TwinOaks

Calm down, put the drill on the table, and step back. Take some deep breaths, relax. Now, we need a little more information on exactly what you're doing. When you say 3 pieces of leather, I'll presume you mean welts. I completely understand how difficult it is to get through welts, I've done several by hand and that's one of the things that drove me to a machine stitcher. Are you trying to hand drill the holes? If yes, then the issue is that it's very difficult to drill straight holes in angled material. You NEED some type of drill press. Ideally, you would be making the holes with an awl,( but that is a task in itself, pushing through that much leather) because you can watch where the point is emerging on the back and make small adjustments. Nobody cares how many corrections are INSIDE the leather. Next is the task of dealing with the welted edges. I learned quickly that anytime you are compressing a welted edge, that the leather will tend to buckle. It's an easy solution to an apparently daunting problem: You need to make a blank to support the sheath from the inside. An example: Sheath composed of front, welt, and back....any weight you want. Since the sheath is hollow between the welts, you'd add a strip of the same material as the welt between the front and back to act as a temporary spacer. This is not glued or stitched in place, it's only there to keep the leather from bending. The same thing applies to punching holes on a sheath that has a wedge shaped welt....you need a wedge shaped blank. It also is important to do this for the OUTSIDE so you can keep a mostly level working surface. It's hell trying to stay plumb when your reference is an angle. To tackle your particular issue right now: If you don't have access to a drill press, or the tools to make a press jig for an awl, all is not lost. It'll take a bit more time, but here's how to do it: Mark and punch the stitch holes in the front and back of the sheath with no welts, before doing any other assembly. If you've already added the belt clip, take it back off, you need flat leather. You can even do it one side at a time! What you need is some reference points to line up the pieces of the sheath, and a way to transfer the stitch pattern to both pieces. This even works on non-symmetrical sheaths because you can simply flip the pattern. Stop and check the alignment a few times along the way. Once you have the holes in both sides you should be able to lay them together and have everything line up perfectly. Now for the welts. If you have a constant stitch spacing marked, you could lay out some strips of welts and mark and drill them the same way. Use oversized pieces, longer than what you need, and with NO 'wedge' cut to them. The holes won't bother the blade that tapers the welt at all. You should be able to dry assemble everything (or use rubber cement, which is removable) and have all the holes match up. Well, that took some time, but wasn't too difficult. Ah, the inlay....If you've perforated the edge of the inlay, you can try to reuse it, but it might be better to skive down a border. Yes, extra work, but the end result is worth it. Lay out your inlay pattern, but include at least a 1/4" 'border' INSIDE the 'window' for the inlay. When you cut the border, it doesn't matter how wide outside the inlay because you can always trim it back. I'd suggest that the piece you use for a frame around the inlay be at least 3/4" wide to give you a little "wiggle room" in the assembly. Dye (and maybe tool?) the frame/border. Attach the 'frame' to the inlay, and you now have an inlay piece with an attractive border that has a solid edge for sewing. Assemble the frame/inlay piece and the sheath. Line up your holes and recheck everything. Should you need to make some holes in the inlay's frame where it's covered some stitch holes, use the existing holes as guides. Presuming everything lines up, add glue and stitches, then finish as usual. A few steps back, when making the welts, you could skip the pre-drilled holes and just use an awl to stab the holes, using the front and back holes for guides. If you'd like some additional reference material for how to do the holes, look in "holsters, sheathes, ..." at the first pinned tutorial, by Jim. He shows how to lay out and line up the holes. Be sure to practice on scrap, and get back to us if you have any more questions. Some things can be a real PITA, but if you step away from it, and break it down into steps, then plan the steps, it gets easier. Mike

Tell the Tandy manager to turn the bottle around and look at the other label.

Bob, I think BRL is saying that the needle is no longer punching holes in a straight line, which it should do, regardless of the needle type. I agree with Busted, you have something loose or worn allowing the needle bar to move. BRL, call Steve Tayrien at Cobra Leather (contact number on the ad banner), and tell him what kind of problems you're having. Odds are that he can diagnose the issue over the phone and probably talk you through the repair. He's intimately familiar with the machines and you'll get to see how he has earned his reputation for service.

I agree with Chuck's statement about it spreading out to unwanted places. Just keep in mind that it's a pretty thin fluid, and it will run through the leather fibers. If you have enough on a brush to soak a piece, there's a good chance it will wick through the fibers to other areas. Now, it IS entirely possible to 'roon pieces and then attach them to other pieces. I've taken to doing that with belt loops, because once dry....it's black and it's gonna stay that way with zero transfer. Would I use it for coloring script letters on a belt.....probably not.

Haven't bought any, but SpringfieldLeather.com has it listed for right at $30 for 50 ft. If you post a WTB ad in the Marketplace (this website) and list what size and length you need, and what you're looking to spend, you might find someone here who can arrange it for you.

As of 'dang it's early' this morning, the avatars are appearing as they should.

I'm pretty sure that for metal it's called ......tarnish. I can't say for sure whether it'll work on the brass, but a little vinegaroon will tarnish the fool out of nickel.....or at least on nickel plated brass snaps.

