stu925

Beautiful work. Stu

I bought this Buck 119 off ebay for under $25 but the sheath looked like it had been run over by a truck. I kicked it around for a couple of days and decided I liked the idea of a bushcraft style sheath for this one. I wanted a one piece design but didn't want the flesh side of the leather showing so I skived down a piece of leather to cover the belt loop and laminated it on. After some time stitching and burnishing this what I came up with. I couldn't be happier with it. You guys tell me what you think. Stu

Some really nice work there, iI especially like those Buck sheaths. Stu

I really like the leatherman pouch. I'd be concerned about losing the bits though, I think I'd have to find a way to put magnets in those pockets to keep the bits in place. That way if the leather starts to loosen up a bit the magnets will still hold the bits. The neck sheath is pretty cool too. Nice work. Stu

Excellent work. I'm not a huge fan of skulls but I can certainly appreciate the work in that one. Looks great, I'm sure your customer is very pleased. Stu

Very nice. Just a thought, have you considered a couple of spring clips for belt attachment? That way it's easy to get on and off the belt. Nice work though. Stu

Some of the info here is suspect: It might fit in the holster but I doubt it's a good fit. Seems pretty random in that thread, some of the cross fits might be good info but I'd recommend seriously considering whether or not the info makes sense.

If that's the case the Ruger LC9 is compatible. I did a holster for a P-11 using an LC9 blue gun and the owner said it fit perfectly. Wish there was a database for cross-fits it would make life a whole lot easier. Stu

I like it. I might have angled the basket weave or gone vertical with it but I think that's a matter of personal preference. Stu

That's Resolene that bubbled like that? I never would have guessed that, I would have guessed contact cement. Just out of curiosity what did you glue the leather with before stitching? I've never had resolene do that? Not a bad design though but you're right finish has some issues. I'm sure he'll be thrilled with it regardless of the finish. Stu

Looks great, I'd be happy to put that on my rifle. Pretty nerve wracking the first time you use those stamps isn't it? Always thinking "if I screw this up I have to start all over again". Good work

Very nice. I've never worked with any exotics and honestly my work is generally built for hard use so I probably never will. Good work. Stu

I had a lot of stitching issues when I started out, best investment by far that I've made was a set of diamond hole chisels (pricking irons). I bought the cheap set from Tandy that comes with a handle and 10 different heads that thread on to it. This made a huge difference in my stitching. It helps keep the holes even and straight although it can still get away from you if you don't keep the chisel vertical when punching the holes. Tandy has it on sale right now for $56 if it's something you're interested in. Item # is 3009-00. Probably though you'll find the spacing you like best and not use the rest of the chisels, this is what happened with me. There's 3 chisels I use in the set and all the same spacing, there's a 2, 4 and 6 hole chisel for each spacing. By the way those old Schrade Sharpfingers were great knives, worked great for dressing and skinning game. It really is a shame about Schrade production leaving the US.

Nice sheath, interesting style. The blade is very reminiscent of the old Schrade Old Timer Sharpfinger knives. The sheath is a good match for that style of blade. Nice work. Stu

Nice work. I thought about building a full size horse but there's no room in my house for one so I'll have to live with the pony for now. Stu

I use rubber drawer liner material from walmart under my slab. Dirt cheap and works great, keeps the slab from moving and deadens sound a little bit. The mud flap would probably work great too alot more material to absorb sound & vibration.

I've been off from my real job for about 12 days so I could get some deer hunting in. Of course I couldn't get in the woods every day but I've been making every attempt at it. In between I've been doing some leather projects on my list. First up is a Holster for a J frame Model 60 S&W. It's for a buddies wife and her gun has a grip laser mounted on it. I had to clearance the leather a bit for the laser after the holster was done but honestly you can't even tell the difference. The gun in the holster is my M36 not her 60. She had no color preference for the holster so since I had the Saddle Tan out, that's what she got. I really like this color too. Next up, one of my hunting partners (not the same as above) was complaining about the factory sheath of his Buck 105. The knife rattles around in the sheath and for some reason Buck chose to put some sort of a plastic liner in there where the spine of the knife rides. So I took it upon myself to make him a new sheath for his 105. I own the same knife (as I'm sure a lot of you do also) but mine is an older production knife from the 60's or 70's and thus mine came with a quality leather sheath. I decided to base the new sheath loosely off of my old one and this is what I came up with. I thought I had a picture of the back of the sheath but apparently I didn't take one. I'll have to rectify that before I give him his new sheath. He actually didn't know about the sheath until I sent him a text telling him "I think this is yours. I'd like to keep it but those aren't my initials." I was initially going to carve the deer skull into the leather but it's only 1.5x1.5" and I was having a lot of trouble controlling the swivel knife on a piece that small when I was practicing. So I decided an embossed look might be the way to go, I kind of like the fact that it's not quite so prominent. The embossing reminds me of the ghost flames effect seen on many custom paint jobs. Lastly is a holster for a KelTec P-11. I did a bunch of research on this to start with and what I found is that there isn't a bluegun for a P-11 but all the P-11 holsters made are listed as Ruger LC9 holsters so I ordered me up an LC9 bluegun and went to work. This holster rides about as high as you could possibly ask of any belt holster although if I were going to do another one I might cut the ears down on it as they look a little long for my liking. They should however provide a nice stable rig with little movement.

Looks great, very creative. Looks like a handgun hunters dream rig. I presume it's more of a chest rig and sits across the chest, I would think drawing from a traditional vertical shoulder holster would be problematic with such a large handgun. Nice work

I second that, it's a good way to practice. The trade off is that when you're ready to start charging people will questions the dramatic increase in price. I've done holsters where I've quote to little on the job then the guy that I built if for went and told someone else what he paid and when they want the same holster they want to know why he paid less. Kind of a double edged sword that is. Most people understand when you explain it but I had one guy really try to to beat me up on the price, guess he expected me to take a loss on the job. Those kind of people I turn the job down. Stu

I'd lose the crazy X pattern thread personally and trim the edge down more but that's a personal thing, you may find that people like the pattern because it's different. Overall I'd say you did pretty good for a first holster. Keep at it, they get easier as you do more of them. Holsters are about my biggest seller now, seems like the minute people find out you can make them they start asking about whether or not you can build one for their particular gun. I've already started amassing an arsenal of Blueguns, I buy them if the gun is popular and I think I may be able to use it more than once. Otherwise I give the customer the option of bringing me the gun for the design and molding phases or paying for the bluegun themselves. Stu

I get decent results but not quite that nice, I'll give the tan kote a shot. I usually hit the edge with a little resolene while I'm finishing the rest of the holster and that helps.

I don't paint my edges, I dye then use water and burnishing followed by gum trag and more burnishing. Granted my edges are no where near that nice so maybe I should pick up some edge kote and give it a shot. Burnishing is about my least favorite part of working leather. I've even been known to pay one of my kids to burnish just so I don't have to do it. I will say that the amount of burnishing in a project definitely influences the price of the final product. Stu

Looks great but I can't help myself... Is he a pirate? Argh Matey! Nice work. Stu

I'll have to try that when I build mine. Thanks for the tip. Thanks everyone for the feedback, I appreciate it. Stu

Thanks guys, I'm going to have to build one for my Model 36. I have a nylon Desantis pocket holster for it but it always looks like I've got a handgun in my pocket so this might be the solution I've been looking for. Stu