Boriqua

If it went complete booger it might be shot but ... I have had success stirring in some mineral spirits and then leaving it over night. Seemed good as new the next day. I went out the other day to use my Neatsfoot oil and out globbed what looked like lard. Its Arizona Damnit! But we got a cold snap. So my glue, neatsfoot and Gum Tragacanth have been moved inside. Alex

I have to look into the differences between the tan kote, bag Kote and resolene. I have been having good luck since I thoroughly cleaned the brush and made a new batch of resolene. The new batch I did with distilled water, 60% ish water and filtered through a coffee filter on its way to the jar. I also set the pressure up to about 40lbs on my compressor when spraying resolene now. Only issue now is ... since its cut so much it is really matte. Upside is, you can wet the leather pretty well without worrying about putting on to much resolene and it drys fast. So far it does what I need ... seal in the color and protect the leather. I have checked and there is no color rub and its fairly water repellent but .. I do miss having a bit more sheen. I only use the HF brush for resolene. I have an Iwata eclipse I use for dye's and for finer painting work. I figure for 15 bucks if I trash the HF I can just throw it away but it is still going strong a year later.

Weaver Leather now offers non wholesale. great place for hardware as well and after a lot of years I am still happy with their products and customer service. I dont know how their non wholesale prices compare to Tandy but Tandy aint cheap so I would think its comparable.. I have to try buckle guy.

Ive never used the tiger thread but your call outs on maine thread are exactly what I came to as well. Wish I had seen a post like this one back when .. I came to it after buying a bunch of thread. Depending on the look I want I may fudge one way or another but a GREAT starting point for anyone new!

I love the way the lacquer looks but I used it on a holster once and the guy who bought it brought a know it all friend who proclaimed it was two stiff and upon taking it from his hands started to bend the whole thing back and forth like he was breaking in a baseball glove and then started squeezing the mouth closed. To stiff you see. Completely destroyed the finish. It had cracks all over it! Maybe I had it on to thick but I had used it for years without a problem so I am anxious to see what responses you get regarding cutting it.

I use resolene for most of my projects as my finish coat. I usually only add neatsfoot oil when I have used a cut dye for my dying. I have no scientific basis but I figure if I cut my cordovan solvent dye 50% with denatured alcohol then spray the leather good and wet with it and let it dry that I ought to replenish some oil. Could be complete waste of time hoodoo but it makes me feel better. If I use straight dye I usually just finish up with resolene on most things and I have people show me holsters I made 8 yrs ago still going strong. On pieces that I know will spend a great deal of time under heavy field use I offer the neatsfoot/beeswax paste finish and melt it into the surface. Gives a great looking TOUGH long wearing finish.

I will have to check the prices for some of the acrylic. I have been using file folders (oak tag) or poster board. I get the posterboard at the dollar store and its 2 sheets that are about 36"x24" each for a buck. It feels about the same thickness and rigidity as the oak tag. I get white and its nice for some larger patterns so it doesnt have seams. But You do have to trace the pattern then cut it out. Would be cool to eliminate a step on some of the more common things and have say 1/16" acrylic that you could hold down and then run your razor around without doing the tracing first. Alex

SWEET!!!

That did the trick. I figured I had nothing to lose since I was planning on drilling it out and installing another one. I took the channel locks and gave it the slightest goose. I mean just the tiniest squeeze and wala. Perfect! Thank you everyone!! Going to order some of the parachute snaps and see if I like them better. Just wish they sold only the socket and stud. I have a few hundred of the other parts. Alex

Cool. I will send something your way tomorrow. Its just a pencil drawing but I will scan it at 100% so with just a little tweaking you should be able to get started on yours. Be sure to post your holster when your finished!

Yes I hand stitch everything I make. I thought long and very hard about a machine but I think it would take some of the enjoyment out of making leather goods for me right now. I am still trying to perfect my hand stitch .. maybe when that happens I will think about a machine again. There are more pix here of both in case it helps with your project http://boriqualeather.com/Glock%2019%20pink%20inlay/ http://boriqualeather.com/Glock%2019%20basketweave/ The pattern isnt very complicated. I dont have the model gun you have but I can send you my pattern if you think it will help. I made these for a 1.5 inch wide belt. You would have to lengthen the straps if you have a wider belt and move stitch lines though. Alex

I am pretty sure I didnt see those options when I bought mine over a year ago but I just checked my bag and what I have is Item # 92-XB-18201-1C, PULL-THE-DOT™ SOCKETS Which according to their site is "normal" I didnt see an easy and I am sure had there been a hard when I ordered I would have ordered those but as it stands the bag I have is rated "normal" Good looking out though for anyone going to order!

