Boriqua

I just wish I had enough space to have things get lost!!!

I would think the one available from tandy or one like it would suit your needs. I have one and it is pretty narrow. Mine has the base screwed and glued in place but if you didnt glue the base on and just screwed it in place when you were ready to use it it would fit in most suitcases and bags and be about 2 inches thick. https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/lacing-stitching-pony Were I going to move about a lot I would probably put a tee nut in the bottom and use some machine screw but if you are traveling to one spot and plan on being there a while the supplied wood screw should be fine. If you wanted to get even more minimalist you could certainly get away with 2 pieces of half inch thick by 3/4 inches wide by 18 inches tall pieces of wood bound together with rubber bands. Lay it across your left thigh and have it held in place under your right thigh. I have done it and it works fine. Alex

I use the goat as well for this .. I really like the texture, it takes dye nicely and even very thin its not Stretchy.

Thanks Ferg ! That is more than reasonably priced. alex

Any chance you have a link for the roller you are using? Is it very expensive? Alex

Thank you guys .. I guess I was over thinking it. That is why I came to the experts!

It seems people like my stuff and this is becoming like work! Anyway .. I now have multiple projects going at once and was wondering what some of you do about gluing. I am using weldwood and the actual gluing part is fine. After I let it get almost dry/ tacky I stick it together .. pound it all over with my fist ... take a hammer and tap forcefully all around the edges so I dont get a big seam later when I go to burnish and then I put the glued piece on a piece of clean printer paper, put a piece of wax paper over it, put a hard cover book on top that I dont care much for and then take about 25 lbs of weights that I should be using to keep my muscles from getting more flabby and put it on top of the book for at least over night. So here is my problem... I live in a smallish place and I only have the 25 lbs but I have several things at once that are ready for glue. Is leaving it under weight for 12 hours more time than it needs? Can I place it under weight for say 3-4 hours and then just set the piece aside to cure for the recommended 24 hours So I can put something else under weight sooner. What are you guys who do heavier production doing? Now this doesnt happen often and I am still way small beans but this week and last my method is killing my ability to finish projects I have promised and stressing me out. I could just stop taking custom orders but I hate saying no. Alex

That is amazingly generous of you to offer!!!!! He has decided to just bring me his gun since he is excited about getting something with some sort of star wars theme. Thank you for your very kind offer! Alex

I used a rawhide mallet and a tandy yellow for some 20 yrs or there about. A year ago I bought a Tapered 27oz maul and will never go back. I found it for about 50 bucks. Its not very pretty but works well enough. If you have the scratch I would recommend one but in all honesty I dont know that you are far enough along to really get the benefits of the extra control. I know its not directly an answer to your question but I might suggest spending that $100 on more practice leather, a swivel knife sharpening guide and perhaps a new swivel knife blade. As an analogy .. I was once seriously into bicycling. Yup a bike weenie. I rode a steel frame fuji for 3 years before I started to notice where it was letting me down and before the benefits of a better stiffer frame would actually make a difference in my power transmission and speed. Oh here is a link to where i got mine .. their pictures show mauls with handles finished much better than the one I received so buyer beware but .. how pretty the handle looks doesnt affect how it works. http://www.wrising.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=7&zenid=1f8a020cf7263721dea838c01cb7afe6

I am pretty sure they werent doing it before but just recently I got a message asking if I wanted to renew a listing that expired. I hit relist and forgot about it. Well it seems that in the relist it automatically activated the "best offer" option by default .. which I never ever selected. So I landed up with a gentleman that made an offer some $20 less than the asking price which was fine and actually turned out OK because he bought 2 holsters that were sitting to long anyway but it was still a little disconcerting to enter into a haggle arrangement not of my own doing. I have done MORE than my share of price arguing with contractors and clients as part of my previous life and want no more of it. It also seems to have activated international shipping and changed my default shipping. It would seem that if I hit relist I want to just relist but you should be sure to check it all again because I have now confirmed 10 minutes ago ... settings were changed on my relist. Bummer... one more thing to pay mind to. In the end the buyer was a gentleman and was thrilled with what he got and I sold off a few things so it turned out ok but .....

I think having "an artist in residence" would be a great selling tool. I can see wanting to be sure that the more mundane chores of a retail position are taken care of but then that is just a proper management task and goes along with controlling the myriad of other distractions that may impact an employee. If I walk into a tandy and the guy/gal is making something I think is cool I would want to know what dyes, stamps, technique and ultimately spend more than I wanted. Really knowing the product is one of the reasons I pick a place to shop. I like the small old camera stores far better than the big chains just for that reason. Now if I could just find a real hardware store again ..

well that cinches it .. I put together another holster that I had cut when I cut the other. They are the same pattern for the same gun with just about the same coloring but this one I did with a double rope basketweave..... I just sold it ... it was under 2 weeks! Something about that petonce cross just makes it poison.... hmmmm.

Hey Guys What are you using for a mold for the Rock Island Armory 1911 Railed Model. I just found out the rail is different than the rail on the springfield railed blue gun.

Thanks brother your opinion means a great deal to me. I am not yet up there with premium guys but at least I feel like each holster is a touch better than the last and that is all I can hope for.

