Boriqua

So I have a question for you and Leathertoolz. Now that I sacrificed my ready to be sacrificed hacksaw blade I have to get a new blade for my hacksaw. Is there some language or other indication I should look for on the packaging to let me know that after it has served its life as a hacksaw it will make a good knife or am I good grabbing whatever is on sale at Home depot? Alex

If I remember correctly the saddle tan on this piece had about 5 passes and I think it pretty even.

Hey Jim Its just that your learning a new tool and new technique. The rules of how much to saturate are the same as you always did you are just having to learn how to achieve it with the air brush. If I do something like a belt or even a holster I make my pass and then go back and make my pass again and often I change the direction of the piece in relationship to the sprayer. On a black holster I may make 5-6 passes. Its not unlike when you do it with a dauber in that you wouldnt sit and saturate an area before moving to the next area. I dont know your technique with a dauber but I try and spread it out pretty quickly and evenly over my whole piece my first pass so I dont land up with weird dark spots when it dries. you know the second that dauber hits the leather you get that initial suck. Then I come back in with the dauber and saturate the entire piece again. Same thing. Treat it like applying any spraypaint. Go left to right with a fluid motion overlapping the passes and then, at least when I do it, I turn the piece and do it again so I am overlapping but criss-crossing my previous passes ... if that makes sense? I dont know how you applied it but one pass of cut dye doesn’t sound like nearly enough. You use less dye because you kind of avoid that dauber suckage. Your not dealing with the initial heavy draw of dye and then the thinning out. With the airbrush you can evenly saturate the leather which uses less material ... but you still have to saturate it. I hope that was helpful. I'm originally from NY. If you promise to bring Bagels you are welcome to come out to the 80 degree temperatures and we can go make a mess in the shed with the airbrushes.

I had some horn knife scales a Buddy gave me years ago in my box of junk so I used one for the hacksaw knife. I made them a little over sized top and bottom so the hacksaw blade is kind of encapsulated in the epoxy. I am hoping It will hold without pins but thank you for tip so if the epoxy fails I can pin the next one.

DUDE! Thank you for the inspiration. I have been struggling along with exacto knives and box cutters for years and while I strop them before and after each use they were not ideal. After seeing your handiwork I went out to the shed and pulled out my hacksaw blade that should have been replaced years ago and made my knife. Not only is it insanely sharp but it holds an edge far better than my exacto or box cutter blades and being thcker than an exacto it doesnt flex in the turns. Awesome! I have been doing leather work since the early 90's and I still learn all sorts of new stuff visiting here

so were you able to reclaim it or did it go to the garbage. If you reclaimed it ... what did ya do? Alex

I wanted to pay this thread one more visit now that I have had it a while. Since I got it I have probably done some 20 or more holsters, half a dozen wallets, couple of knife sheaths and a couple of bags. This one little tool has made my sewing life an absolute pleasure. Used to be I looked forward to tooling and designing but was no big fan of sewing. Between this awl haft and the stitching horse I made I so look forward to sewing and trying each time to make it look just a bit better. I'm buying another just to have it as a backup because I would be beside myself trying to find something as awesome to use.

Thanks for posting it! I will have to find some time to check out your others. Alex

Hey Jim I have never dip dyed so I cant make that comparision but I have in the past used a dauber and then my go to technique was using a folded rag and rubbing dye into the leather. I did do some testing with sand paper on pieces I used a rag on and pieces I air brushed and I didnt see any difference. I didnt feel like my dye rubbed in was any deeper or more durable. Of course that depends on how may passes I do with the air brush. Some colors like saddle tan I really like in that kind of bright orange it gets. If I apply to much dye even if I cut it I find saddle tan goes murky so it is a lighter application. Black I make several passes I havent seen any significant fading on any of my leather stuff and have been using the airbrush exclusively for almost 3 years. It would be hard to give up that control once you have it. No more splotchy mahogany but nice pretty even color. Now that you have me curious I may dip a small piece, spray one and rub one and then cut them in two and see what the penetration looks like. I will report back.

Dont know that I will ever achieve perfect but ... I will keep try'in!! http://boriqualeather.com/Glock%2019%20pink%20inlay/

Thanks bro. Exactly what i was looking for. Alex

I'm not to sure why but I am interested in this stamp http://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/craftool-pro-stamp-basketweave-x2860 but I cant figure out how it lays out. I looked for a vid on youtube but to no avail. Its triangular so I am a little confused. I could just buy it and mess with it but it would be great if anyone has any reference images or can explain how this lays out before I spend the money. Thank you Alex

I was asked once why I make holsters out of "Dead Animals." I replied because I am too stupid to teach live ones how to carry my gun and give it to me exactly when I need it.

