DJole

No, I'm using Fiebing's antique black gel.

Yes, I get to keep the stamps. The price of the stamps (as part of purchased materials needed) is included in the price of the whole rig. They're not Barry King -- that would really push the price up!

Yes to all of the above! Will Ghormley's pattern pack contains patterns for 4 different pistol sizes and the belt. He also has additional information on his website about the tooling and dyeing process he uses, which has been very useful.

I've been working on this holster, from a pattern made by the person who created the movie rig. Western floral is not my usual style, but it's been interesting. The person who wants the holster bought 7 new stamps I needed for the pattern, so that's useful!

I find it useful to think of my hand as a "spring" when beveling a line. My fingers are holding the beveler lightly, just touching the line and the leather surface. The mallet strike pushes the beveler down, but my fingers "spring" the beveler back up. It's not a big movement, but enough to make the sliding easier. It also creates less fatigue in the fingers.

You could also cut a groove in the side walls, so that the bottom piece will "lock" into the groove in addition to friction fit.

In my own limited experience, I do the same as you state above, with all three Tokonole types. But I don't think the color makes a difference. Can you post a picture of what you consider a mess?

I'm doing a series of bags, and this is the newest one. Threads used: Ritza Silver, Ritza Chestnut (on the hanger loops), Maine Thread Cocoa (on the zipper), Maine Thread Scarlet (on the pocket) Dyes: Red and Black alcohol pens, Tandy EcoFlo Silver Frost, Tokonole Brown

A friend of mine wants me to make a Hand of God holster for his period-style revolver. He would like it to be lined, to protect the metal from scratches and such. You folks out there who are experienced holster makers, what materials would you use to line it?

Well, I don't know about that -- nothing I've ever got from my area IKEA store has had those problems. Certainly not the cutting boards! ;-)

Have you looked at Dark Horse Workshop (website and YouTube videos) for patterns and how-to instruction?

That is gorgeous work-- both the sheath and the knife. How is that striking yellow handle made?

I'm working on this Green Man face for a bag. I've got a handle on the floral tooling (oak leaves), but I'm not sure how to best do the face, especially the nose (and by extension, the eyes). I'm not sure what tools I should use, or what sequence of techniques, to get it right. Any of you figure modeling experts got some advice?

I recently acquired a nice set of 5 mm stitching irons, and of course they needed a case. I dipped into my scraps, and pulled out my cheap fluorescent colored thread (clearance at Tandy's!), and quickly whipped one up. The back is 3-4 mm veg tan, front and strap are 2mm chrome. That ought to keep the irons organized and safe!

Oof...that's very nice work! A great design and excellent tooling. She'd better love it. ;-)

Inkscape is a free program that I have downloaded and installed, to help build vector-based patterns. Again, there is a learning curve involved, of course...

Use the cheap leather for learning on. Practice the things you want to do later on -- stitching, tooling, dyeing, etc. Give away (or scrap bin) the projects that didn't quite work. You should know also that many leather suppliers will sell you a piece of leather cut to a certain size, and even skive it to a certain thickness for you. So if you need a 12 X 12 inch piece of 4 oz. leather, for example, it's much more affordable to get a luxury leather panel in that size than to buy a whole hide.

In addition to your location, if you give us more information on what you are doing with this leather, and what kind of leather you are looking for, we can help a lot better!

Yep, that's some pretty decent stitching! Give yourself a hand on that! It's hard to see from the photo, but did you sand and bevel the edges? Why did you decide to use olive oil as a finish?

Where did you get a sewing machine small enough to make that boot?! ;-)

Nice work! Tell me about that pink leather -- where's it from? It sure is striking.

Welcome to the forum! Lots of friendly people here ready and willing to share information about any questions or problems you may have. If you're interested in saddle making, there are professional saddlers here that you can talk with.

heh! She tried to be so helpful!

Nice work on the textured bevel! Looks like you've got that technique down.

Nice work for a first-time piece! It really does seem that the blood sacrifice is necessary, though I don't understand why... I just wonder about those straps, sewn to the body of the bag -- will those sewing joints hold up under the strain of a loaded bag? Or would it be better to reinforce them with rivets or the like? I haven't made enough bags to have a definitive answer for the questions.