Halitech

water and natural beeswax

welcome to the club After 2 years, I figure I'm over $2000.00 worth of tools and I don't even have any of the big ones but I'm making some money off what I make so I look at it as an investment far as the misses, sorry, I'm single so you are on your own there lol

it looks a lot more complicated then it really is. Wet the edges with water then burnish. Apply beeswax or gum trag then burnish again. Then rub with denim or canvas.

younger kids that want to be like dad

you can get lining leather to line with, don't always have to use linen to line with is the leather veg tanned? if it's not, getting a good burnish on it will be harder. I wet the edge slightly first, then use a wooden burnishing tool then finish with wax and burnish again. I usually dye my edges before I burnish even with water as it seems to prevent the dye from soaking in very well.

tboyce uploaded this pattern http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=59038 I would use 4-5oz for the outside and 2-3 for the insides myself

I think you'd be looking at 3 pieces to make something like this. And suede doesn't mold so you can't mold it. You need something that absorbs water and that is pretty much only veg tanned leather

Great job on it, I really like that pattern. And your stitching looks great too I bought this set, gives me a lot of flexibility with the stitch size without buying 10 different tools http://www.tandyleather.ca/en-cad/home/department/tools/stitching-lacing-tools/3009-00.aspx

We all start at the same point and I'm sure you will come along fine as long as you don't get discouraged Check out Nigel's tut on stitching, it will help a lot http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=44874&page=1 here is some good information here about wet forming http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=19782&page=1 It will also help with the lining up of your edges so everything is smooth Then check out Hidepounders tut on finishing edges, it will take your projects to the next level http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18101&page=1 Good luck and happy leatherworking

very cool, don't suppose you made a pattern you would be willing to share

pretty much as you would only bring the thread from the front to the back to hide it. Basically there wouldn't be as much to hold it but you don't end up with the frayed end out front

Overall it looks pretty good. something that will help with your carving is picking up a modelling spoon and going over your beveling with it, it will really smooth it out. Unfortunately, with the thread, not really much you can do other then try to guesstimate how much you need so you don't run out. The double threads will show up but if you are getting close to running out, you can always try to end off/start with new thread in an area that won't be as noticeable. One thing I do (not sure if it's right or not) is when I end off, I end both on what would be the inside so that when you are looking at the main part, you don't see the thread end. Just personal preference but it looks little neater.

the slits should be in 1/8" from the edge then if you used 1/8 lace and slits. Is it just a single slot chisel? if it is, you might want to pick up a 4 prong, makes the punching go much faster. Also, you may want to go with a 5/32" for the 3 corner holes. Personally, I dont like holes on items where there is no stress on the lace but that's personal preference

Thanks for this Jim, wish I had had it when I made a belt for a guy. I fell into the same trap as Dwight. Guy said he wore a 36 pants so I made it for about a 38" waist and even with the extra holes, was still too short. Thankfully it was just a plain black belt with no name or customization but was still a pain to have to make a second belt for him.

I just ordered a few things from Springfield leather for less then 1 tool would have cost me at Tandy, including shipping. Granted I went with the cheapest method of shipping (12.95) so it will take about a wee to get here but saving 70.00 on the order will hopefully be worth it. I'm in the valley now which makes even getting to Tandy a chore since I don't currently have a car.

thee is a nice tutorial in the how do I section, might want to check that for ideas as well

I started wetting with water and running the burnisher over it then coating it with beeswax and doing it again. It doesn't take a lot of pressure, it's the friction that causes the edges to become smooth, not pressure

From the edge it looks like veg tanned so you should be able to burnish the edges. The stitching looks like standard saddle stitch to me

The carving looks great, better then I could do What size hole did you make and what size lace did you use? Are you making individual slits or do you have a 2,3,4,5 tip lacing chisel? Also, how far in did you make the holes?

Overall it looks good. 2 things I would have done a little differently would be to first, flip the belt loop portion so the top grain was showing so you would have a nice smooth finish on all of it. Second, I would have continued the stitch line up on the left side since you stitched all the rest of it. I do like the 45 record adapter as a concho, makes a nice touch

I didn't realize this was the challenge this month but I just finished this pattern. It's really cool and easy to make. Am I disqualified because I did it on March 31? Redochre, I didn't notice any bunching on mine and I used 4oz veg tanned leather

Picture is a little blurry so kind of hard to make out the carving details very well but from what I can make out, it looks pretty good. stitching looks even as far as the spacing goes but you have a fair bit of variation on the distance from the edge. A wing divider or stitch groover would help out a lot with that. The snap piece that goes around the handle, I would have probably fed it through the slots that you cut just as an added measure of security in case anything happens to the rivet. Also, because of the angle, I can't tell if you added a welt or not or see what your edges look like. Nice touch with the eyelet an adding the beads though

That might be the traditional way of doing it but I like the way this one turned out, different from the norm and definitely will stand out

anytime I've had to cut my rivet posts, I use my scratch awl to open the hole back up to as close to round as possible. The other option since you are already sewing, tack the strap with a bit of glue then continue your sewing right up around the top

The double loop lacing you did looks good as is but if you want to take the lacing up a notch, look up Chiefs tutorial on Mexican round braid on youtube. It takes a bit more lace but the way it covers the edge you don't end up with what electrathon calls "spider legs" where it goes through the holes. Here's the link to part 1