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I dig the blue thread! Nice job man. Brent

Spider - SWEET! I kinda like the rough edges with the old floorboard look. Somewhere between a coffin and a pirate ship... Brent

Sorry for butchering the French... Dual knife pouch. One I made for me, the other I made for someone at CALG who thought mine was cool. Thought y'all might get a kick out of them. Brent

Done! I've got some dye smudges, but in general I think it came out neat-o. Daughter is WAY excited, but I won't let her have it until after the April show. Photos:

Awww! It's all cute and furry! I was worried about the blacked out design, but with the black fur it looks like a wereleopard... or a purse for one! I love it. Almost makes me want to cancel my man-card and carry it! Brent

Drac, File down the neck and add a whammy bar... Whoops, wrong movie. I like it. Though the spikes might hurt if it gets stuffed in a pocket... Someone needs to make leather dice... Brent

Let's just hope the Dr. doesn't fix whatever it is that makes you generate cool stuff.... Wicked cool!

Nice quiver Tazz! ...yeah, recurves rock! Though I haven't drawn mine in more years than I care to admit. Brent

Spider, Awesome! If I show it to my middle daughter, she's gonna want one... Makes a great wall hanging too! Brent

Comedy Hijack - "Werewolf?" "There wolf." "Pardon?" "There wolf." "Why are you talking that way?" "I dunno, I thought you wanted to!" Great carving though Jeff! Brent

I'm hearing the Godfather theme in my head while looking at this... Cool case! Brent

My daughter wanted a wallet (OK, so it's really a small clutch purse), and I found an old Nanette kit among Monte's leftovers. It didn't have a back, but some tell me it may not have come with one. I had several folks help me figure it out in another thread, including some design suggestions. Of course, my darling headstrong 10 year old had other ideas than all the pretty designs I showed her. She's an egyptian nut, so we cruzed the web the other day and found some designs she liked. Carving is done, finish will probably happen this weekend. Did I mention she's a nut? Right side is the eye of Ra, and her name cartouche; left side is a sphinx & pyramid, similar to Giza (no, not leon sphinx...) By the way, tried some of the suggestions on casing and had, what I think, are superior results with the carving definition. I soaked it (used my pro carve solution) with a sponge, and then covered it with plastic (and a towel for weight) and let it sit for what ended up being two days. I carved it while it was still damp, but then covered it again as it was bed time. The next day I uncovered it and it still took an hour before it dried enough to tool. But I didn't get so much of the edge rolling and pushing when beveling like I usually do. In fact, none once it was properly dried (I kept trying to start too soon!). New lesson learned. Gotta love it. Brent

Scouter - good call. Like you say, even if the blade won't hold an edge for long, you can use it for those jobs where your head knife might be in peril of a ding. I checked my local HF and they do not carry it. Bruce - check the usual sources... Tobin's Spirit Guide, Spooks Illustrated, Spates Catalog... Brent

That may be the best avatar on record. If I'd been drinking something, it would have shot out my nose. Thank you for brightening my day! Oh and I use the weldwood/dap stuff too, as do several pro's I know. The trick (as I learned at the guild meeting yesterday) is to let it DRY for 10-15 minutes before sticking them together, and then press the liner in hard (he used a 1.5" dowel, but I suppose a J-roller would work too). At Menards/Lowe's/Home Depot, you don't have to be a "pro" to buy it by the gallon... Brent

Clay, Do you think this design could be un-sheridanized? I'm not asking you to do it, just if & how it could be done. I'm not that good at Sheridan, but passable in "normal" floral (or at least I think so). Anyway, your opinion? Thanks, Brent (as it IS a challenge, perhaps I should at least attempt to do it in Sheridan at least once...)

Oh, I dunno, I think Zeeba's are that bright in real life. :D Beautiflu work Clay. I love the sheridan carving! The mixture of the two styles is very eclectic and I like it. Definitely would not have thunk that one up and I have a twisted mind! Brent

I'm with Steve on this. I use Weldwood brand (or DAP brand) from a local home store (Lowes/Menards/HomeDepot). I think my neighborhood hardware store carries it too. It's contact cement. Not too many different ways to fly here. I have, in the past, used a water based product to laminate some countertop material on a table. It worked fine and that was 20-odd years ago. I even have some "ultra industrial" contact cement, but it doesn't bond any tighter than the Weldwood product, but it is MUCH stinkier. my tuppence... Brent

