Colt W Knight

Commercial padfolios are made with thin vinyl and cardboard as a stiffenervous. There is no reason you can not use chrome tanned leather.

Amazon prime.

If you are dip dying, I would absolutely thin it 50/50. I don't do it when I am using my airbrush or a dauber though because I make to big of mess mixing it.

I use Fiebings pro oil dye for traditional leather colors, and if I want actual colors, I use Angelus Acrylic leather paint.

I use finer sharpening stones(hone) to Polish things like jointer and planer blades.

I typical store bought strap is adjustable from 38-52" and is made from thin suede leather or a canvas/nylon cloth material. They are almost always 2" - 2 1/2" wide. A store bought "tall" strap is generally 56/58" long If you ask a customer to measure their strap length ( The distance between center hole and center hole where the straps attaches) on these store bought straps, You will need to add 1-2" for a veg tan strap. Sometimes 3" or even 4" added length if you are making an extra wide lined veg tan strap ( 4" )

I have made a ton of guitar straps, and 48"-54" is normal range, with most folks falling close the 48". The biggest I have ever made is 56", and the smallest for an adult is 46" If folks are using 2 1/4" cloth store bought straps, they may measure 48" strap length. But if you are selling them a wider veg tan leather strap, It probably needs to be 50" long. So if it were me, I would do 48-54, Of course, I am selling to country musicians. Those heavy metal guys like them real low slung straps.

Biker leather guys and custom hit rod interior guys would probably love that paint job. If someone asked me to paint a guitar like that, I'd probably ask 500-600$

I have the large and small barrel Craftool Pro swivel knives. Both of mine swivel freely, and have no play in the bearings.

I get my stuff from Hide HOUSE in Napa, CA

It's Cosplay fabric from Joanne fabric. you can glue it to the leather with 3m super 77 spray glue, then run a clothes iron over it and it will bond to the leather exceptionally well. I prefer to use synthetic cloth like polyester, rayon, nylon because you can take a lighter to he edge and melt the fibers and it won't fray like cotton cloths.

When did the Army start stamping holsters with the US emblem?

Yeah, I can see that. Technically, we wouldn't be allowed to use a sling like that because it is not proper rigging, but we all know stuff gets done the wrong way all the time.

I have used a lot of nylon slings in the mining industry to lift and drag things that weigh Tons and tens of thousands of pounds, and I have never seen a sling fail at the stitching. Normally it rips in the loop portion.

When I opened the link and saw the picture, I thought it was a block of wood.

The heavy duty nylon slings we used in the mines were all sewn parallel with one row stitching at the loop going perpendicular. Plus, there is a certification tag sewn onto the strap as well, and its sewn all the way around like a box. These were all tested and certified. Technically, they couldn't be used if any of the fibers were torn, and definitely couldn't be repaired and used unless they were re certified. Not saying, you can't or shouldn't repair them, but in the mines we fell under OSHA and MSHA regulations, and lifting/towing/pulling straps were all highly scrutinized.

I tried "plant" type UV lights to give my lacquer guitar finishes a sun tan, and it didn't work. I always wanted to try tanning bed lights.

I thin MOP about 50/50 and airbrush it onto my soft purses. I like to do about 3-4 thin coats. You can tell when it starts to build up and stops soaking in, thats when I stop. Adds a bit of shine and nice protection that wont crack or gum up on the purses.

The real trick to nice edges is sanding them nice a smooth first, then I just mix up some water and saddle soap, wet the edge, and run the edge on my wood burnisher/drill press until its nice and slick. If I really want it nice, Ill let it dry, give it a coat of bees wax and burnish again following up with a a piece of blue jean or canvas.

Im going to have to try to buy some better stuff to try because I really like Latigo.

Tandys latigo will turn your pants red. I made some work belts from some left over tandy latigo and it bled like a stuck hog.

My experience with Black metal hardware is that the vast majority of black hardware is just painted with something like a black epoxy enamel paint. Not really super durable, so you don't see a lot of quality manufacturers offering a black finish. If you could find some unfinished brass buckles/snaps or nickel plated snaps, you could etch them with an acid, clean them off and spray on your own black epoxy enamel or black powder coat. Have you asked the folks at Ohio Travel Bag? They have been the most helpful for hard to find stuff, I have dealt with.

You can tarnish brass nearly black using computer board etchant solution. Back when Radio Shacks were still open, you could buy there for about 7-8$. Muriatic acid from the hardware store should do the same.

I was going through a catalog a few weeks ago and saw Leather specific bandsaw blades, but for the life of me I can't remember where I saw it. I believe they call them band knives instead of bandsaw blades

The trick to using a bandsaw is setting it up properly to begin with. These steps can be found in detail from wood working resources. 1. Make sure the tension is set correctly 2. make sure the blade is tracking correctly 3. Set the guides on the blade correctly (bearing guides tend to work better than blocks, IMO) 4. Use a good quality blade. 5. Set the height of the blade guide correctly 6. A nice zero or low clearence throat plate makes cutting softer things like leather much easier and cleaner. Cutting tips. A bandsaw is not a scroll saw, so don't try to make too sharp of turns. In areas with sharp turns, add relief cut. You can work nice and slow on bandsaw, so you don't have to get in a hurry. Rigid makes a nice sanding station called the Rigid Oscillating spindle and belt sander. You can easily and quickly switch from a belt to different size spindles. I use this tool all the time for leather and wood.