Boriqua

Thank you so much for your well thought out and thorough response. A little bit ago I was actually busier than I want to be. I had my career filled with crazy hours and working days on end and this is just something in retirement to make a few bucks and have fun. To think I started selling leatherwork to help pay for art supplies when I attended the School of Visual arts and years later after a wild and wolly ride working in art and design creating large scale exhibits .... I am back to making leather things. Came full circle I did what you suggested about 2 months ago. I increased my lead time quotes to 4 weeks. I almost always deliver faster than that but it took some pressure off. I have a fair following and so far no one has been put off by the extra time quote and my feeling is if you need it faster .. there is always the store. I want to remain a craftsman. Having run a couple of departments and businesses I sometimes feel the tug to go nuts and get machines and employees and ..... and then remember .. I had enough of all that and if I can sell 20 holsters a month I am a happy dude. I have found a great spot on pricing where my goods almost never sit and I feel adequately compensated . To date I don't think I have lost a potential sale due to pricing but I still get the occasional person who wants to know if the pricing changes with multiple purchases. I don't mind. Never hurts to ask. I see guys charging much more and I have customers tell me I don't charge enough but I would rather get paid and have my stuff being used somewhere than looking at inventory on a shelf that I don't profit from and no one gets to enjoy. At the same time ... I dont want to feel like a shlub and not charge where I should and while the big time eater in flat back is pattern development it is certainly a bit more work to make. I am building my new website and I am putting up a list of options and what those options might cost. This way when someone has initial contact with me at least they already have a feel for where the pricing will be and what I offer. I figure its never a bad idea to offer more options. I for one LOVE when I have multiple things to choose from as it makes me feel a bit more in control and part of the process and its the reason someone goes to a one off guy instead of just buying off the shelf. Again bro... Thank you so much for your valuable input!! Oh .. and I am pretty stoked about not having to shave or comb my hair anymore!!!

If you are selling your work I have a question. I personally love Flat back holsters for my personal use. They have pluses and minuses like every other design and they are not great for every gun type but for my purposes .. they are perfect. I can wear a semi auto in a flat back all day and its as comfortable as all get go. Funny thing is my very first holsters years and years ago were flat back because I only had some pictures to reference ... pre internet .. and thought that is how they must be made. So on to my question I would like to offer it as an option but it is a bit more work than a 50/50. I make a ton of 50/50's but would love to offer the flat backs because .. I like them and so might some of the people who contact me and if I am doing this I want to offer the best product for your needs. If you make both 50/50 and flat back .. are you charging something extra for the flat back and if so can you give me an idea how much? I have to develop patterns for all the molds I have and produce test runs for each but I have already done a few and I don't expect any potential buyer to foot the cost for that but I was thinking it is worth an extra $10?? That covers the extra work and I think it covers the cost someone might be willing to pay for the extra bit of detail and comfort. Would love to hear from other sellers!

There is a pin that runs up and down on the badge. I designed the bezel so that there is a piece of leather that the pin goes through but there is a thin frame piece beneath it. So it takes a little work but you can slip the pin down in the cavity. The pin attachment is separate from the paper money interior. You dont see it from inside. So think of a stack from top to bottom.. Thick Bezel frame Full thin piece with holes for pin top and bottom Thin bezel frame Wallet interior piece.

I didnt have spare lumber but the 1x4 was under $10. I think the hinge was $3. I had the bolt and the spring was from an old 1911. I had a large knob but went to the cam and love it. I think the cam was $5. So about $20 total and its the perfect hieght for me when sitting in a chair. I put the bolt kind of low to accommodate larger items but tugadude's clamp idea would mean you could move it wherever you want.

