MADMAX22

Sorry man, I own the gun but not a bluegun. Great little gun though, very reliable and pretty small for a double stack 45acp. They are relatively cheap as far as handguns go, you could pick one up for about $250 used if that is an option. Not sure how many you would be making.

Yeah thats Christians work (xianleather). He is pretty much just amazing at his work. He uses the best herman oak that he can get.

Well if your in the states you can go run by lowes or home depot or a similer hardware store and pick them up. Should have them readily available. Sorry I forgot the exact size but thats where I got mine.

What site and reference did you take the photo from? Wondering if you asked them first at all.

Looks great, love the color on that first one. Did you buy that stingray like that? Never scene that before.

Thanks Steve, yeah its the E-294 series stamps http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/department/Tools/Stamps-Craftool/Matting/Matting.aspx and yeah its block dyed or however you call it. I dyed the entire thing tan, went over the robe portion with some reds, then I just use a cotton shirt piece balled up and dipped slightly in some black or dk brown. I really like the effect when I can use it. Plus over time it wears really nicely.

Hey thanks guys, Troy thats a really nice website you have hooked up, took a peek at it today. Luke thanks, this leather was a little different to work with. Question for you or anyone else but on the miter joints when I edge bevel them the edger wants to kind of cut a groove down the center of them. Hard to explain but basically its like it wants to make a M down the miter joint. It went away after I worked on it a bit and burnished everything up real good but still kept thinking I was doing something wrong. Maybe I need a different size edge beveler or something.

Well made another small purse for a friend. This time I used the crazy horse I have. Pretty much same design as the last one except this time I decided to try out one of those miter joints. First time doing that so it was a good learning experience. The stitching on such isnt that great but Ill get better at it. Stabbing the awl at the angle like that is a little different. So 8oz body, lined with suede. Linen thread dyed brown. Thats about it, oh threw in a little name tag also. If I do that again I will stitch it in sideways instead of up and down to keep it closer to the body. I will post a how to thread on this once I get the pics organized, not sure if I should do it in the how to section or the purse,wallet, and belt section.

Well your off to a outstanding start. That looks killer so far.

Thats cool, rather different which is good. Nicely done on the knife also.

I reapply about every 3 months of hard riding (thin coat) or about every 6 months or so if its just normal dry weather which we dont get alot of up here in northwest WA. On my seat I used about 8oz on top and about 5oz on the sides. I think anything from around 4 to 6oz works pretty good for the sides since on the cruiser type seats you gotta wet form them around the padding. Ive only done my seat though and will say you will be up for a little bit of a challenge. They are alot different then the chopper style seats in alot of ways. If you can try and get her to try out the seat before you finish covering it to make sure you get the padding right. I know it took me a few times to get mine right.

Interested to see what your making with it. That does look like alot of detail painting. I dont even think I could lay out that pattern without messing it up lol.

Look great, good job on the antiquing. I am still working on getting the hang of that.

Yeah I like the sno seal or similer just for that reason, you can recondition the leather. I use it on my seat and have had it going strong for a while now and its gotten soaked many times. Its black though so doesnt show the water stains. It still looks really good though.

Thanks for the compliments. As far as vinegaroon its really easy. I use a old coffee can (the plastic folgers kind) and fill it mostly full with vineger. I use the apple cider stuff. Get some steel wool (some of it has oils and such so give it a shot of acetone and burn that stuff off) you can use any iron, shavings, nails whatever just make sure its straight iron. Put that in it and let it sit for a couple of weeks. I poke a couple of holes in the top of the cap to let it vent. Some heat and occasional agitation will help speed things along. After a couple weeks it is good to start using generally. Let it sit in the mixture for a few minutes, take it out and give it a quick (quick) rinse in a baking soda water mix. Dont let it sit in that too long as it will make the leather too basic and leather should be slightly acid. I take it out of that and rinse it off with fresh water and let it out to dry. Just before its dry give it a oiling, may need a couple of light oilings after that. Its fun stuff and results can vary with alot of good effects acheivable. There are also several methods to get the same result this is just the one I like to use. Chuckborrows is really good at this kind of stuff and knows alot about it, he has posted several times with good tips and instructions if you look up his postings.

