YinTx

Fantastic work, and thanks so much for the point to the Book of Kells. I've been having a creative block on a sheath I had been asked to make, this may be the key to removing that block! Very inspirational work. YinTx

wow, for that kind of $$, I think I'll just be looking for a set of Bob Douglas rivet setters. They actually don't appear that difficult to make, especially for someone with access to a lathe, or even a drill press. YinTx

Yep, if I had to carry a diaper bag, I'd want a strap like that, lol. Nicely done! YinTx

Or, PM me what you are looking for. I have a lot of decent machine thread, and mostly hand sew, so I could part with some for pretty cheap. YinTx

1 oz Kangaroo may help. But I think if you are trying to replicate it, you're going to have to replicate it. As in use the fabric. Otherwise it just won't look or feel the same. Just my .02. YinTx

Well, sometimes it is hard to believe things if folks ain't ever experienced em... At least there's photos of them curly wires attached to a handset and a block with push buttons. That was tethered to a wall for whatever reason. How you supposed to drive and text if it is stuck to the wall??!?! But I've seen no evidence of so called awesome leather hides. I ahve heard that in the way distant past, leather was wrapped around things being shipped by rail to the west, and when the saddler got it, it was pretty beat up, but he had to make do with what was there. I'd heard that stamping and carving helped hide the cuts scars marks and stains? I've never dipped anything in acrylic or any finish coat. I saw a harness maker dip some new bits in a vat of oil, so I tried that with a strap... once. It is still dripping oil somewhere. I dipped in dye.... once. I use the strap as a straight edge now it is so hard. Used up half the bottle of dye in the process. I know folks have success dipping things, but not this dude. Maybe the fries in the ketchup, that works ok for me. But not so much with the leather work. YinTx

Do you have the original? If so I may be able to help. YinTx

Weaver's I think, not Weabers. and even all of those will sell you the plated items. Make sure you look for solid brass, stainless steel, etc. if you don't want plated or zinc. Since there aren't many local sales for these types of things, many of us have learned from the school of hard knocks and have a few bits of hardware knocking around in the drawers that are not what we thought they would be when we ordered them online sight unseen. Perils of the world, it seems. Sometimes when you see a video of something going together, they are nice enough to list out the parts, which is helpful. Often videos from folks like Springfield Leather and other sellers. YinTx

You might drop this in the classifieds section with a price, you might get some more attention for it. YinTx

I applied the Pro Resist to the backgrounded areas to make sure the antique did not stick to it, since I wanted the red to show through. Then I applied the Tan Kote (as resist) to the entire piece. Apply the antique to the entire piece, and wipe it off. It will settle into the beveled areas and the cut areas. Allow it to stain the leather there, then clean it out with Tan Kote again and wipe well. Allow it all to dry, then apply a finish coat to seal it well. To keep the finish from being less glossy, use a Matte Acrylic finisher. The piece I did had a high gloss finisher. Matte still has a bit of a shine, but not too bad. The more you do and the more you experiment, the more you will find techniques that work for you. As many leatherworkers as there are there are as many techniques! I alter mine almost every project to fit the look I am trying to achieve. YinTx

Dye the background with a small paint brush and leather dye. Then apply resist, antique, then a top coat. You can get a large variety of colors, and contrast to your heart's content. 2 different dyes, and 1 antique. 2 different resists (Pro resist and Tan Kote). Finished with Angelus acrylic. YinTx

Impressive. I did not know they sold those things! YinTx

Some neatsfoot oil will help, leather balm tends to soften things up, gently working it after letting the previous permeate the leather for a day or so, and just general use over time will certainly soften it up to a floppy state. Experiment on a sample strap to see the levels of oils to add and how much to work it. YinTx

Is there a reason commercially available antiques won't suffice, but smearing mud on your hard work may? About the only floor polish I have heard anyone putting on their carving is mop n glow as a substitute for Resolene or any other acrylic finisher specifically made for leather. YinTx

That came out incredible! YinTx

Cool work, textures on the pier poles is right on the money. YinTx

You can also find them all over ebay if you don't mind vintage. They do mystery braid cuts quite well. Weaver leather even mentioned them in a shop tricks video as a very useful tool that you don't use very often, but when you do need it, not much replaces it. YinTx

I think Springfield Leather had some Hermann Oak D Grade sides available at one time, you might contact them. @TonySFLDLTHR may be able to assist. YinTx

The whole thing is beautifully done! Every detail is impeccable! YinTx

It's all art, so whatever preference you have, go with it! Seems there are 10,000 different methods to using antique, and 10,000 different results. So I'm always practicing, trying to get something I like. In general, I have not been using the paste antiques lately, and when I do antique, I have made my own recipe. But I went back to some paste to try things out again a week or so ago. This was a piece of 10 oz Hermann Oak that I doodle'd on, oiled with neatsfoot, then put the old school NeatLac on (yeah, the kind you have to take outside because it smells so strong), let it dry, then put the paste on, wiped the heavy stuff off, left the rest sit in the cracks and low spots and cuts for an hour or so, then really cleaned it out and applied Tan Kote over it. Then some matte acrylic finisher. I kinda liked the way the cuts darkened, and the background darkened, but the leather stayed fairly light colored, stayed clean and not muddy, with no gummy junk caked in the cuts or tooling marks. The finish is not shiny and plasticy, with a nice gloss and hue. The background stayed a bit flat for my preference, but all in all workable for me. The prototype sheath was done with my own mixture, Tan Kote for resist, finished with resolene. But then someone looking for a really darkened antique job would be totally disappointed in both I suppose. YinTx

@Rossr that is the exact concept I was going for! Whimsical, not perfectionism, fun and no seriousness allowed! Yours turned out great! I like the backgrounding you did on the one, really gives him an aura of magic! YinTx

@maxdaddy, I suspect so! Tried to make them fun and whimsical for any age... @fredk, appreciate it! @hashtagartz, yeah, enough grinches running around trying to spoil cheer and joy and anything else they can this year. Maybe I'll add one next year, but he'll not be happy with my treatment, lol! YinTx

As I said, this was inspired by @Stewart, so thanks much for that! These have been a hit this year, folks love them it seems, so i made a bunch. Course, now I could be stuck with a bunch, but hey, I'm alright with that! It also gave me a chance to get comfortable with painting on leather, which I really needed to do. Sorry about the fuzzy photos, enjoy! YinTx

considering the apparent gloom cast over the masses this Christmas Season, it is good to rely on happy memories to understand what the season is all about and to snap out of it and regain joy. Thanks for providing the medium to achieve just the remedy! YinTx

I love these things. I keep telling myself I'm going to make some, but never do! Where do you get the bells, and do they make good on the noise when you open and close the door? Awesome work, also! YinTx