MADMAX22

I jsut got done hand sewing my stingray inlay. It was a pain in spots and not bad in others. The strip or dot in the center that is white is composed of larger calcium deposits which are hard as bone or anything else that is pure calcium. The rest of it that is composed of smaller little dots are easier to work around. I used a awl and at times a scratch awl to push holes thru for hand sewing. The big deposits of calcium I had to work around. As for machine sewing I have heard of sewing from the back side. I have also heard of using a dremel to smooth out a stitch line.

Thats cool, should be interesting, Hey the weirder the better because it leads to other ideas we may not have thought of yet. On mine I first attempted to run the stingray strip all the way up to where it snaps. Thought that would be cool until I tried doing it. That first attempt was killed very quicky. This was the second inlay attempt and worked out much better for me. Would like to see some pics when you get it all done. Good luck

How is this stuff compared to the tandy selections. I noticed the pricing on average was onpar with the live oak selection from tandy. Is it about similer quality or better. Not bashing tandy in anyway here just trying to get a reference.

Thanks for the advice Dave. Worked out great (IMHO) for my first try. I actually did use the portion of 4oz leather for the backing of the stingray that I cut from the outside layer. Dont know if it really helped or not but it brings it out a little bit. No way to get a nice rounded effect at the edges like some of the other inlays look, the stingray is just too hard. Anyways great advice, helped immensly.

Thanks, actually I think it was Dave that helped many of us out on a thread I posted in the how too on doing inlays. His advice was the only reason it turned out the way it did, could have been far worse lol.

Great looking work. Did you make the pattern for the tooling work or did you get a pattern from somewhere. THat looks really good.

Well I posted it in critique my work but figured I would toss it down here also. My first holster and first inlay attempt and man didnt realize how hard a holster could be. The inlay was relatively easy once I got it going but the holster itself seemed to fight me till the end lol. Learned alot on this one. Got a long ways to go. It looks good from the front though, the back is pretty rough as I had a heck of a time lining up the stitching and such. Broke a few needles, cut the thread a couple of times. The gun fits very snug though and isnt going anywhere so thats a plus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot_metal

Ill add that some needles seem to be more brittle then others. I still havent found all the best ones yet as it seems that hand sewing hard stuff no longer requires a good quality needle. If you need extra strength to pull thru the leather make darn sure you pull straight. Once you deflect in any direction you are gonna break your needles. If you use plyers make sure you arent bending or applying pressure at a bad angle on the needle which is the same effect as bending it when you pull it thru the leather. Just my experiences so far but Im still a amatuer.

Coming along nicely. What do you plan on doing to attach the leather to the saddle bags. Are you gonna glue it on or rivet or something. Just wondering. Looks great so far. The guy should be very happy with his new found ride once its done.

Sorry cant help you too much with the finish. However if you look in the motorcycle section this has been brouht up a few times I think. Just wanna say very nice job on that guy.

Very good looking indeed. That is a really neat looking clasp on the front. WHat kind is it.

"I KILL YOU" LOL just kidding but it made me think of that comedians skeleton thing, I think it is dunbar or something is his name. Anyways very good work as allways. I love the effect you got with the eyes. Oh and Pantera rocked.

Thanks for the insight and the recommendations guys. Looks like I may get a couple of cheaper ones and give Bob a call and get a nice one or two (two atleast) and play with the cheaper ones till I learn a little more. Then Ill play with the better ones once I get a feel for it.

Thanks for the advice/input guys. Is Bob a forum member or have a shop somewhere?

Good info, I think if I was doing it with a shop that was easy for me to get to so I could drop by and see whats going on that would be one thing. The long distance thing with people that dont communicate very well or seem sketchy in anyway shape or form just turns me off to the idea. Usually if it feels wrong and you get that gut feeling that ummm maybe it isnt the best idea then drop it and look up another venue (IMHO)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjacket Yeah we use to call them meatbee's out in california because they like eating any type of animal that is dead. The fresher the better it seemed. That and sugary stuff. Nasty little buggers allthough not as bad as the hornets. Hornets are very very very bad ecspecially if you hit there nest with a weedeater or mower. Man that pisses them off. Either way they both are bad news if pissed off.

Hey guys I ended up getting a nice triangular stitching awl at tandy and must say it was far better then my round one for stitching. Really starting to bring my stitching to another level finally. Not great but better. Now the issue is I broke it on my first project I was doing. So the question goes which ones do you guys prefer. This one they had seemed really cheap and I wasnt too impressed. Thanks for any input. Oh also what kind of metal are they usually made out of?

That is great. Looks really good, I think I may have to try something out like that. I ended up getting a hammer (Al stoehlman) but just because the deal was right, basically a little under half price for it. Now I wanna try out one of those guys so gonna have to come up with something. Thanks

I went ahead and did the $15 membership for now. This site has been a huge help over the past few months. Good luck and maybe in the future Ill try to fork over some more mula.

Thanks for the info. Think Ill give it a try.

Hey guys I get the idea of some holster making atleast the general principle which is just enough to get into trouble it seems. Anyways I was thinking of using two layers since I was gonna try a inlay anyways and from my understanding alot of you like to mate the flesh sides so you have a nice smooth inside layer. Now the question is do you guys treat/oil/seal or anything to the oil on the inside layer. I figured a little oil for the leather and should be good to go but then I dont know too terribly much yet.

Very nice looking holster. One question, Where did you get the belt clips at? I am looking to upgrade my bianchi holster that I use for concealed carry and my biggest gripe is it only has one belt clip and if your not careful when sitting down or riding a bike it will start to work out. I am going to a two clip version or strap if I cant find some good clips allthough two should do the trick for most all situations.

That really good. I hope the person appreciates it for what it is. What did you use to finish it up with. Any type of sealers or anything. Thanks

I think it looks great. I didnt even notice anything. In your other thread where you pointed it out it was there but this looks really good. Also its naturel hand made item so its going to have some kind of imperfections. I think it looks really good.