Sorry thanks for the reminder. The front is some WandC about 8-9oz and the back liner is some 3oz (cheap tandy stuff unfortinately but it works). The buckles I get off ebay, they range from what I paid for this one $9 for a two pack up to about $20 a piece depending on the buckle. I really like the BTS buckles, they are well made, solid brass and come in some pretty cool designs.

I dont know of a pattern per say but if you are gonna be making a few of them you could always just buy a cheaper one and use that as the base for your pattern and go from there. Check the used sporting goods places and such, its like weights people get them intending to use them and many of them dont see the intended amount of use and get sold pretty cheap.

Well did another belt this time I was like screw black dye, I have far better luck with vinegaroon. So this one is all black with a little bling and a bts buckle. I tooled then dunked it, handstitched the liner with linen 6cord dyed black. Went with a natural finish on this one, just oiled, then waxed it with some of my home brew stuff and a light coat of sno seal. Its still settling in so there are some in the tooling impressions but I will give it a final buffing tonight. I really kind of like this one. The crummy pics dont really do it justice. I think she will like this better then the other one I did. Anyways comments and critique welcome, enjoy. Oh and would like to add I am pretty stoaked, I got the hand stitching for this one down to just under 2 hours. Not bad for me on a belt measuring total 45"

Looks great man. Nice colors. I dont think the back off centering is even noticeable. Just remember with the sno seal, picards and others like that you gotta throw some more on every once in a while.

Great looking setup you got there. Seats turning out looking real good. Next one I would just as a friendly suggestion think about trying out some good neoprene. You can cut it and shape it to a nice shape and it works wonders when your sitting on it for extended periods of time. I made one for my bench stool which is just wood, I put the neoprene covered in some good thick chrome tan stuff and it works out really well, I can sit there for hours and the ol butt dont get sore. Tattos pick up the boot "encyclopedia of rawhide and leather braiding", think you can get it for about $20 on amazon and its well worth the money. Tons of different braids in there.

Turned out pretty cool, I really like the lizard, its got a good feel looks great and is relatively easy to work with. Nice touch with the cobra in there also.

I have ordered from here before and have no complaints. http://www.closedcellfoams.com/polyethylene.html Have also heard of these guys and they have that nice glued side so you peel and stick and your good to go. I cant vouch for them but have scene them recommended before. http://www.foamforyou.com/neoprene.htm <BR><BR><BR>As far as the design I cant offer much but would suggest whatever you can tool well and make look good if its gonna be for show. <BR><BR>Would like to add almost forgot but I have gotten several gel pad inserts off of ebay. Its actually usually one of the best deals I have found. Ive only gotten a couple but have not had any issues with them. I dont remember the seller though sorry.

I will be doing another one here shortly and will post pics of the process this time around. Its really pretty simple but takes a little work. You can see on the inside there is the one piece of leather that is cut with half circles on each end, make two of these just like on the inside, make two more that have extra length that go around aboutmost of them to use as a tab to bend out. On the two outer ones I wet form the extra tab portion kind of like you would a tool bag for a motorcycle. Once they they are wet formed I ad the d-ring keeper. Then I glue the inside ones (without the tabs) to the inside and stitch these in. Now you have the double layered portion with a lip around most of it to sew to your purse body. I take the body and put on any clasp hardware that I want covered on the inside then glued my suede to it. I then match mark where the gusset portions I made will go and skiv the suede in this area. I used a french edger for this. Not to much of a skiv, just enough to take the suede down at a angle to the vegtan leather. Next I glue and clamp one gussett at a time and stitch that to the body. Stitch around the flap at this time also as you go around. I forgot to add also I stitch the front (under the flap) before I put the gussetts on. Thats about it, kind of hard to explain but is relatively easy once you get it. Ive got another one I will be making at the end of the week and Ill take pics of my process as I go along and post it up.

Thats great thanks for sharing, very nice page I agree. Great layout and great pics.

He is just talking about the water or mix that you use to wet the leather. Some people use various things in the water especially when tooling to get a smoother knife cut and better tooling. I just put some saddle soap in my liter bottle and fill it with filtered water.