Jj5685

I'm starting a BLET in a couple weeks and they told us to get a black belt nylon will be fine, so I bought a web belt for a few bucks and it sucks after I've been making my own leather belts I wear every day for the last several years. They do get broke in fast though. Nothing as good as a new crisp belt I just tooled. A guy a work also wanted me to make him a double thick belt. I hate stitching , too many holes to punch. I figured since its flat on both sides I could just glue it together. 2" 8-9oz belt with basket weave like the bianchis is what I'm going for. Would y'all use raw hide, 2-3oz veg tanned, or double up a 8-9oz veg tanned? I've got some deer hide that's raw hide right now, havn't finished tanning yet. What would be the best choice?

Oh really didn't know it could cause chemical burns. I just did an oil change yesterday and thought about that. When I change the primary oil on my Harley it's kind of a bluish grey color ha ha that may be cool. I would think once it dries it should be safe I've got oil stains on some of my jeans and their fine. If you try post some pictures I may do it later today.

I had an idea but not sure if it would work. Has anybody tried this? I figure it would come out as a dark mahogany depending on how many miles you've driven.

I took it off. I havnt had a problem with rain making it a sponge. Which usually after a rain day I take it inside to the dehumidifier then oil it the next day

I re covered my factory seventy two seat for practice until I got a more comfortable seat. But now I think I may just keep it on. I tried making a fork bag like the guy with the wide glide i think it was, but I couldn't get 8/9oz. Leather to mold good so I made my own. It looked better before I got caught in the rain a few times but it's still holding up. Color looks to be fading or blending darker but antique hasn't run any with bee natural rtc. I keep it oiled with neets foot oil. Water will roll off the finish but it finds its way in though the edges and stains it. Im needing to make a bag to put somewhere on right side to hold some wrenches, Allen wrenches, screw driver, and pressure gauge. What would y'all suggest, like a roll up bag... i figure I can strap to my shock or a fold over like my fuel bag? I'd like to sew pockets for each tool. But the belt gaurd is taking up a lot of room. My awesome Sportster 72 After seat has been used for a month or so And before it was Broke in Solo bag Fork bag It's not a teradactal, its a skeleton eagle. You can see it better in this one I try to mix dies differently to get several colors for each part but they blend together after awhile so it's basically a waste of time.

I re covered my factory seventy two seat for practice until I got a more comfortable seat. But now I think I may just keep it on. I tried making a fork bag like the guy with the wide glide i think it was, but I couldn't get 8/9oz. Leather to mold good so I made my own. It looked better before I got caught in the rain a few times but it's still holding up. Color looks to be fading or blending darker but antique hasn't run any with bee natural rtc. I keep it oiled with neets foot oil. Water will roll off the finish but it finds its way in though the edges and stains it. Im needing to make a bag to put somewhere on right side to hold some wrenches, Allen wrenches, screw driver, and pressure gauge. What would y'all suggest, like a roll up bag... i figure I can strap to my shock or a fold over like my fuel bag? I'd like to sew pockets for each tool. But the belt gaurd is taking up a lot of room. My awesome Sportster 72 After seat has been used for a month or so And before it was Broke in Solo bag Fork bag It's not a teradactal, its a skeleton eagle. You can see it better in this one I try to mix dies differently to get several colors for each part but they blend together after awhile so it's basically a waste of time.

I used RTC on a motorcycle seat tuesday afternoon, ive had it drying in basement with dehumidifier at night and put it on bike to ride to work and it sits out in the sun. It seems it get sticky out in the sun then by the time i get it from dehumidified room it gets better just a little tacky. I was told to wipe off with acetone but itll mess up my antique, or it should dry on its on. its been since tuesday and today is saturday and its still just as tacky. I did 4 colors and an antique then soaked a rag of that bee natural rtc adn wiped on a heavy coat twice. I guess i put too much of a coat on it. It always humid here in NC so idk how long this takes to dry. What would you do, wipe with acetone and recoat lightly with a sponge? or let dry? http://s1065.photobucket.com/user/jj5685/media/20150609_161022_zpsoloqe4xr.jpg.html?o=3#/user/jj5685/media/20150609_161022_zpsoloqe4xr.jpg.html?o=3&_suid=143422158290405482667846249443

I didn't know how to put out on. On the tan kote I just dunk my finger into Bottle and rub it on. This stuff was so thin I got a small rag soaked and wiped it on. Live and learn. I always do it right the second time. Maybe third

I talked to Kevin at spring field and he thinks I put to much on and also because I did it in very humid nc heat outside. He recommends I wipe o ff with acetone, let dry then recoat with a damp sponge

Yea I hate the sewing. And if you mess up you have to fix it or buy a new seat because I cut my old one up in peices to trace around. Theirs probably a better way but I don't know it yet. I'm starting to think I did something wrong cause it's still tacky. It can't stay tacky forever can it? I used two bottles of e6000 around the stitching and spread onto the inside of seat. Could it be the glue coming through? It still looks fine. Which that glue takes 72 hours to cure and I'm guessing it'll still have a rubbery feel

