I made back in the late 70's (and this was before poly threads were out there) that don't even show any wear of the thread and that is because I spent the extra money on the finest threads available at the time to ensure the longest lasting product that I could. Even then I was paying over $10.00 per spool for just over 200 yards and that was high for that time. But it has paid off more than I could have even wanted it to. The bottom line is that the "hype" is actually factual and proven results with the information coming from the wide range of craftsman and Master Makers that actually use the product in their works; hype is merely the corporate "Sunshine Line" that is intended to get you to buy it and try it.

Regarding the keeper, the suggested method is to use the same weight leather as the belt itself to maintain visual consistency; with that said, I typically use in the range of 5 to 6 oz. leather and I give it a width of between 1/2" and 5/8" so it doesn't look too bulky. No matter what thickness of leather you use always make sure that the overall length of the strip that will become your keeper should not be any longer than what is necessary to allow two layers to fill the space. Best method to ensure that you have the right amount is to take two pieces of the belt leather that you use and in the width that you use and glue them together. Then you want to take a strip (your desired width) of the leather you have chosen for your keeper and wrap it around the sizing fixture that you just created and mark the location where the cut ends will meet, cut the leather, finish it as desired/required, stitch (or staple with leather staples) and install. The keeper should not look overly large or out of place; appearance in belt styling is critical and I have found that the look is more important than anything else in the mind of today's "savvy" fashion oriented consumers. (There is a joke there somewhere.) Just be careful to not make your keeper too thin as it will not provide you the function that it is intended to if you do. Bottom line is that you will need to figure out what works best for you and looks best on your finished product and then stick to that final selection across the board.

Just remember, as you gouge out from the back that you are actually making the leather thinner which means a bit of the strength is removed as well as a result. Have you considered just punching two holes at the same location with an overlap? It creates more of a "pill" looking shape but it should do the trick. The buckle tine is where the bulk of any stresses to the leather are applied so you want to maintain your thickness as much as possible to ensure as little "stretch" as possible.

That thing is a long gone product which might prove very difficult to obtain. I am sure that someone out there may have it but they may not even be hanging out in places like this. Good luck with your quest and I hope you find what you are looking for.

@craftsman827: have you ever considered using the waxed braided poly-chord from Maine Thread Company? They aren't too far from your location, the product is equivalent (or better) than Tiger (which I really love by the way) and it doesn't cost as much as Tiger. It does cost more than what you have paid but the quality is far better and they actually make the threads/cords right there; nothing foreign made about it. And they have one hell of a color scheme as well.

Not sure if any of them are offered in the same fashion as what you have but you can get some "collection" Craftaid's that include some elements from them. The Craftaid of today is not as good as they once were so I still spend all of time with tracing sheets and the other old school stuff as it the way I have done it since I started; can't seem to want to fix something that ain't broken.

Don't know what leather you are using but I have never had this type of shiny/plastic look from either of these products. They may give the leather a slight sheen but no more than if you were to use these same products as your final sealer. Guess you will have to shop around and experiment yourself at this point as these are the two "go to faithfuls" in our toolbox.

I have been using the Deluxe Snap and Rivet Setting tools for decades without issue but it isn't necessarily the tool as much as the technique. I am sure that some here are going to chime in of their use of the hand setting press and this and that die but unless you are looking to spend several hundred dollars on a piece of equipment that you will most likely not use very often the hand setting route is the best way to go. I have been hand setting for over 40 years and there are days when I can end up setting over 200 assorted rivets and snaps (and those are frequent) without an issue at all. Just like everything else with this trade, you have to learn how much is required to accomplish what you are looking to do and then refine that until it becomes second nature. Nobody in this trade or craft has ever just grabbed a swivel knife and created a flawless work of art, they have practiced and continued to learn and refine those skills to create some beautiful works but they would admit themselves that they still have a lot to learn.

