TwinOaks

Hi Josh, and welcome to Leatherworker.net! We do have a few members in your neck of the woods, and if all else fails, you could chase down Luke Hatley up in TN. I'm down on the coast but get up to the north lands around holidays, w/ family in Huntsvegas and Moulton. You are DEFINITELY in the right place, as there is no other online leatherworking community like this one. Give it a day or three for folks to chime in and I'm sure we can find someone near you. Depending on just how north you are, you might see if you can drop down to B'ham to the Tandy there. The manager's name is Chance (last I heard he was still there) and he sets the example on how managers should treat customers. Mike

I'm another happy user of Weldwood. If I have a large area to cover, I'll 'wipe' it on, using a hotel key card as a squeegee which leaves a thin but consistent layer. Other than that, I use the in-bottle brush, and just refill the little bottle from a quart can I picked up. So far, I haven't had any problems with it.

Slick with gum trag., them seal, or a liner....

Yes, it appears that you're getting started while the leather is too wet. Part of what you're seeing is burnishing of the leather. I found a way around that by keeping a layer of plastic between the boning tool and the leather. Typically, I'll pull a vacuum to pre-mold the holster, then drop the gun and holster in a ziploc and start boning. That prevents the majority of the friction that causes burnishing. Some burnishing may still occur as you compress the leather, but that should only be on the sharp lines.

For thin liners, like wallets, etc., try 2oz calf. For holsters/belts I use 5/6 vegtan. For tack, you might see if one of the suppliers will split bridle leather for you.

Ah, Florida...where the mosquito is the state bird. Welcome aboard!

Welcome to Leatherworker.net, and stay away from the donuts with sprinkles! Clay's dog has already licked them.... Pull up a chair to the tooling bench and stay a while, we're pretty sure you'll like it here.

Or you could go to Leatherworker.net and look up the Paul Burnett School of Leather Ornamentation (psssst....it's right here). It's a primer for sure, but there's always the option to look at the pictures on here and 'borrow them' for carving practice. I saw a really good tip for carving practice that's SUPER easy on the budget. Get a flat pan or cookie sheet, melt some paraffin wax in it, and practice your carving in that to learn to control the swivel knife. When the surface is all carved up, remelt it, pop it in the freezer, and start over. That will help stretch your budget by not needing to buy a lot of practice leather. You can check out the Tandy website for some free patterns, pull free images off the internet (google 'free line art'), etc.

Forget the wait time, and just call them- they have an 800 number, so it's their dime. It took us (bus. partner) all of 15 minutes to get set up on the phone AND place the first order. Nice folks to deal with, and Kevin Hopkins of SLC is a member here.

You can try wiping it down with alcohol or deglazer, and that might help. If you did any molding with your fingers, there's probably been a transfer of hand oils/sweat from your skin to the leather. Also, if you burnished it any, that can affect the dye absorbtion. Recommendation: Dye before molding and avoid the issue.

Just be sure they are legal in your area, otherwise you may need to sell them as "paper weights".

There's at least two styles I know of- one with a shot bag, the other with a little chunk (piece of bar). The bar is obviously stiffer. I made shot bag saps, and here's how: Get a shape and determine how much shot you'll need. I arbitrarily determined that a standard shotgun shell (#8 shot) would be a good amount. Make a bag out of scrap fabric for the shot, fill, and sew it closed. Sandwich the shot bag between the pieces of leather, stitch it up, dye and finish. The ones I made looks like a realllllly long necked light bulb, and I added a strip of leather down the handle to make it stiffer. A hole in the handle end makes a point for a lanyard. Because of the shape, I made the shot bag pretty flat, and included a welt around the 'head' to help make a pocket for the shot bag.

I guess I should've given the link when I searched it: http://www.trademarkia.com/live-long-and-prosper-85111056.html search terms " Live Long and Prosper Trademark" There's lots more articles than just that one, it just happens to be the one I picked.

Welcome to Leatherworker.net! There's good news and bad news: The good news is that with leather work you won't be tempted by the annual new model of fly rod, the bad news is this addiction hobby can be just as expensive!!! The other good news: in my few years of leather working, I've never had a hide break a tippet. Pull up a chair to the braiding table and stay a while, we're glad to have you.

Yes, you can make a living working leather.....you'll get out what you put in. I only work leather on the weekends, and not every weekend at that, so I'm only seeing limited sales. If you spend more of your time doing it, you'll find the areas of opportunity for your locale.

The current trademark for "Live Long and Prosper" is owned by CBS Studios, Inc., issued 8-19-2010. So, you would be in technical violation of the trademark if you make and sell the image. *Note: I'm not a lawyer.* We had a long discussion about copyright infringement here on this forum, and IIRC, you can make and use anything for personal use, but can not sell those items without violating the copyright. I think the same would apply to a trademark, but if you need authoritative advice, ask a lawyer. You could also write to CBS Studios, Inc. and ask permission to use the logo (good luck with that).

Looks pretty good, but I advise against cutting or tooling any design into the border areas of either holster or belt. It makes for a cleaner look. Also, just my personal preference on this one, but I think adding some antique or highlighter to the cuts would make them stand out more....be more decorative. As it is, it kinda looks like brown on brown plaid. Over all a very nice job, but you may want to carry the sweat shield a little higher on the next one to include the BTGS as well as the slide. Thanks for sharing your work with us.

http://springfieldleather.com/store/product/25636/Edge-Kote%2CDura%2CBrown%2C8oz/ I think this might be what you're looking for.

Is it possible that the waxes are lifting the dye back out of the leather? That's the only thing I can think could be happening.

I spray on just because I have an airbrush to spray everything else. You can wipe it on too, but if you're gonna have acrylic paints, you might do better with spraying so it doesn't 'wipe off' the paints. Light coat, let dry, second light coat, then neutral shoe polish. Looks like leather when done, not plastic. Really, ANY of the typical leather finishes is pretty flexible. I've only run into trouble when I put a finish on too thick.

For your finish, try out the "homemade resolene" resolene that Katsass posted: 50/50 mix of Mop-n-Glo and water. I'm pretty pleased with it.