Wicked Welts

I realize I came across as a smart alec by stating what might have seemed obvious and I apologize for that. There are so many pinned topics in this section that I often scroll right past them and thought you might have done the same and missed Bob's casing thread. For what it's worth, I use the cheaper line of tandy stamps and I've had decent results with them.

Thanks TT - The KISS approach is king once again.... I have several dropper bottles with both plain and dropper tops so I thought I could keep the dropper booger-free by swapping it over from a bottle of solvent. But that's overthinking it as you have pointed out. I've got the brush thing squared away already but hadn't considered simple sticks/skewers! I've got those and chopsticks on the list now - thanks.

There's a dozen or so pinned topics at the top of this forum section. There you will find a Casing Leather tutorial and discussion offered by Bob Parks. Once I started following Bob's advice, I've had few problems with casing leather. Check it out and give it a whirl.

I suspect that you're right about it being the oil rather than the dye and can't help much unfortunately. My only experience attempting to lighten a dyed surface was by wiping the surface with alcohol. The result was, shall I say, less than elegant. Hopefully someone will come along with a better idea for us.

Not sure if I have it right but I believe some of you shoe/boot makers use thinned contact cement for certain things. Right now I'm using Weldwood adhesive and curious if this or Barge etc could be thinned enough for use from an eyedropper and still be useful for leatherwork. I got the idea after a few recent instances where 'a little dab'll do yah' and also consider that it might be handy for laying small beads for tiny fit-ups where the cap-brush would be too clumsy. Anyone have a suggestion on what to thin with or if this seems viable at all? EDIT - Related question - The original thought came a while back after considering a go with Barge cement in the squeeze tube. I thought I might be able to use the tube to quickly squeeze out a bead rather than the usual dip and brush, dip and brush routine. Then I remembered how often I find squeeze tubes rendered useless by clogged snouts and though to pass on the idea...(automotive sealers come to mind here)... Anyone try the squeeze tube bead routine?

Thanks for the great review, I think you covered it dern good! I especially like the details on their service which is the part that has me on the fence with dealing with them directly. Right now I'm trading same-day convenience (guess where) for consistency and it's getting annoying when I have snaps that set perfectly one after the other, after the other, but some will have less than half the holding power of others for no apparent reason. I'm sure it relates to the old 'you get what you pay for' deal but I'd don't think the lousy service you had would overcome that for me. Someday, maybe...grrrrrr.

Looking sharp there Tom, definitely NOT showing this one to my pretty half!

Great concept and great work!

I like simple, but in this case, I think I need the dumbed-down version NICE BAG!

I like the pouch flap style and yours turned out great! Thanks for sharing your source on the snaps, they seem to have set very nicely. Which 'action' version did you use (easy/med/hard) and how do you like them overall? I'm always looking for options with snaps and it looks like they offer a mix 'n match deal with quite a few cap variations.

Naw, I'm the one that had it wrong, I was way focused on the tip of the arrow and didn't look around. Thor's enlargement made it obvious though so I get it now. The reason I posted in here wasn't to solve the mystery but to try and grease the wheels so to speak. 4 days without a response and I could use help with this too, so I got a bit antsy. I've only done the weave around an open field once and it took a few tries for me also. That was awhile ago and I need more practice for sure. If memory serves me, what I did was go back to Bruce's pinned tutorial for angled basket without a template. In my mind I refer to that as a bricklayer approach and think that's how I did it. I start a course going side to side and building up from there, one course at a time without skipping anything until I got to the 'obstruction' (a round empty space) and just skipped over that space with the course I was building across. Brick, brick, brick, space, space, space, brick, brick, brick....... //////////////////// /////// /////// /////// /////// //////////////////// Does that make sense and am I on the same page as you guys? If so, it seems like starting at the open field would make it harder to keep all the rows aligned but I think that's what Chris' scrap template helps to solve. I should look again at Bruce's tute with template. Thanks EDIT - My little slasher diorama looks more cock-eyed in the post than it did in the text box, it pretty much matches my usual stamping slop though

I'm not sure if I understand what your question or concern is here and I suspect I'm not alone in that regard. Your image is a bit small so I enlarged it and looked at the pointer you have there. I see a misplaced line there. Is that the issue? Is it just the pattern angle? I have like 20 more guesses but..........

