TonyV

Yeah, get the non-adhesive velcro. It's much easier to work with on your machines and sold about everywhere the adhesive type is. Waxed thread in your machine will gunk things up just as bad. If you need to hold the velcro in place while stitching, just use a few sewing pins. Easy peasy. The stitch spacing may need to be adjusted a bit to account for the bulk of the hook n loop. Or just hand sew the velcro so that you have total control of each stitch, which is what I do.

Awfully glad you found a way to stay in the game! And I hope your prognosis includes improvement. Your projects look great and twice as long is twice as nice. Keep it up.

Curved needles are often called mattress needles.

To bevel the edges of belts or any project, you must have a sharp beveler. Also, the leather must be dry. Wet leather and dull bevelers will gouge the edges. A beveler too large for the leather weight will also give you poor results.

Welcome! Leather craft might not keep you out of trouble. Especially if you start looking at some of the more expensive tools

Cleaner... cotton swabs leave fluff behind, foam won't do that.

yeah, edge kote take some practice. Foam swabs can be found on amazon or ebay and come in many different sizes and purposes like hobby, printer cleaning, etc. I use some small fiber optic cleaning swabs left over from an old job for that purpose. I have seen the pencil tip method used to very good effect, but haven't tried it myself. Maybe I will when I run out of swabs. I have had some luck cleaning the edge kote with denatured alcohol and said swabs. It is still a very precise chore. And when all is said and done, you are probably the only one who notices a slight wobble on the straight edge, and that little flaw is what helps it look hand made.

she has an eye for detail and the talent to make it come alive. And your tooling is impeccable. Great teamwork!

I wouldn't do anything about the paint. It's part of the natural "patina" of an old tool that has been well used. And, if, any of these tools happen to be collectible, it may ruin the value. OTH, they're yours, do as you wish. fredk has a good answer. Look at lacquer thinner first before moving on to anything stronger. Repainting might not be worth the expense and work. Might be better off keeping them in the white and use a light oil or wax to prevent rust.

I'm no knife smith so, I would just glue 'em together and wrap 'em in leather ! Please don't hit me :D

try to find an edge (perhaps an internal seam) in which you can see the grain edge-on. If it appears to be all one color, it is probably veg tan. If you can see different colored layers, like a sandwich, it is likely chrome tan.

All valid advise above. There are so many techniques available and you have options to choose and practice with. Fobs are great for learning new skills and methods and I'll add one: Have you tried buffing your finish as the last step? Shining up the outermost face of the piece can make the stamping really stand out.

mmmmm, halibut. My favorite. Grilled with a little lemon and dill. Steak o' the sea. That's a nice holster, too. It can be worn with pride.

I lock it with a square knot between the layers of leather. A correctly made square knot will not come undone under normal circumstances, and the knot gets clamped by the leather when I hammer the stitches. I rarely use glue on knots, but when I do, it's just a tiny dab of white glue.

I've never come across powdered dye for leather. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, though. Try Google. It might not be called "leather dye", though, perhaps something like "pigment". Customizing your dye should be an exercise in experimentation until you develop your own formulas. Fiebings Pro dye is great stuff, but it ain't the only dye brand. There is Angelus and others. You don't need to rely on "Leather Dye" as your only choice, either. I've seen people get good results from fabric dyes, like Rit. Or maybe powder. Another choice, I use good ol' homemade vinegaroon for a dark gray to black finish. My results vary in intensity and tone, depending on the particular piece of leather, but usually comes out a dark charcoal, almost black, which might be close to what you're looking for. For an aged tan look I use very strong black tea, or very strong black coffee to get a good brown color. Walnut husks and other natural make a great dyes, too. Play around with things and have fun!

Nice! I like it, especially the flexibility of wear.

Any chrome tan, suede included, can accelerate corrosion of gunmetal. If you don't want to use bark tan wool, then a good lining is a thin veg tan. It's nice and smooth and compatible with the metal. Also IME, the loose fibers of suede tend to break off and accumulate in the small recesses of the firearm. So I would pay close attention to the cleaning and maintenance of your rifles henceforth.

No need to change the dimensions, just cut slightly outside the pattern line, a 1/8 inch or less, then cut both pieces together to the proper line. That leaves room to cut both pieces together. Alternatively, when you have 2 identical pieces cut 2 layers of leather at once right at the pattern line. If left/right handed, reverse the faces.

lf it were me, I would decide that this is now a practice piece. Looks like I could carefully trim off the overhang witha very sharp knife, then very carefully sand it as smooth as I could. Will take some patience. Then I would slick the edge and decide if it warranted any more judicious sanding. You might get away with trimming and sanding, but you might not. I would anticipate having to make it again, learning from my mistake. Next time cut the edges together, as if they were 1 piece. Leaving a little bit of extra trim space and gluing them together, then making the final cut of both pieces gives a great result. Then make your stitch groove, chisel and sew.

I recently experimented a little bit with molding Crazy Horse leather because my brother wants a pancake holster made of a piece I have. I found that soaking it in hot tap water for a few minutes worked ok. NOt splendid results, but serviceable. Takes longer to dry and the finish appears to fade. I applied NFO and the finish was fairly well restored. Another little experiment was to dry it in the oven at 180F . It came out real hard, but still felt waxy. Definitely not as easily moldable as plain veg, but if you don't expect exactly the same results as regular veg, it can be done. Experiment with your technique before building a project.

I don't worry about it. The copper rivets I use won't get enough verdi gris to worry about. With handling and use, the minor amounts of corrosion gets brushed off. The only time that I have seen big amounts of corrosion on metallic trim on leather is when an article was left wet in a close up container for an extended time. Not to mention; when I topcoat my projects, the rivets and snaps get a coat of the finish. And ain't veg tan leather tanned with tannic acid ?

It may be the leather that's the problem. If you have fibrous leather that's gummng up your very sharp blades, I think it's not very good leather. But, we work with what we have. All I can say is make sure your blade is well-stropped, work on a hard surface and use patience.

yeah, hobbies are like that. Spend a couple hundred bucks on tools and supplies and build it myself with amateurish results because I don't want to spend 50 bucks for a professionally made whatever-it-is. But at least I have the pride of DIY!

I don't need another holster, but I'm making one for myself regardless. Treat yourself

If only I had a horse...