Well I just got it finished. Several hours stayed up till 2am twice working on this. I used rtc bee natural finish for the first time and it is water resistant and it doesn't leave your tooling grooves looking milky. But it's still tacky after drying for 5 hours. I hope it's dry in the morning cause I'm riding it to work regardless. All hand saddle stitched

I've got a factory Harley seat. I know how to tool and saddle stitch, I've been getting better in the last 3 years. But I don't know how the best way to Re upholster my seat. I watched a video and a guy glued suede to the padding then put leather tooling on top of that. Is that needed. Do I need a water proof liner over padding under leather? From looking here's what I'd do. .. take off factory vinyl and draw a template from that leaving a stitch border. But I don't know if holes will line perfectly up after punching stitch holes. Then just wet edges of leather to mold to padding after sewing is complete. Right now the factory seat vinyl is just staples to seat pan. I guess I could do that. Is this how it should be done? It's not a springer seat so their is a little more padding. so my main concerns are with the stitch holes lining up and how to mold this to padding. Any input appreciated thanks

Yea I didn't have the hammer thong in yet. I had to bend a needle to get my peice of leather through for it without drilling through the suede. Everything is hidden under suede. I just measured my pattern I made and it was exactly 10 1/4" at the top. Mines a new model 45 though.an easy way to get it right is wrap a peice of suede and leather around the trigger gaurd then mark and measure. I havnt messed up yet scince I've been doing that.

This is my first suede lined holster. Also my first time airbrushing dye. I did kind of a dead floral theme I drawn up. I made everything, the pattern and tooling template and hand sewn. I'm actually pleased with the way this turned out for a first.I used rust colored suede, I love that color suede I use it on every thing, I made this for my dad for Christmas but I want to keep it. Maybe it won't fit his vaquero lol, I know they are a hair smaller than my black hawk in the pic, but it's atight fit. What else can I do to improve my work. I know I need to burnish the edges better, that burnishing tool is in its way I'm the mail. I just used a ruff grinding wheel that semi does the job

Before After... I've dyed a belt and a sling with fiebings so it's not the dye. Is the lemon juice or saddle soap in the back side I think I put lexol in it too but that didn't mess my belt up at all

I switched to fiebings oil dye recently from eco flo. This western stevie ray guitar strap I spent hours tooling is a nightmare. First I for mold on it. For rod of it with lemon juice. It darkened but I didn't mind. The tooling I'm happy with. I used saddle soap in the back because I want going to dye it anyway. The dye looks like Crap. It is uneven and didn't stick in the grooves. The splotchiest piece of crap I did. I'll post pics in a minute. Is it ruined or can I fix this. The lemon juice had dyed for a week. I used a sponge brush to apply. I'm really pissed off right now so any input would be great Stupid auto spell check. I meant I got mold then put lemon juice on it

Yea I know I've just had my money tide up.I do have a peice of raw hide that I'm looking into making a hammer though

Thanks I bet that was it. I noticed my metal flaking of my tools when I was pecking. I bet that was it. I still don't have a raw hide hammer.

Thanks for the replys, my leather was dry when the specs appeared. When you say stop in the middle of a project, how long are you talking about. I only stopped for maybe 6 hours. And it probly got to 50º that night. So basically if you wet the leather twice it will mold, our if it stays wet for long periods of time. Will oiling before tooling prevent this too? I'm just curious I've never had anything mold on me before

I was working on a guitar strap for hours, then I left it in the basement overnight, finished the tooling the next morning. I sprayed it with lexol and let it dry outside on a nice day then put It in My room until my 1" punch gets here to finish it. Two days later I come home from work and notice greyish greenish specs on front and back. I researched and used alcohol and lemon juice to front and back then applied saddle soap to the back only cause I wasn't sure if fiebings oil dye will coat over it or not. But anyway the specs seem to be gone maybe a few here and there that won't rub off. Will this stop the mold or will it keep coming back? What caused it to mold so fast, does cold temperature cause mold faster? This is one of the best things I've tooled and spent several hours on it and I don't want it to be a waste. I've got some tan kote on the way too.

Ok I always learn by screwing something up, I tried spray glue. The other kind dampens leather and you can't get a even spread. Maybe it is the suede leather but this is what I'm going for. I got the inlay cut for my sling and it looks better than i thought so I'm not sure if I want to make a padded sling or not. Ill probably mess up in that part too lol. Here's the piece of suede that I ruined

I'm making a gun sling out of some copper heads I tanned. I was going to glue the snake skin to some suede and sew it behind the leather and around the inlay I cut out. The snake skin is transparent and you see the glue unevenly spread and its splotchy. I used e6000 glue and spread it on with a knife. It looked bad so I pulled it off before it dried. How do you glue it down. So do you use spray glue or what?

These are the first two projects I did, the cross draw holster was the second. I'm getting better but still made some mistakes. If you notice the crossdraw holster, I had cut the wrong side of the top so I had to make a left handed holster or reverse the leather so I reversed the leather. I didn't use a template or anything and I free handed all the tooling.

Thanks for the help, Just ordered a strip.

Thanks, how do you connect them to the belt, can you use rivets. I havnt got into sewing yet Never mind, I see what you mean now. I thought you meant a the loops were already sewn together into a strip