Welcome Don, to Leatherworker.net! You have found the best site on the internet. We have a subforum devoted to holsters and sheathes, so that would be an excellent place to get some ideas or show off your work. A fair warning....we LOVE pictures here. You might want to check out some of the posts by DCKnives, as David is also a knife maker and does his own sheathes too.

I've had really good results with the waxed linen sold at Hobby Lobby under the name "On a String". Good strong thread, about the size of 207 (machine thread size), and looks good with the 6 spi wheel I was using. Depending on how the batch was done when it shipped, I find it useful to pull the thread I'm sewing with through a block of beeswax, then through a piece of denim/paper bag/ canvas to heat it (friction) and remove any excess. Don't bother with the needles with the large eye, just get some standard eye big needles. I picked those up at the Walmart craft dept. in a pack for about $1.75,

check and see if you're using "no-script". I had all kinds of problems and started removing add-ons to find the issue. Silly me, I TOLD the computer to stop the images.....now wonder it wouldn't show anything!!!

The key to any dye job is buffing off the non-absorbed dye particles....before sealing.

I am just a bit confused on the design....you're intentionally running the blade across a metal rivet, right? That will do one of two things, possibly both. It will dull the knife, and/or the repeated actions will cut the rivet in half (yes, b/c steel is harder than brass). It's an interesting idea, and I could see it working if you had nylon thread-and-post connectors in place of the rivets. While the knife would eventually cut that in half as well, it'd be easier to replace when it happens. The leather looks good, and kudos for trying out a new design.

I punch on either the Poundo mat, or a piece of scrap.

....or that quite a few people use them and may not have read this thread, or had time to respond. I've been using the cheap one from Harbor Freight, but just upgraded to the one that costs $5 more. Then, the same day I got that one I had someone give me a Badger 155 set. So, I'm refining my techniques to include actual control instead of just point and spray. They airbrushes give a LOT of flexibility to using dyes, and I'll likely only use this method. I find it's incredibly easy to get even coverage, the feathered edges Particle mentions, and also to vary the shade of the dye by just applying less. Sunburst effects are really simple too. If you have a compressor, you can be 'operational' with one for about $15. If you don't have the compressor, you can get the whole set up for about $90. If you prefer to just invest in quality at the start, good starter airbrushes should set you back nearly $100 for just the airbrush, top name compressors (run quiet types) can easily be $200 or more. I will vary whether I dilute the dyes by my need at the time.

Heating the oil makes it more fluid, which I suppose would make it penetrate faster. If you get it too hot, you end up with fried cow hide. I suspect it'd be really easy to over oil it, too. She may have been thinking of a hot wax and oil dip finish that was once common, and now sees most service in the SCA.

Like so many others, I too have faced the question "Now where does THIS @#$%@t$#$ strand go?!?!??" But, I refused to be beat by it, and made a simple choice that has saved me tons of time and prevented a lot of frustration. I simply refuse to do more than a 4 strand braid. There, take that!........stoopid braid.

First off, it's the Nagant M1985....no "Mosin" to it- that's the rifle. As far as the holster, just look in the holster section at the tutorials. There are several that are 'pinned' at the top of the forum. They include instructions for making a pattern and then a holster. For the drop leg style, you simply need to make allowances for extra leather for the loop, and an attachment point for the leg strap.

I think that was primarily directed at the little "holster" for the kel-tecs. The holster was designed to accept the pistol, and had a cut out for the trigger, and room for the slide to cycle. It's still relevant to our hobbies/trades, so thank you for the reminder! The easiest way to avoid legal complications about this is to just cover the trigger guard when you build.

Since the emissions are so slight, you may want to go straight to a UV lamp. Less UV is filtered in things like Gro-lights, and if you can find it, you can get actual UV lamps. Back in school, we had them in the biology lab for sterilization and experiments where we grew cultures. The UV was so intense that in just a few minutes, exposed flesh (typically hands) was pink and stinging, just like a sunburn. Check under 'germicidal lamps'.

It's a mixture of diluted brown-ish dye and sunshine, topped with good conditioning (helps with the sun tan), and a good top coat. Exactly which dye is up to you, according to your preference.

place pistol in holster, place holster in plastic bag, roll with rolling pin, chase the lines with a modeling tool or slicker. If you keep it in the plastic bag, you can rub the lines in without causing friction burnishing on the leather.

The downside to vacuum molding is wrinkles. Sometimes one gets in there and puts a line in the wrong place. As far as tooling, any time you flex a tooled area, it affects it.

Tat2, Your statement "try not to be toooooooo ignorant", is EXACTLY what has garnered the impressions of you that you are arrogant. Busted, It was decided long ago that LW is not the place for political comments, as most discussions about politics will ruffle SOMEBODY'S feathers to the point that we get flame wars started. Please refrain from doing so here...cleaning up after the fire extinguishers is tiresome. This one is done.

I don't see anything that say's "stamp" to me. There are some spots at the top of the photo that look a lot like a diamond shaped shader, but in the outlined area, the lines are pretty continuous. It may have started out with a stamp of some sort, but most likely, that was created with modeling tools, perhaps a stylus. There's also the possibility it was done with a piece of wood to get the grain lines, or possibly stamped with wood and followed with a modeling tool. Third possibility is it's a homemade stamp, completely custom.....there are a few of us here that dabble in tool creation to have our own unique designs.