1961Mike

Hi, I'm more of the cowboy leather work sort, but I do have a question. The satchels don't have a buckle which is understandable being a 500 year old design, but did Renaissance ladies actually stick those itty bitty leather shoe laces back through those itty bitty holes when they went from store to store? Later

Hi I think what Chuck is hitting at is that you need to make the BACK of the holster right, the side against your leg, while leaving the FRONT of the holster to grip the gun. If that helps.

Great work, that's the first time I've seen the meander stamp with no opposing stamps. Interesting look. Later

Hi I'm in South Norman dang near to Noble. I already decided on building a paint bay in the garage. I doubt I paint a car, but I do some woodworking. If I can put a decently heavy concrete block next to the cutting table, I might put one of the two table on rollers. Housing prices are climbing unfortunately. Later

Thanks, I didn't think to put that in. I was about to start house hunting more when the 19 showed up. I"d say full sides. Not sure what I"ll be able to afford, but I"m looking at the Barndominium idea. I've always said I need a 1000 Sq Foot house and a 10K Sq Foot storage shed, so hopefully space won't be a problem. I was thinking 4x8 plywood, with the concrete section at one 8 foot side. I would ASSUME that working on a side, from the side would be worst case. I'm looking at cutting table with a tooling part as stated. SO FAR, I don't stamp anything too big, like a suitcase. Cheyenne holsters, belts, and possibly a possibles bag of some sort are the biggest of my goals. Would I be better off with separate cutting area and tooling area? Thanks

Hi I'm curious. I've done leather work on and off for a while including a lot of stamping. 20 years ago, I set crosslegged on the floor of the basement and pounded on the concrete. Now I have the cutout for a bathroom sink on my counter top over a rubber matt that's about 3/4 inch thick. I have no problems in stamping, but with knocking stuff off the countertop when I swap ends of the belt to do meanders (D445S) for example. How large of work space would you like to have? I'm house hunting and would probably use a 4x8 piece of plywood as the cutting and stamping space, but with a 2x3 foot concrete slab about half way on the long side of the table if I get a house. Thanks

Hi Vinegaroon doesn't do that. Good stuff. Roon isn't a dye though, dip the leather for 10 minutes then rinse in a baking soda solution. Later

Hi Y'all, I'm no expert on this to the point of not having handled a pistol with a laser on it, BUT If I was going to build something like that, I'd need the original equipment to build it around. Have fun with that. Later

Hi, I agree, edging is difficult, take a lot of time with it. Since that's a competition piece, adjust-ability may be important. The number of T-nuts may be due to that. I agree with the comment on the belt loop. Have you considered a way to make the carry angle adjustable? Good work though.

Hi, the Vinegaroon quits smelling like Vinegar when the acid has reacted with the steel to become Vinegaroon. This stuff is great, and really pretty cheap. Later

Hi I would start your stitching at the top of the Sheath so that those two lines match up. It's too easy to see the difference, and commonly a difference is seen as a mistake. This "mistake" won't impact the strength of the sheath so I'd argue it isn't a mistake. Great execution. Later

Very well done. I've been doing belts that have been outside tanning, then NF and Skidmore's. That works pretty well. I don't have enough space yet to do anything that big. My current tanning facility is the dash of a Subaru. Later

Hi, Thanks, the leather I had a bit of trouble was cased, and was hard to begin with. I was a bit surprised that it didn't take too well, but it looks decent now. Later

Hi Blue62 Nice job. How did you get the neatsfoot oil so even? I just did a belt with edge stamping instead of a stamped center and clear edge. The stamps held a lot more oil than the clear areas. In my case it won't matter because I'm putting on a coat of Skidmore's or two next. Thanks Mike

Hi, that looks great. I've been practicing a lot with the meander stamps. I have small, medium and large. Both the Small and Medium work on each side of a 1 1/2 inch belt. I'd have put a small Star in the trigger guard corner of the holster to fill the space. Your stamping looks very crisp. The white thread is what they used to use almost exclusively, at least that's what's in Packing Iron. I was going to use plain brown waxed thread, but then I looked back through the book. Later

Hi I would try to make the holster and belt look such that you can slit the thread holding the magnets on and get rid of them if he wants to at a later date. I'm not big on having a magnetic field run through me. Later

Hi, The battlemunky is right, that's some well executed basketry. I both hate it and love it. 1. I don't like the looks of Basket weave on leather. I don't know why, I was never kept in a basket as a child, etc. 2. I wouldn't have stitched over the basket-weave. 3. You did do a REALLY good job of it. 4. The stitching over the basket-weave looks really good though. Later

Hi, I had a question on your double meander, I have the meander tools, but what did you use to draw the guide lines? I use a blade and what ever you use looks better. Thanks

Hi Looks good. I haven't shot Steel Challenge, do you have to draw from the holster? Just don't forget that's there at Walmart or does that matter at all in Arizona? Not a big deal here in Oklahoma. Later

Hi I put Resolene on with a rag. I'm finishing a Meander edged belt, so the divots in the Meander are fairly deep. I put a lot of half and half Resolene on to get the holes filled and then wipe the rest "down stream". I just rub until the White in the Resolene doesn't have any bubbles in it. Does anyone spray on the Resolene or use a dauber? Later

Hi, I've made several black belts using Vinegaroon. I made it with Cider Vinegar and steel wool. https://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,11991.0.html I put it in the dye bath for 10 minutes, wash it in a Baking soda bath, rinse and let it dry for a few days. I let it dry until it quits smelling like vinegar. So far so good. I've finished it with Resolene, Tan Kote and Bag Kote. I commonly finish the back side with Gum Tag, and cover that with Bag Kote. Later

HI Look up the leather section in CAS City Forum. Old time dyes a How_to There is some great information on Vinegaroon, Walnut dye etc. To cut to the unhappy ending, making a Gray dye seems to be difficult or impossible. Later

Hi, I'll second dirtclod and Lokirk's recommendation. Page 2 has the directions for making a pattern. Yes you will have to do things differently with a scope on there, but probably not as much as you think. If you want a tooled leather scope for your Contender, I'd consider making one out of plain leather, get the holster fitted etc, and finished in every way. Then cut the thread and use THAT for a pattern. Heck of a lot of work though. Hope that helps.

Hi Forester, Looks great, can't use the Buscadero in NCOWS, but I plan on making a fancy black rig like that without the dropped Holster position. I haven't seen the Lone Ranger in years, so he probably didn't have a different color thread, but if you're going to go FANCY, go all out. I have enough red thread to do a whole 2 gun rig and belt in all red with Vinegaroon dyed leather. It will be a while so don't wait up. Later

Hi If memory serves, Neat-lac is no longer made. It's 2020, what should I seal the skins with? A lady I work with raises hunting dogs and is therefore somewhat anti-copperhead. I can have all I want. Thanks