I am not sure you have thought it completely through. The stitching pony for me is just an extra set of hands. If you are making your stitching pony as I did you can think through your needs and build accordingly. Mine has a bout a 3.5 inch gap so that I can sew things that have some girth or that need to bend. Even if I am sewing a wallet there is a sharp bend if you accommodated for the extra material for the top so the bent part goes in the gap and the part I am sewing goes in the clamp. The European style clams have a big belly that seems very useful though I have never gotten to try one and you might want to consider them. Before I die I will get hold of one to try. Here is a thread on those. With the narrow clamp area and large belly they seem ideal. but your question was about molded objects. You didn't specify what they might be but below I post a pic of a simple molded bag I made. After I glued my molded piece to my flat piece I was able to set up my pony so that one leg was inside the bag and one outside and still keep the clamp up very close to the stitching area for support as I used my awl. I have posted pix of my pony many times before but here it is again. I use it for virtually everything and I make a wide variety of leather goods. This has been in use at least 4 days a week for a couple fo years now

I really like the vibrancy of the colors in the Angelus. I very much prefer their cordovan and mahogany to Fiebings which I used exclusively for years. The jet black took some getting used to. It is BLACK. Cool as hell especially on Leo gear but I find if I dont cut it at least in half I have to buff the bejez out of it before sealing. It is loaded with pigment. not a bad thing but if you are used to using the fiebings pro black the angelus jet black has a bit of a learning curve. Having said that I will reiterate..... it makes leather black black like you used to see on leather gear cops had back in the 70's. I can apply multiple passes of fiebings pro black and never achieve the black I get from the angelus jet black but whew .. the buff'in! I am going to try the special on my next order.

I would end the stitch at the screw say 1/8" from it. Put a drop of locktite or nail polish on the screw and you wont have to worry about it again. I put blue loctite on everything. While the nail polish works fine it is damn near impossible to move again. Sometimes with age the leather shrinks a little and you may want to give the chicago screws an extra 1/4 turn. You can with the blue locktite but I have had no success when I use nail polish.

Stunning work and a wonderful wonderful idea!!

OH and just a few simple 4 pocket wallets. I have a couple of new designs I want to try but have been nose to my stitching pony making holsters for months

Pretty simple affair but since you asked! Not made for me just by me. I never have nice things! Recessed badge wallet which was part of a set. Need to look smart when gettin those bad guys.

Funny you should ask .. I was going to go over my old threads and let anyone that was interested know what I thought of some of the tools I had now been using a while. As far as the maul .. yup .. I still love it. I had to add a leather spacer after about 4 months but its dry as hell in AZ. Other than that it has performed wonderfully and has held up well. I use it probably 4 days a week for stamping and some setting. Here is where i got mine http://www.wrising.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=7&zenid=f330ad7fe550f9131980e586d6d6acc1

I have a question about oil and gun finish. Seems silly but I will ask anyway. I am doing a holster with a lined interior. Basically its just two layers of 4/5 oz sewn back to back. I left the interior without dye but it looks a little stark. I was thinking of applying a very small amount of neatsfoot on the interior but .. of all the holsters I have made I never put oil on the inside and am wondering if it can hurt the guns finish. I know guns are usually full of gun oil anyway but I dont know if there is some property of neatsfoot that is different. I have 100% neatsfoot oil not the blend. To the OP .. I have put a very small amount of neatsfoot on projects. I usually use a rag made from a peice of tee shirt rather than say a towel because it holds less oil. I rub it in well but .. unlike lobo I put it on before I dye. I then let it sit for no less than 24 hours before dying. I have had some colors give me fits with rubbing when I applied after oil after dye and I like my buffing rag to come clean before I apply final sealer/finish. Having said that I pick my spots with using oil and dont use it on all gear. I have guys with my holsters for 10 yrs + that were never oiled. If I know its for a field gun I will oil it. For a daily carry CCW holster or general around town .. I dont.

Thank you for your kind works everyone! Yup that is hand stitched ... Not my best though and I just kind of shy my eyes away a little when I look at the pic

Tooled, dyed/paint, cut resolene, dry, super sheen, dry x2, antique, clean, dry, light resolene final

To add to what kiwican said .. there is also a beveler that is pretty narrow that I have used with really tiny spaces. Tandy B935

I have 4 others and I just bought a REALLY Really nice straw hat so I didnt mind sacrificing one that I had enjoyed and was ready for retirement. I have enough material left to do about 3 more holster or ??? So more experimenting to come and maybe next time I wont hate the stitching.