I use them religiously on the thinner leathers as they are more forgiving and versatile than the Line 20 or 24 which are both for thicker leather anyway. It actually takes very little force or "hammering" to set the Segma's, especially on thinner leather. I just set 4 about 10 minutes ago on 3 to 4 oz. veg-tan. These are the snaps that us "old timers" started with so we have had plenty of time to get them figured out. You may want to take a few and mark them off for use as "practice/sample" and then tinker with them until you find the right balance of "hammering" required to set them the way you are looking to achieve. They are actually the easiest snaps to set of all of them because they are so basic in their design. I would just suggest that you practice a bit more and get a good feel and result from them or, if the the leather is thicker (4 to 7 oz.) you can use the Line 20's.

For the future you may want to purchase your snap components from Ohio Travel Bag as you actually purchase each piece separately which allows you to buy a range of shaft lengths to accommodate every thing you will need. To ensure you have adequate security when set you should at having at least 3/32" of shaft penetrating into the corresponding clasp/ring before you set it. OTB has a few options that make it easier to meet these needs and these apply to both their Line 20 and Line 24 series snap parts. When you purchase your snaps from any other source you are just paying them for whatever set make-up they have put together into one bag and have to hope that it was done with some forethought (which rarely is the case). Good luck with your endeavors.

You could try a piece of old denim; wet it up a bit (not too much) and then wipe them down a bit if you can. Try this while wearing them and see how much, if any, residue that you can pull off from the leather. You can also try giving them a good brush down with a stiff bristle brush (like a scrub brush or firm fingernail brush) and get all of that excess fiber that is hanging around among the rest of them; that sometimes helps a lot to cut down on the leftovers. Like I indicated earlier, suede is an animal all unto itself and there are a different set of rules for it. One of the biggest reasons that suede isn't used much is because the looseness of the fibers allows for all of the dirt and oils that come from the environment and hands/skin to get trapped in the fibers which then turns into slick spots (ever noticed the "wear" spots on old suede shoes or jackets? It isn't wear, it is dirt and oils that can't come out) and can also lead to potentially making everything else it touches dirty and grimy as well. Give the two methods above a try and see if it helps. Good luck and hope you have a great special event.

The gasoline will never be truly out of the leather, it is like any other petroleum based product, once it is there it ain't goin' anywhere else. Another side effect from using gasoline is that the other chemicals contained in the formula will dry the leather out to a point where the amount of conditioning you would need to replenish the leather would make it unusable for anything. Sorry. Suede has always, and will always, have the inherent issue of not holding all of the color that has been infused into it during the dyeing process. Over time it will release that amount which has never really taken hold and it will eventually quit leaving residual dye behind. Going forward, I would recommend that you use a thin pigskin lining as your liner of choice and make sure that the grain side is faced out (just like your base leather is). There are several options for pigskin which include dyed as well as veg-tan (I use the veg-tan and dye it whatever color I want) that can help you with this. By merely dyeing the flesh of the leather you might find that it too will bleed some if the flesh side has a little more fuzzy suede looking appearance than normal, the fuzzy fiber structure is the cause of this issue as there is only so much space for the dye to soak into and once it is full it has nowhere else to go.

Sounds like you have it in the bag on this one. I prefer to use Leather Balm with Atom Wax on the grain side of my works and also use the 50/50 Resolene and water formula to seal the grain. Weather here today actually turned out quite nice and guess we will see the 80's again this weekend but it feels like we are going to go cooler from there, as it should be for this time of year. Shoot some pics of the finished project; looking forward to see it.

I typically do not apply my Neatsfoot Oil until the dye has been done and dried for no less than 24 hours. Just make sure that you have buffed off any remaining pigment residue first as it will make an extra interesting mess if you don't. I do my oil after dye/stain/Antique because of the spirits contained within the products that help to further dry the leather out a bit.

The oils from the wax (and of course the Neatsfoot Oil) are bleeding your colors out of the leather, this happens when you use water-based products and haven't sealed it yet. I didn't see anywhere in your process where you sealed it. For the future you may want to consider using spirit based dyes/stains as they have a much more permanent penetration into the leather. You will always see some rub-off after applying dyes but that is typically the remaining residues/pigments that you are removing; water based products tend to have much more pigment solids in them and they don't quite penetrate as deep; couple that with adding more liquids (waxes, oils, etc.) and you will always have the issues that you are having.

