Boriqua

here is the link again Tinker. Some cool stuff if not this project another perhaps but its a good bookmark to have http://www.theclip.com/store/home.php Alex

I would imagine too that those old tools were used by working dudes.Guys that spent a 10 hr day head down knocking out goods. I spend 6 hours a day at this but I dont have a boss hanging over me that is demanding a quota. I have a safety skiver a right hand grind skiver and left hand. Neither of which is any good at a deep skive say at a belt end of at the fold over at a buckle. I used a box cutter for most of my cuts and a ruler for long straight cuts. I have done 4 holsters and finished up a guitar strap with the round knife and did all my perimeter cuts, skiving and long cuts. I dont have the space to have everything out on a bench so many of my tools are organized in drawers. So nice not having to take out each one when I needed it and just use the one tool on the bench. Were I REALLY working at a job it would sure help productivity if I could do a variety of tasks, strop and move on. So far I am digging it! I like those belt loop sheaths! I was going to make one like the one on the left but ... hmmmmmmm

Check out this place http://www.theclip.com/store/home.php I bought a few things years back. They have a wide variety. Not sure what is exactly in your mind but maybe something there will spark your imagination. Alex

I have for many years wanted to try a round knife. I just didn't want to spend big money to experiment. However one of Tandy's Black Friday specials was the al Stohlman round knife for $20 and my wife braved the line and picked one up for me. So after working on a few projects with it I can certainly see why and how it is useful. It can easily replace 3-4 other tools I have and I don't have to get up to find them. It isnt a great tool and I would have been a tiny bit disappointed at the regular price of $70. The bevel on the edge is all over the place and looks more like a faceted stone than a good cutting edge but I am used to getting tools and having to spend a few hours sharpening so not a huge deal. Handle is beautiful and while I still didnt get the bevels right I am happy with the edge. It glides through leather, even leather that I have that is cut resistant. I am now a believer in the round knife and am happy to have one. Now the question is .. does anyone know what this is made of? They say stainless on their site and its really soft. Bringing up a wire edge takes a few strokes on a stone. I am guessing 440A. If I strop it often it works great but it does dull pretty quickly. Just curious if anyone has some inside info on the steel.

I really like this pattern but the one I have is the newer Tandy version and it is lumpy and difficult to work with. The casting is not very good. After getting some of the tandy Pro Stamps I am spoiled with how easy they are to work with. I looked on Barry King's site but didnt see them ... does anyone have a source from this basket weave but quality with a nice sharp imprint.

I use http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/index.php?cPath=41_585 Very similar looking website so I wonder if they are one and the same but I just received a 686 mold and a Beretta 92 mold and shipping was about 10 bucks for the single package with both molds. Pretty sure it was 10.60. Don't quote me but I believe when I had ordered a single mold a bit ago the shipping was about $7. Just be sure to go to their shipping choices section. They have one called "smart post" where fed ex drops to the post office and the post office delivers to your mailbox. I think its the cheapest option and I got my stuff in under a week. Most of their blue guns are around $42 which is the cheapest I have found. I really dont like the MultiMold brand molds but they do offer a bunch that blue gun doesnt offer.

The set came out sweet!

I did 2 686 pancake patterns and thought they were "OK" not sure what I dont love about them. They were short barreled and those heavy guns with no barrel make it a little hinky at the top. Think I may stay with bucket styles for the short barreled 686 or try and cobble together a decent avenger style.

just jumped on your 101 pattern. Been looking at it for a bit and just didnt click the buy now .... now its bought. I have a pattern but I think your stitch line looks a bit better than mine. Where was the 686 pattern ?

Here ya go .. I threw some measurements around so you can check it against your print. The File link I posted above Should print full size but I know that can get weird sometimes depending on the program. I can try and scan it to PDF if that works better but with the measurements its easy enough to replicate.

This stuff http://www.zackwhite.com/Fiebings-Antique-Acrylic-Stain-4-Oz--C25254_p_1988.html

To kind of piggy back off of what red bear said ... you get out what you put in so if you start out with a fairly smooth edge before you burnish there is less to get fuzzy. Seems like you already made up your mind but I sand my edges down to a worn piece of 220 grit sand paper. Some guys here go further than that. Cant get to fuzzy if it doesnt start fuzzy. I start with 60 grit, go to 125 then to 220 and then to a 220 that started as 220 on a wheel but hasnt been changed in a while so its no where near 220 any more. Then I start the burnishing process. Point is .. my edge already looks like a sanded piece of wood before I start rubbing. Sometimes its just loose crappy leather and you can sand to death and its still loose crappy leather. I have started just being sure I take the pieces I need from the right part of the hide. I have a piece now that is way to loose to make firm holsters. Its 8/9 but is just not appropriate for a holster but it will make great motorcycle accessories where forming isnt an issue so I will use it there. So if that strap is important make sure to pick it from a good solid spot on the hide.

Hey Colt .. seen plenty of your nice straps around here. Thank you for the assist!

