Boriqua

Im on a slow slow connection and it loaded up a touch slower than it used to but really just fine. I would say a 3 Mississippi count. Worked as it should.

Jeff .. do they sell only bends or backs in HO? I have been buying all my leather from weaver and they only list whole sides. I know I sound like a duffus but if I order a side .. is the belly already removed? Sorry .. I am just completely ignorant never having bought a side. oldnslow .. I have been buying the Chahin from weaver for a couple of years and for the most part have been very happy with it. Accepted dye well, nice tight backside. Jeff made fun of the fat wrinkles but I kind of dig the look of a leather that isnt perfect some so it never bothered me and I used the wrinkles when placing my patterns so they would be primarily where I wanted them to be. Aside from that ... more than a few hundred holsters and other stuff and was satisfied. The last 2 pieces I got were not good quality. I usually keep 6-7 and 8/9 for holster and sheaths. If I am doing lined I like to use the 6/7 with a lighter piece to the inside. If I do overlay pieces like you see with jeffs patterns I use the 6/7 for the front and for the overlay and use a 8/9 for the back. I always keep some 2 oz goat around I get from distant drums and some cheap 4/5 oz I usually get from tandy when they throw it on sale. My last 8/9 from weaver about 1/3 of it had a very loose open grain backside. Not the greatest for holsters. You can burnish it and make it look ok but its only skin deep. It will be too soft to mold proper and what happens to me anyway is the holster stretches to much when I insert the mold and it makes for an ill fitting holster. I wont sell it so I dont make it. So I have had to cut around a few square feet. It is not accepting dye well at all so I have a fair chunk of leather I will have to find a use for but I wont use it on holsters or sheaths. Maybe a motorcycle tool roll or three is in my future. It would be more than suitable for that. The 6/7 is a disaster. .. It is not accepting dye well at all and the dye is actually buffing off of the surface. Its hard as well to cut or even edge and it appears there is something on the surface that I cant see because I am getting weird marks on my finished products. They are without a doubt .. the worst two pieces of leather I have ever gotten from weaver. Still better than tandy but not by much. Having said that .. I have been buying leather from weaver on and off for 15 or so years so I the greater quantity of stuff I have gotten has kept me going back for more and that has to count for something. I didnt contact them because I already used about half of the 8/9 and tiny bit of the 6/7. I been meaning to try the HO and I have been selling briskly enough to take a shot... soon as I school up on what to get Alex

Since I started with this hobby some 20+ years ago I have almost always bought shoulders. I was pretty disappointed with my last batch of leather from Chahin tannery so I may try to upgrade and buy a side of HO and give it a go. I would have to increase my prices a touch to make up for the expense but I think it might be worth it?? Now I heard mention that the belly part is unusable so how much off of a side am I going to have to cut off and not use. Or am I just wrong. Im a little terrified to make such an investment but I think its past time to up my game some and like I said .. the 8/9 I got was just a step above tandy and the 6/7 I am afraid to use its so awful. Any advice on purchasing and using a side for primarily holster and heavy bag work would be appreciated. alex

So great to see you back martyn. I eventually tried the candy stripe. Not great but fun.

hmmm denim for removing the excess dye ... see I am already glad I posted. That makes perfect sense and then follow up with something softer.

I know .. sounds like a dumb question but maybe not. As I was buffing out of some leather today after the dye dried I got to thinking that there may be a better way. Basically I have a bucket of old cloths that have become rags and I cut off a section and buff until my elbow suffers internal bleeding or the dye stops coming off. but I remember when I was in the service and we had to have them boots polished everyday that some guys used lighter fluid, some guys including myself used to use pantyhose. Man a little warm breath on the boots and then a finish polish with pantyhose and they shined up nice... to be destroyed first thing in the am with some PT. I have even seen buffing machines. and I have seen some guys mount buffing pads to wood. So since so many hear have their own concoctions for beeswax finishes and resolene cut amounts i thought .. maybe someone is doing their buffing in a way I hadnt thought of. Alex

