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Alex, thank you for detailed description. I will definitely try it in one of my future projects.

Nice job, I really like the colors. Did you use 2 different dyes here? Could you share the technique - how did you apply them?

I have recently finished this small utility bag/box to store my 2 way radio, flashlights and miscellaneous chargers for small electronic items when I travel. I have already had a chance to field test it and found it to be very convenient. It is 8-9 oz veg tanned leather. Fiebing's Saddle tan professional oil dye. Ritza 25 (Tiger Thread) 0.8mm in Colonial Tan. The handle came out darker by accident - I have messed up an original handle that was cut out of the same piece of leather. I had to make another one and put more layers of dye than on the original handle. But I decided to go with it and liked the contrast it gives.

Very nice looking set.

I agree, an awl blade makes a huge difference. I used 1.75" John James Harness Awl Blade in my awl (you can see it in the picture). The awl itself was made by me and based on a design by a forum member "slipangle". You can read more about it is his thread.

The buckle I used has is Antique Brass from Tandy. It gets darker with time. I have another belt with the same buckle and it developed a nice patina after a year of use.

Looks nice and clean, Ryan. How thick is the leather that you used?

TomG, they might be similar, but not the same. I have both, they smell differently. I should probably do some side by side testing of these 2 and Obenauf's LP that I recently purchased.

I've been using Fiebing's Bag Kote for flash side of a leather and I like the result. At the same time I'm quite disappointed with TanKote. I used TanKode by itself and in combination with Acrylic Resolene on a grain side of a leather for bags and folders and it does not protect the leather the way I expected - plain water leaves stains or washes it away. So far the best finish I've tried for grain side is Sno-Seal Wax.

Beautiful bag, Tara! Would love to see it from different angles and the inside. Do you have more pictures?

Great gob, Dan! Both bags look very nice. I especially like the duffel bag. Did you use a veg tanned leather? If you did then what kind of dyes and finishes did you use?

Thank you guys for your kind words. thekid77, I used 6 SPI overstitch wheel from Tandy to mark my stitches. I am quite happy with a way my stitching looks on the front, but still have to work on a back side to make it uniform and neat.

Here is a belt that finished yesterday. It is 8-9 oz veg tanned leather, lined with 3-4 oz leather. I used Fiebings professional oil dyes - Dark brown for the belt and Saddle tan for the lining. The belt was hand stitched with Ritza 25 (Tiger Thread) 0.8mm in Colonial Tan for a contrast. Comments, critique and suggestions are welcome.

Madebynick, Thank you for your detailed explanation. You've put a lot of thought into a design and it shows. Now I want to make something like that.

Looks great! I can not figure out the design though. There is no stitch on the bottom as it should be in case of box stitching. Is bottom part molded and has a border that wraps around a flask? I assume that external part of the case is removable, am I right?

Vitaly, amazing work! It really stands out. I think a lot of people here would be interested to see your "work in progress" pictures or video. Виталий, Ваши работы очень выделяются среди остальных. Вы не могли бы выложить фотографии а еще лучше видео всего процесса?

Nice stitching - very clean and consistent. Brass hardware and "saddle tan" leather look good together.

Thank you, guys, for you kind words. The knives perform very well, even better then I expected. Now I prefer push cuts when cutting leather and they are easier to do than dragging a utility knife. If I started all over I would grind a round knife much thinner like I did with a skiving knife, which has no secondary bevel. Spalted maple is a wood that was affected by fungi. It introduces discoloration and dark lines, also makes wood very light and soft almost like a dried sponge. It required stabilization, and guys at WSSI did a great job at it. They also suggested to add a yellow (gold) die during stabilization process to slightly enhance the colors.

After seeing and excellent post from rawcustom about his skiving knife I decided to show the knives I recently made. I have "Super Skiver" and "Safety Beveler" from Tandy but no mater what I did I could not master any of them. It usually took a lot of time and effort to get the result I wanted. My other hobby is a knifemaking so I decided to make my own skiving knife. I also wanted to try a small round knife instead of "Angled Utility Knife" (also from Tandy) that I've been using to cut leather. I could not call it a head knife, more like a half of a head knife. Leather Wranglers knives were my inspiration for this project, so you might see familiar shapes. I looked at my small steel inventory and decided to use a 2" wide 1/16" thick piece of ATS-34 that I had. I don't have a furnace so I had to send blades for professional heat treatment. They are about 58-59 HRC. For handles I used stabilized wood: maple with 416 stainless steel bolster for skiving knife and spalted maple for another. One of the images shows sheaths that I made for them. As you can see I made handles thick and rounded just because I like the way they sit in my hand.

Looks great! What steel did you use and how thick it is?

I use a foam from cheap camping mattress - 3 layers glued together with a square slot cut off in the middle. Makes it much harder to accidently make a mess as long as it stays on a table.

I have made one with a side loop for firestarter as one of my first projects. Here is picture I uploaded to Pinterest. I agree with glockanator, watch Ian Atkinson's video - good starting point. I do not see any problem with having 2 pockets with a stitch between them as a divider.