St8LineGunsmith

ya there is such a thing as stitching chisels made for making stitching holes not to be confused with lacing chisels then you have flat lacing chisels and diamond lacing chisels and there is also a difference between a stitching awl and a sewing awl, stitching awl haft is the type you use to stab through the leather to make the stitching hole, a sewing awl is the type with a spool of thread and a sewing needle. I learned the difference between these types of tools when I was a saddle makers apprentice as a teenager.

that is a short one most of the collar awls I have seen have long shanks

you can always get a wire brush and brush the nap up to make it look like suede I know what you mean about working on a budget. leather working tools are expensive but a lot of the hardware aint bad take some pics and show us how it turns out

I like it

Thanks Chief!

I was going to suggest what skeeter suggested if the leather is too thick just make a left handed holster for practiceing your tooling one thing .for sure many of us have made that same mistake and once you make mistakes like that you very rarely make them twice. Just chock it up as learning experience

you can sign up for their sales fliers on their website, you can also buy on line from HFT Also when you visit Harbor freight tools and buy merchandise they will put you into their system and you will get monthly sales fliers automatically harborfreight also has what they call the insidetrack club where you can save a whole lot more than just regular customer worth the money if you shop there a lot like I do. I save on the average at least $200.00 per year with the inside track club. pretty much works like the tandy or SLC wholesale club.

Ok here is the revised design of my stitching mule LOL. and while i was piling up wood chips around my drill press and sincei really need a stamp caddy but refuse to pay 40 bucks for a block of wood with a bunch of holes drilled into it I went ahead and drilleda bunch of holes into a block of wood i had laying around that cost me a whopping fiddy cents.and heres what I wound up with.Ya it is crude and not as pretty as the store bought one but works just as good. i said I was going to put in a drawer on the next one i made but i didnt make a drawer. Instead I made a flip top lid. All i did was drilled out the 2X6 with a forstner bit then did the same thing on the lid. turned out to be just the right size little cubby hole for a few stitching tools. I did install a shelf, i think it is low enough not to snag thread seeing since where the shelf is located would be lower than most table top models. I made it where it would hold 2 spools of thread 1 white and 1 black spool I also drilled a hole for a pair of needle nose piers and holes to hold needles should be handy. I zam not quite finished I did not have enough nylon strap so I have to round up a piece and I am also going to install a bar to keep jaw pressure on the jaws without having to hold constant foot pressure on the lever.however i did make this clamp several inches taller, so now this one is just the right height. still need to get some thin leather to cover the jaws. I am going to tandy in the morning for leatherworking class so i will get that tomorrow. hey it is kind of crude looking with all the knotted pine but it should serve its purpose well.

very nice design there

Jim I beg to differ concerning your comment about pre drilling holes being slow and inefficient I am not knocking the old tried and true method of stabbing the stitch holes with a stitch awl it has been done that way for a few centurys and i did it that way for what seemed to be for centurys for me as well however i found using a drill press and flex shaft on a dremel to pre drill all the stitch holes is easier on the hands, less stress and speeds up the process. I think it is more a issue of prefrence other than being a issue of "proper stitching methods" if stabbing and stitching was the proper method then these leather craft kits that tandy puts out needs to be issued a stitching awl instead of pre drilled holes in the leather... ever try to lace a project by the stab and stitch method? no body does it that way for a reason, because it would be hard to do that way and would take forever to lace up a project that way the project is pre punched prior to lacing so then how would pre drilling or pre punching be proper for one method and improper for the other?

Looks like a south paw draw to me Oh wait... what?

Horrik Well see if my subtleness pays off when someone posts some patterns lets put away the sledgehammer and use a 1 pound maul with repeated consecutive taps. tap tap tap tap tap tap... tap tap tap tap tap tap... we keep taping at it long enough someone might get the hint hint.