A mating screw with shoulders and a sex bolt ought to do https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/type-chart.aspx Small solution. I guess you could even include washers if needed

has anyone tried this http://www.homedepot.com/p/BEHR-Premium-1-gal-All-In-One-Wood-Cleaner-06301N/203200559 Its supposed to be up to 5% oxalic acid and it is locally available. I have a roll of 6 oz leather that is giving me fits. Looks like something was splashed on it before I got it and it doesnt show up as marks strangely until after I dye. I have looked at it under different lights and at different angles and I cant see anything but dye it ... Screwed. I hate to throw it away. . I dont have money like that so if I can save it I would like to. I can only seem to find the oxalic crystals at amazon but then I have to wait.

Thank you fellas!! The gum eraser worked wonderfully.

I am working on a design that required a little use of masking tape. I used Blue tape. It still left a slight residue. I want to go back in now and play some more with my dye colors but want to get the goop off first. The leather has one coat of dye but it will be getting darker but I am afraid the residue will act as a resist? I am afraid to use goo gone .. any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated. Alex

Its going to be personal preference. I prefer and use the metric system. Was never a math whiz except when it came to handling other peoples money so a system built on the number 10 works for me just fine. Once upon a time I did a lot of cad drawings for space planning. I did it all in metric and then just had my program convert it for contractors.

Thanks Chris and its done except for final seal. I just cant seem to capture the coloring but its close plenty more poor pix here http://www.boriqualeather.com/Gallery/index.php/templar-progress/uploaded-9_25

Wanted to share this before it gets darker. I never thought I would be asked to do a second one but this guy is for a 3.5" 1911. I dyed it so that the Cross looks like it always has a light shinning on it and the cross is supposed to look as if it were moving forward on a battle standard. It will get an all over antique next which should tye it all together. Right now its Cherry, Oxblood, Red and Mahogany with black edges. The frog is red but keeps coming out orange in photos Being leatherworkers maybe some process shoots might be interesting. There are more pix here http://www.boriqualeather.com/Gallery/index.php/templar-progress

Hey Tony rest assured I am not knocking Seiwa. I said in my original post it was about information. Evidently there are very specific instructions on the Goods Japan website of which I didnt give a second look. I said "oh chisel" and failed to read the 4 paragraphs of text. Bad habit of mine but I know I am not the only one so my post is a heads up to other guys ..and girls .. for whom instructions are something generally ignored. I mean ... its a chisel! So if you are using it for holsters doing it the way I suggested by punching through the top layer and then gluing and then poking through the back with an awl should mean you get to keep your $20 chisel. Having said that .. I do know tools pretty well and am very familiar with heat treat and tempering ... if you ask me and I were designing a tool that will be hit with a mallet through a somewhat dense material I would have drawn it back some. A chisel is not a knife and just doesn't need to be that hard for this intended purpose. Good wood working tools.. yup I want em pretty hard but a chisel for punching holes shouldnt be but .. its just my opinion. Still, used correctly the seiwa 5mm chisels are great tools that are the perfect size for 1mm or .035 thread and make a beautiful consistent hole at a proper angle. I dont use chisels that frequently so if the Chinese chisels work for my intended purpose without to much care and feeding I will be happy to pocket the savings.

Thanks fellas .. I didnt think it was a good idea but thought .... hey maybe someone has tried it. Thank you both for providing your experiences!

I didnt even think to look at Amazon .. damn! I paid a little less for them direct from china but I could have gotten them alot faster from amazon. I paid about 20 bucks each for the Siewa Chisels ... I just got a whole set of 4 from china made from bar stock for under $10. I hope it works out but I could buy 4 sets before I pay what I did for the 2 chisels I bought from goods japan. I no longer go out to work and make handfuls of money so losing $20 bucks kinda hurts but live and learn. Just have to make a few more leather projects!!