I of course have seen the Nigel video which is great but I was having some difficulty getting my siewa Awl blade to where I needed it to be and started looking around and found this gentleman and I met with great success English is his second language but its easy enough to follow along. I should preface this with I am considered very good at tool sharpening. Been sharpening knives and more on stones for years and am the guy friends bring their knives to when they have given up and blame the steel, the maker and everyone else for their dull knife. I have soft, hard and surgical black stones, course and fine diamond hones, a spyderco hone set and some other loose sharpening tools. My go to awl blade is a pointed type I bought YEARS ago at tandy. Nice solid diamond shape and this sucker can stab a fly in midflight. I wanted to experiment with a straight sided blade to see if it would help the stitching on the back side of some of my projects so I bought a Siewa number 1 and number 2. The number 1 is a small guy I use only for inlay stuff so after about an hour polish it is good to go but the Number 2 was giving me fits. It worked but it was work and if you are going to sit and sew for 3-5 hours the last thing you want is to fight your awl. The problem was that the shoulders of the diamond shape in cross section was too steep and came to close to the tip at full thickness. I kept sharpening and polishing the contours of the blade tip as it came and was dismayed to find I was making things worse not better. I just couldnt figure it out. STUPID! I was actually enhancing the very feature that was making it difficult to penetrate!! I was further exaggerating the steep angle. So I would sharpen and the very tip would pierce the leather with ease but pushing the awl through the leather was a bear and I would push so hard it would pierce sending the ferrule banging into the leather. Then I found his video and banged myself in the head. Doh. Using his rocking motion on my stones I softened the transition from the tip to the full width of the diamond shape in profile. I posted pix below of the after. The spine used to run almost all the way to the tip. Afterward you can see the kind of V shape I created by softening that transition to full thickness. It was an AHA moment. After getting that transition in place and lessening the angle I went to 1500 grit wet dry, black stone and rouge and this sucker glides through 2 pieces of 8/9 oz leather. With the shorter broader blade its easier to keep a tight right angle to the work and it has improved my stitching on the back side of my work. Hope it helps someone out.

Thought I would post on my recent experience since I know many people have similar questions. For years I used the cheap Tandy yellow poly mallet but eventually found it was a little light and bought a Garland rawhide mallet. The one I bought was about 19oz but the head was not flat it was concave. This gave me no end of fits since the sweet spot was about a 3/4 diameter spot in the center. I eventually sanded and ground one end flat. For a couple of years now I have been reading everything there was about the Maul vs mallet because I never did fall in love with the Garland. I just recently bought a 27 oz tapered head poly maul. Here is what I found. The handle on the mallet is fairly narrow and if I inadvertently hit to the left or right of dead center the mallet would twist in my hand. I had gotten so concerned about this that I started to take a death grip on the stamp so it wouldnt deflect if the head twisted. I also started to choke up on the handle. This worked ok but my stamp hand would start cramping after about 30 minutes. Now I am not new to tools or hammers having been building things my whole life but while the larger head, over a traditional wood working hammer, makes you think you have more effective space the truth is the sweet spot doesnt change so all that extra width gives you is an opportunity to have the hammer twist in your hand with more leverage. The sweet spot is still going to be over the handle. Hitting the tool with any force to the left or right just makes it spin. Sure you can practice anything and get good at it but I would prefer my tools work with me and not me work with them. My concerns about a maul are the same that I read most people having. THE DAMN THING IS ROUND! How in the world will I consistently hit a 1/4" round tool top with it. Well I am here to tell you that it is as natural as can be and after a straight 1.5 hours of tooling yesterday I didnt have one glancing blow. I bought a somewhat inexpensive import because I was afraid I would hate it and I am not getting rich making leather goods but the one I bought has a leather handle that looks like it was bathed in edgecoat. Not beautifully done but nice. It is tapered, white poly and it is 27 oz. The handle is much wider and shorter than the stick handle on the Garland and contoured. Because of the shorter handle I felt like I could have gone a bit heavier but they only offered the tapered in 27 oz and on paper that seemed plenty heavy but I could have gone up a little and been a little happier. With the shorter handle my advice is to go a little heavier than what you might have been thinking. I think 1 lb for this tool would have been insanely light. My wife, an itty bitty 60 yr old, has no problem with the 27 oz. I cant see what a 1 pounder would be used for. The taper was perfect and I scored there since I vacillated. I do a good deal of stamping standing and my piece is on an 18 in tall wood cookie on top of a counter in my shed which brings the piece somewhere between my navel and solar plexus. At that height my arm would have to be way up to strike the tool squarely with a non tapered maul. The other type of tooling I do requires me to sit and is little tight fidgety detail pieces with elbow on the table. Being able to don my magnifying glasses and focus on the tool face makes the tapered perfect here too but what might be prefect for me may not be for you so YMMV. The poly head bounces some. Took some getting used to since the rawhide I had been using is fairly dead. After a little time I realized you can make the bounce work for you and while I don't necessarily focus on speed my second holster took half the time to basket weave than I had ever done before. Hit bounce move tool repeat. Anyway .. I spent about $55 shipped to me and that is a fair amount of scratch for a retiree. I read countless posts and in the end after waiting nearly 2 years I wish I had done it sooner. No cramps, faster more accurate and better looking work. What more could I want. I hope that helps someone out who was on the fence. So many of the posts I read just kind of went with its better just because but I wanted to put some why to it. Garland untreated concave face Garland ground face