I have made a few special order guitar straps so I was given the measurement range the client wanted. So far all the straps I have made have been for tall fellows. I have one I started about a year ago and want to finish it up. I have no particular buyer so I will just put it up on my etsy site and let it ride. Question is, given about a 7-8 inch range what do you think is the range that has the best opportunity of selling? Is there an average size that is usually offered at guitar shops? Its a 3.5 wide strap. Thank you for any guidance! Alex

Bummer .... I went to use my medium brown Fiebings Acrylic antique and it looked like oatmeal. So I opened up my unopened bottle still with the seal and .... oatmeal! I was afraid to use it on the piece I had been working on for some time though I guess it would have worked. Is there anything I can add in order to return it to its previous liquidy state? Doesn't have to be perfect since I am just smearing it on and wiping it off but the oatmeal will be harder to work Alex

as a final over a burnished edge I always paint on a pass or two of supersheen. I like the look of the burnished edge and its process marks far better than paint. My edges on items my super tough on gear tester has have been holding up well. I dont use the beeswax. Alex

I spoke with ALD yesterday and can confirm that the double shoulders are not Chahin. They carry Chahin sides but the shoulders are another mexican import and the person stated they are from US steer.. However they did say they have grade 1 double shoulders and not just TR. I ordered a double shoulder in 7/8oz of what they are calling grade 1 and will report back with what I think. The price was great at $5.35 a sq but I dont know what shipping will run and forgot to ask when I was on the phone. I will dig up the order # and pm you. It was the first time in many years of purchasing from you that I received hides I was unhappy with. I dont think i purchase enough to make the wholesale cut at the end of the year so I have to find other sources now anyway but I am always looking to help out a business if I can and perhaps you can trace the hides I got and settle up with the place you got them.

oh man and if we could get the license rights to use "Message in a Bottle" by the Police!! yea you may be on to something. "Nuts in a bottle oh yea" .. I can hear him singing it now. I have some 1/8 bb's for my slingshot which are admittedly to small for my slingshot but the Tandy pro water stain is pretty viscous and I am not sure that they would be heavy enough to mix it up. 1/4-20 nuts though seem to accumulate so I am sure I have a few new spares around to try. When the bottle is done wash em off and stick it in another color. I dont use a ton of the waterstain but the nuts will definitely help when I do.

oOOOooo nuts in the bottle is an AWESOME idea.

hey those are pretty cool!!

My feeling is Turquoise leather dye may sit on the shelf longer than more traditional colors. Try shaking the bottle until you think you shook it enough .. then shake it a some more. Wish I had had one of those machines they use at the paint counter! Then like i sad .. rub it in then let it dry out 15 minutes or so and give it another going over. I was pretty generous with how much I used too. Alex

Oh man your absolutely right Tom. I assumed it was the Chahin stuff but after going through their online catalog and paper catalog I made a mistake. The only Chahin they have are sides. Going to go check out American Direct. I have kind of hit nice price points for my stuff where it sells fairly quickly so I want to keep material cost reasonable but I do want to move to making a better product and that last two rolls of leather I got were not nice.

The alcohol in fiebings will certainly further shrink your items some but the amount your talking about was probably due to the water. I kind of count on the shrinkage and how to control it when making formed objects like holsters. There are a couple of things I might due with your particular project and YMMV. If I am going to stamp and or wet the entire surface then I stick the leather to a piece of contact paper. Some people use packing tape but I prefer the clear contact paper and its pretty cheap. I buy it by the giant roll. Stick your leather to the contact paper, make sure you have good adhesion and then take a sponge to the surface and work away. Leave the contact paper on until the piece is dry. Second thing is .. and I am doing it right now is I dont cut some projects to final size until the wetting is done. I have a piece I am doing that has a lot of background stamping and a somewhat elaborate design carved in. Its for a holster so final size is critical as it is for your cover. I cut out a square larger than my finished piece and lightly scribe in my final shape. I do all my wetting and carving and stamping and some initial dye then I go back with my pattern, scribe in my holster shape and cut. Hope that helps Alex

I confirmed the tandy Pro water stains dont run. I did try the Turquoise and the three other colors I have and then ran water over them and absolutly no color runs off so since it doesnt rub you can use less sealant which should help keep things flexible. Keplerts .. your right about the Turquoise being a bit weird. It seems to have little pigment so I had to shake it up good before I could get some nice coverage and I found I had to apply it let it dry and then reapply but I liked the final color. Only problem was it turned ugly fast when I sprayed it with 50/50 water/resolene. I have no idea why it happened. That particular piece of leather has been sitting on my shelf for over a year and I didnt pre dampen the leather so ..?? The piece I ran water over got darker but still a decent color for turquoise leather dye. The goat skin took the dye nicest. Didnt have any issues like that with the red, brown or black. Resolene didnt affect them. Here are some pix. In the group shot going clockwise from top left Piece that had been outdoors for a while in the sun and wind next was goat, then a piece of nasty 6 oz I have that hates dye, then a nice piece of absorbent 8/9 oz and finally the little keychain thing that I sprayed with resolene. The other pieces are how it looks after dye but before wetting

I think its so awesome that you fabricated the cam!! Nice work. I used poplar on mine but I didnt care for the pony that sat under your lap so I made mine a floor model. I have since bought one of the cams from amazon and replaced the knob. Been using this for sometime now almost daily and its perfect for me. Were I to do it again I might use oak since there is a little more flex than I would like out of the polar at that length.