YinTx

Geargarcon, It was a cream colored cowhide suede. I don't recall off the top of my head where I got it from. YinTx

Byggyns, Thanks for the response. I went off the deep end as I always do, and purchased both stones. Namely because I can make large corrections to damaged edges with the diamond stone, as well as the fact that the Atoma can be used as a flattening plate for the Cerax if that is needed, and the Cerax is a combination stone for final sharpening and finishing/polishing. I did a little research on the proper use of the Cerax, and my understanding is that it is not intended for permanent soaking, as that will water log the stone and slow down it's cutting speed. Many stones are intended for permanent soaking, but this one is not. All that and I'll say that soaking the stone for 30 minutes has turned out to be a non issue for me, drop it in the bucket, set a timer, do something else for a while, and get to sharpening when the beeper goes off! Based on your comment, I opted to not go above the 3000 grit, which I must say was good advice. The strop easily brought out a mirror polish on the sharpened knives after the 1000/3000 sharpening. The Atoma 1200 stone is absolutely awesome. Splatter some water on it, no soaking, and get to work. Very even, very fast cutting, very smooth, and easy to use. If I ever get an HRC 62 blade, it will be no problem. The Cerax combo is really good. Also cut fast, raised a very even burr quickly, and left a satin finish on the 1000, smooth on the 3000 with a fine satin finish that stropped to a mirror polish in about 10-20 short passes. The stone was easy to control, didn't load up while in use, formed a just right amount of slurry for me, and had good feedback. I also must say, I have never had a knife as sharp as this setup as accomplished for me, and I am far from an expert sharpener! I am extremely happy. I have spent about 4 hours on the set up so far, and I am getting better each time. I brought a cleaver back from the dead, (looked like someone tried to chop nails with it, now I'm proud to have a very sharp cleaver in the house), have a pocket knife that cut 1" foam cleanly like I was drawing a line with a pencil, and managed to sharpen some Exacto knives and my R. Murphy straight knife to the point where I can easily cut leather in very clean tight curves in one pass. I must say, I wish I had gone down this path a long time ago, it has made my leather work so much easier and cleaner! Now I have to go to town on that round knife....and maybe some scissors... YinTx

Vegetable tanned leather which appears to be a double shoulder for sale. About 8-9 oz (3.1-3.5mm) leather thickness (shown on edge photo, I don't have a gauge), backside is marked 15.3 square feet. (floor tiles are 18" tiles for reference). I think it is probably correct. This double shoulder is fairly clean as can be seen in the photos. The backside is fairly smooth. I have more leather than I can use right now, so I'm selling off some pieces such as this when I have the time. Appears similar to Tandy item #9052-72, their price $113-$140 plus tax. I'm no expert, but I don't see the filling that is used in some of the newer Tandy leathers to cover up scars and such, so this *may* be some of the older nicer leather. My price: $70 plus shipping. I am also selling a smaller shoulder, photos in another listing, for $55 plus shipping. Combine with that second shoulder to save on shipping and save on leather: $115 plus shipping. YinTx

Vegetable tanned leather which appears to be a double shoulder for sale. About 6-7 oz (2.5-3mm) leather thickness, about 9 to 10 square feet. (floor tiles are 18" tiles for reference) This double shoulder has some character - a lot of visible fat wrinkles that can add some charm to your piece. Along with a few scars and such. The backside is very smooth. I have more leather than I can use right now, so I'm selling off some pieces such as this when I have the time. Appears similar to Tandy item #9050-82, their price $70-$109 plus tax. My price: $55 plus shipping. I am also selling a larger, cleaner shoulder, photos in another listing, for $70 plus shipping. Combine with second shoulder to save on shipping and save on leather: $115 plus shipping. YinTx

Tactical Strap on Swiss Army Hipster Holster. (TSSAHH) There, I said it. Not volunteering. Best of luck to him. I have enough puzzle pieces to figure out, I don't want that one, lol. YinTx

soooo.... I shouldn't expect anything I've stitched with Poly to last much longer than 5 years, and nylon much more than 2 years? Or is it the binder that fails in that time frame, causing sewing machine issues? Just wondering... YinTx

