MADMAX22

If I remember right the guy is a sheriff hence the cars in the picture. They can usually do just about whatever they want within reason. Most states or should I say alot of them actually have a open carry law it is just that most people do not know about it. As long as the gun is in plain site it can be carried however do not cover it up with a jacket or anything because then it becomes concealed and you need a license for that. Funny story, in VA a little while back there were several cases in a 2 week time period where people called the cops on others who were open carrying. Both times they were coming from the range and didnt want to leave there guns in the car. The leo's were luckily stopped by there chief either right after righting sitations and taking the guns or just before. The local guys had to have training on the state laws lol and there were several apologies handed out.

Hey all been a while. Ive finally started getting setup in my new place and built my self a couple of work benches primarily for leather work. I am not much of a carpenter so they are just regular no frills topped benches. The layer on top is 3/4" plywood that is the kind with the oak layers on it. Little more pricey but nice and smooth and a little tougher then normal. My question, should I use a type of polyurethane coat on them or just leave them be. I have some stain and poly that I could use but not sure if it is a good idea due to some of the chemicals associated with leather work. What do you guys all do, leave it plain or seal it up. Thanks for looking.

Yeah I would say try the olive oil. Use the lighter stuff, not the darker green stuff. I have used it before and didnt notice much if any color change on regular veg tan.

Would like to add about my double layer belts I have made. Although rarely used for carry right now I have noticed that my double layer belts take a good two months of constant wear to actually form to the wearer around the hip area and such. I have received one belt back after a year of being worn by a hard working shipyard mechanic who wore the belt continuously during hard jobs in high temp, wet, sweaty, oily conditions. After a year or so it was still in good shape, dirty and stained with a few scratches and such but overall construction and usability of the belt was still very good. It showed very little wear besides the above described use. I think she said it took about a month and a half to break in and get comfortable which is about my experience. Would like to add that the belt stopped her in her tracks a few times when it was snagged on metal items sticking out. I must say I was pleased with how well it held up. One thing you will notice is with woman it usually takes longer to break in because it has to form to there hips more (at least generally) as compared to men who have less defined hips usually.

Hey Ricky I noticed with the dyes that I tried that the finished color once on the leather is usually different then the color indicated on the little color charts. It is similar usually. I would just try and get a couple that are around that color and see which ones come out close to what you want after dying and oiling. The dye works pretty good though. I like the angelus stuff and need to get some more when I get time to start doing some more leather work.

Personally I like the wolf spiders, they kill the hobo spider which is our equivalent of the brown recluse up here in the northwest. The little jumping spiders are good pest hunters as well. Now if you wanna get rid of spiders you gotta make them not like there home. Get rid of places they like to live. Remove areas of egress to the outside world. Destroy there webs and such. Basically make it a pain to live there. Bombs and such only work on spiders that it contacts while dispersing. Humidity and environmental changes are your best bet. Line the crawl space if you can. Good luck.

Little late to respond but to answer a few of the questions. If you dye after stitching then yes it will change the color of natural linen thread. If it is poly or other synthetic that is precolored then it usually doesnt. You can dye then stitch as well. Just depends on what you want. I forgot that if your antiquing and are covering the whole piece you can do all your steps before stitching then stitch. Its a little harder to wet the belt to fold it but can be done. Then once it is bent you can put your finish sealer on it if your using one. When you use neatsfoot oil you need to oil it and let it sit for atleast a few hours. Overnight is the best. This gives it time to soak in and disperse properly. You are on the best website to find the answers you are looking for. Look around at the older post and you should find something to help you out. As far as darkening the leather. Well just about anything you add to the leather will darken it to a degree. About the only thing that I have found that doesnt is bickfores leather dressing. Experiment on scraps to see the amount of change your gonna get with various finishes that you use is my best advice.

That is one kick ass set man. Nicely done.

You gotta try and plan it out a little bit and do it when you can. I usually carve and stitch the belt. Dye and edge the belt and make sure all my holes and such are punched. Then I wet it and bend the flap. Once that is dry I will oil the belt and do any antiquing and sealing that I need to do.

I use denatured alcohol as well and it works great.

I could see how that work pretty good also. I think if you want the clean crisp lines then a temp-let and airbrush would work the best, but doing it by hand with a rough around the edges look and a few colors may work pretty good. Be sure to post how it comes out.

Yeah I am sure you can. I am not sure of the price but if your getting any amount of them I am sure it would be cheaper. You could get a burner kind of like you would for wood burning but you have to fork over the price for a custom stamp basically, which if its a makers stamp is one thing but not sure how many of these you will be doing. I am pretty sure the custom stamps run somewhere around $100 or so for metal ones. I dont have the most experience with this thing just throwing my ideas out there. May be worth looking into. There may be someone on this site who knows a good source for various metal label plates that may have a fair price.

Excellent as always. I gotta figure out how to do floral work like you do. Love that style. Plus you get the coolest metal work to go with. Thanks for sharing.

Just a thought, not sure of how well it would work but you could try riveting on small label plates. You can get them made pretty cheaply if I remember right and two rivets and your set.

Looking great man. Makes me wanna start another hobby, casting my own stuff. Ofcourse if I learned everything I thought was cool I would need twice my income, two more arms, and another half a brain lol.

Thanks guys and gals. Im gonna give some of this practice once I setup my new work area.

Well decided to pic up that airbrush combo deal at harbor freight. Wont have much time to play with it but did a couple of quick test pieces to see how it would turn out. One thing I noticed is that it doesnt seem to penetrate like using a dauber or other method. So the question is now you guys that airbrush your work do you dauber (or brush or whatever) first and finish up with the airbrush. Or do you just do several coats until it finally soaks in a bit more. I do like the nice even color that you get out of it. I am just worried about scratches and such showing the light leather. When you dip or daub a scratch has to be pretty darn deep to show the natural leather color.

Grabbing a airbrush set will be your best bet. Other then that I think I have scene some printed leather but it is upholstery or chap style leather.

Well it turned out great Tim. I can see why she would want one. Thats why you gotta be careful showing off your work, without fail your friends will pic the hardest thing to make.

Nicely done Butch. I love that book, there are so many things you can do with what they teach in it including variations like what you did.

Turned out very cool. Love the colors on this one. Has a nice older sinister look to it that goes very well with the carving.

I think you achieved your goal very well. Nice pro looking and they look very well made. Great stitching as well.

Thats a bummer, hope the guy wasn't to pissed off. The refinished one looks really good though. Wanted to add that is how I learned to apply my neatlac when I use it. 2 or 3 thin coats rubbed in they dont peel or crack. Takes a little longer but works better.

Agree its looking great so far. Sounds like a interesting ol lady as well.

It will darken vegtan leather. If your leaving it natural it gives it a real nice darker color.