TonyV

We're always our own worst critics. Welcome back to the obsession. Your work looks great.

A light application of NFO the day before dying helps restore moisture to the leather, which helps the leather to take the dye. When the dye is dry, buff it with a clean rag before applying top coat.

The design and construction of your pictured piece are what gives it most of its rigidity. It may have some reinforcement of the floor (cardboard or fiberboard), but I suspect the sides and ends are simply just good veg tan. I would think it will develop a measure of softness and give over years of use, but the horizontal pieces at the bottom of the ends and the billets wrapped around the sides add significantly to the stiffness.

Hand-tooled leather birthday cards are always well received. I think they'll do just fine as is. Just a few weeks ago my daughter said "that's the coolest card I've ever received" about a simple silhouette-carved rose and lettering on a 4"x5" piece of scrap. It's the thought and handmade effort that count the most!

If this is a prototype, don't bother trying to finish the inside this time. In future, you can slick the inside with gum trag or tokenole using a glass slicker before gluing it together. I like your idea of lining a future model with goat. Goat is very tough leather. I don't care for suede liners because the fuzz tends to wear off and get into the works of the firearm and I feel that is wears faster, and I don't think it does much to retain the gun. The draw is much easier and slick with a smooth liner.

I like it. The artwork is very well done. I also like the veiner/mules foot border. And the braided hammer strap puts the whole thing together.

I burnish edges with friction and something like water, wax or tokenole til they're slick. I feed my 7.62x39mm and 6.5x55mm magazines with clips. All my other magazines are fed by hand.

Yessir. This works too, in a pinch! Water, spit, beeswax, tokenole, gum tragacanth, saddle soap, neetsfoot oil or any combination of the above. The finishing agent is actually less important, IMO, than good clean cut edges and the application of friction, not pressure, to smooth and polish the leather edge. Sandpaper helps tidy up some rough edges. Burnishing tools include, but not limited to, wooden burnishing tool, plastic burnishing tool, denim or canvas, even the wooden tool handle of an edger. You will find your own preferences and methods.

Beautiful work with some unique style. well done.

I use beeswax on my thread to help reduce fraying, needle tips and awls to ease the stitching, on my hole punches and corner punches. I don't use clicker dies, but if I did, I'd use it on them. In addition to being a lubricant, a small bit of beeswax on the fingertips aids in keeping my grip on the sewing needles, too. I also sometimes use it on my edges, or to slick the flesh side when it's needed. I have seen it used as a finishing coat, as well, but I haven't tried that myself, yet.

Edges are my Achilles heel. Yours ain't perfect but not bad at all. Some folks spend an inordinate amount of time on edges to get them glassy smooth... only to have them fray with a little bit of use. Don't be too hard on yourself because it proclaims the handmade source of the gift. I love the design and the execution is worthy of pride. Lucky son! I grew up playing Scrabble across the table from my mother. It's how she taught us how to improve our vocabulary.

I saw that too. With a round hole punched at the apex of the dart, everything fits together nicely, possibly without wet forming. But wet forming probably wouldn't hurt.

I saw the title "How to Buckstitch" in the Tandy store today, so still available. But as already mentioned, many of those patterns are not. $$ values? Don't know, but there is great intrinsic value in learning how to do things the old way. Keep the traditions alive!

Looks real nice. Store it dry and keep it conditioned and it should last for many, many miles. Did you use saddle leather?

There is a French website for P. Paulin, which is selling shoe polishing compounds and various cleaners and oils, including 'Huile pied de boeuf cuir ' Which I believe translates roughly to Cow foot oil (my mother would be ashamed of my lack of Francais). Try what you have on some non-critical project or 3. I bet it works fine. Catalogue produit P. Paulin Cirage | Revendeur - Distributeur en ligne