byggyns

Here is the pattern for the old leather military sling:

I have tried a mix of NF oil and beeswax, and I like it. I started out with a 1:1 mix, but I like a little more oil to make application easier. I have heard of some people adding carnauba wax to increase hardness & shine in the final coat. For heavy moisture exposure, I'd probably use resolene. I have used resolene on a 2 layer stitched gun belt, and haven't had any cracking, flaking, or obvious failure of the finish.

There are several options. You could go with coats of mop & glow or Resolene, which are acrylic coatings. Or, you could go with a heavy wax/oil treatment like a dubbin or carnauba creme. Some people make their own surface treatment with neatsfoot oil, beeswax, and other waxes/oils. Any of the oil treatments will darken the leather, so you'll want to try it out on scraps before using on a finished project.

My thought is that after you use the craftaid, you go back over the letters with a stylus, modeling spoon or some other hand embossing tool.

The S&W number codes are sometimes difficult to decipher, but the revolvers are normally easier. The first (of 3 digit codes) are normally metal type. a 3 is normally Scandium frame, a 6 is Stainless or silver colored alloy, a 5 is blued steel or a black colored alloy. That's just the most common for current production revolvers. S&W is not always consistent with the coding. Of course, they have made different types of the model 27, the new ones are 8 shot in .357 mag, but older ones were 6 shot. As was pointed out, there is the 686 - with 6 rounds, or the 686 plus - with 7 Then you have the different frame sizes J, N, K, L, X, and several other lower production frame sizes. It can get really confusing without knowing the year, model, caliber, and barrel length. And, then you have to make sure that the blue gun you have will match what you need. I've just started to get into S&W wheel guns, and I have so much more to learn.

Neoprene is available in multiple thicknesses from like 1/8" to over 1 inch (but I would not go close to that thick) You can also do a dense foam from the craft store or upholstery shop.

I like the final result, good job.

You can get both chrome & veg tan suede. The veg tan is sometimes called a "split" in those cases. I have had a stainless steel knife - Pakistani - that was in a chrome tanned sheath (probably also Pakistani) in the trunk of my car in FL. After less than a year, the sheath had reacted with the stainless steel and caused corrosion. This is an unknown "stainless" alloy from Pakistan, so I can't confirm the metallurgy, but that is my experience with chrome tan and steel. My general take is that if you intend to store metal in it for extended periods, don't use chrome tan. If it's temporary transport, it should be OK unless there is a large amount of moisture involved.

Yeah, that would not be the truck gun I would choose, but he gets to do what he wants with his stuff. Good luck trying to find a pattern and/or a blue gun. I haven't seen any before, but I haven't been looking.

There are certainly makers who will make these types of dies for you. I used to frequent an Amish leather shop when I needed to buy belts. They had a single die for the holes on the buckle end and one for the billet end. Theirs were made to be struck with a hammer. Their steps were really easy: cut strip from side, cut to length, use end punches, bevel, edge coat, use the punches for the holes, set snaps in the buckle end, add keeper and buckle, and that was it They primarily use latigo, so no finishing of the belt was required. I am wearing one of their belts today, and i think I bought it 13 years ago.

There are multiple guides for making you own pattern that could help you make your own. With a shooter like that, I doubt he carries or uses it often, so you could ask to borrow it. It should take you an hour or so to make a pattern if you've never done one (maybe longer since that gun has some odd shapes). The key part of patterning is figuring our where to stitch based on your pattern layout (pancake or fold over). After you work out the stitch lines, everything else is added on and doesn't affect the stitch lines by a lot.

I chucked a wood dowel in my rechargeable drill, sanded it to a taper, and I use that to burnish the slots on my holsters.

On this site, the section you want to check out is: http://leatherworker.net/forum/forum/26-historical-reenactment/ I can't remember seeing a full tutorial, but I do remember seeing different patterns in that section. try using a google search and append to the search terms site:leatherworker.net That will give you only results on this site good luck finding what you're looking for

Externally, the SD40 and SD9 are identical. The older Sigma in both 9mm and 40 are going to fit the same holster molds as the newer SD series. The only external differences are the machining of the slide sides and cocking serrations and a difference of the profile of the rail on the frame. The Sigma used a proprietary rail, while the SD went to the standard 1913 Picatinny rail profile. That might help broaden your search. looking again at the Sigma vs SD, the trigger guard on the SD looks to be a little larger and different shape from the Sigma.

