billybopp

Many find that "I can make that for less than $150" ends up being far more expensive. It's also far more addicting, frustrating, satisfying and fun! I've never made a holster, but make lots of other things, so I can't give you any specific direction on that. JLSleather (above post) has been exceptionally kind in offering free holster patterns that many here have used with great success, so that could be a great starting point for you. The best resources to learn from will depend on how you learn best! There are some great books, videos and threads here on LWN. Some books to look out for include Al Stohlman's "The Art of Hand Sewing Leather" available to buy at Tandy stores, and in electronic format in the link at the left. You'll find a number of other decent books at Tandy stores, and their leathercraft library. There are also a lot of videos available on Youtube and elsewhere. Some are very brief and cover only the basics, others more complete, and some just plain long-winded. You'll quickly figure out which is which. Some worth a look include Tandy's videos, Ian Atkinson, Nigel Armitage, Springfield Leather ... And as mentioned above, one link tends to lead to another .. You never really know what you'll find. For leather and tool suppliers, you'll find some great stuff at the top of the page here at LWN, at Tandy, and many other places(depending on where you live, some may be better for you than others). Hope that helps! Bill

Thanks! I knew that somebody here could shed some light on the matter.

For all the tool experts here: I often look around at round knives on eBay and elsewhere on the big bad internet, and often see round knives by CS Osborne, and occasionally other makers marked with an X, XX, or XXX. Does anybody have a clue what, if anything, those marks mean?? Bill

Looks like a variation of a "Dee" or "D" ring. Try using that to search. Weaver leather, Buckleguy, and other places might be worth a try. You might not find an exact match, but may find something similar. Bill

It's a very useful book. Can be found at Tandy leather stores, amazon, or in digital format on tandy's leathercraft library. Bill

You'll find a good description of how to make a leather cylinder in Al Stohlman's "The Art of Hand Sewing Leather". You just have to size it to the can that you're making for. Works great. I'm made dozens of them. Bill

I use Fiebings bar soap. Works great. Bill

If you go for an airbrush, I'd suggest getting an air compressor that's somewhat bigger than you need for an artist's airbrush. A bigger compressor and tank will run less often when airbrushing, it will provide additional air capacity for other purposes. In particular, get one that will support airflow for something like a touch-up paint gun. The compressor is pretty handy for pumping up tires, balls, etc .. air for cleaning the dust bunnies out of your computer, or clearing off surfaces ... painting things other than leather, so it's something that you can continue to use even if you decide against airbrushing leather. As you're shopping for a compressor, see if you can give them a quick try-out in-store. Some are MUCH quieter than others (if that's important to you). An artist's airbrush covers relatively small areas with great control, and is really great for much of what we do, but they aren't the best for covering larger areas. A touch-up gun requires greater airflow and works much better for larger areas .. say something like the size of a briefcase or larger (give or take). Check the airflow CFM against the biggest gun that you might buy and match with the compressor. A cheap airbrush is not a bad way to see if it's something you like, but you'll want to consider something better later on. I'm fond of the Paasche VL airbrushes for several reasons, but especially because you can buy different nozzles that will yield larger or smaller spray patterns. Some of the other manufacturers offer similar capabilities as well. Just something to think about. You want to give a bit of thought to ventilation, since much of what is sprays can damage your lungs, and potentially make a real mess of the surrounding areas. A paint booth is great for indoors if you do enough to justify it. A fan and a cardboard box in a window can make a poor man's paint booth too. I do my airbrushing outdoors, which is also a good option. There are a number of accessories you'll want to consider as well .. A good respirator is pretty much a necessity. A moisture trap is too ( I use two, the one that was included with the compressor, and an inline trap.) Quick disconnect air fittings are really nice to have. Several paint jars are also quite useful, even in several sizes. ( I keep one filled with a cleaning solution to help make clean up quicker.) A better air pressure regulator than the ones found on most compressors can be helpful, since they allow more precise pressure control. A rack/stand for your airbrush(es) can be quite useful. An ultrasonic cleaner is really useful, particularly if you will be shooting acrylic paints of finishes through your gun, and is darn useful for jewelry and other things!