I think you've got something to be proud of there and a great learning experience too. For me, I tend to user a ruler for everything including finding and marking centers for snaps and for utility stuff I don't fret so much over edge finishing. For snap location, I use a ruler laid down for referencing the side-to-side center line and then with a loose dome cap and eyeball engineering I get it in the right spot so I don't crowd the near edge and the stitching or whatever might have to go in that edge space. Once happy with that location, the rest is eyeballed with a ruler measurement for the near edge offset hovering over the dome cap (finding center) and a double check the for side to side center. Sounds like rocket surgery but it goes fast and the big thing is making sure I transfer my mark through all the snap help parts with a small pick asap. Then I can stamp, hack, fluff and buff with the snap punching/setting coming in whenever it's most appropriate (like BEFORE I stitch everything up - doh!).

Maybe it's too much for some but I also like how you carried the color and artwork over to the sheath. I've struggled with the edge spacing too. If it wasn't stitches it was rivets or whatever that ran out of room because I was always focused on cramming as much pattern space in there as possible, plus some. Now I force myself to go waaay wide during the early edge layout. It looks weird at first but things are starting to look much better.

Not yet but I'm getting closer to that point and after searching for this topic here I discovered that at the entry-level point, many use the Goldstar type press as found here -> https://goldstartool.com/Grommet_-and-_Snap_Press_Machine_-_One_Set_Of_Dies_-snaps-_buttons-_rivets.html

Nicely done! I was considering doing this same thing only starting with a pair of cheap butter knives. I think it's time to give it a go - thanks for sharing.

I like it, nice job! I often struggle with all the thickness near the top so I'm trying different designs to eliminate any layers that stack up beyond what is needed for the sheath body (front cover, welt and back cover). Which brings me to a question about yours - could you give me a break-down of your leather stack? You did such a nice job finishing the edges it's hard to be sure but I think I see this - 1 - Front cover 2 - Liner for frt cover (to conceal rear of strap fastener?) or first welt layer? 3 - Welt 4 - Welt or rear spacer? 5 - Back cover 6 - Front of belt loop (with strap end tucked in?) 7 - Rear of belt loop I'm probably wrong about some of that but it looks awful thick to deal with using regular stab n' steer stitching. Heck, I struggle with just the three front/welt/back layers!

Am I right in thinking it would be wise to make the zipper opening narrow enough to not quite cover the teeth, yet close enough to cause the head of the zipper pull to spread or 'plow' the leather out of the way as it goes along?

To keep it small and simple I'm working on something similar to Monica's, my initials stylized to be my basic brand mark. Larger pieces, stationary, signage etc would include this mark in the design along with the larger more identifiable trademark logo, which for you might include the bird. I think of it like McDonalds, at a glance all you need to see is the 'M' that is their 'golden arches' brand mark to know what you're looking at without even seeing their other identifiers such as their red/yellow color combo, or Ronald himself.

This project is on hold for now as there's a bit of waffling over my plan vs an all nylon plan.I don't have 100% of the details but I do know it's not for life support/climbing etc and as far as I can tell the webbing is more for support/anti-stretch than for abrasion. The added info is much appreciated though as I hope to try a webbing combo for a few things now, including a harness for my dog and maybe a hiking and hauling rig for me. Either way I'll will update with progress as it goes.

I like the star washer idea. What's the preferred material - brass, stainless?

That's not stupid at all. What's stupid is buying the cheapest steel wool you can find and not noticing the ocean of oil it was packed in and then wondering why it's been over four weeks instead of one or two for your 'roon to get it's mojo going. Don't ask me how I know this......... Oh, and if you're in a hurry, definitely get the super fine 0000 wool, it seems to work the fastest (for me).

That bench top tool was the first thing that came to mind but how do you think it does on real thin stuff? An earlier post mentioned stretch when using razor blades so I'm wondering about that. The idea of back taping the leather first sounds like it would help anyway.

Has anyone tried contact cement on the barrel of the female part to give it a better hold on the leather? I thought of this the other day but haven't tried it yet. Also thanks to this thread, I just thought that a generic deep well socket (maybe 3/8" drive x 1/2" deep well) could be used on top of a plain washer to push down on the male side of the leather with the eraser trick holding the female barrel side underneath. This would put a lot of extra pressure on the female barrel without having to push so hard on the screwdriver as you drive it through the hollow of the deep well socket. In other words, the socket acts as a pusher-handle-doohickey and the screwdriver doesn't slip and it might give you a little more squish on stuff that's too thick. Or just buy the tool!

You did a great job on that Bob, I really like that pattern!