St8LineGunsmith

heres a diagram and a pic of my stitching mule it is pretty simple to build. I used a forsner bit with a drill press and a wood chisel to slot the 2x.6's heres a pic of the one I have now and it is the best one I have used IMO here is the original design

http://bighousedaddy.com/

Welcome to leatherworker.net from one Georgia Boy to another I am in the north west part of the state, where are you located? congrats on the gator hope to see something you made out of it soon.

I am sorry but I don't really care how good a burnisher works when it is way over priced. I can get a good burnished edge with a wooden spool chucked into a drill press.

use 8-9 oz veg tanned leather for a shoulder rig thinner straps will conform to the curvature of the body better than wide straps if you want a wide strap you will have to contour the strap for it to fit around the curve of the shoulder and back correctly otherwise you will get bulges and pooches in the strap. narrow width straps just wear better than wide straps.

I use a safety beveler, a skiving knife and a sander for skiving. the trick to using the safety beveler is to dampen the the side of the leather that is to be skived do not saturate the leather just damp enough that the leather becomes damp at the surface if you need to skive off more leather you may want to spray a little more water on the project the blades stay sharper longer by using water also a french edger works wonderfully for skiving and beveling edges also.

out of all my head knives, round knives and skiving knives my most used knife is a folding lock back razor knife I got from Harbor freight the blades are thin and very precise and the blades can be stroped to be sharper than the factory edge and if you do finally dull a blade beyond its usefulness just slide a new blade in to replace the old one. then I do as dwight mentioned I burnish the edges with an electric belt sander and or drum sander. this process often requires additional edge beveling to remove the excess edge build up from sanding.

there was the hand of God rig now there is a reaper rig not my taste but hey whatever the customer likes and you pulled it off well

I agree with Chief 100% a lot of the most essential tools you will need you possibly already have or can obtain from the local hardware store I get a lot of my tools from harbor freight tools you will need that are very inexpensive. these are also the tools of the craft I find most useful cutting board 1. Folding lock back razor knife 2. small framing square 3. steel straight edge and ruler 4. wing dividers 5. punch 6. stitching kit 7. lacing chisel you will need a single prong also 8. lacing needles 9. keen edge beveler 10. skiving knife 11. strap cutter you will need snap and rivet setters and hardware you will need dyes and finishes you will need a slab of marble or granite for tooling and stamping and setting which you can get cheap enough from a place that sells marble and granite counter tops. and of course a basic carving starter set. from that point you can add what you need as you go I would recommend buying through Springfield leather to get started the least inexpensively and join their wholesale club, you will save a substantial amount right off the bat call them to join they will set your web account so you can see your wholesale price when you sign in to your account.

watch Dangerous beans make the saddle stitch this is how to do the saddle stitch the right way http://youtu.be/TGuiha5S2oE

as long as you are placing the stitches in correct sequence then you don't need to make the knot. despite popular belief the knot don't make the stitch any stronger but ya the pricking iron will have no effect whatsoever on the result you are trying to achieve. the pricking irons only purpose is to mark an evenly spaced stitch hole line. FYI you can still get a nice herring bone effect on your stitching with a grooved stitch line as long as you stay in sequence.

regardless of your method of how you decide to mark your stitch spacing the trick to getting a nice stepped stitch all depends on the how the stitches are placed in relation to the direction of the slant of the diamond awl hole. step 1 & 2. I stab and make first stitch from the left with the slant of the diamond to the top at 45 degree angle looking forward. step 3. the second right hand stitch is placed to the bottom of the diamond hole. repeat steps 1,2 and 3 this will establish the stepped herring bone pattern.

I am the Poly Grip Kid the local club is Tennessee Mountain Marauders there is a shoot this Saturday at Mystery Dog Ranch There is another club in Flintstone GA called American Old West Cowboys

I see them all the time at SASS matches. Nice work.

when I am making loop or paddle holsters I use 8-9 oz veg tan when I make pancake holsters I use 6-7 oz veg tan when I make a lined loop or paddle type holster I use 6-7 oz veg tan and line it with 2-3 oz veg tan I usually buy from Springfield and I use HO as well but when I buy leather I always call in my order and specify to the operator that I want a select piece. I usually buy a whole side at a time, that way I can pull off several gun belts and there is always less waste with a side than with a single or double shoulder I have recently started buying leather locally from American Saddlery here in Chattanooga they sell Sho Tan leather which is really nice leather I never used Wickett and Craig leather so I cannot comment on its quality but I have heard it is a very premium leather.I think that Weaver sells W&C

According to all the diversity of the comments made how the individual holster maker wet forms a holster there is no set in stone method in order to achieve the same end result. one thing that is for sure a necessary part of any wet forming procedure is the leather must be wet, period Every other step is pretty much at the discretion of the maker.

ya the 8082 is a piece of crap IMHO here is the one you want V gouge and it is easy to sharpen and keep sharp

My local TLF actually has a very knowledgable staff. some employees have been there back when it was still just the leather factory back when Ron was still the man in charge. the only issue I have with TLF is their ridiculous pricing.