Remember when Compaq portable computers were the size of a suitcase and twice as heavy? Lots of people travelled with them despite size ... Same thing with a sewing machine I'd guess. If you need portable, you need portable!

I use mine every time.

I have a similar ultrasonic that I use for cleaning airbrushes. Its awesome. My process after use is to first flush the airbrush with a mix of water, vinegar, and a drop of dish detergent. Then disassemble the airbrush and put in the ultrasonic with a little industrial "micro" cleaner. Drain the dirty water and rinse with clean water. So far no clogs! Bil

Does the problem child machine always have the same operator?

Something as hefty as a Cowboy would, if female, have to have a name like Helga from the East German Olympic weightlifting team.

A gear puller is a very handy tool to have around, and generally not very expensive. Check your local auto parts store. If you have some flat steel bar stock around, some nuts and bolts and a little ingenuity you can also make one that will be serviceable (I've had to make my own when I didn't have a gear puller that was large enough to do the job). It's really a very simple tool .. Just a screw jack when you come right down to it. Get a piece of bar stock that's somewhat longer than your wheel diameter, drill a hole in the center and put a long bolt through that is skinnier than the shaft diameter, and a nut between the bar and shaft. Further out on the bar, drill two holes just outside the wheel diameter (or even inside if it's an open wheel design), and put a long bolt through those holes. Cut a couple of smaller pieces of bar stock to act as the "ears" which will go between wheel and machine and put nuts on both sides of the small plates. Use two wrenches on the center bolt/nut .. One to hold the nut stationary and one to turn the bolt (or you can also optionally weld the nut in place or secure it somehow and use a single wrench). Voila, you have a home-made gear puller. I wish I could show a diagram of the above directions .. It's really much simpler than the directions .. Just hard to describe! Bill

Overhead projector film will work fine. Just be sure to get the right type for your printer. Inkjet film has a slight roughness on one side for ink to adhere to, and LaserJet and plain film are too smooth. LaserJet film tolerates the heat from a laser printer, while other types will melt into a very expensive mistake in a laser printer or copier. Inkjet and laser ohp films are cheaper than Tandy's film, but paper is far cheaper and works well for many situations. Bill

LOL! That's AWESOME! Well done. Bill

White dye is less than useless. Go with white acrylic paint. Bill

I found that the 1.0mm Chinese thread is more like 0.8mm. That said, its not as nice as tiger but still quite good. Bill

Congratulations. Well deserved prize! Bill

I use the little dot too, northmount. That's the way to go! I just wish it were a little bigger as it's a bit small for my fingers on a tablet ... Bill

As always, Monica ... Wow! Really nice!! Bill

I'd stick with acrylics, since I have yet to find a white dye that actually works, and even muted the colors you see are mostly deeper than dyes will usually do. Blue is also a color that's difficult to get right with dye, although I find that the Tandy Pro dye/stains blue is a bit better than some of the others. I think I'd work over and "distress" the leather a bit, and tool it, put down a background color (probably something like medium brown) and use acrylics (not too thickly) to color (and use muted colors as much as possible), and then use a Fiebings antique paste (I wouldn't use Tandy's antique gel since it colors too much). Probably without putting on a resisting seal coat first (as one would normally do). I might even do some more "strategic distressing" to get what I'm looking for before using antique paste. All that said, I haven't done anything exactly like what you are looking to do, so you may want to experiment around with techniques and materials on scrap. Sometimes that's just the best way to figure out how to do stuff! Bill

I have a cheap (REALLY CHEAP) Chinese knife like you are describing, that I bought to play around with to see if I like it, and I do. It's cheap metal, but part of the goal for it was to have something good to work on my sharpening skills with, and it does that well too. The offset handle does seem to be helpful for me, at least. It keeps your knuckles up a bit from the work when skiving at a steep angle, and also gives a bit more to hold onto when cutting leather. If I were to spend the $ on a good version of this knife, tho, I'd probably look for multiples with bevels and offsets on opposites to suit any situation. Bill

Look for a "crazy legs" stamp.

Not to go off topic ... But LOOK at the prices on those machines in the margin of the catalog that Jimi posted. I'll take one of those for 40 bucks! Bill