TwinOaks

welcome to the site! As you get settled, let us know what type of leather work you're most interested in, and we'll try to answer your questions.

I generally just keep piling things higher on the table. When I reach 'avalanche' stage, I re-sort and start over.

Using linen, cut the thread at a taper then twist. If you aren't doing so, you should be waxing the linen thread...and once its waxed, tapered, and twisted....you should have zero problems getting it on a needle.

If you're using nylon or poly, heat the end with a flame briefly and mash the end flat. This will give you a chisel tip to push through the eye, and keep all the cord ends together.

Welcome to leatherworker.net! I can't say for sure who all we have in the same zip code as you, but we've got members all over Texas.

There have been more than a few posts on this....but, in lieu of resolene, you CAN use Mop-n-glo floor cleaner...it's an acrylic wax...just like resolene! It IS a slightly different consistency, but I've used it on a lot of things and it holds up just fine. And when oiling....stop 3 coats before you think you have enough on it. The oil will rapidly soak into the leather, and then will evenly disperse through it....you need to give it time to evenly disperse between coats, and before tooling or dyeing over it. As long as it isn't too heavy of a coating, overnight should be fine....24 hrs is recommended.

The owner is somewhat eclectic...and he likes unusual things. When he saw the knife, he got it....then called me. The instructions were " make a nice sheath".

It's been a long while since I've posted any work, so here's a sheath that was ordered for a rather peculiar knife. First, the knife: Blade is 9.5" And then the sheath...for this knife, I chose Charon. Still needs to be sewn, but I'm waiting for all the welts to dry. ETA: here's the finished product. So, what do y'all think?

The hole should be big enough for both threads...but just barely. On vegtan, its good if you need pliers to get the threaded needle through the hole. With garment leather being softer, you won't likely see that much difficulty. And just because the awl LOOKS the same, theres no way to know if the user reprofiled the edge....which is what I tend to do most of mine. Where yours may be 3mm, his/hers may be 1mm.

You can try oiling through the finish...just a little though..there's no need to saturate it. If you don't have neetsfoot oil, use very light extra virgin olive oil. The finish is actually pretty durable, once it dries. You can top coat it with resolene or the mop n glo substitute. Or, once its fully dry, top coat it with one of the lacquer finishes.

You could just spray the finish onto the leather, but i've found it works MUCH better to spray onto s piece of sheepswool then apply. The lacquer finish really needs to be rubbed into the leather, not just sprayed on top. I just sprayed a clutch purse, and the finish peeled off in large flakes.

It looks like a good first try with the pattern. The traditional scandi sheaths are deep sheaths, and it appears that you measured the length correctly, but just didn't set the knife low enough when you started forming....the extra leather at the tip is the give away. Color and molding detail look good. Is that one of the kits from ragweed forge?

It's a common method to stick down fuzzies and smooth the interior of unlined holsters.

The "can fire while in the purse" part is also going to depend lrgely on the weapon of choice. Single action revolvers...maybe. DA/SA revolvers like the SW 638/642....no problems. Large frame semi-autos will likely not get more than one or two shots.

The MOLDING can be sped up, but things like conditioning shouldn't be rushed.

All vegtan leather os subject to darkening. IF you just want very clean leather, check with the suppliers listed at the top of the page and call them. When you say 'soft on both sides', do you mean that you want the soft fuzzy side, you want a soft smooth side, or that you want the leather to be nearly limp?

On my ipad, there's a mostly blue button at the bottom of the fully scrolled page, dead center, that says "full version"......in the full version, at the very bottom, far left (and right by the rss symbol) is the "use mobile version" button.

The second issue is because of your security settings... Most probably, not allowing cookies. The first part....there was at one time a 'jump to' menu, but i don't know if thwt's supported on this software version. If you have topics in several areas that you want to follow, you can "subscribe" to that thread and the forum will notify you of new posts.

Straight through, on a no frills holster, 3-4 hours from start to drying. After drying, 15-30 min final polish and QC.

I need to acquire a laser cut and drawn image of a 1911 Gov't, on 3/4 vegtan, unfinished so I can dye it to match an existing holster. (Customer wants a 1911 on BOTH sides of the holster!) Overall length of the slide should be 3 inches, with the grip in correct proportions. Image needs to be of the right side of the weapon (starboard side, that is), and the profile should be the actual edges Regular line drawing is fine....grips, slide/frame line, trigger, and ejection port need to be identifiable, but I don't need so much detail that the checkering of the grips is visible. If anyone can handle this, please give me a quote on prices. Thanks!

I can't believe I just read a recommendation for the hand stitcher.....

I can't comment pn the particular machine....but I ill tell you from experience and lots of advice from this site: get more machine than you think you'll ever need. This keeps you sewing well within the capabilities of the machine, as well as expanding your capabilities a bit.

And IIRC, they typically use a pretty aggressive set of teeth on the feed dogs...which would tend to heavily mark vegtan. Also, please keep in mind that the maximum clearance you see listed in a machine's specs is NOT the maximum sewing thickness, and that sewing at (or above) the max sewing thickness will prematurely wear out the machine.

The issue is that garment leather is softer. When you pull the stitches tight, the leather is compressing between the stitches. We have many members that routinely use garment grade leather with no problems...it's all just a manner of practice to get your stitches consistent.

if this is just a 'one off' project, modifying a commercially purchased purse might be the best option. Look for one with distinct sides, not the 'one pocket holds all' type, and just insert an extra pocket from the side of the purse.