TexasJack

Really, Really nice!!!

But we really don't care! Nice stamp!

Many Texans too.

The Tandy folks read the book, "The Art of Extracting Money from Customers". No, you bought a Vol. 2 and nearly everything in craft work builds on simpler ideas. Volume 1 is pretty basic and does cover things pretty thoroughly. But even Vol. 1 will refer back to earlier projects in the book for details on how to do a piece of a project. BTW, the guys who recommended The Art of Handsewing Leather and The Art of Making Leather Cases to me were legendary leatherworkers with many years of experience. They are pretty good books to learn from.

A sharp awl will go through leather pretty easily - nearly as fast as your drill bit. (It can also go through a wayward finger pretty fast!) Thing about an awl is that you are not removing any leather, just making a slot. The leather closes up and keeps the stitching in tight.

Yeah, that's exactly right! Japan, USA, Germany, England all produce quality steel. Taiwan is hit or miss. But the rest of Asia produces steel that barely qualifies as rebar. I don't care if it says "stainless" or if it shines like a mirror. They don't have the equipment to make good quality tool steel. Really good steel is hard to sharpen, but holds a great edge. It's not just the composition of the steel; it also has to do with the heat treating. You say your knife has the name "Hyde" on it. They're supposed to be a pretty good company that makes a broad variety of industrial knives. Oh, there is one other thing. Some knife steels use vanadium. It helps make a very, very good knife steel. However, it also makes the steel very, very hard to sharpen. Very tiny quantities of vanadium nitride get on the surface as you remove the surrounding steel during sharpening. It is very hard and keeps the steel from coming in contact with the sharpening surface. Time, patience, and a good stone or ceramic will overcome the problem. But if you do have such a knife, the important thing to remember is to keep it sharp and don't let it get so dull that you spend all day sharpening.

What can happen is that you get a 'wire edge' at the edge. The metal kinda stretches out into a thin layer that sticks out from the edge. When you try to use the blade, that thin layer just folds over and it seems like the blade is dull. A couple of things you can do. First sharpen TOWARDS the edge, not away from it. Go slow. There is nothing to be gained by sharpening fast. When you finish up on your finest grit (or ceramic), lighten up on the final few strokes. Then use a piece of leather to strop off any wire edge. You can also use a buffer, but be very, very careful it doesn't fling the blade somewhere you don't want it to go.

Much better photos! Looks really nice!

I don't know of anyone carrying peccary leather. Would it be much different than pig? The only native peccary in the USA is collared peccary, better known in Texas as a javelina. You might try searching for javelina leather.

Nice job on the tutorial!

Borrow one and make a wooden pattern with a 3/4" thick piece of wood. I made one for an LCP, but it didn't have the C.T. on it. The LCP - even w/CT - has a pretty simple shape and is just about the same thickness throughout except for the trigger guard.

Nice job!

Really nice looking - esp. the knife. Don't think I've seen that type of handle done better.

Odors are tough - even parts per billion of some chemicals can stink pretty bad. Did you try using vinegar?

Nice - as always, Dave!

Very nice! Looks like one that would do the job for many years.

Nice looking holster! Clean, sharp, and very usable.

You need some beeswax for lubricating the needle and string. You can use the wax on the back side for support as you push the needle through. That way you also keep wax on the needle. Someone (sorry but I forget who) posted a picture on here where they wrapped the wax in copper wire to keep it together.

There isn't one terrible problem with the web site, but there are a bunch of little ones. Overall, it's not bad. If you look at the previous comments, I think they pretty much consistently point that out. You might look around at how some others have set up their prices with the items they are selling.Photography is an art, so it's not something that everyone does well. The shiny finish on some of your stuff doesn't photograph well. You have rifle slings, but none on a rifle so that the viewer can see how nice it looks. Background helps to sell.Of course, you can have the coolest web site in the world and make fantastic products and still struggle in a bad economy.

Pounding an awl with a mallet to make holes?? If you have a sharp awl, you should be able to make the holes without pounding. Think of it this way: Leather is basically skin and an awl is basically a needle. It should go through pretty easily. (In fact, you have to be careful you don't pierce your own skin!) It may take a while to sharpen it after you've been pounding on it, but you really need to try. Remnants are what they are. If they were good pieces of leather, they wouldn't be in the remnant bin. If you indeed expect to sell a holster, you need to make a quality product. As for the stitch wheel, that has a lot to do with the amount of water in the leather. Too much or too little and it's hard to get consistent marks. Practice a bit on a piece of scrap. I have a friend from high school that worked for Ford in Cleveland. I suspect that the economy there will get a lot worse before it gets better. A lot of good people suffer in that kind of situation. I'm really hoping that we secede before all that 'hope and change' spreads to Texas.

I like the look of the holster and the tooling. Also liked the comments, as they were both very constructive.

Nice job, Butch!

That's just what I was going to say!

That's a very nice looking holster!

Listen, get Chuck Burrows' holster making DVD. It's worth every penny. His technique allows you to make the holster to fit the gun. (His sheath making video is even better!)