Laughed until the tears flowed! I get to because I have either done these or done similar. I still have all my fingers & toes, but I have a bunch of scars to prove my mettle. So, I am laughing with you all and not at you all! I've committed the cardinal knife sin of cutting towards my body (and unfortunately, my thumb). Drove the knife to the bone. 8 stitches. I've also trimmed off the end of a finger with a utility knife while cutting a mat for a friend. I've got a dozen on my hands and forearms from working on cars with hot engine parts. Those are usually at least two for one. Your hand bumps the exhaust manifold, and before your ears hear the sizzling meat, you find your forearm ripped open by a neighboring sharp metal bracket as the automatic defense system kicks in and moves your hand away from the burn source. You'd think I'd learn after the first time... I very carefully backed the edge of a finger into a rotary cutter just the other day. A small cut, but I put that to my vast experience with sharp/hot objects. At least if I'm going to slice something, I plan ahead to minimize the damage... I have not yet drilled, nailed, or sawn anything yet (knock wood), but I came VERY close in my youth to losing body parts both on a lathe and radial arm saw. The gods smiled upon me those days and kept me from injury. I gained immediate respect for BOTH implements of doom. These days, I only feed my fingers into the grinder on occasion, and whack my digits with a hammer when my attention wanders. Nothing major... Brent

OH I'm a dummy sometimes. No, I'm hand stitching too, and while typing somehow in my head made yours machine stitched. Hence my mistaken part of the question. After reviewing both the leather and some othe pieces I had done, I think the issue IS my leather. It's got a rot-spot on it or something because I can pull hard in some areas, but not in others. Thanks for the suggestion on the drill press. For me it's more of a space issue than cost. My friend has all my woodworking tools, including two drill presses, in his garage about 40 miles away. I just don't feel like putting on pants, driving 40 miles, just to punch holes! I'll try to make this tandy arbor-like thing work. It may not be perfect, but it should be repeatable. Brent

Luke - pre dyed? That's... cheating!! Those are nice knife sheaths (say that 5 times in a row...). Just teasing about the pre colored leather. Brent

Buff, Very Nice holster. I'm sure it will be appreciated! Brent

Art, The engineer in me says it's nothing more than a band of properly tempered spring steel. Know any ironworkers? They could certainly make these for you in small batches. Spring tempering isn't all that impossible if you know what you are doing AND have the right tools. Start with a good low to medium carbon steel strip, anneal it to dead soft, form around the leather with the pistol in it, overbend it a hair, and then temper it. The maker in the pictures probably has jigs set up for various hoglegs to save time & make the springs consistent. You can probably find strip spring steel places like McMaster Carr & other industrial supply places, local steel vendors, etc. Now you just need someone with a good forge... They'll know how to do it. I'd have to take a SWAG at the gage of the steel. Very possible they use two thinner strips (.010" - .020") backed together, or a thicker spring (.030" - .040"). Would it be worth buying one of theirs and dismantling it? Maybe find a used one at a gun shop? I used to have one like that for an 8" S&W 44mag with the spring steel. (LONG time ago)... and yes, it's possible to hide something that huge under a suit jacket with a good shoulder rig. A .45 auto was a much lighter carry... I'm babbling again. Good luck! Brent

Rayban, Nice sheath man! I love it. Suits the knife well too. I think we should use what works for us, and if that works - cool! I've tried multiprong punches, diamond awl, etc. and unless it's going straight up & down, it looks bad on the back with all of them. I wonder if I can adapt the stamping press thingy to hold the punch somehow. A talented engineer like me (snicker) should be able to figure something out! No drill press available or I'd be all over that! Anyway my question of the day for you is... (drumroll please) Do you have trouble with the stitches wanting to pull through the leather? I've got a practice piece and with an Osborn D0249 (a 5 prong punch), it doesn't take much pull at all to cut right through the leather. A similar tool with a slightly wider spacing didn't seem to have the tendancy to cut so deep and easy. This could VERY well be old dried out leather and that's the problem; but I figured I'd ask since you have fairly dense stitching and small thread, and beautiful results. Could it be machine vs hand? Thanks, Brent

Mike, Craftsman, Thanks! This will definitely get me started, at least I can cut me a hunk-O-leather to start it with. Craftsman - sweet rose carving by the way. I always end up over-tooling mine and this one is simple, yet very nice! I will have to try that sometime. Mike - extra thanks for walking me through it. I have a huge box of craftaids and I will definitely paw through them and see if I have that one. Bronco- If you can still lay your hands on one of the instruction sheets, great, I would love to have it. If not, I think I have enough info to complete it now. Thanks for your efforts! Hopefully it will soon be in the show off section! Brent

Sounds like a few have heard of it (Mike - gorgeous carving!), but I'm putting up a couple pictures of exactly what I have just to be sure. Bronc - if you find it let me know! I need to know what my assembly options are. Mike - no other parts - just this. Johanna - thanks for the heads up, it looks pretty solid right now. The coin purse is lined with a white faux leather of some sort and seems reasonably strong at the hardware for now.