YinTx

And your holster looks pretty nice too, forgot to mention while I was commenting on dye! Any issues on retention long term? I had been wondering about how pancakes fare for revolvers... they seem to have less for the holster to "grip" onto than the semi autos... YinTx

I did this project with Angelus dye, as you can see despite my efforts, still blotchy. I think it is more the leather than the dye...or possibly just me... or me and the leather... but I don't think I'd pin it on the dye at this point... YinTx

Those are pretty cool! I'm seriously going to have to learn air brushing...inspiring use on those holsters! YinTx

Might appear a bit small, but your horse seems quite proud to appear so regal sporting that artwork! YinTx

I generally use the white vinegar. Can't say how many pads for 1 gallon, I generally use 1-2 pads for .5 - 1 quart.. so I imagine extrapolate from there... YinTx

Some top notch work right there! Well done! YinTx

roo4u, Yes, I have felt the pain, lol. Bikermutt, if I am stitching a difficult place, that cork comes into play. Oddly enough, I manage to do the bloodletting when I am not trying to poke a hole in anything - something to do with that momentary lapse of concentration/complacency that allows tool and fingertip to come into the same space at the same time. Just a good thing I am not using large power equipment, like earthmovers. End results might be a bit worse... (sorry about your... entire truck...) And thanks for the complement on the stitching, I still feel it has a way to go, but nice to see others enjoy the results! And this bag had a lot of stitching....next piece I am working on has a bit less stitching... a padfolio. It's coming along slow but sure, working on it between life's little interruptions and a customer order. I always sweat every stitch, I love doing it, and at the same time fret the entire time that I might fudge a single stitch and botch the whole piece! YinTx (still wondering how a leather satchel gets listed in the musical instruments section...)

Those are pretty neat. It's nice when you know something you made is going to be well used. Does he carry them all at once or one at a time? YinTx

Ah, a bit out of range for me. Thanks though! YinTx

Location please? Thank you, YinTx

Nice. That should last a good bit longer! YinTx

Heh, yeah black and blue! But seriously, nice design work. I had a random thought on straps: how about a D ring coupled with a Sam Brown stud? Or velcro...And form a permanant loop for the thumb to fit into that comfortably positions the mitt on the hand prior to adjusting the wrist straps...kinda like in your first example photo.. I would think it might be more comfortable than a rigid strap across the thumb for long term use. I really like the idea of the neoprene palm - good grip, water resistant, won't hold grit... Look forward to seeing your next iteration! YinTx

I get the frustration, I have a few pieces in the bin or on the side waiting for a solution to my screw ups. I agree that putting the NFO on after the super sheen is probably the problem. It's possible a bit of saddle soap, which you may have a can of laying around from shoe shine days, or a buddy may have, with a bit of water could help. Acetones, reducers, mineral spirits, etc. will likely wreck the paint jobs. A bit of denatured alcohol might do the trick. If all else fails, yah, paint it black, chalk it up to learning, and put time in again on new pieces, which I find always seem to come out better than the ones I did before, on account of all my "learnings." At least your leather pieces aren't all that large - I have some sizeable bits that are currently complete fails. I've started doing practice runs on unusable odd sized pieces and belly leather to try out my ideas on before I go after the final object, because I dislike wasting good materials. YinTx

Thank you fredk! YinTx

That really is something else. Well done! I like it. And the saddle blanket is pretty cool too! YinTx

Oak Leaf Vegetable tanned leather side for sale. 8-9 oz (3.1-3.5mm) leather thickness per the label, backside is marked 25.2 square feet. (floor tiles are 18" tiles for reference). This side is fairly clean and large, 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. This is Tandy item #9157-58 8/9 oz Veg Side per the labels, their price $205-$270 plus tax. This is Tandy's nicer Oak Leaf tooling leather. My price: $185 plus shipping. YinTx

Thats the beauty of art, I think. There is no one way to do it right, and sometimes when folks break all the rules, new art emerges. There are tried and true methods that work once you learn them, and you end up using many different methods sometimes on the same project to get the stitching to look right all the way around. And there are some outright wrong methods floating around, you just sometimes have to decide for yourself which ones you don't like and jettison them. The sample runs you are doing I found really helpful when I was trying to figure out what worked best for me - keep doing them! I made notes so when I went back to look at results, I knew what method gave which results. YinTx

+1 for that. Looks like your needles are reversed from what they should be. The pattern Tugadude refers to should show identical on both front and back. YinTx

Thanks, Rossr!

I agree. Nice buckles, they deserve their own topic/thread, as does Sonydaze' topic. Perhaps an administrator can assist with separating these? YinTx

Seriously? In the "Musical Instruments" forum? heheheheh.... Ok. lol. YinTx

Not sure what the grit equivalent is, I'd have to look it up. What I do know is that I had a cleaver that was major banged up with dings you could see, and a round edge. I was able to remove the dings and re-profile the edge on it with the Atoma 1200 plate. I suspect the 400 would have made things move along faster, I think the 140 would just be way to rough for it or any leather working tools. None of my tools, even the old ones, would warrant the gouging that would impart to them. I agree, the 1000 Cerax is a fairly smooth stone that would get damaged by a bad edge, which is why I profiled on the Atoma first. If you have an edge that bad, absolutely get a coarser stone before honing on the finer stones. The prices you list for the Atoma plates seem a bit high to me, I'd shop around. YinTx

This is cool. Are you creating your own designs? YinTx

You don't have to pay big bucks for a really nice set up. I am really happy with my Cerax combo stone and Atoma diamond plate. See this post, and my comments on research and pricing: The Cerax stones only soak for 30 mins, you are not supposed to leave them wet. The diamond plate is splash and go. The fine grit as I have learned is necessary to get a clean edge that really helps your leather knives do what they should be doing: cut clean and easily. Woodyworkshop: I really like your method of creating a flat strop: I hadn't put a lot of thought into it, and just assumed that my board was flat: likely not. Time for a new one! YinTx

I have purchased from both retailers in the past. From leathercrafttools, https://leathercrafttools.com/item?id=3657 the Nobuyoshi knife. It appears to me to be the genuine article, though I will admit I am no expert. The blade, while unbelievably sharp, is exceptionally delicate. I broke the end off with my thumbnail, and will have to regrind quite a bit to recover the edge. It is supposedly a hand crafted hand tempered blade using Aogami Super Blue steel, which as I understand it, is difficult to do well. I have owned many knives, never one this scary sharp out of the box. And that includes Hattori and Hiromoto Damascus blades. Nor have I had one so delicate. I ordered the no longer available Kyoshin Elle pricking irons from goodsjapan, and absolutely loved them. Some complained the steel to be too soft, and easily bent, something I never experienced. Lost mine in a fire, wish they still made/sold them. Don't know if this helps answer your original question. YinTx