GuitarLeatherDopeFiend

Recently I've been getting requests to make rifle/shotgun slings. There's just one problem, I don't know how to make them. There are parts I think I understand, like how the sling connects to the swivel mounts, and that there are usually a long strap and a short strap, with a D ring attached to the short strap, but I don't understand how they connect, or how the length is supposed to adjust, particularly on the "cobra" variety. I've searched endlessly on google for help, but to no avail, so I thought what better place to ask such a question. If I could get a crash course or tutorial from an experienced sling maker, I would be eternally grateful! I'd also like some opinions on what the widest a sling could be and still serve it's purpose without being bulky and annoying, because the people contacting me would like a big cannabis leaf on it, which I can't make smaller than just under 3" wide. Thanks in advance to all the helpful friendly people on this forum, it's a great community of leatherworkers!

Wild Bill46, and MonicaJacobson, thank you both so much, I really appreciate having a second opinion on this belt from other leatherworkers, I wasn't sure how other leatherworkers would respond to it, I feared they might think it was a gaudy and ugly style, haha. I laughed at the Iris fit comment, lol!

Thanks builderofstuff, I appreciate the kind words! Carving is awesome to me, because it's almost like drawing, you are free to put whatever you can think of onto leather. It's what I started out doing, because I don't have hundreds or thousands to spend on a massive arsenal of stamps and other tools. How do I take a look at some of your work, I wanna return the love!

That's awesome! Really well done!

Thanks Chris, I appreciate it man! Yeah bracelets are great for using up the leftovers from when I trim up a side of leather for guitar straps. Braided bracelets are really cool, something I'd like to get into also, it's always good to expand on what you can do! I'd eventually like to get into making bags, but for now I'll stick to straps belts and bracelets. Thanks again Chris, -Aaron

Both of those cannabis belts are spectacular! I really like your detailed leaf Itch, and I really like how yours is kind of like a simplified five leaf silhouette, Studio-N, and looks awesome in the green! I love em' both! Hey I've got a question, do you "tag" people on this forum if you want someone specific to see something? For example, @Itch ? I've never done anything with an embossing roll, I'd like to someday, to do cool patterns quickly. But they're just a little bit WAY out of my price range! haha

Just a little freehand carving practice, and a sample of dragon scales for a strap that never came through... good practice though.

Awesome! That looks so great for a first carving! I've never carved something that style, I should try it out!

My first strap using the resistor and antique technique, wish I had done one more coat of resistor...

Couple of different bracelets I've made, some experimental, didn't come out so good. The one with the camera and aquarius symbol on it were made for another buddy of mine known on another site as aquarius dreams, an excellent cannabis photographer with a very unique style!

Thanks Studio-N, I appreciate it! How do I view your gallery? I want to check out more of your amazing work!

This is another cannabis leaf guitar strap for my buddy Bushdokterspreuss, a very talented graphic designer and cannabis breeder, the 3-D multiple leaf motif was his design! I wish my pictures showed some of the detail on the leaf that doesn't show, a dash of green between each leaflet, really ties the look together and mimics the model leaf out of his beautiful garden! Let me know what you think, I'd appreciate any feedback or tips! You'll probably notice the slight curve that the strap picked up while it was wet during tooling, can anyone tell me how to prevent that? It's only happened on straps where I've done that taper at the end...

This is the first cannabis leaf guitar strap I did, the leaf is from a template I made out of cardboard, and cut out with a razor. I hope this sort of content isn't frowned on here, just sharing my work. Just let me know if it's against any site rules or anything. I'd love any feedback, thanks! Aaron

Just grouped a few plain guitar straps into one post

Another old oak leaf and acorn strap from before I had an edge beveler and other tools that would improve the quality.

Floral guitar strap for my cousin, the pattern is a craftaid from Tandy. More work from before I had an edge beveler

Apparently Deadheads like custom leather work, one of my very next projects after this was another custom Grateful Dead strap in color! I'll post it next, I feel like the quality of my work improved drastically inbetween these projects, which is unfortunate for the first customer, but he was still very pleased with his strap. Things got a little too cramped for my liking, but that seems to be another thing Deadheads have in common, THEY DON'T LIKE EMPTY SPACE! You'll see what I mean, haha. Let me know what you think! Aaron

Here are a couple of old oak leaf pattern guitar straps from before I had an edge beveler, so they're not the best quality. The oak leaf pattern is just a craftaid from Tandy.

This was my first belt project, unfortunately I'm still waiting to get paid for it, but it was great experience! Will be posting another belt soon, loaded up with the logos of some legendary bands! The flowers are Irises, I made the templates for them by drawing it on cardboard and cutting them out with a razor blade, experienced leatherworkers will probably laugh at this, but I'm fairly new, and don't have tons of money for tools, so I work with what I've got, LOL! They are hand painted then treated with resistor (super shene) before I hit it with mahogany antique. I wish the leaves came out better, and the vines aren't really accurate to how an Iris grows, but I thought it gave good flow to the belt. Criticism is welcome!

I like it! very cool!

Hi everyone, brand new member here, gonna be making my first posts, any opinions and criticisms welcome. This is just some simple repairs I did to a very old, very cool custom guitar strap, I re-did the lacing and added some reinforcement patches over the original holes because they were completely worn out and installed strap locks. Looking forward to getting into this forum, seems pretty awesome so far, lots of knowledge and friendly people. I appreciate any constructive criticism, thanks! Aaron