I am making a holster that is destined to receive a heavy dose of acrylic paints from my airbrush. I had planned to paint after wet form but it sure would be easier to mask off areas while its flat. Has anyone ever tried to wetform after applying acrylics or is that just a stupid idea? Alex

The Harbor freight works fine and I still use it for some things but the Iwata hp I bought about a year ago is amazing. I used the 40% coupon and got it at hobby lobby so cost me about $70. I might have been able to get it a bit cheaper but my local hobby lobby only had it combined in a little kit with some paints and other junk so if you can find the brush alone it should be cheaper. I used a large 2gal compressor for a couple of years but about 6 months ago I bought the small airbrush compressor from harbor freight and it has been wonderful. The cheapy 2 gal I bought was NOISY as hell and not only messed with my mojo but I live in a quiet retirement community so I wouldnt use it before say 9am and I like getting started earlier. If you are an apartment dweller or noise is a concern you may want to consider it. I wouldnt think twice. So far it has been great. DONT buy those chinese kits from ebay. My first one the compressor died in days and I bought another set and the brush itself was miserable to use and lasted about 3 months.

Ok so after about 10 more projects I am in even more love with the Weaver mastertools edger!! I was able to use it so far down to 1.8mm leather which is nice if you only have money for one tool. I haven't tried thinner because I rarely use anything thinner. It skirts around outside and inside tight corners like a dream and for the first time in my life I am able to go completely around a holster with all its curves and turns and come out with one long string of leather from the edger. Part of it is the design of the tool helps you use it better. The slight S curve to the blade and the handle shape are admittedly making me better at using it and .... its just a really sharp awesome tool.

I have had my Seiwa Chisels for 2 months and while using it last week the 2 prong had a prong break off. Of course I already sold off my Tandy chisels so I am in a tiny bit of a bind right now but ... not a huge deal. When I look at the crack it appears that the tool is made from Cast material instead of from solid stock but I am not a metallurgist just a dude who has spent most of his adult life using tools. I wrote to Goods Japan admittedly disappointed that the tool only lasted 2 months and I got the below as a reply " Hello Alex, Thanks for your email and the pictures. I am very sorry that you experienced this inconvenience. Please be assured that all of our tools are of excellent quality and workmanship. The steel on these pricking irons is highly tempered and extremely hard. Unlike cheaper pricking irons these ones are designed to break rather than bend, this prevents undetected malformed prongs from destroying leatherwork through uneven stitch holes as well as ensuring the hardest possible prongs, as mentioned on the listing. Breakage usually occurs when being used on leather that is too thick, when the pricking iron is rocked free, or exposed to sudden impact or shearing force that would otherwise bend the prongs. The pictures you sent indicate an outcome based on this kind of usage. Therefore we ask you to use your tools gently and as mentioned on the description of the listing: "Please note always use a soft headed hammer (never metal) and tap it into your leather work gently, when removing, always pull it out of your leatherwork straight, never shift it side to side to loosen it or this could snap the prongs. Avoid using leather that is so thick it makes removal difficult. If you work with leather that is thick enough to make removal difficult then a wider pricking iron is recommended." However, if you believe this to be a problem with the material of the product, please feel free to contact the manufacturer on warrant issues. Again, I'm sorry for your inconvenience and thank you for understanding. Cheers Alyssa " I always used the chisels on top of a scrap piece of 9/10 oz leather so the chisels never struck a hard surface but I did use them to go through 2 pieces of 8/9 oz in the production of sheaths and holsters and yes there is a bit of pull and wiggle to get them out of the leather even if the tool is waxed but I dont think I was too harsh because I of course would not want to ruin my project my creating big nasty holes from wrenching the tool out. If you have seen my stitching I am pretty fussy about it. I really liked the holes the Seiwa Chisels made especially when compared to the tandy. I am not trying to rip seiwa or goods Japan just giving some guys who work heavier leather a heads up. What I started doing is just punching my holes through the front piece, gluing and then going through with an awl in hand when I go to sew it all together so I am only using the chisel through one piece of 8/9 oz. Evidently two layers is too much. I ordered a set of those REALLY cheap Chinese chisel sets off of ebay and I will let you know what I think when I use them some. According to something I read they are the same chisels tandy is selling as their proline. I only use chisels when I have to sew right up against tooling because I cant make out wheel marks there. Everything else is marked with pricking wheels and sewn with an awl. anyway here is a pic. I posted it super sized so you can see the grain of the steel.