Definitely some beautiful work! I really like the attention to the small details. YinTx

In the interest of not hijacking this thread, I have apologetically moved my questions to a new topic: YinTx

So I've been researching stones, since I feel I need to up my game on sharpening, and my old pocket knife arkansas stone isn't going to cut it anymore, no pun intended. Well, maybe. Anyhow, what I've gleaned is that the DMT diamond stones have an uneven distribution of diamond sizes, which leaves random large gouges in the knife bevel. The Atoma 1200 seems less inclined to do that. I seem to find them for $75-$120. The Cerax 1k/3k is an excellent combination 1000 grit/3000 grit soaking stone for $55 - one of the best for the price. The King KDS 1000/6000combination stone is about $90, with 1000 on one side and 6000 on the other. And also a great stone. I don't think I want to start out with buckets of water, and wait an hour to sharpen a knife while the stone soaks. The Atoma 1200 would seem to alleviate that. But there seems to be a lot of balyhoo about how a diamond stone is harsh on your knife bevels/edges. Is this really so? If I get the diamond stone, will I need another stone at 3000 grit or higher to finish sharpening, or will a strop take care of the rest? Am i being overly analytical about all this, or does it really matter for a leather working knife? Thanks all for the time... YinTx

So I've been researching stones, since I feel I need to up my game on sharpening, and my old pocket knife arkansas stone isn't going to cut it anymore, no pun intended. Well, maybe. Anyhow, what I've gleaned is that the DMT diamond stones have an uneven distribution of diamond sizes, which leaves random large gouges in the knife bevel. The Atoma 1200 seems less inclined to do that. I seem to find them for $75-$120. The Cerax 1000 is an excellent soaking stone for $50 - one of the best for the price. The King KDS combination stone is about the same price, with 1000 on one side and 3000 on the other. And also a great stone. I don't think I want to start out with buckets of water, and wait an hour to sharpen a knife while the stone soaks. But there seems to be a lot of balyhoo about how a diamond stone is harsh on your knife bevels/edges. Will I need another stone at 3000 grit or higher to finish sharpening, or will a strop take care of the rest? Am i being overly analytical about all this, or does it really matter for a leather working knife? Thanks all for the time... YinTx

PM sent YinTx

That looks truly impressive. Would love to see more photos, maybe a higher resolution and/or up close so we can see some details? backside? inside? how does it open? Awesome work! YinTx

I think that is a bit too small of an awl for 0.8mm Tiger thread. Can't say on the needles... I think I typically use a smaller one.. YinTx

I have a few bottles of the Angelus Leather Dyes, they seem for the most part to behave like the Fiebings dyes. Here is a photo of a work in progress from this week, dyed with Angelus. The leather is a Tandy veg tan leather, nothing fancy. Applied with airbrush on the backside (flesh) of the leather, slicked with TanKote. Applied with cotton ball on front (grain) side. This was diluted as well with isopropyl alcohol. YinTx

Clive, Try locking the thread twice (pierce with needle twice) instead of just once as you have, as John suggested. Waxing the whole thread/needle attachment area with beeswax also seems to help prevent it from sliding in my experience. Also, you may have a bit of a large needle for your hole size as you suspect: what thread/needle/awl size combination are you using? YinTx

Thats pretty cool! Only thing I'd note is do you have anything protecting the Ruger from the snap on the inside of the holster? YinTx

Madmax22, Sorry you had a difficult experience with them. My experience was entirely different. I ordered several rolls of handstitching thread, and the 25# box of thread. The box came with a sizeable hole knocked into it. I send a photo of it back to them, without opening, presuming I would have to send it back or document what was in and what was missing. Without missing a beat, they resent the entire order no further questions asked, no charge, and let me keep the original shipment. I will certainly give them my business again. YinTx

NVLeatherworks, Any particular recommendations on books? Not much showing up on Google or Amazon... YinTx