bikermutt07

That's cool.

Welcome aboard. Most of us regulars learned from others here. We have some really knowledgeable folks around here. If you made your first order and it was at Springfield, then I guess you have been doing your reading. Good luck.

Looks like it may be oil tanned aka "oilies". I don't know much about them. They may be combination tanned.

This is not from experience, only from what I have gathered around the web.... I have mostly seen shoemakers using a wide hot burnishing iron. Then they apply some edge finish polish. We don't have many shoe people here for some reason. I am interested in them, but have yet to do even moccasins.

I liked your technique for preserving the tooling. That is a constant topic on this site. I'll pass it along for future questions, if you don't mind. Holster looks great.

Beautiful stuff .

Well, there it is.....

Tandy has small Sam Brown studs.

You could fit a small Sam Brown stud there. As mentioned above the leather is kind of thick. I don't think it would cause a problem or look out of place.

Photo Resizer in the Google play store. It's free. If you reduce your cell pics at 50% you can get three in a post. I like that idea, Tuga.

I think the boiling water water trick is for filled items. I saw a thread about midival water containers. They were filling them with beads or something to retain the shape before boiling. After they were emptying them and dipping in hot beeswax. I think?

Ken needs a strato-lounger.

Got it. Thanks @Sanch.

I'm glad y'all are getting to share the hobby. I'm hoping Ethan will enjoy it when he is a little older.

Just take your time an research, you'll be fine. JLS leather has some great pistol holster patterns on his website. A lot of them are free to download. As for thread weights and such, here goes nothing. For a holster or sheath I would lean towards .8-1mm tiger thread. It is braided polyester and should hold up well. For that size thread I would use a 5mm pricking irons or stitching chisels. Now about those, Amazon has plenty of cheap sets to be had. Don't pay more than 15-20 for a full set. For a beginner, look to the stitching chisels. You punch all the way thru the leather with these. When you (and I) can afford it, I would forego the traditional pricking irons and look to crimson hide's version of pricking irons. They are more like a row of awl blades that you use like the chisels mentioned above. Smaller items will require smaller thread and irons.

Wow canvas huh? I got a whole yard of canvas. I also have some scrap from my Carhartt overalls. Would this be better than the regular canvas?

But this clearance shelf is stocked with items all year long. It's a continuous rotation of goods.

It should probably out last us and our kids. The stitches aren't really being pulled on like an item hanging on a belt would be. Looks fantastic. Love the colors and the tooling.

I'm guessing the cash just lays between the two sides? If so I would use a Sam Brown stud, if you have enough length to still fit the bills in it.

The stitches really look pretty good. Your thread may be a little too large for he hole size and spacing. When you do your back stitching go really slow at the end. Try to get one to lay on top of the other. Also, give your stitches a little tap with a hammer when you finish. That will help them lay a little flatter. It's a great design, color, and knife. I like it.

I see'em as the Home Depot of leather. Lots of stuff readily available, not the best quality, and priced at a premium. I am also starting to see patterns in their business model. The introduce items at a high premium, this catches the newcomers. Then they will have these items on sale throughout the year. Then, it will go to the clearance rack where it is marked down to a reasonable asking price. Then a year or so later, similar items are available again at high premium prices for newcomers. I have witnessed this process over and over with supplies and different hardware. Their staple products don't seem to fall into this revolving net, such as tools and leathers.They stay in the high premium to sale range, which is still overpriced from what I see (compared to other companies). This is only an observation and a speculation on my part. The staff at my local Tandy are very friendly. I'm just not in love with corporate.

What is stake-ing? I have never heard of that before.

Thanks Matt.

Is that the harbor freight table on the right? If so, how do you like it?