I just picked up a nice looking and functional Maul from Wrising Industries. I think they are made in china but have now done basket weave on 3 holsters and like it very much. Not as sweet looking as the Barry king or Leather Burnishers but about 20 bucks cheaper shipped. http://www.wrising.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=7&zenid=1f8a020cf7263721dea838c01cb7afe6

Be sure to buff your leather and let it sit before you add your sheen. I live in Dry Arizona but its winter and we have had a bout of rain. When I apply my dyes I am getting some condensation on the surface and if I dont do a heavy buff before I move on the piece will be worthless. I usually let my dye sit overnight then buff then let it sit another day before I do anything at all with it. Seems like alot of time but its less than the thousands of hours I have spent correcting mistakes I have made. Cutting your sheen is also great advice. What did you use to apply it?

Like most I use a lot of contact cement and it works great where I want a super bond. However there are times that I need a decent one sided glue to just hold a piece in place for stitching and I dont need that strength. Any recommendations. here is an example .. I am gluing down a simple 3/16 inch frame of 4/5 ounce leather around a piece of lizard inlay. The lizard was glued to the backing piece using contact cement. The frame however doesnt need the strength and I just need a good glue to hold it in place until it is stitched. Its not a structural piece. I have been using contact cement and a tiny brush but what a pain to line up!! I just want to put a little glue on the back of my frame and stick it down.

Just a thought but were I to try it ... when I lay down one coat of black I get that same light grey. When I want a rich deep black I usually have to make several passes. I might try laying out a light coat of black and then building up the shadows instead of worrying about building up the lights.

I tired both the Fiebings and Angelus. The Angelus was the dye that most closely replicated what I had seen and what I think most people think of when they think Cordovan. The Fiebings even cut was way dark for me. There are a couple ebay sellers that sell teh small bottle of Angelus cordovan and I highly recommend it. I used it straight from the bottle with an airbrush and was very happy with the result.

Post a pic of the offending piece. Its leather so unless it is a paint like finish you may find some inconsistency in the final product. Its leather and absorbs dye differently in different spots sometimes and I personally think its part of the charm but I have done repairs on some old military stuff and the finish seemed to be more paint like than dye and so had a dead even color. I use an airbrush now for almost all my dying and it gives me as even a finish as I think can be applied short of dip dying. Before that I found that using a folded rag and rubbing the dye into the leather in circles gave me the most consistent beautiful finish. If you are using a dauber ... well I would suggest throwing it away and cutting up some rags. I rarely had success with a finish I liked using those damned daubers!

Getting closer .,. found a couple At Ohio travel bag on pg 99 of their catalog. They just call them swivel posts

Is there another name for these? I find them on Ebay under http://www.ebay.com/sch/Spots-/116676/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Head+Button+Stud+Screwback+spot+O+ring but I would like to try and find a US dealer so I dont have to wait 4 weeks for them. All the ones on ebay are from Hong Kong. I may purchase from one of those sellers as well but was hoping to find something more immediate. Thanks all Alex

So did anyone ever come up with a good solution? I just sat down with the 1911 pattern pack and decided I wanted to give the Cavalry holster a go and ran into the "Swivel Rivet" part of the instructions. I could maybe cobble something together with some threaded tubing soldered to flat stock but dont know if I would trust it to hold.

Those damned kits!! I bought my deluxe tandy kit sometime around 1990. Been playing with leather since. Crack has nothing on them. Tandy kits have a way of creating an addiction. Alex