TexasJack

My garage/shop (AKA "The Place of 1,000 Unfinished Projects") doesn't have enough space to dedicate an area to leather work. What little space there is gets used for a number of things. So I'd like to put together a storage box for leather tools and stamps. I've got some ideas, but I thought I'd float this subject by the folks on here to see if you have a storage box or something along that line. Ideally, you'd have some great plans to share. Since chances of that are slim, how about a picture or sketch of it? Or just a really good idea? Something you'd think necessary for a leather tool box? The rough plan I've come up with is for a wood box with 4 drawers and a top that opens to expose a large block with holes for stamps. (Actually, instead of a block, it would be more like a hollow box of it's own.) Better ideas will be welcomed and greatly appreciated! (ok, maybe not quite that much...)

Brownwood? Isn't that a suburb of Comanche? Greetings and Welcome!

Really, really enjoyable! There was a time when such individuals were common. I knew a few in my youth, but wasn't wise enough to appreciate them or to understand that the 'modern' world would erase individualism. Thanks for the link!!

You don't need a CCW to protect your store in Texas. In fact, 'ventilating' burglars is encouraged by Texas law. I live just north of Houston and spent many years working in Pasadena and Galena Park, both right next to Deer Park. (Pretty decent Italian restaurant over there.) For those outside the area, that's where most of the refineries and chemical plants are around Houston. Cops are still overwhelmed and broken lights and such from the storm give the low-lifes all the encouragement they need. You have to feel for the folks that run that store. They work pretty hard to make a few bucks and provide us with a local place for supplies. To get beat up by the storm and then by these oxygen thieves is pretty sad.

Very cool!! And very unique!

OK, nobody else asked, so here goes: Why foam and latex sword? Since it would stay in the scabbard, all you really need is the handle. Then, all that trouble to line the scabbard with felt? (You would never do that for a real sword, as it would hold moisture.) I don't mean to demean your efforts. It just seems like a lot of effort for a decoration.

My wife and I saw some movie awhile back featuring a giant snake. (Anaconda?) Of course, when it first appears there is lots of screaming and panic. She turned to me and said, "You can tell none of them are from Texas. Someone from here would be saying, 'Dang, wonder how many pairs of boots we could get from THAT sucker!!'" Of course there is always an issue over potentially killing off a species for it's hide or feathers. It has happened in the past. But what we're really talking about is the difference between conservationists and ecofanatics. Theodore Roosevelt saw the deforestation and destruction of the Adirondacks and the over-hunting of the west. As president, he secured the immense national parks to help preserve nature. But he also was an avid hunter. He believed - and rightfully so - that we could manage the great resources of the planet, both utilizing and preserving them. What is to be gained by throwing away an elephant hide? In fact, the most successful elephant preservation areas in Africa are allowing controlled hunting. The money - and meat - allows the local people to prosper and pays for the land for the elephant herds to survive. Meanwhile, I see where PETA wants Ben and Jerry's to start making their ice cream with human milk. (Presumably they don't want cows to suffer the humiliation of living on a dairy farm.) These are people with too much time on their hands, too much money, and absolutely no idea about how nature actually functions. Suggestion: When you get some fanatic that starts riding you about animal hides, tell them that you only use the hides of dead animals. (Which, of course, is true.) Then tell them that it's part of recycling nature and that you make things to honor and preserve what they were in life. Now, pick up an item with fine leather and say, "See this? I'd like you to meet my first wife....." That should send them packing!!!

The mortgage mess is just ONE 'bailout' being proposed. There's also a $25B package for the auto industry. I have no problems with trying to get factories working or protecting people's homes. I have BIG problems with handing MY money over to the scum that sucked the life out of those companies and letting them p*** it away. The politicians are scrambling to help only because they were tied directly to those thieves. They can't prosecute them without indicting themselves and they SURE don't want to lose the cash they siphon off. What's funny about the whole thing is that the news media is doing their usual bit of completely distorting the situation to favor their particular agenda. But even to the average working folks, it doesn't make any sense! Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills are 4-0. The universe is completely out of alignment. That explains the bailout and why I lost money in the football pool. FEMA trucked in ice (to Houston) from New Jersey and then (upon discovering that the power was back on) dumped it in a field. The Government is Here to Help you! (Much like an in-law....)

