Chief31794

Here are some things I put out this week, on the holster for the Judge .45 Long Colt, the customer had the belt a friend who had passed away had made for them and they wanted a holster to match the color. I don't promise anything on matching colors with leather stains and dyes, but I think I got it pretty close. These since November 3, so a little over a week. Chief

Really nice work! Chief

For the lacing punches (Slits), I definitely wouldn't go bigger, nothing wrong with same size, but using the 3/32" punches on 1/8" lacing does give you a tighter stitch becuase not only is it slightly smaller, it is also space more closely together. Your choice, but like I said, I wouldn't use a punch that is larger than the lace I'm using. Just my $.02 worth. Chief

I won't comment on the human skin thing, but on credit cards my actions recently will demonstrate my thoughts on them: My wife called me at work one day and said, "My purse was stollen at Walmart, you need to call the police!", I thought for a minute and told her, "Nope, there's no way the crooks will ever spend as much as you". Chief

Thanks Allan Thanks a lot Wild Bill. Chief

I think 1700 should work fine, you don't want to get much faster than that you may burn some edges and you don't want too much slower or it won't be nearly as effective. I have mine at ~1750 and it works well. Chief

Thanks for translating!!! Chief

They look great Colt, Chief

It is predominately Denatured Alcohol as long as you're talking about spirit based dyes, like Feibings. If it's water based (eco flo and such) then the reducer for that is water. Chief

Thanks, I have always loved the sound of a dobro except when I play it!!! Chief

Thanks everyone, Not a lot of people making dobro straps, and I've been a dobro player for about 20 years, guitar for 57 years, Bass for about 25, so I know a lot of Musicians, I sell most of these to members of the Resogat and the folks out on Reso Hangout. Dobro straps are a little different in that they have to hold the dobro flat as you see here. This is someone elses dobro and not one of my straps. I don't have many pictures of me playing while standing, some while sitting like in my avatar. Anyway, thanks everyone for the nice comments, Chief

Bob, I sent you a PM, Chief

Looks great. Good craftsmanship. Chief

One to Texas and the other to Colorado. The one to Texas is lined, the other is not. Chief

Absolutely beautiful, nice work. Chief

Michelle, These are actually pretty popular, I haven't had anyone return one, now the pigskin split is pretty plush. I wore this particular strap (it's a prototype for a new design with the buckles, etc.), on a 4 hour show and I never felt the lacing. I have had some customers pass on the lacing because of the price, I offer them three ways (the lined ones), sewn on a machine (cheapest option), hand sewn (next cheapest but pretty close to the laced, lacing material cost more than thread, however the time is pretty close (maybe an hour or so less to sew), and laced. I sell to a lot of accoustic players and they normally don't even want it lined this is just another option I offer. I sell a lot more of the unlined straps. I haven't done any motorcycle seats, but they do this technique and people set on them all day and it doesn't seem to create a problem there, I think it's the same thing on an instrument strap, I think if you are wildly swinging the instrument around and up and down like I've seen some hard rock musicians do, then I think lacing might cause a problem. Sorry, I don't have a better answer, I didn't invent this technique, I've seen lots of high end guitar straps with lacing (normally double loop), I woudl think double loop might be more abrasive than round braid. Thanks for the nice compliment, Chief

I have lots of templates from Blackriver Laser, some of theirs, some I designed myself and they made for me, and they are all excellent. I also have a couple of maker's marks from her. Great people, great service, excellent products. Chief

It will mould, tool, etc just like natural. I buy drum dyed Hermann Oak from Springfield Leather. Chief

Another option for Black is to get drum dyed black leather. I've never had drum dyed leather do any rub off. Chief

I use punches from the mini punch set, you can get them from Tandy or Springfield or several other places. For 3/32" I use the 00 size and the 0 size on the corners, for 1/8" lacing I use the 0 size and the 1 size on the corners. On the corners I punch the corner hole and the one on each side of it 1 size larger to facilitate working around the corners. I hope that's what you were looking for. By the way I put the holes (center) 1/8" from the end on 3/32 and 3/16" from the edge on 1/8" Chief

Tooling looks nice, very well done. I would only have one concern, the corners might fray over time, I think I would have rounded them. I try to stay away from sharp corners on leather work. Great job. Chief

I don't cut the Eco Flo Gel nor the Fiebings Antique Stain (I use both), this was the eco flo straight out of the bottle. Chief

Pablo, Don't ever worry about asking too many questions, most people on this site don't mind questions at all and I don't either. To answer your question the black in the depressions is just the Eco Flo Antique Gel, I dampen the item since the gel is water based don't know if that helps but I've always done it, (Denatured Alcohol for spirit dyes and distilled water for water based dyes), it seems to help distribut the dye and make the color more consistent), then with the antique gels I apply them with sheeps wool, put them on pretty thick and get it very even and covered completely making sure it gets down in all the depressions well, then wipe the surface with clean cloths until I get the excess off, I also take a damp (not heavy) cloth and gently wipe the surface to remove residual pigment, then wipe again with cloth. You want to make sure that you don't remove the gel from down in the depressions, then let it dry for at least 12 hours then put two light coats of Neat Lac to seal it. Hope that helps, Chief

The rifle sling is done with Eco Flo Medium Brown Antique Gel, the Banjo strap and the plain wallet are with Fiebings British tan (cut 2 parts dye to 1 part thinner), and the applique wallet was done with Fiebings Light Brown (Cut 2 parts dye to 1 part thinner) Sorry I didn't answer your request sooner, I missed it somehow. Chief

It is a one over, one under braid, but it's done with two pieces of lace not one. Pretty easy once you get the gist of it., two rows of holes (there must be an even number), Start the first lace in the top holes centering the lace then skipping every other hole until to finish at the next to the last hole, you skip one, then cross the laces underneath to go to the next set of holes, stay consistent either left over right or right over left, at the next to the last hole bring the ends accross and glue them together underneath. Then repeat this with another piece of lace starting in the 2nd hole down and finishing the same way in the last hole, this lace will create the one over one under effect. Try it on some scrap, I do this technique on belts sometimes, it looks pretty good. Hope that helps, Chief