ChaChi

My first holster after buying this weapon. Lots of flaws but it wears perfectly on the hip.

My drinking helmet for Saturday. Actually, I'm the designated driver so there'll be no drinking for me, but I should be easy to locate in the pub!

My drinking helmet for Saturday. Actually, I'm the designated driver so there'll be no drinking for me, but I should be easy to locate in the pub!

I use the Fiebing's USMC Black on just about everything I need done in black. Make sure the leather is COMPLETELY dry or it will not take the dye evenly (trust me on that). I apply it with a dauber in a circular motion until the entire piece is covered and let it dry for about a half hour. Then buff off any residue with a horsehair shoe brush for polishing. If there are spots of imperfection (and there usually are) apply a second coat in the same way. Let it dry for another half hour, buff it off with the brush, and you should see a super black piece without streaks or spots and it has a nice sheen to it, ready for your neatsfoot oil or finish. I had to buy several brushes and mark them on the top BLACK and BROWN so the residue in the brush didn't ruin my next project. My guess is that either your leather still has some moisture in it from the tooling process or you have a bad bottle of dye (that's happened to me too)

VERY NICE!!! I especially like the black one and the cut out so it shows more of the handle. Great looking set!

here's another set going to a female firefighter in Idaho

A couple sets as gifts from the Fire Chief at the Dry Ridge Fire Department to the guest speakers at their fire symposium this coming weekend. He commisions a couple sets each year and kinda lets me do what ever I want with them. One set going to New York City, and the other to Seattle

wow! stunning

Thanks for the compliments. I've attached a few pics of the attachment points. Our bunker gear has 8 buttons in the waistline for the suspenders (4 in the back, 4 in the front). I designed this set up because the end straps can be replaced by the owner down the road if they should wear out or need a different length to fit a newer set of gear. It has worked out great so far.

A set going to california and a set staying here in Kentucky

when you're attaching multiple pics you need to leave a space between them or they won't post

It's amazing how much work goes into these little cases and it really shows on that piece. Do you have a pic of the back? Great looking work!

wow that is really nice. Nice craftsmanship on the box and one heck of a nice collection of tools too.

Yeah, it's acrylic paint on the FD one but fiebings dye only on the Christmas one. Appreciate the compliments

I finally got around to making a little notebook (for lack of a better word) for my wife. Every year about this time, she steals my 15 year old "Larry Mahan" book that I write all my orders in and uses it for her Christmas list. She likes to keep track of the gifts bought so far and the money spent and it makes it easy to know what we still have left to buy. But she takes my book to do this right when my business picks up. So I made her one just for "the list". The other is a similar book I made for our engine company to use when collecting information at the scene like vin numbers, owners names and addresses, etc. We've been packing around a vinyl POS for years now that's been begging to be replaced.

David, there should be 4 unique pieces for every snap. 2 pieces (usually silver in color) are the pieces that actually snap together, and the other can be a variety of colors but will include the "cap" (piece that shows when it's snapped) and "post" (little t-shaped one). The post takes the male silver part. and requires a smaller hole in the leather and the cap takes the female silver part and requires a larger hole. You will need a setting kit to do it properly and to keep from damaging the cap. I struggled with this for a while too and wasted alot of snaps trying to figure it out.

I just use 277 thread with a tippmann boss stitcher and they're usually finished with super sheen or polyurethane gloss for woodworking projects.

looks WAY better than my first piece. Great job and you do know this is an addiction, right? Too late now though.

WOW, really nice job on both pieces. I gotta get myself an airbrush set up. I feel like everyone's always a step ahead of me.

Yeah Ive never seen a leather shield mounted on that type. Ususally they just have a department sticker or appparatus ID up there.

The leather helmets have 2 screw studs sticking out of the front from the factory. What you see on the face of my fronts are the chrome acorn nuts that attach to them. I would NEVER go drilling holes in any helmet to mount a shield up there, but I don't think velcro would hold up tp the heat. Don't Bullards have a factory mounting block behind the shield on the helmet for the lower screws to bolt in to? They know a shield will be mounted up there. Surely there's something. The Bullard factory is actually about 15 minutes down the road from me. I may have to check that out.

That looks like a really nice piece. I'm sure they'll love it

Buckle is from Tandy. I think it's a re-enactment buckle or something. My friend is having a really fancy one made to replace it actually

Thanks Ben, I can definately use that. I noticed that you from lewisville, TX. I just made a set of suspenders for the fire chief in Lewisville (Rick Lasky) last year. http://pub23.bravenet.com/photocenter/albu...48569/1/111706/