Nice web site!

Very nice!

You know, I wonder if you couldn't etch the end of a steel rod to make a stamp. Some of those South American guys that post over on TKN do some amazing work with nail polish and acid (making 'Spanish' style blades). Of course, that would be easiest on a smaller stamp, because you don't have to go very deep and you wouldn't notice slight differences in depth. Make a stencil, cover the exposed area with nail polish (or something along that line), making sure to protect the rest of the steel that you don't want etched as well, then etch the design.

Nice job, Dave!

I was thinking that looked a bit like a faux snake sheath that Sandy made when I saw your post with the tool. The sheath looks great - including a nice job dying it. Nice job by Sandy coming up with the tool! I'd love to talk him into making another.

You can make a sheath without the knife as a model, but it will never fit like a custom sheath. Gun holsters are commonly made using model guns. Most knifemaker's supply shops sell cheapo sheaths that can be wet and molded to a knife. They're not worth much, and no individual hand sewing can complete with an overseas shop using machines. Your time is much better spent making quality sheaths for the knives you have on hand.

Nice job, Dave!

316 stainless for an awl? Hmmmm! You really need a steel that hardens well enough to be made into a knife. Better to go with a carbon steel like O1 or 1095.

Nice looking rig! You don't see a lot of flapped holsters posted, but that's very practical. (And once very common - esp. in military holsters.)

Look for Chuck Burrows DVD on frontier holsters. The techniques work for any kind of holster and its very easy to follow.

Nice pair!

Looks like the diving weights deep sea divers use. Hope he doesn't fall in a pond while those clips are loaded!

A friend bought one and brought it to a knifemaker's hammer-in. He gave a demo, making a simple sheath. It was surprising just how easy it was to set up and get going. It's still machine stitching and not hand stitching, but it's pretty impressive for turning out quick and decent results.

Doesn't look very big to me. We had a very wet summer with lots of skeeters and the spiders thrived on them. Big webs that stretched 15 to 20 ft across. I saw an interview years ago with Vincent Price. He said that all horror movies have the heros (or victims) walking through cob webs because tests have shown that men hate walking through webs and showing that on-screen made the men in the audience jumpy. I do know that walking through one at night bugs me pretty bad! It is interesting how folks get all wired about big spiders - which are usually harmless - and don't worry at all about small ones like the brown recluse that can really tear you up.

Lots of things are 'recycled' into energy. I did some work on a wood chip and sawdust fired power plant in Maine. Lots of lumber and paper mills there and they generate a lot of bark, chips, and sawdust. A modern facility with good pollution controls can burn that stuff up just fine. Quite a few odd hydrocarbons (off-spec paint, for example) get blended into No. 6 oil for power plants or cement kilns. Oddly enough, trash is hard to burn for energy and most places that tried it failed miserably. It's too inconsistent unless it is pre-processed. Monday's trash will have far more grass and leaves than other days of the week. There's an interesting method that separates trash into different components - recovering glass and metals while compiling all the paper, wood, etc. for combustion. Someone tried to build a plant for that near Pittsburgh, but whiny locals shot it down. Quite a few things - including used cooking oils and fats - can be compounded to make biodiesel. The stuff works pretty well and will clean out the carbon deposits that normal petroleum diesel leaves. Far better energy recovery than making ethanol.

A gunsmith showed me a horribly corroded stainless steel revolver that had been stored in a leather holster for about 1 year. Yeah, this is a high humidity area. Nylon may be less of a problem because it doesn't have the residual acids, but nylon will absorb water. Kydex is probably the least likely to contribute to a corrosion problem.

Just had to stop and say that I really like the look of that checkbook cover! It may not be a complex pattern, but it looks great!