antipaladin

I just bought a quantity of Lignum Vitae (not the Argentine variety) and Snakewood that I'm going to turn into mounted burnishers like the one in the above picture. I also purchased a small woodworking lathe. If anyone is interested in my making one for them, I can try to get a feel for how many I can make in a weekend and how much is reasonable to charge. Let me know and I'll post pics of the one I make this week.

I just picked up a nice piece of Lignum Vitae hardwood and I'd like to make a burnishing wheel like the one in the photo. Does anyone know someone in the Hartford, CT area who does woodwork?

Hi Ed, Have you ever used the blocks of 100% Carnuba wax in treating any of your leather?

The first is the original "London Tan" color of the bridle leather. The second is the burnished holster body (with a lot of sewing still to do)

I've made a few holsters from Russet and Harness leather but over the weekend I tried using some Sedgwicks' bridle and had an unexpected pleasant surprise. After I cased the holster and was burnishing the mouth with a bone folder, I ran it over the holster body and it turned glass smooth with a nice "suntanned" appearance. The consistency of the leather also hardened a bit such that it allowed an incredible amount of detailed boning. I can only imagine it's the higher fat and wax content of the bridle leather that comes to the surface when it's moistened.

What do people do with paper patterns/templates for holsters and belts? Trace them onto plastic or wood and use that for tracing on the leather? Also, if a pattern is drawn for say, 10 oz leather, how do the dimensions change for heavier leather? Is there some easy rule of thumb or just measure it out?

http://www.brigadegunleather.com/process.html Some excellent hi-rez photographs of a quality product (I have one but this isn't an ad). I like the "commercial" strength sander and burnisher. Talk about glass smooth edges! The Western holster/belt pics are mostly near the middle and bottom of the page. When I called them they said they use a "double lock stitch", which seems to be they run the industrial strength sewing machine down and back up the same set of holes to imitate a hand sewn saddle stitch.

I started out using a utility razor from Home Depot. It worked great. Then I bought a decent quality head knife and learned how to sharpen it the RIGHT way from a professional saddler. Took a good long time, but now I use it for everything except strap cutting. Cuts through everything (including my thumb when I wasn't careful enough... I should also say that I do leatherwork for pleasure only, not for a profit. Part of the fun for me is learning how to do everything the "old school" way. For example, making my own hand wax, occasionally sewing with hog bristles, and learning to use a head knife for many different cutting chores. Then again, I still wear a Baracuta jacket and have a few 20 year old Lacoste sweaters in my closet...LOL My wife says I'm "retro", but is it really "retro" if you've never changed?

If you want to use every last bit of a back, try Sedgewick's Bridle. I made 60+" belts from the whole piece. Pricey though.

Timbo, All I've ever been able to find are the horse butts. I've seen beautiful Horsehide jackets so I know other cuts must be around. Any idea where someone could purchase any?

Bruce, I'll take some pictures of the shells I just bought and post them.

Shell Cordovan is about the highest end "leather" out there. It's the tanned subcutaneous butt muscle of a horse, so you get two "shells" from each horse. It is tightly grained and burnishes very well, getting better with age. Extremely "old school" barber strops used it, and high end shoes still do today. ("Alden" shoes for example). Some holster makers still use it as well for custom belts, etc. (www.mitchrosen.com for one example). Because we don't slaughter horses in the US for food, and it's illegal to slaughter horses simply for their hides, Cordovan is extremely hard to come by in the USA. There is, in fact, only one Tannery that produces it here. Horweens. It is different from standard horsehide, which is also more tightly grained than cowhide but still just the tanned hide. There is a never ending debate around the relative superiority of cowhide vs horsehide for holsters.

