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I've always used shoulders, or double shoulders, butts and double butts for general all purpose belts. The double butts are more economical because of their size, generally the 8/9 doublebutts are about 60" in length, and about 60" wide. Theres not so much waste that way, and they're good for stamping, or embossing. The 6/7-7/8 are much lighter than what people are used to, so unless you are going to sew a backing on, probably don't buy that weight for belts. If you do serious carving, though, you probably want veg tan sides. It's a better tooling quality than the shoulders or butts. If you just want good leather that you will not be tooling, I suggest the bridle leather sides. There's 4 colors. If you buy sides, you can cut them about 2/3 down at 60" or so, that way you won't have 72"+ straps cut for a 30" waist, and have plenty for other types of products. Maybe cut some straps long for the "big boys", first then cut the side to 60. Comparing Tandy to any of the suppliers, really can't be done. Each supplier buys for their own market. Zack's and others are more geared to the wholesale user. Generally, the quality of leather is better, though.

Damn!!! I'm jealous, but now I know who can do stuff for me...lol.

"We got to see a handicraft where form and original details together makes a beautiful and harmonic completion" High Praise for a deserving individual! AND you gave a shoutout to another forum member. Very cool, Dude. Thanks a lot for the transcript!

I think it's great. I love a look at the process. That to me, is why this place is so cool. I really like the tooling, but in my befuddled old mind, I had a hard time figuring the complete process. I'll have to watch it several times to grasp it all. I hope you'll show the finished product when complete.

Thanx for posting. Some of the less font/more graphic stuff is very cool.

C'mon, put the article up here!!!!! We all want to see it!

Thanx Regis, It's garment/chap horsehide. I found one side at Zack's about a year ago. It was left over from when Harley made chaps from horsehide. Last piece he had. I spotted it right out, and have used it for over a year. Down to about 5 square feet now. If anyone knows where to get another side, let me know....

I spend a great deal of time making little things for people, that they can't replace. This customer had a little pouch for his cards, but it was falling apart, and needed to be replaced. He keeps about 5/8", or so, of cards in it. So here it is. For some strange reason, it just feels good to have in your hand. Horsehide, about an hours time of figgering, sewing and cutting. Nothing here to really show off, but you can use this thread to show off YOUR simple items, replacement projects, or whatevers...

Awhile back we had this thread: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?s...=maker%27s+mark It gives a good idea why people use the maker's stamps they do, and their reasoning behind it.

Lately, I've run into a crowd doing a lot of black powder, both modern and old school. Guess whose book I've had to refer back too, this past week.... The picture of him on the back...he looks about 35 or so..can't be sure.

Thanx for the tutorial. I am always fascinated by people's ingenuity in creating.

That will be a family Treasure. You did a fine job, but I would have charged him 2 dollars!

That is just perfect. Thanx for showing it. It gives something to aspire to.

Nobody seems to know this machine, here. I did some searches when you first asked, but came up with nothing. I'm so glad you got some help anyways.

I can't come up with that word in any Polish dictionary. But I did find these... wypolerować - burnish ugłaskac,UGŁASKIWAĆ- smooth down MIZDRZYĆ SIĘ; SZPALTOWAĆ - skive smooth: RÓWNY; GŁADKI; PŁYNNY; OŚLIZGANY; ŁAGODNY V GŁADZIĆ; PRZYGŁADZAĆ; UGŁADZAĆ; UGŁADZIĆ; WYGŁADZIĆ; WYGŁADZAĆ; OBRÓWNAĆ; ZESTRUGIWAĆ; ZESTRUGAĆ; PRZYLIZAĆ; WYPROSTOWAĆ; WYPROSTOWYWAĆ; WYMUSKAĆ; WYMUSKIWAĆ; CYZELOWAĆ; WYCYZELOWAĆ; ROZCHODZIĆ; ŁAGODZIĆ slick: SLICK A ZRĘCZNY; ZGRABNY; SCHLUDNY; SPRYTNY N F TŁUSTA PLAMA; M PRZYSIEK V PRZYWIEŚĆ DO PORZĄDKU; WYGŁADZIĆ; WYGŁADZAĆ

UNLIKE EVERY OTHER FORUM ON THE INTERNET.... There are no dumb questions on this Forum. We have all sorts here, from 50 year professionals to "I just started today". There are very few questions or topics that go very long without a comment. We also encourage vendors to advertise and keep us informed. So...I doubt that any of them feel the need to create "sock puppets". Coming on this board for the first few times can be intimidating to a lot of people. There really is that much stuff here. Without being a search expert, the simplest way is to open the Topic Category of choice, and start reading..i.e. Sewing Leather. As for Cobra products, the best part about buying from them is Steve, himself. Call him. Some people groove first, even with a modern machine that sews tight, anyways. This becomes up to you, and your desired finished look. For edgers, you can buy from Tandy, and Osborne, alll the way up to one of the ones made by our valued toolmakers. Price is always a concern, and you do get what you pay for, but that being said, starting off with the standard fare is not a bad way to go, and as you improve, improve your tools.

I think the design and overall look is terrific! All that planning shines through.

Welcome to the Forum, Deno! Jump in, the water's fine. I think your father's doodle pages were my favorites.

I enjoyed this, and saw pieces I haven't seen here. Nice job! I went to sign your guestbook, but it wasn't functioning

I don't know for sure because there's no picture, but is it possible to sew the gouged line now too? Two lines of stitching looks good sometimes.

Rayban, speak in your inside voice...sssshhhh

Sounds like something I should try, Lobo. I left the spirit dyes behind a long time ago, in favor of the oil dyes. I'm probably scientifically wrong, but it seems that all that alcohol can't be good for the leather (oil dyes aren't probably much better). So...when you dunk in the alcohol, and do the final molding, you've got to replace the oils to the holster. It seems you would have to do more than a light coating with spirit dyes. How does the oiling after shaping affect the molding, in the long run?

Zacks steerhide is fine for belts. As far as a gunbelt, you can make it 2 8/9s. 2 7/8s, or 2 6/7s. It all depends on you or your customers wants. If you're going to make a gunbelt from belt blanks, ask for the weight belt blanks you want, and tell them to leave off the edge dye. You'll need to burnish the edges of the two layers, yourself, then burnish and dye the edge. It will look much better that way.

Welcome to the Forum Clint! Between the knives and the sense of humor, you'll fit right into this place. Of course, we await pictures!

Thanx Jordan! Yeh, I was amazed, because all I really did was take the old holster, and trace around it very roughly on posterboard. Then just cut it out and transfer to the horsehide. The accuracy of my quick scrawl was scary!...lol. Two hour job at most, and most of that was waiting for it to dry in between. The customer is hard to please, apparently, so when I found out he was delighted, I breathed a sigh of relief.