I usually burnish after but I cheat and have used dye on my edges. I have some blueberry dyed cut pieces for a bag I am putting together. I am going to try bees wax on the edge and I will report back. My gut says it should darken it nicely sans dye. Alex

Im buying them directly from http://www.scovill.com/ I'm sure they are the same but Scovill has .. I think .. a $50 minimum. I have enough snaps for a quite a while but the price I think is a little better than the paragear site since I buy a combo of snap parts. Guess I better just go ahead and get the dies for my Press n Snap. They aint cheap though

I use the Press-n-Snap for all my standard dot line 24 but I don’t have the dies for the pull the dot socket parts. I don’t use the pull dot cap or base. I don’t like all the writing on the pull the dot cap. I use just the socket parts when I use them with a regular cap and base and I set them with an anvil and setter. I am pretty sure the only difference in the pull dot stuff is the socket bits though. I don’t think that would make a difference on the spring tension? or does it? The snaps arent coming loose from the leather. No, they are firmly set .. its that the snap itself isn’t tenacious enough.

I have a snap I installed on a holster. It is a Scovill pull the dot snap. It was a test holster so I landed up keeping it but what is troublesome is the snap probably doesnt have 25 actuations and it will just pop open. I buy the DOT brand snaps because they are built so much better than the tandy but this is a bit disconcerting. My holster is built well enough so that even undone you can turn the holster upside down and shake and I am not losing the gun but ... is there anyway to tighten up the action on an already installed Line 24. Sometimes I set snaps and there is a nice definitive SNAP action and other times ... well its a little wimpy. Alex

Ok .. like i am want to do I will share my experience for anyone else following along. So I just finished two snapcake holsters. First ones I have ever done. One I had the straps integral to the pattern and one I made separate straps and attached them via tee nuts. The one with the integral straps was kind of a pain to build and with a couple of tight spots it was difficult to get a nice burnish on the edges throughout. My first face piece cut with the integral straps had my straps too short and since they were a part of the pattern it was a junk piece. Its cool because I was doing the second holster for the same gun so I was able to cut the straps part off and reuse the face but still if you are doing one off .. keep in mind it would be ruined. I dont know that I need to do these again. I may only do them for holsters I make with woman in mind since I get more requests from them for something easily removable than I do from the men. If I make them again I think I will go with removable straps attached with tees. It is easier to build and the one I did I feel just looks a little nicer and a little more finished than the one with the straps included in the pattern. I would have assumed that the extra bulk would turn me off but I actually think it looks a little better. Could be my "guy" eyes just liking it a little more chunky.

Great idea! I made a new batch .. I used store bought distilled water this time and not tap. I should have done that all along. Arizona has some HARD water. I diluted it about 60% and I filtered the mix through a coffee filter. I have a mess of them from a coffee maker I dont have anymore. I turned the compressor up to about 35 for the resolene and it sprayed beautifully. What I like about your idea is you don’t have to open the jar to get material possibly letting in contaminants. Just pour what you need straight from the nozzle. I love it... trip to HF this week and I may have some pantyhose material around from my shoe polishing kit. Alex

New camera is always fun but I don't think Zachary was experiencing the same excitement! I will be selling one of my 1911's to purchase a new (used) camera soon. Can only have so many guns right .... right?

I would highly suggest the Seiwa #1 awl blade for finer work. My favorite go to awl is pointy and swells as it goes further up. If I want to sew with finer thread you can just use the tip but the thicker the material the further you have to insert the blade and the wider the hole gets on the face of your project. On this particular project I was going through 4/5 oz, a layer of frog skin and out through a piece of 6/7. By the time I inserted my favorite awl through all that the hole in the front piece was too wide and didnt make for an attractive stitch using fine thread. The Seiwa is straight. It will be 2mm at the front and back and everything in between. I highly recommend it but ...the handle is NOT good and does not inspire confidence.

Well before I went to your etsy page I thought ... if he is asking less than $500 he is not charging enough. Your price seems well inline to me! VERY sweet work!