JLS nailed it with the thicknesses but if it is being carved or stamped then you should go with the 4/5 oz. but cut it from the belly for the extra soft feel (if you are cutting from the hide of course).

The European Single Bends are not too bad at all and the Oak-Leaf veg-tan (sides and/or shoulders) are okay as well. Biggest issue that you may run across is during the dye/stain process which may give you some uneven take-up on the initial application; I typically end up giving these leathers at least 2 applications of my dyes/stains/Antiques to get an even look. I too use HO for everything unless I need a quick pick leather that is not as critical based on the details of the project/order at hand. I source my HO from The Hide House in Napa, CA and get it for about $7.95/sft; the Oak-Leaf and European Bends are typically much more than that (even at the business/wholesale rate that I get with Tandy) unless you can get them on a special buy. All of my supplies are purchased at wholesale (even from Fiebing's); helps to keep business expenses/costs down so I can actually try and make a little profit from the endeavor.

And those funny little sponge tipped swabs that women use for eye shadow do a great job as well; you can buy those by the ton through Amazon or even get a large package of them at any store in the Cosmetics section. I have been using those for years.

Oh, the Engineering math! Make it stop! I remember those equations from days as an Army Engineer (and later my Masters program) and I always use them when working out design issues on the table. I too do all of my design work on paper with the basic "hand tools" of the trade. Once I have a finished design it then gets transferred to cardboard (using the same hand-drawn methods) which is used to create a mock-up of the intended finished item. If all looks as it should then the next step is to actually cut the leather and make the real deal happen. I often get told that my process takes way too much time and energy that I could save a large amount of if I just went with a computer design program and I always have a reply: "there is no computer design program alive that can replace the results obtained by putting my design style and flow into a functional finished product; custom designs are an extension of our personality and each one portrays a different piece of that personality; a computer only gives you lines without a soul." That pretty much shuts them up and has them scratching their heads. It is true that in today's society the "personal values" (couldn't find anything better) of the common employee are not just lacking, they are non-existent as they have been told their entire life that they are special and/or unique and that they are entitled to whatever they want or can dream of. I have been around for a few years and yet to have any of my dreams (literally) come true but I have achieved several things that I have desired over this time and it was all from hard work; nobody gave me a thing that wasn't worked for and earned. It would be nice if some of the younger generation would wake up and actually want to learn from some of us Old School thinkers and doers but I don't think that they are capable of doing anything other than walk around with their heads in their 5th point of contact thinking that they are entitled to the world that we, and those before us, have created for them. Soap box dusted off now.

I too get my stamps/marks from Grey Ghost Graphics and I can honestly say that they give a cleaner, and deeper, impression than ANY metal stamp or acrylic plate and I use the full sized version that requires you to use your mallet and whack the you know what out of it. I highly recommend Grey Ghost for your makers marks/stamps.

Give a look at the Leathercraft Library (belongs to Tandy and is only online) and you can actually download a simple PDF file from them (for free I believe it still is) about how to use their Eco-Flo product lines to achieve all kinds of finishes and techniques. The method that you are looking with the multi-toned elements is called "resisting" and it is a multi-step process. This technique, and several other of the most popular and artistically attractive ones, are covered within that book. You can use the basic instructions to work with any products as long as you know how the product is intended to be used in its normal state. There is much available throughout these forums as well. Good luck, and don't hesitate to ask for help if need be.

You are quite welcome. I know what you mean about the design time but I have it down to about 30 minutes (start to finish) for a new wallet design and I keep all of my designs as a hard copy once the first one has been made. I even have permanent templates for some of the more frequently requested items and that cuts a bunch of time out of the equation. I have never, nor will I ever, used eBay as it is really not a marketplace for anything of true quality, regardless of whether it made by a hobbyist or a business professional and the bulk of the items I find there, and Etsy has this issue as well, are mass produced junk that has either been purchased from a foreign country for resale or is actually directly sold from a foreign country. Once in awhile I do find a U.S. based maker with some skill but not very often. Keep up your good work, nice looking holsters on your Etsy page. Hope to see some new stuff coming from you and if you ever just want to chat, you know where to find me.