dougfergy

Oh man, that is the truth! Really good point.

Fantastic work on both! The knife is very sleek and love the file work. Is that a gift set for someone? Also, did you cut the bone for the scales? Never done bone, but you have inspired me!

It is such an enormous amount of work and tooling that it is kind of overwhelming to take it all in. Very nice work! I've noticed that in leather crafting, we see our faults much clearer than someone else looking on. I wonder if any of us are ever completely satisfied with one of our own works? If I ever made a computer bag, it would probably look like a plain saddlebag. It is humbling to look at your work, that's all I can say!

Stitching can really trim out a project and this is a great example, it really POPs! Great job! There are so many ways to use a stamp, no wrong way! I like it.

Thank you for that advice. I'll do that.

Sorry! I felt pretty dumb after asking what 532 was! I get what you are saying. I might try some larger, wider spaced forks and a larger awl. My awl is pretty tiny. (thankfully, since the holes in my thumb are quite small but healing nicely!) Hopefully I have learned to space my fingers left and right of the hole my awl is making with the bigger blade once I get one. Thanks for the advice! I learn something every time I read a thread here.

You mean 532 thread? Do you think my thread is too thick maybe? I've been using a 3mm pricking iron set and a pretty tiny awl. So I think I get what you are saying since I use pretty fat, waxed thread. My stitches are pretty close and small. Jeez, I guess it would save me some time if I poked bigger holes, farther apart!

Sorry! I don't know what a 532 is?

Wow! Stunning work. Your stamping has so much contrast. The entire wallet is amazing but to me your stamping is stellar. How do you manage to get your stamping to be so stark? Do you have any secrets you might share, your casing etc.? Inspiring work!

Sweet! The stitching really pops! Nice job all around. Do you mind telling us what size pricking forks you use for the stitching? I think yours is quite a bit bigger than mine and my stitches are not as angled a finished product because of that, maybe? Beautiful work!

Awesome job, especially and unbelievably for your first! Keep up the great work and show us your projects along the way. There is some good constructive criticism above and you can learn from it of course. You will be amazed at how you come along from this starting point, and you have started well! Good job!

Oh, Okay. I had it the other way around. Well, the NF oil really does darken your project no matter when it is applied I guess. I've used NF oil alone in some projects because it seemed to accent the stamp work, give me the color I was going for and I just let it soak in a few days then hit it with a couple coats of resolene to finish it and it looked good. In my self-taught/you tube video watching experience doing leather work, somewhere along the way I started putting at least one NF oil coat on and letting it sit for a day or two, or dry in the sun one afternoon before staining and antiquing. The idea was that the stains go on more evenly when the leather has that oil moisture in it. Don't know if it is true, just been doing it that way for a while so I really don't recall if it made a difference when I started doing it that way. Your belt looks great though, and I'll bet that carved area will begin to lighten up some over time and show more of your fine craftsmanship!

I'm curious. How long did you let the NF Oil soak in before coloring? Did you dry in the sun or anything? Just trying to learn as much as I can about how everyone is going at it! Still looks great by the way!

I tried burnishing by the tutorial and actually I like using gum trag and deer antler better. For me the results were better. I'm used to it so that's probably a big reason the gum trag and deer antler gave me better results.

Ha! love this one! Great work!

Thank you!

Thank you very much! Trust me, no one has far to go to reach my skill level. I'm better with the camera. From this angle, you can't see some blunders!

My experience is limited even though I have been messing around with leather for about 15 years. Mostly, I build what I need for a knife or phone or something like that. I've thought about building a holster but just never have. I couldn't find a thumb break IWB holster that you could tuck your shirt in for my Glock 42 with the laserguard. I have a kydex holster I bought for it but it doesn't have the thumb break to really secure the gun in there. So I started this project a few weeks ago. My prototype is pretty plain-jane with some parts, like the thumb break stiffener and the metal frame that attaches the belt clip to the holster, I made from pieces in my garage. So the first photos are the prototype. It turned out to be exactly what I wanted, matter of fact, I have worn it every day since. It is just a little sloppy with marker marks and fingernail digs in it from being careless making it and not staying on the line cutting etc. So I am making some color variations of the same with some stamping and antiquing. Just having fun with it. I am just now learning to stitch with a pony and awl, which, when I can see, I do OK, but there are some crooked stitches and some stab marks where I missed the pricking fork mark by a mile. Anyway, one is almost finished, the oxblood/antique with the clip. Just needs some edge work. The other two are getting there. The British Tan one I think I got some bad antique paste. It is kind of hard, lumpy and goes on like dried up axle grease. I tried to get it back off as much as I could but that one is not pretty. It literally looked like I did a brake job and then picked it up and played with it with greasy, dirty hands. It was a combo of first coat of antique using British Tan, then a coat of dark brown antique paste, which was the weird one. I should have known the consistency should be the same as the other antiques I bought. Live and learn I guess.

Undiluted, it comes out much darker for me. The example is with an antique over it but it was nice and bloody before the antique, not pink!

For a long piece like that strap, I would not use a dauber. What works for me is a dense sponge with the edge dipped in the dye and wipe the entire length of the strap quickly, then once again from one end to the other, then the edges and back side and let it dry a good spell. Buff it with a dry cloth after it is dry and it should be streak free.

I think you can use neutral antique paste with a little black dye mixed in to get gray. It would take a few tests to get it right I'm sure.

Are you looking for a lighter brown, darker brown? Just wondering what you are trying to achieve? Photos? I like the suggestions given, especially the testing on scrap. Over the last week I have been testing some variations in process on some scrap, oiling, dyeing, antiquing, with some new colors and got some really cool results. I had never used Oxblood dye color and found that the combination I used wiped on (with a rag) then covered with an Eco-Flo Antique Stain in Briar Brown and wiped down made a really nice, dark antiqued blood red/brown color on the finished product. Pretty cool to just experiment with it and keep notes.

Man! That is fantastic! I'd have to use a magnifying glass to work that small.

Thanks for the welcomes.

Hi folks, I found this site a couple days ago and got signed up so I thought I should introduce myself. I go by fergy, and I've been playing with leather crafting for several years on a really small time basis. I could probably count on my fingers and toes all the projects I've done with leather so you get the idea of what "small time" means. My best friend has done leather crafting for most of his life so I got some good OJT from him back at the beginning and some tudoring from some of the folks at Tandy when I asked. I find leatherworking to be therapeutic relaxation, something I enjoy very much and hope to be able to keep doing even when I'm older and more decreppid than I am now. I've made phone cases and knife sheaths mostly and have very limited equipment, do hand stitching and lacing and only have a handful of stamps so my designs are pretty predictable. I'm currently working on a buttstock cover and sling for my Rossi R92 levergun with ammo loops and such which is how I found y'all in the first place. I had splotched up my dye job and was looking for some tips and tricks to get it right. Got that figured out and saw the wealth of information here and decided to sign up. Looking forward to learning from y'all and enjoying the chatter about leatherworking.