MADMAX22

Its hard to say since I didnt keep complete track of time. I would say it took a little while longer then it should since I had to design it from scratch basically. From start of design to final coat of finish and buff I would say I had a good 5 or 6 hours of steady work involved with a good portion of that being the stitching since I took longer with this one. This is not counting time to dry and oil and stuff that you need to let sit overnight for. I would ask Dave (DCKNIVES) who posted farther up how long he takes. He may take better track of time and has been doing this far longer then I have and serves a wider clientele. I would like to add that the stitching is about as close as I would risk going. With the 8 spi you have to be very careful with awl blade angle. If you do it right theres about and 1/8" clearance between holes, if not they can be right next to each other from awl point to point. I think next time I do something like this I will keep the 8spi on the inlay and try 7 and see how that looks.

Looks like a really good start. Atleast you only took a couple months before making what got you started, took me allmost two years before I finally made myself a seat which was why I started in the first place. Lacing looks very good, overall seat construction looks really good also. Im not a seat guru though so wait for others for a definite answer. I think your tooling although for your experience looks pretty darn good can use some improvement still looks far better then mine did after a couple of months. The WandC will help some, its so nice to tool on. If you have not allready take a read thru the pdf's paul barnett loaded in his sub sections and study that. Print it off if you can so you can have it by ya while you tool and practice the techniques that he shows in them. This will really help your tooling pop alot. Still I think you did really great work so far. Keep going. EDIT" forgot Paul has just uploaded one lesson so far. There are far more infos on his website, some free stuff and some you gotta pay for but honestly it is well worth it in the long run if you plan on continuing playing with your leather work.

OK so in my leather experience Ive primarily only worked with the standard tooling veg tan leather with various types of suede.pig, and exotic inlays and linings. I like making things as durable as I can and always seem to over engineer a bit to try and achieve strength and durability which has gotten me looking at using other types of leathers for certain projects or portions of projects. So now Ive gotten to think about incorporating some of the types I have not played with yet, primarily latigo, harness, bridle, and skirting leathers. I know the basics of these type of leathers. I know that skirting is essentially veg tan similar to the tooling leathers that you get but thicker from what I have scene and maybe a little stronger. Would I be correct in this thinking? Also from what I have scene with the saddles that I have looked at it tools much like the regular tooling leather does. Bridle I think is also primarily veg tan but comes predyed and has added oils and waxes. Now does this make for a more durable leather then say finished tooling leather does (after being dyed waxed and sealed)? Harness leather Im pretty unfamilier with, is this similar to bridle leather or is this something totally different as far as the tanning process or what is added to it after or during tanning? Finally latigo, I have scene alot of this used for belts and straps and other projects, does this offer a significant advantage over regular tooling leather for durability of straps and such? Maybe a rundown on the different types of the big advantages and such would be nice or a good link to info and possible experiences with using the above leathers in projects other then saddles and reins would be nice. Trying to expand my options when building things and learn a little more while doing so.

I think if I remember correctly that this is usually from not casing the leather long enough. Basically the moisture is penetrating only so far but the very center of the leather is basically dry or close to it. Pretty sure this can be solved by doing the casing overnight or atleast a afternoon or some such.

IMHO I would think that price is a little high however what you should probably do is figure out the price of the materials. Then find out how long it actually takes to make it (hands on time) and figure out how much you wanna get paid. This process is better then just throwing out a "I would like to get this for it price". EDIT: OK its been a while since I bought a holster so I looked around a bit and seemed like the average for pancake style holsters nicely boned was around 60-80 with as low as 25 and high as 90. Looking at market prices is also another thing to consider.

Well here is the final version. Ive gotta take a break from making stuff for this knife lol. I think the shorter sheath with more of the handle sticking out will make handling everything far far easier. I went ahead and dyed it cordovan (deluted). I dont know what it was either the druggie neighbors (I dont care if ya smoke something but lowlife druggies I find really annoying) getting the cops called on them or the fighting next door or what but my stitching went all too hell. Also made several other mistakes and to be honest if this was going on ebay or was actually a money making commission piece I would of started over. However since its not and it will still function just fine I went ahead and finished it. Anyways suggestions, comments welcome as usual. If anyone has any questions about construction or lessons learned feel free to ask.

Definitely looks nice. First thought that came to mind with that first one is that you used a small tortoise shell lol. I agree with Luke these would look killer on some belts of corresponding style.

Yeah for the short term. I think one of the biggest things with the military switching over is cost of the material and ease of construction. Not to mention the politics and money involved with contracts like that. From personal experience dont base somethings usefulness bases solely on that the military uses it. I agree nylon creations have advantages in some areas.

