Chief31794

Rohn, It is all hand stitched and I made the pattern. I call it a "modified" Avenger, because it doesn't use a stiffener. I don't use blue guns or patterns, I require that the weapon be left with me for 3-5 days, that limits my customer base to locals (~150 Mile radius), but I still stay pretty busy. I made avengers with stiffeners as well, but I kind of like this one. Chief

Exacto, scalpel, small box cutter, trim knife, or similar I would suspect. Chief

Thanks, yes this is dyed with Fiebings Pro Oil Black. Chief

This one came off the bench today. Lined with Pigskin Split. Chief

That is a KeyHole, some are wider at the hole some not, still a keyhole. Punch the hole, make the slit. Chief

Thanks Wild Bill, Chief

I believe what you are asking about is "keyholes", Tandy and others sell keyhole punches, but they are not necessary, I make my own keyholes by punching the correct size hole, then slitting from the hole and terminating the slit with a very small punched hole to act as a "Stop" to prevent the leather from tearing. Hope that helps, Chief

First, welcome to the forum. There is no completely right or wrong way so you may get varying answers, here's my take. 1. In the first picture, I would continue on around the top and close the stitch where you began. However, I would've have punched the tops of the gussets and laced them before assembly so that they "tied in" with the lacing going about the back and top. Then lace the front to the gussets in the same way. The lace on the tops of the gussets would connect with the front and back and the look would be aesthetic. I would be concerned about the lining at the top of the gussets coming loose over time if the top of the gusset wasn't laced. In the picture here you can see I laced the top of the gussets and the back was a two piece so I had the stitching come through the liners to protect them from coming loose, most stitching is done before lining but not necessarily all. This is Mexican Basket Weave not Double Loop but the principle is the same. 2. In the 2nd picture, I would have attached the D-rings to the gussets or back (which ever you prefer) before I glued the lining in. I always attach all hardware and sew on any keepers etc, before lining so that the rivet backs and stitches are beneath the lining. Hope this helps,

I won't be ordering any more RJF leather. Had some of the same problems above. Another problem I had with one item is that I taped the back to prevent dye, when I took the tape off (Duct Tape), the back side had "dissolved" from the tape glue, it was a mess. Plus, I bought a drum dyed side, color looks okay, however, I'm not sure how they dyed it, but the dye only penetrated the leather about what you'd expect from an air brush, other drum dyed leather I've used was dyed through and through. When I put a stitching groove in this, it needs to be redyed and you can't get a color to match perfectly. I bought 2 sides and a shoulder, I'm using it mostly on my black items, black is the only color I've gotten it to take consistently. I had been reading some of the complaints out here, wasn't going to add any but changed my mind. When I checked into this leather several members vouched for it as excellent leather and value, he may be getting it from a different place than he was. Lesson Learned, Chief

Thanks Papaw, Chief

Very nice looking belt, great work Joe. I read this thread, got kind of confused, my chambermaid has never complained about the way I wear my belt, oh durn, I just woke up, was dreaming I had a chambermaid. Oh well, back to the shop. Chief

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad they helped you. I think that lacing has lost a lot of its popularity. When I started working in leather in the late 60's early 70's, lacing was very popular as well as carvings. It seems that tastes have changed and people like more of the elegant plain look with good looking stitching. I seem to get orders for more items like that than the hand carved, laced items. There are a few exceptions, but I think stitching is much more popular than lacing (talking about the looks), however, many times tastes change and old styles come back. Too bad I'm too old to wait for them to come back around again. Thanks, Chief

Thank you, I didn't know anyone was still watching those videos I did on Youtube. I hope they helped, wish the video was a little better produced, I did them in my shop with a single camera. I got a lot of criticism about having my arms in the pictures and stuff like that, some people say they helped. Thanks for commenting. Chief

I use 4 oz, then line it with Pigskin Split, the pockets I make out of 2/3 oz. That seems to work pretty well. Chief

Some are done with Double Loop (Traditional), the ones you are probably talking about are a stitch called "Mexican Basket Weave" or "Round Braid". It is a simple stitch, uses about the same amount of lace, covers better and is stronger because each hole has the lace passed through it two times (3/4/3) on the corners. Thanks, Chief

I do a lot of wallets but don't post many of them. Here is a couple I did lately. Chief

Thank you sir, Thank you Ma'am. Nice of both of you to stop by and leave nice comments. Chief

Thanks, yeah I like 4, I've played 5's but I get confused and there isn't a lot that I can't do some where else on the neck. The guys that love em' talk about hitting lower notes, fine, but the E is about as low as I've ever "needed" to go. It might be different if this were my main instrument, but I play Dobro in a Country Band and set in with a couple of Bluegrass Bands when they need me. I only play guitar or bass when the guitar or bass player are; 1) Sick, 2) Drunk, or 3) Incarcerated. LOL I've been playing a Peavy for a while and wanted this one, it's used, got a good deal on it, it is also MIM but it has the active electronics and I am loving it so far. I really like the Red with the tortoise as well. Thanks for commenting. I know what you mean about the Music Man, they're proud of them, some others too, but it's like Martin Guitars, regardless of what they buy they compare it to Fender. Chief

Looks good, Chief

Thanks, Chief

I bought a new bass guitar so I wanted to make a strap for it that matched. I don't like to paint leather but I thought the letters being the same color as the guitar would be sort of neat. Chief

Sorry, I've been on the road all day with no access. Ditto what Michael and Dirtclod replied above. This leather looks like it wasn't cased properly and it appears to be, no disrespect what-so-ever, pretty cheap leather. This shouldn't happen with Hermann Oak or Wicket and Craig, however, that being said, even Tandy leather should hold a stamp if it's cased properly, it make take some extraordinary efforts to get it cased, I would try getting it very wet then letting it dry back til it's almost natural color, it should be natural color but "Cool" when you touch it to your cheek, then it's at the point you want to stamp it. Normally you can do that by wetting the grain side, waiting till it dries to natural color and then stamping. If you're carving you would want to case it as in Hidepounder (Bob Parks) tutorial pinned in the "How do I Do That" forum. That requires wetting, putting in a plastic bag and then storing it in a cool place (refrigerator works) overnight to let the weather get damp to the core. It would still need to be back to normal color before stamping. Hope that helps, Chief

Pictures would make it easier to diagnose. However, there is no reason why natural leather with a finish wouldn't hold stamped impressions unless they were either done incorrectly (leather not cased properly befor stamping) or the leather isn't vegetable tanned. If you use Veg Tan and case it properly, then apply a finish, the impressions should last forever with normal wear. Chief

A couple of suggestions; 1. I would use a dye like Feibings or Angelus, I prefer Feibings but both are much better than Tandy dyes. 2. Use a sealer like Clear Lac instead of Super Sheen. It is much better for preventing this type of thing. 3 Dye the top side only, keep the inside (flesh) undyed, hard to seal flesh side, not impossible but harder. Let Dye dry at least 12 hours. 4. Make sure you buff the item until your arms hurt after dying and before sealing. 5. Seal with two coats of Clear Lac with a drying time of at least 4 hours between them, buffing between the coats and after the last coat. That should minimize dye bleed. Just suggestions, I'm sure other people will have great ideas as well. Chief

Another great looking cover, the 2/3/2 looks good, did that work ok for you? Chief