When I was a young guy and worked as a helper to an electrician he would charge a set amount per outlet of electricity on new installation. When I asked how he could do that he said because I know how long it should take and if I want to be competitive that is what I have to charge. I cant charge the client because it may take you 3 hours to do something that should only take 45 minutes. Were I to offer any advice ... you need a way to pay for materials while you get better. As you get better you can command more money and you will soon find that tasks that used to take you 3 hours now take 15 minutes. Combine that with all the little secrets you can discover floating around here and you will be producing great product more quickly. So if you can sell some stuff and cover your materials and have some change left all is good and I wouldn’t pressure myself to come up with some arbitrary per hour minimum right now. Remember .. people used to apprentice for years before they got to touch a tool. Dont turn an awesome hobby into a crappy job! I have more orders than I can complete. Every time someone contacts me I tell them point blank .. your not in a rush right? One last bit ... dont fall victim to thinking you have to charge what others are. Looking at Etsy and ebay and going to local art and renaissance fairs is a good place to start to get your pricing in line but I was at the local renaissance fair a couple of months ago and their was a group doing what I thought was SUB par work and they were charging big giant money. My wife said .. " oh my god look what they are getting for that "%$*" I said "no look what they are charging" See you can put whatever sticker on there you want ... if they aint reaching into their wallet .. your charging to much and I would rather have money in my hand than inventory on a shelf.

If its very thin thread you can just knot it on the inside. If you want a cleaner look just take the needle and pass it back just under the stitches you just made on the inside and it will virtually disappear. If you go past the spot of the tear you can also just stitch back 2-3 stitches. If its not in a place of stress that will be more than enough to hold it. If its heavier waxed thread .... just touch the end with the lick of a lighter and squash it some with your finger.

Just posted something similar in another thread but you can try this .. I use a dampened sponge that I rub on a piece of glycerin soap. I picked up the glycerin soap idea from Dwight here on the boards I think and it works great. I work up a lather on my bar of neutrogena and then rub it on the leather. I then take my $2 glass burnisher and rub it smooth. I dont have any pix right now of finished rubbed leather but it comes out flat and with nice even color. I tried with gum once but wasnt as happy with the look. I treat the inside of all my holsters this way and even after case and molding the inside looks beautiful. Here is my glass burnisher. You can buy Glass burnishers at most leather supply houses but I got this as a lid to a jewellery box from goodwill. its 3.5" x 5.5" and comes with a nice 1/4" polished edge. A glass butter dish would work just as well for belts and its a lot cheaper than the hunk of glass at the store.

When I dye the inside of anything that will touch people I have taken to doing it with the Tandy Pro waterstain. I know its something else to buy and that sucks but of the many things I hate about the new Tandy the one thing I do like is their ecoflo water stains for interiors http://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/eco-flo-professional-waterstain For most things I still like the fiebings and have gallons of it but the waterstains I have tried do not rub at all. I used the black for the inside of a shoulder strap and handed it to the wife and worked fine. It also has the benefit of making a nice even finish on the rough side ... something difficult to achieve using solvent dye. If I use solvent dye for the interior of say a belt I dye it ... then let it dry a day or 2. I then take a damp sponge and some glyceryn soap (neutrogena at the moment) I rub the bar with my damp sponge and then rub the dyed fuzzy side. Once its good and coated I take a piece of glass and forcefully smooth down the fuzzy side. Smooths out to a nice even color quickly. I use a top from a glass jewellery box I got at good will but I used to use the bottom of a butter dish also from good will. So long as it is good and thick. They sell pieces of glass for burnishing at leather supply places for $25 dollars. I got my jewellery box at good will for $2. After I let that dry overnight I come in and put a coat of resolene ... mop and glo cut 50/50 with water will work as well but has a cleaning agent I think so stick with resolene if you can. No color rubbing. but like I said. for the last 8 months or so whenever I do the underside of a guitar strap, belt or shoulder strap that will stay unlined I have been using the tandy waterstains. I hit it with some resolene just to be sure but I have tested the stain without resolene and have had no rubbing. YMMV! If you are going to paint your belt with acrylics I wouldnt put anything on the belt first. I couldnt tell if you were using carnuba on the leather before you painted. If I do a big carve on a belt and have wet it a bunch I will put a light coat of neatsfoot oil on it before I paint but I dont touch it for at least 2 days to insure it is well soaked in and then I buff the surface well before I start any application of paint. On a relatively simple design like the one you showed that will require very little water to the leather I probably would just go ahead and paint without the neatsfoot. I never paint with the acrylics straight from the bottle, tube. I cut them and build up the color. my first coat is usually pretty thin .. almost water color like so I get some good penetration and then build up the colors instead of one thick coat. Im not entirely sure leather sheen will stick to anything pre treated with carnuba but intuitively I wouldnt think so. I will let someone else jump in there.