Will do Rayban. Its kind of why I built this one so that my buddy can try it out. Im making two crossdraw holsters for him, the other Im redoing but it goes right along the belt line. I want him to put both thru there paces and see which one he likes the best and pros or cons for each style. Personally I wouldnt have a knife sheath on my back for most instances as resheathing the knife IMHO is a pain in the butt, however I guess with enough practice it may be different. Guess well find out. He does alot of camping and hiking so should put them thru some pretty good use this summer hopefully.

That looks terrific, what did you use to color them?

I have used fabric in a couple of wallets (not the same I know) and the only glue I use is the 3m 99 stuff. I light spray on both the flesh side of the leather and the back side of the fabric works great. Let it tack up and apply them together and you wont get any glue showing thru. I tried using other gluing methods but the glue would come thru the fabric.

Thanks guys olliesrevenge the thread is barbours linen 6cord. I wax it myself and it is far easier to use then the prewaxed stuff atleast IMO. The color is a little more interesting in person, I dont have the setup right now to take very good photos but that is pretty representative of what it looks like indoors. Heres the link to where you can find the thread if you want to try it out. http://campbell-bosw...e2d4987195ad393

OK so what do you guys use for the winter style mocs? I know that sheep is usually the best but do I just get the sherling or is there something else that I use. Thanks

Not sure about the down sides as far as holster construction but as far as the stitching thing is concerned the style of stitching you have used will probably be the first part to go (I think). My experience isnt overwhelming to say the least but I do believe something stitched in that way puts more stress on single points and will eventually wear out much quicker then the standard saddle stitch that most use on leather. That being said there is no reason not to be able to use a awl and stitch dry leather. Thats the only time I stitch my stuff is when it is dry. Look into getting a decent awl and getting it nice and sharp at the tip with the rest of it polished up good. Then if necessary stab a spot of wax during your stitching process. Atleast thats what I do to help. Im sure later today the holster gurus will get you all kinds of input.

Well this is the final one for this knife except for the resizing of the other sheath that was to long to grab the knife. I wanted him to try out both styles for me. 5oz leather doubled up for the back and front with a 8oz tapered welt. Used angelus dyes on this one, first coat was spice, then coffee on top of that. I sealed it with my neatsfoot/beeswax mix to see how that does. I use cordoven dye on all my edges followed by glycerine soap shaping and bees wax burnish. Guess Ill see how it works once he gets ahold of it and plays around for a while. Originally I wasnt going to do the little strap keeper at the top but wasnt confident that the knife would stay put while hiking around and camping and such.

That looks pretty cool. Did you have any closer up shots of it by chance? I like the color pattern you have going on with it.

That looks outstanding. Great lacing and love that shark.

Katsass I cant remember but where do you post your work at? I know alot of the stuff you do is really good but dont recall where you like to show it off at and would like to take a look again.

Chuck if you dont mind me asking but what do you like to use on your stuff? I think you have probably mentioned it before but not sure where to start looking short of going thru all your threads lol. I have used sno-seal for a while and liked it but am always looking for something better atleast once I am done with my current jar of the stuff which will take a while. Well plus gotta see how the stuff I made works but I doubt very seriously I can make something better then what a company has spent plenty of time researching and field testing over the years. That montana pitch blend seems like really good stuff, ofcourse so does bees natural and picards.

Good point RDB, I forgot about that. I know it took me a long time thinking my knives were sharp before reading alot of the threads here on sharpening and found out they were far from it. Life got alot easier after I learned how to sharpen them properly.

Just my amateur input but this is what I do. If its a longer sweeping bend or corner I do it with one fell swoop of the knife using the tip portion. If its really tight I will do several cuts putting a little bit of a turn for each one which helps eliminate some of the blocking that can result. I generally allways use just the portion that you have highlighted showing the tips with a little more area included say twice as much depending on the straightness of the cut. I also have the head knifes with the little bit more of a pointed tip as opposed to the fuller circle tip like the one you have shown. Oh and I also have better luck making darn sure Im perpendicular, if Im not straight up and down I tend to roll the edge of the leather and make sure to start the bend after you begin cutting. If you start the bend before you really start cutting I tend to bunch the leather a tad and make for a not so neat cut.

I think Im a big fan of this stuff now. I have allways loved sno-seal. Nice mellow finish, actually works pretty darn good and you can reapply every season for a fresh coat. Thanks to you guys for the info on this and since I was curious I went ahead and tried a mix of about 50/50 roughly of neats foot and bees wax. Melted it all together in a small canning jar. Oh and I also thru in about a 3/4" cube of clear glycerine soap. Oh and also had a small cube of perafin wax laying around so wanted to get rid of that as well. Anyways now I have a nice waxy paste that to be very honest is very similer to sno-seal in appearance and feel. Not exactly the same but very similar. Gonna try it out on a new project and see how it does.

Very well done, I like it.