On that piece I used a medium brown Antique. The resolene I use is always cut with water so it is a fair resist but not great. I put it first because, although I dyed the background brown, I wanted to pick up the grain and well .... make that part look more antique. I dont know .. I just didnt want it all to look flat and wanted to pick up the leatheriness of the leather. I thought it would also help to make a texture contrast between all the flat brown background and the smooth painted parts and make the painted parts pop a little more. I allowed the resolene to dry and then with a small paint brush covered all the parts I wanted to stay clean with a couple of coats of supersheen. No I did not paint on top of the supersheen. I was just sure to clean off the painted areas well with the sponges and rags but the supersheen was a really good resist and made it easier. You can see in the attached pic how the flat brown that was treated with the resolene picked up the antique but the colored parts are pretty clean

Absolutely.

Perhaps I misunderstood but I didnt weave the straw. I just cut a section out of a hat I had. I post things hoping to spark someones imagination. My very small contribution to the site. When you are out and about look for interesting textures. I made this about 25 years ago so its certainly not my best work but the inlay was some coconut hair I found under a palm tree in Puerto Rico. I just thought it was cool looking. I have seen shark and ostrich and elephant to death. Its beautiful and if the maker is good makes a tremendous final product but how boring it would be if we all did the same stuff. I am pretty cheap on pricing and that holster sold for $85 plus shipping because I was so disappointed with my stitching choice. Had I loved the piece I would have sold it for $125.00 and I am fortunate to sell just about everything I make.

I think its very nice. The stamping could be a bit more defined for me but its your vision so as long as its something you know about and have control over and choose to do then awesome. If I had one critique it would be the stitching. Its straight and looks great but if you are going to use contrasting stitching lets see it! I would have gone with a heavier thread. Doesnt have to be gargantuan but I think you may have missed a good opportunity by not going a little heavier.

Even in the pic you posted the white is slightly affected. The leather has grain and is going to pick up "some" antique but I have had good-great results using supersheen as my resist. I have tried all sorts of methods and concoctions but what you need to do is kind of slick up the grain. So multiple lighter coats building up the white then I may spray my entire project with resolene and then go into the lighter colors I dont want brutalized and hand paint on a coat or two of supersheen. Be sure to let it DRY DRY. I leave my project alone a day or two so the acrylic fully cures hard. When you remove the antique, I use the fiebings acrylic stuff, be sure to have a few sponges and rags. You can use the corners of the very lightly damp sponges to keep removing carefully from the places you want white. I even have some Q tips and a small bowl of water to help with removing antique from the surface. I dont use supersheen as a final sealer but it does work great at preserving lighter colors.

I havent posted anything in a while and sold this one off just a bit ago and figured that again it might jostle someones imagination on what can be inlay. So I do a basketweave where I alternatly hand paint some of the weave so it looks kinda like woven straw(ish) Its fun and people really seem to like it but I thought well why not do it in straw and had a genuine Panama straw hat I didnt use much anymore and it was sacrificed to the experiment. I did 6 spi and in hind sight I think I would have liked 5 but .. maybe the next one. Black body with Toquilla straw inlay and cigar colored stitching. Add 1911and you are good Couple of other pix here if anyone is interested http://www.boriqualeather.com/Gallery/index.php/Leather-Holsters/Panama-Straw

Damn Brother .. Did you have to set the bar so freagin HIGH! That there is some beautiful work. I can only hope to do something maybe half that cool!!

Here is how I handle my resolene. I mix resolene with 50-60% water and put it in a condiment bottle I get at the dollar store. While you are in there by the biggest pantyhose you can find. I usually only mix up about 1/2 -2/3 bottle at a time and each time I make a new batch I cut a new piece of pantyhose and hold it tight over the mouth as I screw down the top. I use primarily a gravity feed brush so I just undue the nipple and pour a little in the bowl. Has worked for me for a couple of years now. Still working on the original pantyhose.

I am in a little shock at the moment .... Jeff .. A video!! WTH .. everything about life is now in question. Anyway .. Jeff does his fade after wet mold so the colors are staying fresher. I usually do the fade before wetmold so go with a little extra dye. I just like doing as much dying as I can with a flat piece.