No hand stitching aint fast in any stretch of the term. I have a method that speed up the process and works out rather well for me, YMMV. 1. I will match up the parts to be stitched together as close as possible then lay out the stitch line and groove the line. I will then mark the stitch holes with my overstitch wheel. 2. I glue the stitch seam and bond the two parts to be stitched up together and allow the glue time to cure. 3. I drill out the holes with a dremel if i am making a saddle stitch. I will use a four hole punch or multiple prong lacing chissel for lacing projects the type of lacing dictates the type of hole making tools I use. I always use a stitching pony and wear gloves with the fingers cut out and stitching palms to push the needles thru and I hold on to a pair of small pliers to grab the needle and awl handy to straighten out any misaligned holes when the needle will not push through. what works well for me may not necessarily work as good for you you might have to make changes in the sequence of procedures for it to work better for you. no two people do things exactly the same way.

I Love all the westerns and I love watching Bonanza, Gunsmoke, High Chaparral, The Big Valley The Virginian, The Rifleman the List goes on. Clint Eastwood is a Great western Icon But The Duke is still King of the cowboys IMO. anyway to get back on topic I am wanting to buy a couple of saddlebag patterns or if i can find some free patterns would be STELLAR I love free if you know what I mean

Doug that price reduction is in one of their sales fliers just get one when you go in and it will have the work bench in the flier on sale they also have some larger punches you might want to grab while you are there. http://www.harborfreight.com/9-piece-hollow-punch-set-3838.html they also have a really nice sewing awl if you use an awl for installing the stitching I like using them on canvas and other heavy fabricks but nothing replaces the good ol saddle stitch on leather. anyway they also have a set of modeling tools I want to pick up too that looks like they would work well for tooling projects.

Thanks for the heads up on the pricing there Chief! I think I need to submit a business tax number to get wholesale pricing and I have noticed they are selling single shoulders of herman oak toling leather for the same price Tandy is selling their econo single shoulders. I am going to have to rethink buying local, It is just I am afraid I will get the culls when ordering on line maybe ordering leather should be a phone order or are they quality concious as to what they send out? regardless I believe SLC has the best pricing on their stamps and other tools.

Absolutley you can start out with a minimal amount of tools and dont have to spend a fortune to get a start once you have the leather in hand you will be suprised what that will do to get the creative wheels to turning in your head And I have to give props to the grumpy old guy for writing up his tutorial. It is spot on and the fork is an excellent stitch spacing tool if you don't want to spring for an overstitch wheel right away.

Mike This has to be one of the best tutorials for someone wanting to get started in leather working and you can apply the same methods and principles to any leather project not just limited to holsters and I have actually used these methods a time or two my self. And I love all the examples you posted BTW Mike

honestly those kits are pricey. you cant go wrong by purchasing a couple of pattern packs and follow the instructions. you can get single shoulders up to 8 oz leather from your local TLF for around 25 dollars and buy the stitching and lacing tools and buy a few tooling stamps like a basket weave design and a border stamp then start from there I think I mentioned getting some scraps to practice your stamping and punching the leather to make sure your stitch lines are working out right. Also you can go by your local Wal mart and visit the craft section and you can pick up contact cement, rubber cement and a product I have found that works well on several types of fabrics including leather called Beacons Fabri Tac you can also pick up utility knifes and blades for cutting out your projects from harbor freight they also have a nice littlr rotary hole punch for punching lace holes later on once you have purchased a collection of the basic tools you can start adding tools as you go and learn. you will want to invest in a good pair of leather shears sooner or later

I like those saddlebags a lot in fact I would like to get some patterns of that style.

Looks very good I think antiquing the leather would enhance the design. but still it looks good in the white with some in laid dye as well.

BAAZING!! I can buy three $6.50 tools at SLC for that price I would have to do an awful lot of hide pounding to get to the point of upgrading to high end stamps.

Hello everyone I thought I would mention that Harbor Freight Tools is having a sale on their 60" hardwood work bench with 4 drawers and a vise on the end for $129.95 this is a really great deal for a very well built work bench I have had mine for several years now and it has served me well from building guitars and guns now on to leather work. they also have a nice rotary punch that looks to be very well made for $6.95 and has a lifetime warranty my old punch was getting a lot of wear so I picked one of these up today It is just as nice if not better than the one I got a while back that I spent almost triple what I paid for this one. anyway if I wear it out quick I will go back to HFT and get a new one

Bump Nice tutorial I like this design.

I like it Ran I have made several holsters similar to this and I always make the patterns with a little extra material around both front and back then trim after I have the project stitched up not sure if that is how Rogueshadow did it tho.