mikesherman

Well…this finish was just a happy accident. This build was a sample…but i decided to tool and finish it for practice…. Dollars to donuts I can never do it again…

A pair of simple monogrammed wallets I made for my sons...

Here it is in finished form...

Jim - I just wanted to say thanks for this. I'm starting a belt for myself this weekend, perfect time to learn a new way to measure belts. Thanks again!

Pete - I'm right there with you. I've been working on drawing my own carving patterns for a long time now. In fact, I just posted some pics asking for critiques and so forth earlier today. It's been mostly frustrating, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. Keep at it, I'm sure you're skills and your work will be great if you do!

Nice work!

I get impatient, share stuff before it's done...so, here I go again... I was watching Kingdom Glory Leather stuff on the Tube, whence I discovered a couple of his "Leveling up my old wallet..." videos. That got me to thinking, maybe it's time for me to do the same. The artwork is very much inspired by KGL artwork, but I really like the style so I'm thinking I'll play around with it some more. It's not perfect, but I reworked the parts a bit to allow for better stitching. Now if I can just improve my edge work and my finishing, I'll feel pretty decent about this one. The design of the parts is my own, no more kits or purchased patterns for me on the wallet front. Anyhew, just thought I'd share...fire away! Mike P.S. I bought the set of TLKKUE edgers off'n the Amazon...90 bucks for five edgers, two sharpening blocks, and a case...so far, I love the edgers! One of them needed a little work out of the box, but the others all made great cuts immediately. Once I got the #3 honed up, it worked like a charm as well. The handles aren't works of art, but they are comfortable and seem sturdy; angles and ergonomics are good; all things considered, they're MUCH better than the handful of edgers I've used for the last 20 years...one day I'll learn to trust my gut when it says 'move on.' Anyways here's the link in case anyone wants to poke around: Amazon.com: TLKKUE Leather Trimming Tools, 5 PCS of Leather Edge Beveler Skiving Kit with Sandalwood Handle, 2 Sharpener Guide for Leather Cutter Head, Different Sizes Trimming Leather Edges for DIY Leather Craft.

Looking good!

Nice tip Dwight...Maybe I'll give this one a try as well...I've some corks lying around...

Thanks for the replies guys. What I'm getting is thicken up the shafts a bit somehow...I'm going to look into some of your ideas. Also, Voltaren...CVS is just down the street. @ bladegrinder - I've used Fiebings leather sheen as a resist for years, never had a problem before. I don't let antique sit for more than a couple of minutes, two to three, five at the outside, usually also not a problem. I changed leather recently (unfortunately still can't afford Hermann Oak or Wickett and Craig just yet) so I'm thinking that may be responsible.

I haven't been around here in a while...just wanted to share my latest work, a holster I'm making for a friend. The resist totally failed, but I think I like the finish so far. Not sure if I'll send it out this way but I'll wait until it's stitched up and edged properly and all before I decide. As an aside, I haven't been doing much leather lately...I've been having problems with my hands for a couple of years now. Last year it got so I couldn't really hold small tools for more very long, much less gripping them while I whack em. Docs don't know what's wrong yet, sooooooo....anybody have any tips for controlling hand pain so's I can stick with this a while longer? Thanks all...happy pounding!

Nice score on those machines!

Thanks all...Jim, I'm just as poorly informed as anyone else. That's the phrase I picked up while poking around looking for tips on watchband making...I think I heard it from Aaron at Makers in his video on making a watch band...

A couple of pics of the finished band...

Bert...I know, I just wanted a flower on there somewhere, and that was the best place to fit it...I know it's there LOL...

Just thought I'd share a pic of a watchband I'm working on...I only took the one for now as the flower will be covered up once the watch is attached...now that I'm looking at this picture I see that I have a sloppy stitch...hmmmm....

Nice! Love the finishing!

Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks are on the list, just haven't taken the trips yet. I'd like to get my kids and grand kiddos to go for that one...but they're both at the top of the list

Just a little project I've wanted to make for myself. I've wanted to do the wood grain thing for a long time now, finally found something it was right for. It's a National Parks passport (stamp) book, with a couple of pockets for my parks passes and travel stuff...The other inside pocket has more of the places I've been lucky to visit...Mammoth is not a national park, but it's one of my favorite places so it made the cut.

Thanks for looking all! As for the lining thing, I'm conflicted about this...this happens to be for me personally, and I prefer the rough out for retention as well as wear retention...it helps to keep the holster from moving around on the belt.

Below is my take on Will Ghormley's 3 Persons 1911 holster, from the 1911 100th anniversary pattern pack. I modified it (very slightly) for a Springfield EMP4 (soon to be mine .) Tooling pattern is Al Stohlman; Angelus light brown, ecoflo tan antique gel, wax finished edges. This was only my second attempt to use a toe plug (last time was about 15 years ago,) so the stitching on the bottom of the toe is iffy, but I'm happy with it.

GrampaJoel - I'm still trying to wrap my head around the diagram...but I am considering tearing off the pockets and using an earlier, working design for wallet guts...I'm pretty committed to using veg tan for the guts on this project, and this 3 oz is the thinnest I've got for now. chuck123wapati - LMAO, seriously... Handstitched - I'm thinkin on it...Thank you for the kind words!

Fraulein - thank you for the feedback...I haven't tossed it yet, as I'm considering the very thing you suggested. I figure I may as well try to line it and see how it works out. Fingers crossed!

So here are the pics of the sunflower wallet in it's final form (unfinished, sad story to follow.) Sadly, this is as far as I will go with this design, as it has some fatal flaws. No sense in throwing more time and materials at it... First off, the horizontal lazy pockets are super awkward and create a huge amount of bulk in the wallet. They also cause the cards to stack up in a way that I can only image will actually damage the cards. No bueno. Second, the outer stitch line for the pocket nearest the wrap around closure would project straight thru the tooling area. Lining the wallet would solve this problem, as the wallet at that end could be stitched to the lining; but, lining increases the bulk of the wallet. I'm trying to avoid bulking up wallets with extra unnecessary material. I could also reduce the tooling area, but I really like the idea of being able to cover the entire shell with contiguous tooling. Not a deal breaker though, so if I can work out the pockets problem I'll revisit this issue. I also learned that however carefully I cut, it never seems to be quite precise enough. I'll have to learn to leave some ease at the edges and trim everything down later, but this approach introduces some other challenges that I'll have to work out...namely, how to place stitch lines, hardware and tooling windows accurately if I don't actually know where the edges of the project are? Regardless, I learned a lot from this experience, and I still enjoyed cutting up some leather and trying to turn it into something beautiful. Thank you to everyone for taking a look. If anyone has some ideas as to how I might work out these problems, I'm all ears! Thanks much - Mike

This here is a mid wallet I'm working on...assembly design is mine. I'm sure the 'Eagle Eyes" among you will recognize Jim Linnell's sunflower pattern. I got it years ago, but this is the first time I've tried it. Those same sharp eyes will see a couple of tooling mistakes, but I'm trying to ignore them for now, as this is my first attempt at this pattern; I'm sure I'll have to tweak some things a bit and do it all over again. I'll post an update when it's done.