doctorbrady

Excellent design and carving. A little more work on the edges and finished belt loops and it will be PERFECT.

Thanks LTC!

Thanks for the ideas. I have already looked at various pendants, but haven't found the one I'm looking for. Still, it seems like that will be my best bet for blinging a belt with some UK insignias.

Chief, I understand the copyright issue, and would steer clear if I was making belts for profit. I'm not too worried about making a one of a kind belt for my wife, though. It's too bad that there is not a place to buy such things where you pay the royalty up front so to speak. Heck, you can find similar items from big business like Disney, Ford, Chevy, and the like everywhere you look!

I am hoping to make another belt for my wife who is a big University of Kentucky basketball fan. I have seen some examples with UK conchos on them but cannot find a source for the conchos. Any help would be appreciated!!!!

Fantastic looking items! What is the cool attachment on the knife sheath? Does that convert it from vertical to horizontal carry?

Blood tracking is a misnomer. It is actually scent tracking of wounded game. This usually involves tracking both blood and hoof scent of a specific animal. A good tracker can distinguish one deer from another and will follow the track of the wounded deer (or other game animal) while ignoring fresher scents. Blood hounds are sometimes used, but are not the ideal breed in most situations. Rohn, I will PM u more info if u are interested. You should also visit the United Blood Trackers website or the Born-to-track blog.

Well, here's my result. I used an oval seeder and round seeder. I played around with an edging tool that was basically a double oval seeder, but ended up going back to the single oval seeder as it came out nice. I made a grid pattern with 1 cm spacing between centers and got a relatively even pattern. I also got some practice with a beveler, and am getting decent results.

Great collar on a beautiful dog! Your collar give me something to strive toward. Good work.

This was my first attempt at a dog collar. I track with dogs, and wanted to make a "fancy" tracking collar for an upcoming blood tracking event. Being my first attempt, I made several amateur mistakes. My stitch line was WAY too close to the edge, and was horrible on the back side. This was my first attempt at beveling with a tool, and it wasn't until I finished that I realized I was using it backwards...lol. I also had some spacing issues with my letter stamping, and didn't realize it until I had it stitched to the front piece. Now for the good parts. This collar is two layers of hand-stitched 2" wide, 9 oz leather. It is wide and stiff, which is important in a good tracking collar so that it doesn't impinge on the dog's neck when pulling on a track. It also has a brass swivel and a little bling to keep it girlie. I was wanting to play around with this "geometric flower" pattern that I had seen on a belt. I free handed this one, and it came out reasonably well. This was a primer for a belt I wanted to craft for my wife. I worked out most of the bugs, and the belt turned out pretty good IMO .

Red Cent, I understand your concern. I built another 1911 holster with higher belt loops, but it didn't conceal as well as I liked. I purposely built this one as a "high ride" design. The belt loops are very snug and I am pretty trim, so it holds pretty close to my body without too much movement or wobble.

I am new to leather working, and already bitten by the bug. It started innocently enough. I needed a sheath for a couple of handmade knives that were taking up room in the safe, but weren't being used. Half a dozen sheaths later, I decided that I would try my hand at making a holster. I needed a different OWB holster for one of my guns and didn't want to drop $100 for one. Now SEVERAL HUNDRED dollars later, I am a full blown addict looking for new reasons to work with leather and buy new tools . I have just started experimenting with carving and decorative stamping and am planning on building some collars, belts, and who knows what else. Here are a couple of the holsters I made. The first was a pancake holster for my step-father's S&W Shield 9. It is a small gun and I had to change my design a few times in order to make he grip easily accessible. The second is an Avenger style holster for my DW CBOB. It is very minimalistic and carries exceptionally well. This was also my first attempt at a double mag holster and snaps. Both holsters have a thin, hidden strip of steel between the holster and reinforcing band to help with re-holstering. I am open to critique, as I want to improve my craft. I know my stitch lines can use a little work in the straightness department. A good straight edge would serve me well .

Thanks everyone! I am headed to SLC this afternoon to see what I can come up with and maybe get some tutoring . I will let you know how the final product comes out. This one doesn't have to be perfect, but I want to make my wife a belt with the same pattern if possible, and that one will need to be close to perfect if it is going to get worn.

I guess I am going to have to get a wider and narrower beveler and keep practicing. An oval seeder? Holy cow! I am not sure that I could keep the angle right that many times to accomplish that pattern Surely the make a geometric type stamp to help a guy out?