Man Oh man I wasnt even sure I liked this one but the wife said just finish it up so I set it aside after stamping and came back to it a month later. I put it on ebay and in 30 minutes had inquires and it was sold in under 4 hours. Got 2 more custom orders out of it! Woo Hoo. ... I am a hobby guy who puts some stuff for sale so its not the money that was exciting but peoples reaction. This is a tougher crowd though so hopefully you like it as well. The actual idea started because I was going to buy some Black cherry grips for my 1911 and wondered what holster I might make for myself. I happened to be looking at spanish influenced outdoor design and wala. More pix at the link http://www.boriqualeather.com/Gallery/index.php/Leather-Holsters/Spanish-influenced-1911-Holster

I havent had a problem ever when using weaver leather but I have lost HOURS of work to cracking using stuff from tandy. Had to throw out an almost completed set of saddlebags when the leather cracked on a 4 inch radius gusset. That is NOT enough of a bend to crack leather .. you would think. Im with Mike on this one .. I dont care if angels carried the leather to use for a belt on a pillow of unicorn feathers. On a belt I moisten that tight a bend each and every time.

I do a combination of spray and dauber for instances like yours but were I really concerned and had the facilities .. cant beat dip dye if you are looking for supreme longevity. If you go spray and dauber I like to give the leather a nice wet even spray then I will go in with a loaded up dauber. I let the whole thing dry and follow up with an additional spray. I have stuff that gets put on the floor, bags, and is subject to abrasion from cement and such and shows scratches but has never gone through the dye using this method even after years of heavy use. But ... I am thinking a fireman is going to put some hard use on their gear! However arent the suspenders under an outer garment?

I use the contact paper, adhesive shelf liner, but I prefer the transparent one. I think I have a matte. I use it when stamping like plinker cases described but I also use it for a variety of masking and I like being able to see through the material. Its cheap stuff and I have a giant roll of Rubermaid con-tact I think I paid under $10 dollars for and it lasts forever.

https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/craftool-pro-stamp-basketweave-x2844 If you are .. what are you using it for/on. I have used it on about 4 holsters. Seems to be a hard sell? I think its neat looking but everything I have put it on has been cursed to live with me for a couple of months before leaving. Maybe have just gotten spoiled but I have been happily selling almost every holster I make in a couple of weeks but not anything with this stamp. I have a double rope basket weave and a plain basketweave (x511) and I can make the holsters all exactly the same in color and design but use the above stamp and it sits while the others run out of here. At first I thought maybe because there is some religious significance to it. I have produced other things with some Christian symbolism and they also sat. Seems bashing Christians is cool now so maybe that is it. Made 6 small carry bags of the same physical design but differing in color and scheme and the only one I was left with was one I had put a snap on that had a cross on it. Then I thought .. maybe the stamp looks to much like an iron cross and that comes with some baggage. I dont know .. I am baffled but this stamp hasnt been good to me so maybe I am just not using it on the right projects. My wife says use it on biker gear. I have a tool roll in the works that is cut but hasnt moved from there so maybe I will try it on that. I may land up relegating a $25 stamp to ebay So if you use it .. what are you using it on?

My wife would love something like that! Looks great. I noticed in the beginning of the video you had a little trouble with the zipper. I like to put the tiniest bit of Ren wax on mine and run it a couple of times when I ship out things with zippers. Makes em glide sweet. I just rub my fingertip on the surface of the wax and then rub it onto the zipper and run the zipper 2/3 times. When you get something and the zipper just whisks open and has that cool Zippery sound .. it feels like you bought quality. Same damn zipper just different impression of it which helps with the impression of the overall product.

agreed! While I have seen a couple of flair ups this site is by far one of the most friendly and informative with many people anxious to help one another. The moderation and tenor of this forum is awesome and for the most part seems contagious.

Just taking a close look at the top image and at the line between the two colors that person certainly used painters tape and the yellow appears to be paint. Its pretty tough getting yellow dye that yellowy. Closest I ever got was on the bag below. I had put several coats of Fiebings yellow dye but it wasnt very solid looking and was more a tint. I then went and bought the Tandy Water based stain and I was happy with the color and its opacity. Still didnt feel paint like when you see it in person but it was more substantial than the Fiebings. I prefer the happy medium of solidish color but still getting some penetration as I dont usually go for the solid feel of acrylic on leather but each task has its best practices and I have certainly used a bunch of acrylic on leather. I dont know if the tandy water stain would seep under the tape though. Hmmmm going to have to go out to the shed and try.

Every metal tip I have ever gotten has come with set screws. One thing to look out for though is the belt tip is usually the same width as the outside of the leather belt dim so you have to cut back the tip on the sides and front the thickness of the metal tip material. Maybe someone will chime in with a neat quick way to do this because while I have made probably 30 or so belts with the metal tip I always find in a pain trimming the leather for the metal tip. Should be easy breezy but .. it never is You can see the holes on the back of tip in the pic I posted. They are threaded for wee tiny easy to lose screws

He must be thrilled ... that looks great and I love the coloring.