Instead of waiting an hour for the water stones, you can just store them submerged in water in a small disposable plastic food container. My roommate is a chef and his 8000 grit water stone stays like that all the time between sharpening sessions. I use an extra fine ceramic stone from Spyderco before the strop. I think it is in the 4000 grit neighborhood. Before the ceramic, I do the honing on a Norton combo oil stone or on an Arkansas tri-hone. I haven't played with diamond sharpeners. Wet and oil stones are all I've ever used. I also don't have any of those super hard new steels that require diamond sharpeners. I've been sharpening my pocket and sheath knives for almost 30 years, and at the beginning, as a kid, I wore out plenty of cheap knives learning how not to sharpen. My collection of sharpening tools has grown a lot since my first combo stone that I bought for like $2. Since starting leatherwork, the blade types have changed, but the sharpening implements have remained fairly constant. Even my straight razor does not go above the ceramic stone before going on the strop. I get a good 10 - 20 shaves before I need to think about going back to the stone. While there may be some benefit to going over 4000 grit, I haven't really found it is necessary for me.

I like to use distilled water for any thinning of water based paints & dyes. That way you always get a consistent result, regardless of what minerals and chemicals are in your tap water. I'm a fountain pen collector & I always use distilled water for ink dilution and mixing. Some chemicals in the water can cause unintended chemical reactions with the ink, which can damage fountain pens. So, I apply the same principle to dyes and paints.

aerosol can of saddle lac: https://www.amazon.com/Fiebings-Oz-Tandy-leather-Saddle-Lac/dp/B008IXN58U

With doing this many, having a clicker press would be handy. with a clicker die, you could punch both the outside and the center at the same time. A less expensive way would be to have a hole punching die connected to a hand press or arbor press. you could have 2 dies, one for the outer and another for the inner. Doing it by hand with a drive punch is certainly doable, but I would get tired of it pretty quickly.

I looked up the MSDS for Aussie Conditioner a while ago. It is primarily petrolatum (petroleum jelly) with beeswax and other oils. It's been a while, so I can't remember what the smaller percentage ingredients were.

Yes, the finishes will mess up any future tooling or stamping. To tool or stamp, you need vegetable tanned cow hide, and it needs to be wet. The oils, waxes and finishes will block the water from getting inside the leather. You can tool pre-dyed veg tan, but you get a better look when you color the leather after tooling/stamping. My suggestion is to make 2 belts. Make one to wear now - just a plain belt- then make one the way you want it without the worry of needing it to wear before it's done properly. The only other option is heat embossing, which can be done to chrome tanned and finished leather. However, the equipment to do that is not the cheapest, and the final look is not the same.

I just did several long straps over the weekend. The key I found was to let the handle of the tool get slightly under the edge of the leather this angles the blade very slightly toward the leather, which keeps the blade from wandering toward the edge and making the strap too narrow. too much angle will get the blade dragging, and make the edge rough. I let the cut edge of the leather stay right above my hand, just overlapping the handle by a small amount. I was using a wooden strap cutter like the one in the picture above. I have a metal one from Osborne, but have not given that one a try yet. I was doing 1" straps from a large side of Kodiak Leather from Tandy. The first one got a little narrow in spots, but that one had some marks from the clips the tannery used, so not a huge loss. The others were really consistent. It's not easy to cut 5 good 7' to 8' long strips, but I managed.

To aid your attaching the beadwork to the leather, you can stitch the beadwork to a fabric backing. The fabric backing can be slightly larger than the beads, then the edges of the fabric can tuck up under the top layer of leather. I remember guys using that technique 20 years ago when I was in the Boys Scouts and my friends were making dance & ceremonies outfits.

Here's an oldie, but goodie https://www.amazon.com/Leathercraft-Tools-Al-Stohlman/dp/1892214903 Stohlman's book gives a lot of info on a variety of tools you can use. It's not comprehensive, but covers many of the more common tools.

I'm not sure my total construction time was on mine. I know the basket weave took several hours. Just the stitching was the 4-5 hours. I did the stamping on the belt blank first, then it sat for months before I glued the second layer on , stitched, dyed, punched holes, & finished. The second part of the process was about a week of working on it every so often. The stitching was a single marathon on a Saturday.

I'll agree with the above that you may want a heavier thread. I used the twisted Tandy thread on the one I did, in about 1.0mm. I think the slam thread will be good, I enjoy using Tiger thread & Nigel's review tells me it should work similarly. I have a 40" waist, & I took about 4-5 hours to do mine. I was binging "Orphan Black" at the time to keep me entertained.