I have 3 perfect Horweens Grade 1 Black Cordovan hides from Siegels. I've made some great watchbands out of a couple of other 2nd grade cordovan scraps, but I'm dying to make a cordovan dress belt. I've seen some beautiful ones with the 2 or 3 shell strips sewn onto a bottom layer of bridle. The only problem is that every time I pick up my strap cutter and look at the cordovan my hands start to shake like I'm skinny dipping in December. This stuff is expensive even when you can get it...which isn't often if you don't have a commercial account with Horweens. Anyone have experience working with shell cordovan for a large project? I don't want to screw it up and end up with $500 in scraps.

I'm looking for the following types of leather for making gunbelts. 1. Wicket and Craig "heavy or extra heavy" harness backs in Russet (not the work harness) 2. High quality "oiled/utility" leather similar to the following: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/product...?number=9070-04 but lighter tan in color and preferably thicker...ideally around 7-8oz instead of 4.5". If anyone has some they'd be interested in trading, I have a couple of nice pieces to trade. 1. 2' x 2' piece of nice hippo from San Francisco ($300) 2. The full shoulder piece of a Sedgewick London Tan back. 4.5mm. Very Nice. Just have no use for making belts. 3. 2 Horweens Shell Cordovan hides. Grade 1. 1 black and 1 burgundy. If interested email me at tasonisg "at" us.ibm.com

I've got some Wickett and Craig harness leather scraps I'd be happy to send your way. It's the heavy stuff and tending towards the belly but still very nice. You'd have to split it to use it for watch straps. Send me your address and I'll put it in the mail for you. If you don't mind, can you include where you buy your watch strap hardware?

Let me qualify my original statement to say that I meant "noone" does handsewing in the context of commercially mass produced crap. Obviously, the fine members of this forum are exceptions to that generalization...the work of the people here is top notch.

One of those "damn that's a great idea" moments! http://www.willghormley-maker.com/Photos.html If you're not familiar with Will's work, definitely check out his website. He HAND STITCHES all of his belts and holsters...unheard of in today's quick and dirty world.

I've seen posts of people who've used a standard 1" punch to make holes to l When I tried it with my punch, it was much too wide. Is there a leather tool that is like a belt punch but thinner? I was thinking I could also take a pliers to the punch to make it thinner. When using the bag punch, are people using a thicker leather to assure a snug fit as it's looped through? I found a solution to loops that stretch out over time...I use a 2" strip of shell cordovan folded over to 1", sewn closed on the bottom and edge burnished. I didn't say it was a "cheap" solution. I only use it for my own personal cartridge belt that holds my .454 hunting revolver rounds.

I have what I think is a pretty darn sharp head knife...goes through everything else I cut like butter. The only thing I have trouble with is the Tandy heavy "sole bend" leather. That stuff is like cutting steel. Anyone have any tips/tricks for precision cutting this stuff or is it a case of if my knife were REALLY sharp enough, it would cut through the sole bend like calfskin?

Tank, Those look great. I got bit by the same "single action" bug and started making Ranger belts and SA holsters too.

Siegel just got a large shipment of Sedgwick Rein Backs in London Tan...mine arrived this morning. This stuff is just BEAUTIFUL. I just cut the 3" strip I'm going to use for my new Ranger belt.

I don't have a single piece of leather long enough for an entire cartridge belt. Is there a good/strong way to sew two pieces together lengthwise? I thought about using a thin piece of rawhide to cover the seam on both sides of the belt and sewing it down the width on each side?

Anyone have any experience making western style belts? I'm specifically trying to make a 3" cartridge belt for a single action revolver.

"sole leather" or "sole bend" is veg tanned usually used, appropriately, for shoe soles. It's also used for leather armor for the SCA folks. It goes through some sort of special tanning process to make it stiffer than standard butts, but I'm not exactly sure what it is. If you call up Weaver leather, they should be able to tell you. I'm looking at their catalog and it's listed.

Tiffany, I just finished the class you mentioned in your original post. It was a great time and I learned quite a bit. David is a fantastic teacher and a wonderful guy. I'd recommend it to anyone. I'm sitting at Heathrow right now waiting for my flight home.