St8LineGunsmith

I use waxed nylon thread it is very strong and don't fray or fuzz up.

I use a thread spool on a drill clamped down in a vise to burnish the edges of my leather I will coat it with some bees wax as it spins and rub bow rosin on the edges of the leather then go to town burnishing the edges cheap and works great.

I think you are on to something here and the rock as a stamping tool is a great idea I will have to give it a try on a project. I think the pic holster the Op uploaded has a nice look to it BTW

LMAO that is funny stuff tight there buddy

oops sorry for the previous post, i see your method is similar to mine. do you glue the join at the stitch line before holeing? if not your two pieces of leather may be shifting enough to make it harder to align the holes when making the needle passes which ill make it harder for the needles to pass through the leather, plus the cemented joint keeps the piece from separating if you get a busted stitch and I think helps to prevent stitching from busting and coming unraveled. you cant help that stitching does wear in time that can cause the stitch to deteriorate to the point it will eventually wear into but the remedy for stitch wear is to make a stitch groove but you probably already know that. just throwing that out for the reader who might be starting out and not know. now they know but Ya a slightly larger hole will make it a little easier for the needles to pass through. then dunk the stiched part in water will make the leather swell around the stitch and shrink the stitch slightly tighter with some threads when the water dries. you can also make awls out of pieces of piano wire sharpened on the end to pass through the stitch hole to slick down the fibers in the hole this will make less friction on the needles. piano wire comes in a multitude of sizes so you can make any size haft you might need. the larger sizes are also great for making stamp tools and modeling tools. EDIT: now that I am thinking about it a piece of sharpened piano wire could possibly be used as a bit to make stitch holes with a dremel tool I hear of some people of using needles in their dremel to use as a drill bit for making stitch holes so I am sure a piece of super sharp piano wire would work even better for I think piano wire is harder steel than sewing needles and will hold that sharp point better. just a few thoughts I wanted to share.

you are thinking about a sewing awl I have one but rarely use it this one is as good as any oothers the market plus about 15 bucks cheaper http://www.harborfreight.com/quick-stitch-sewing-awl-91812.html sewing awls are good for making loop stitches in heavy fabric like canvas and light leathers like upolstry leather and makes a good stitchbut not the best tool for heavy gun leather the other posters who already posted gave sage advise. a sharp dimond shaped sewing awis old school method but very effective method however dremmel tools make the task of making stitching holes 100 times easier and faster here is my procedure for stitching first I will make the stitch line with dividers then I will groove the stitch line then I will use an over stitch wheel tomake my tstitch hole spacing thenI will use rubber cement or barge cement or sometimes 3M 77 spray adhesive to glue the stitch line then I will clamp the two pieces to be stitched together and allow the glue time to cure then I will use a dremel and drill all the stitch holes with a bit the same size as the needle shaft Ialso use the dremel if two corosponding holes become disaligned. I think you will like this method because you cant beat a saddle stitch.

use olive oil if you want a light smelly finish olive oil gets kind of rancid after time neatsfoot oil makes a bit darker tint, Never heard of leaving leather out in the sun to get a darker tint but if you leave it out in the sun too long will it turn red and peel a few days later?

I had a test done about three months back and discovered I have carpul tunnel in both wrists and a nerve block at the elbow my last two fingers on my right hand are numb .

Tandy has the left and right stamp for $5.00 each and since it is for scouting it will be discounted with your troops tax number

Bearman I am also interested to see what you have maybe you could put together a list and post it here Thanks Mike

bev go ahead and mark off the cross stamp as sold also

Mike thats about the size bit i use too and a dremel and drill bit speeds up the stitching process 100 times faster than stabbing through with an awl haft. many will argue but i think it makes a cleaner neater looking stitch line and i find that you stand less of a chance cutting into the leather when pulling the stitch tight than with a diamond shaped stitching awl. I do believe a stitching awl has its place but i am a lot more apt to using one for lacing than making a saddle stitch Mike.

I buy from my local tandy leather factory store. it saves me money to keep from paying shipping charges and since i am on a tight budget i use economy tooling half shoulders and I can pick through what I want and not have to settle for what an online vendor sends me.

