bikermutt07

I get great results from tokonole. There are a few places that sell it. Rocky Mountain Leather Supply keeps it on hand. I did however find that with Hermann Oak just water and the slicker did a nice job and I finished it with Aussie.

Leather is pretty much a crap shoot in my book. Anything can show up taking into consideration just how many hands have touched before you get it. My worst run ins were with Tandy vegtan. Unless I dipped it full strength in a dark color there was no getting the color even. Drove me nuts. I just won't buy any tooling stuff from them anymore.

I got nothing. Maybe something for farming or wool?

I think @Uwe or maybe keystone is somewhere in New England. Oops, looks like Uwe is in Michigan.

Home centers and hardware stores generally have a small selection of them in the nuts and bolts area. 1/4-20 size should be fine for these.

Welcome aboard. I hope you get to enjoy your retirement.

Any pics? Or maybe a link?

That is awesome. Keep the videos coming as much as time allows.

Excuse my ignorance, as I am no expert in vintage tools. From what I am seeing near the hilt it looks suspiciously like an old file that was made into an awl. This is just a guess.

I like it

Great job.

There is also the cowboy outlaw to consider. I only bring it up because it is new, and I don't think everyone knows about it yet. I haven't used it or the boss.

That looks great.

Yep, we're all dumb. Good grief.

That was a great job on the sheath. It's true I profess doing batchwork on smaller items, especially in the beginning. It allows you to get the most practice out of the least amount of material. You get to spend a lot more time with each step in the process, and if you goof, you aren't completely stalled out and starting over. The goofs also give you practice pieces for future steps. But, I don't deserve the mention on coming up with it. I stumbled around in the dark for 2 years before I ran across a true treasure of a member here...... @NVLeatherWorx , casually mentioning it in some random thread and then the forehead slapping commenced. It was one of the most game changing tricks I have learned here. My cutting, burnishing, hardware application, and finishing all improved immediately. Now a person doesn't need 10 knife sheaths for their favorite childhood knife, but you could make 5 at once and give them away or even sale them. It looks like you had a lot of fun making this sheath. And that is what is most important. Put in the homework and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

That's what I call badass. Great job.

I'm up in Bossier. Welcome aboard.

Man those were the more popular than parachute pants when I was a kid. I wasn't very good at it.

Ha! Locally. I drove from Shreveport to Vegas to buy mine. Got a honey of a deal with lots and lots of additional tools/supplies. This is not what I did, but here is my suggestion. Exercise patience. Save and save. Then someone will be getting out of the biz/hobby and want to unload all of their stuff. That is when you will get the best deal. The best deal I got was my first big purchase. I bought a heritage splitter from a guy for 250. He showed up with all the rest of his stuff. I only had 350 total on me. He graciously accepted it for everything. I might have paid .10 on the dollar for roughly 3 grand worry of stuff. The 3200 came with the guys version of a whole shop for a 1000.

I like it.

Great job.

Most of what I would be unhappy with are things that come with practice. Stitching, edge treatment, cutting, and thread/needle combination. You have made a personal item that is totally functional. Be proud of that my friend. Show it off to your friends and they will never see the flaws you and I see. All that being said.... Slow down and take your time. Learn to sharpen whatever knife you are using. It takes a super sharp knife to get clean cut lines. Then get yourself a little sand paper. Sanding lightly along the edges will really clean it up. Try not to press to hard when sanding and Burnishing. It causes a mushroom effect along the edge. If you are using edge paint along that edge, do all the sanding first. Get yourself a pencil to apply the edge paint. Just roll the tip along the edge and put it on in very light coats. Sanding a little between each coat. Allow for plenty of drying time between coats. Get yourself a wing divider and use it along the edge to make light straight lines for your stitches. Make sure your awl, stitching chisels, or pricking irons are on your line and perpendicular to the leather before piercing. Some smaller thread on a wallet will look a little better as well. It all takes practice and time, but you are well on your way. In a few months you will be blown away at how much better you can do. Good luck and keep having fun.

My brother in law is going to school in ft. Collins.

Welcome aboard guys. You will find a great many intermediate level guy and girls here. And a couple of handfuls of real master Craftsmen. All ready to lend a hand. This is a great community. Do some digging, you can find answers to just ab9ut anything. I spent weeks here just reading before asking any questions. You will find a wealth of ideas as well just randomly strewn thru some obscure thread. Some of my best tips have been learned that way. Just some members discussing their version of Burnishing on page 4 of some thread about someone's finishing technique on a holster. Crazy how it works like that. Good luck and have fun.

Thanks @immiketoo, I was a little leery of throwing you out there like that. But, I knew you were the guy with a great amount of experience on the subject. And, you do teach over at learnleather.com.