snubbyfan

My wife wanted to try pokin' a few stitch holes one day. "Be careful," said I, "that's awl's sharp." First thing she did was jam it directly into her finger. "Don't get any blood on the leather!"

Just make sure the awl's sharp, polished and stropped. Also be careful of where you put your fingers on the back side, that sharp. polished, stropped awl'll go right into a finger. I use pricking irons and give them a good whack with a mallet. That gives me an angled starter hole that helps to guide the awl.

I don't always line but when I do it's usually veg. tan leather. Actually it's more like double layer glued and stitched back to back. Sometimes it's 7 ounce lined with 5 ounce or 5 ounce with 5 ounce or 2 layers of 9 ounce etc. Depends on what I'm making.

That's pretty much the process I use.

I was diggin' through my scrap box today lookin' for a hunk of leather to use for a belt stay and found the first piece of leather I ever stamped, Then and now. The first test scrap and the latest.

Looks good, nice job.

Plywood, masonite, mdf, osb? Any'd last longer than cardboard, make a stable surface to walk on, protect the carpet and be easy to move.

Very nice. I'm a hand stitcher but sometimes when I'm hand stitching a belt, I gotta admit that sometimes I think how convenient a sewing machine'd be.

Those are nice, interesting inlay work.

That's some nice lookin' stuff you got there.

Lookin' forward to seein' it. There's so much leatherworking talent here and on other forums, I'm just trying my best to get somewhere in the same neighborhood of being in their league. Since I can't do the fancy carvin', I pay extra attention the little details.

I'll go this high and only if it's going to be carried on a proper belt.

There was something, I stared at it for a while and I think I got it figgered out. It's the basketweave. I like to overlap my stamping. I feel it helps to tighten up the pattern a little. I'm lookin' forward to seein' the holster finished.

Now that the gun's in it. It looks pretty good. But. Just a couple of personal things about fit and cut. It looks like the rear sight's resting on the holster, I try to cut 'em so they're a little bit clear of the rear sight. The cut of the upper resembles a traditional Mexican Loop holster. This isn't one of mine, it was made by a member of a gun forum I frequent. He's also on this forum but hasn't posted much. He did a beautiful job on this holster but had to reduce the price way below what it's worth to get it to sell. Notice that the cylinder's covered but it's cut down exposing the trigger. It's a traditional design for the Mexican Loop. Personally, I prefer to keep the trigger completely covered. This is one of mine. I just figure it'll help to keep a persons finger off the trigger until ready to shoot. Guns can be deadly and I take great care in my holster designs with safety, secure retention and end use in mind. But they still gotta look good.

A few weeks? Wow, that's beautiful! I'm lookin' forward to seein' what you come up with after a few years.

I have a degenerative peripheral motor nerve condition and I can't maneuver a needle and a stitching awl at the same time. I make all the stitching holes ahead of time. First I'll either mark or groove them depending on what I consider appropriate. Then I'll mark the stitch holes with a pricking iron by puttin' it on the line and givin' it a good whack with a mallet. Then open the holes with a stitching awl.

I've gone to using pricking irons myself. Just put 'em on the stitch line and whack it with a mallet. You can use 'em either with or without a stitch groove. Then open the holes with a stitchin' awl. Generally, I glue the pieces then punch the holes.

Now that's the way to start off a new year, good job.

It's a nice lookin' holster. The stitch lines are straight, the color's good and the design allows a full grip before unholstering. I agree that the stitch lines would look better parallel and to me the bottom would look better either stitched or trimmed. I personally prefer an open bottom holster.

Yup, sellin' the stuff somebody wants helps me to afford what I want.

I'm with the Neatsfoot guys, a little dab'll do ya.

Oh yeah that darned commute out to the shop. First I gotta get out of bed and walk the whole 25 feet then sit at my bench. I just don't see how I can keep it up day in and day out...

I make double layer gun belts. It's not really just lined but two full thickness belts glued and stitched together back to back. After cutting the straps, I lay one aside then cut, slot, punch and skive the buckle end and cut it to finished length. Then I'll make the belt keeper. I'll lay out where the inner layer'll end on the buckle end then I'll predye the seam. The end of the inner layer gets skived, beveled, predyed and burnished where it meets the outer layer. This gives it a smoother transition where it attaches to the outer layer. Then the two straps get glued together back to back. I'll lay out the stitch lines and do any tooling after the glue dries. Tooling after the two straps are glued together prevents the top strap from distorting. After the tooling's done I'll poke the stitch holes by marking them with a pricking iron then making the holes with a stitching awl. Also I'll make the adjustment holes with an oval punch and cut the inner layer to match the outer layer. Then it's time to bevel the edges and dye the belt. Burnish the edges and buff the belt but don't finish coat yet. Sit back, relax and get ready to spend 6 hours or so hand stitching. After the stitchin's done, then it's time to do the finishing work.

It's Happy the New Years Penguin!

Makes me think of a rifle sling I made once. Customer wanted it unfinished, no dye, no top coat, no tooling, just a plain leather strap with raw edges. I was happy to get that thing out of my house. I did manage to give it a little flash with a solid brass polished harness buckle.