Katsass you give sage advice I agree with everything you advised in all of your posts not that my opinion matters much but advice well worth listening to just looking at your stitch work on your projects should be enough indication that you know exactly what you are talking about. and your methods are very close to the same as how i prep a stitch line and stitching however i rarely use an awl for making my stitch holes i usually use a drill press or a dremel and a small numbered drill bit but i always glue my seams and make sure the leather is dry before making any holes i especially like using a dremel on holsters with thick welts i can make good straight accurate holes with ease I also feel the same about tandy leather factory, they are no where near the caliber they once was. it seems to me the quality went down when the prices went up I also use Springfield for buying most of my leather tools and hardware

I bought a seeder, Pear shader, Beveler,, backgrounder, veiner, camoflauge and a swivel knife for 25 bucks the tools look to be pretty good quality but like you I have not used the tools yet. the swivel knife barrel is smaller than what I am accustomed to but feels pretty good in my hand however it is a cheap non adjustable knife that I will be replacing ASAP I just bought it because I needed one to get started back carving and am in a pinch but it should suffice until I can afford a tangle boss. so many tools so little money

first thing to do is gain basic knowledge of how to work leather I would first start out by studying this online text book that covers a vast area of leathewcraft also you can learn a lot by watching the video tutorials tandy leather factory has on their website there are a lot of other video tutorials on leather craft on youtubeI would learn everything I can on how to stitch and lace leather I would also encourage you to learn how to tool and stamp leather fifty dollars will not go very far but it will be a start I would suggest gettinga basic stamping tool set like the one I linked to below http://springfieldleather.com/29331/Stamping-Tool-Set%2CSLC-Basic-10/ you can often find these starter sets at Ebat and amazon at a discount so it pays to shop around You will also need stitching tools these tools can also be found at ebay and amazon you will need dividers for making stitch lines, a adjustable groover, a overstitch wheel needles waxed cord a chisel for punching stitch holes a stitching awl or if you have a dremel tool you can make holes with a small drill bit, you can pick up hole punches at harbor freight tools they also sell a stitching awl pretty cheap that is just as good as the expensive ones they also have some modeling tools that will be handy for tooling just look around at diffrent types of tools and see if they can apply to leather crafting. you will need a stitching pony but you can make one of those for next to nothing. you will also need to get snaps and fasteners, buckles and other types of hardware depending on which hardware a certain project will require. once you have some of the basic tools you will need to buy the leather you will also need to know which weight of leather you will need for the type of project you want to make stuff like holsters and belts I use 8 to 9 ounce and belts need to be 10 Oz or thicker stuff like wallets 4 to 5 oz you can usually pick up half shoulders for anywhere from 25 to 50 dollars depending on the weight and quality You should expect to pay roughly 200.00 to get the necessary tools and leather to get a good start in the leather craft and expect to buy more tools as certain projects will require. I hope this helped.

I will take these Items if still available send me a PM and give me payment terms. Craftool Adjustable Groover 8074-00 5.00 · A103 – Seeder · A104-background · X514S-basket weave · B200-beveler · C770-camouflage · V407-veiner · U855-mule foot · U853-mule foot · U851-mule foot · CRS-3-cross

Rawhide your writeup is very good however I have to disagree with you about using a drill press or dremel tool to make stitch holes and you can get very small drill bits that will not make the holes too big and it is just as easy to get an awl out of line stabbing through two thick pieces of leather . gluing together the two pieces and keeping the stitch line as close to the jaws of the stitching pony/horse clamp as possible is also important to keep uniform holes when stabbing or drilling through leather. in my opinion the overstitch wheel and a good straight stitch line is the most important factor in having uniform stitches I do also agree the saddle stitch is one of the strongest stitches you can make, far stronger than a loop stitch. these are just my opinions and what i found out by trial and error as to what works best for me, YMMV.

if you make something with a jackass logo for your own personal use or as a gift then it is fine but to make items to put on an open market would be considered copy right infringement of the use of the logo without expressed written consent from the owner of the copyright.as far as the tandy kits are concerned if you buy a kit and make what is in that kit then sell it you have broken no copyright laws because tandy has marketed it to sell to the public after you buy the kit you can do what ever you please with it . now where the copyright infringement would come into play with something like this is if you were to mass produce the kits using the exact patterns and boxing them to sell as a kit.

As I mentioned in another thread I would like to have one of the new tangle boss swivel knifes I think it is revolutionary in swivel knife designs and when i am financially able I am going to get one

If I was going to drop a lot of money on a swivel knife I would get a tangle boss

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Beacons fabritac works good for bonding stitch lines there are a few other glues and contact cements that can be used in a pinch in the crafts department at Wal Mart if you are not in a hurry silicone works good for a flexible bond. these are a few common glues that can be found pretty much any place.

Not sure if this has ever been posted before but... I found this great website and thought I would post the link this site covers a broad spectrum of leathercrafting it goes in depth on lacing which leather weights are best suited for pretty much everything a beginner would need to know in order to get a good start in the craft of leatherworking. http://www.kingsmerecrafts.com/index.html

different strokes for different folks. I think Chief summed it up pretty good