TwinOaks

You will not have much success using veg tan (especially 8-10oz) for your gloves. The veg tan will not flex the way you need it to, and will harden overnight if/when you get them wet or sweat in them. You need to use chrome tanned or tawed leather for the gloves. Keep in mind that you'll probably be sewing them inside out (most are done this way) then turning them. 8-10oz just isn't flexible enough for that unless it's completely soaked...and then you'll end up with wet formed and hardened gloves in the morning.

I use the belt line as 'horizontal', drop a perpendicular line from it, and mark the angle through the perpendicular.

When I saw the two palm trees, I was SOOOO expecting a set of Coronas in the middle!!! And yeah, I was hoping to see some more entries, too, but then I haven't finished mine yet. Off to go tooling.....

For leather up to about 8oz, I often use scissors. I have a pair that came in a set of garden tools than have large handles and a relatively small set of blades, resulting in good cutting leverage. They are smooth bladed, which I find works well on veg tan leather.

You're right on track, Cheryl. The focus (no pun intended) in on the perspective of the elements. FREE pics are fair game.....let's just avoid any reproductions of Frederic Remington!!!

Well, I'd like for people to draw their own designs, but hey, I fully recognize that some folks feel a bit artistically challenged....I'M ONE OF THEM!!!! Feel free to use pictures/images/etc.from whatever source* if you need to... as inspiration, but I'm hoping for something more than a reversed photocopy of a calender page. Grab images from multiple sources and compile them into your own composition. Since there's no limits on the tools, I suspect we won't see too many instances of tracing a printout with a swivel knife. And yes, Custom, as was said, we're doing this monthly. It's an effort to continue the informal 'lessons' that were done on here when I was starting out. It helps to show members the many facets of leather working, and to overcome the perceived limitations. * Note: If you use a copyrighted image/design, please don't forget to credit the source. As per the rules of this forum, we can not reproduce copyrighted material without permission of the creator.

That's certainly quite a bit beyond any issues I've had to deal with. I think you handled it just fine; you were polite and professional, yet firm in your position......nothing wrong with that. Thanks for sharing your experience.

You can thin it with tan-kote or bag-kote to get lighter shades. Figure the amount of x-kote you think you'll need to do the project, and add a little antique* to get the shade you need. * This is presuming you're using paste antique, instead of the gel antique.

Just a head up, y'all, but we can't post copyrighted material here, because of the legal issues.

Howdy from the coast! You're pretty close to B'ham, so you should be able to make it over to the Tandy there with no problem. We have an official leather guild here in 'Bama, and the meetings are held there monthly. You can contact Chance Chancelor (the manager) about the schedule.

I suggest looking at a cylinder arm machine. It can have a flat bed attachment, OR can be used as the cylinder arm. If you need to sew gussets or inside seams, a flatbed has a hard time reaching in there.

A "thalidomide baby" is a term for a child that is born with severe defects, often missing arms or legs, due to the mother's use of Thalidomide during pregnancy. (Google is my friend;)) Yes, Nick is a good inspirational speaker.

That "innovation" of having the open side of the holster is more than likely the result of having a piece of spring metal forming a clamp (of sorts) for the frame and slide of the pistol.........which was done back in Katsass' day, but was typically seen on a shoulder holster, and most often for revolvers. Crossbreed is working off of design concepts developed by Tucker Gun Leather. Heck, I had a fantabulous idea of bonding leather to the inside of Kydex and started testing, researching, and developing some patterns.......then I found where someone else had been doing it for a few years. I've wrapped the holster backwards (like Rykba) thinking I had the next great thing.....until I found it already done on a Galco. Build 50 or so holsters and USE them on a daily basis....it's called product testing.....and you'll get an idea of why the tried and true designs keep showing up.

Sitting for 24 hrs might have left the dye dry, but when you applied the conditioner, you effectively re-wet it, because the conditioner will soak into the pores of the leather. If there's any dye particles that haven't attached themselves.....they're free to leave on whatever they can rub against, whether that's your pants, your shirt, or your thread. I've gotten far better results since I started airbrushing the dye, but even with that method of application, I still get additional rub off after conditioning.....not a lot, but it's there. And USMC Black has a reputation for significant rub off. Dye, dry, buff, buff, buff,......... condition, buff, buff, buff, buff, dry, buff again to see if you've still got any loose dye particles, and if not, then stitch. Yes, once the conditioning has completely been absorbed, you can seal the leather and it'll help prevent rub off.....but only if you've got 99+% of the dye particles buffed off. The sealer is to protect the leather, not to glue down loose dye particles.

Do all your dyeing, conditioning, and buffing............and let it dry before you stitch it. Probably the most common error with this craft is rushing the process. Certain steps take time, and while some of them can be "hurried along", others just need the time. For example: When I first started, I decided that spraying the leather with water/casing solution was just as good as proper casing of the leather.....which takes a good bit of time. After some less than satisfactory results, I tried the time tested and proven method of casing the leather. It was a big difference, and I could have saved quite a few dollars worth of scrap carvings if I had followed the prescribed methods.

Way to go to start things out Sylvia!

Thickness will vary by how much you want to compress the leather around the CS. You need to have at least half of the threads on the post inside the 'nut' side for it to be good and secure. Loctite is HIGHLY recommended to prevent it working loose. If you need to significantly dull down the brass, google "tarnish brass quickly" and you'll get some threads on how to do it. If you REALLY need to dull it down, lightly sand the surface and apply some dark epoxy. Other issues....it's pretty easy to strip out the shallow notch on the CSs, use a large enough screwdriver to fill the slot. .....have a 'grippy' surface to place the smooth side against when you tighten it. I use my 'poundo board'. .....If you bottom out before it gets tight, you can put an regular 8/32 nut on the threaded side, file/sand the threaded section down, and then take the regular nut off ....which straightens the threads out as it's removed.

Chris, you beat me to it. The design isn't new, just the application. It looks like it will be good for quite a few people, but I definitely see having to swap knives for different kinds of cuts. It reminds me of some advice I got a long time ago....which I'm sure others have heard as well : "Don't learn the tricks of the trade, learn the trade." Still, a nice innovation, and it's good to see that there are some people looking to expand our craft.

A wire stand would be a great idea for having someplace to put the heat gun while it's still hot. Instead of a granite back splash, you might also consider some aluminum panels. They are much lighter weight and will help reflect some of the heat.

Yeppers!! Your composition, your choice of tools. I know, I know, after the previous challenges it's kinda like setting the whole cake down in front of a kid.....they don't know where to start. It doesn't have to be exactly in the HEART of summer.....I suppose if you went off in the direction of the superior mesenteric artery you would be close enough. Since it IS summer time, a summer based theme seems appropriate......and it's a great excuse to stay out of the heat!

click and drag the image to a new tab....that'll open the pic in that tab. Then (in the new tab with just the picture) right click and select "Save Image As"....when the dialog box opens up, select your destination folder (or just the desktop), make sure you're saving as a .JPG and hit 'okay'. That will save the image to your computer. From your desktop, open the image that you've saved on your computer. When it's open, click to print. OR..... Tell your neighbor that you need to borrow their kid to do something with the computer. (I can say this because I had a 5th grader show me why my C++ program wasn't compiling right.......and that's when I raised the white flag)

That is outside my realm of experience....so, I'll move this over to the sewing machine forum where some of our resident experts should be able to help you.

You might like to read THIS THREAD. It's not a rucksack per se, but it will give you some ideas of construction techniques.