That is a good idea Tony .. very creative thinking. Randi ... I honestly, perhaps stupidly, didnt realize it was a cross. I just thought it was a nifty design especially repeated as it is with a basketweave. It wasn't until after I bought it that I came on here and asked what it was that I realized it had some religious significance. I just thought it was neat.

Dude that is Hysterical!!! So Maybe I am just marketing it wrong ... " Are you a true Bad A@@ gun slinger, come git yer Frozen themed Snowflake holster at Boriqua Leather" Ariel shell design coming soon!

Alright back with a report... So far .. the Weaver Mastertools Edger is AWESOME! It came ready to go to work right from the package. Nice .. I still hit it with a little rouge but mostly because I am insane. It is effortless to use on the 8.9 oz shoulder I have and I also used it on some softish 5/6. Worked great. It has very short legs so is perfect for inside turns. I have edged the inside of a curve that was about the diameter of a quarter and it was a dream with no legs diving into and ruining the leather. Just a nice smooth bevel all the way around. I was able to bevel inside of a 10.5mm diameter hole at the end of a belt slot. Took a little doing but no scaring. The tool is very pretty and the handle is a bit wider than I have ever used but is actually very nice at about 37mm in Diameter where the Tandy is about 24mm. One of those things I didnt know I would want but now that I tried it it feels perfect. I think they say they use maple but whatever it is the tool feels light. The size of it makes me think it will be heavier but it weighs in at 1 3/8 ounces. So hence my only concern ... It is without ferule and in a lighter weight wood, so time will tell regarding durability. If you need to bear down on it then its not sharp enough so that may never become an issue. The steel is far thicker than I thought it might be. All the pictures made me think it was almost sheet steel thin but this is a good chunk of what looks like forged steel at 2.7mm thick. The legs are beveled in on the outsides so you can get close to your work and it gives it a broader range of leather thicknesses it can work through. My #3 tandy keen edge was virtually worthless on anything less than 8/9oz. Its nice to be able to use this on a wider range. I still will be ordering a Weaver #1 though when I put in my leather order. The tip is nicely polished over round so little to dig into your leather work. I posted a bunch of pix so you can get a better sense of it. I am thrilled! Time will tell regarding the ferule'less design and how well the steel holds an edge. Unfortunately I am somewhat of a serial stropper and usually pass my tools on some rouge impregnated leather after each use a few times so my tools rarely get dull so it may be difficult for me to weigh in on edge retention. The tool looks like a one off hand made tool in the best possible sense. It was more than the osborne but less than say a Jeremiah. So far .. worth every penny.

I started out giving him a really hard time and was about to walk out but then realized I was taking it out on some 19 yr old who I am sure didnt have anything to do with it, probably didn't even want to be there and I was so sure had no desire to deal with the angry grey hair so I laughed it off, apologized to him for taking it out on him and left. Funny thing is I remember back in the bad old days of NYC when they used to snort that stuff from bags in the back of the city bus. This is late 60,s early 70's. I was just a kid and I thought it was stupid and gross then! Dont think its a habit I will be starting soon. So after leaving I go to get in my car and right there next to the shopping cart storage area is a hypodermic needle and a little tinfoil packet. I figured I would be a good guy and go back into the store to tell someone seeing as how a Target just got sued for an accident with a hypo in the parking lot. I was ignored. Sigh

So I ran to my local Lowes to buy a can of weldwood which I have been buying without incident for say oh 25 years. Today they hand me a book and I have to give them my name and address, signature and I have to write what I intend to do with the glue in order for the gentleman to remove it from the cage so I could purchase it .... WHAT!!!!???? Some days I am glad I am reaching life expectancy because the world has gone crazy.