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Thanks ClayB - I love Kate's work. She gave me a couple tips via PM, though I still have a LOT to learn. Her work on her Etsy site was, without a doubt, a source of inspiration. I don't have very many tools - just the basic kit stuff, but still had a lot of fun practicing with this little exercise. I wasn't sure if you were referring to CitizenKate, so I Googled Kate Dubiel - I had no idea she'd written a book!! I might have to track that one down... Thanks again for all the feedback. I can't wait to try my hand at another set and give the Deft a try, and see if I can come up with some new designs.

Thanks for the compliments everyone! I'm not sure the Krylon clear is a good option. I just tried bending a scrap/test piece, and the clear finish cracked pretty badly. And I'm not sure how much adhesion I'm really getting over the previous layer of shoe polish and/or Eco-Flo. So, the question I have is this - what is a good, flexible, waterproof sealer for the final finishing coat for coasters? Would warming the coaster, then brushing it with melted beeswax be a good option?

Well, I had a scrap piece of leather that wasn't large enough (or good enough) for holsters, so I thought I'd find something to practice my skills with. After a bit of searching, I decided to try my hand at coasters. These are 8/9oz. Oak Leaf from Tandy, dyed with Eco-Flo, antiqued with brown shoe polish from Walgreens, and sealed with American Accents clear Krylon. I tested the Krylon on a scrap piece, and dripped a few drops of water on it about 30 minutes after spraying - protected the leather 100% with no penetration, and the finish has a nice satin look to it - no obnoxious gloss! I need to work on the consistency of my basket weave overlap, and upgrade a couple of the tools to get a cleaner impression, but I would appreciate any and all comments ya'll can provide. Many thanks to CitizenKate for her guidance via PM and inspiration in her excellent Etsy product line.

Thanks Wizcrafts! I appreciate the info. I'm kicking myself for selling mine.

Yeah, that's pretty flippin' awesome! Love the coloring on the narrow strap. And the adjustment feature is way cool - nicely done!!

After the birth of our 3rd (and final...) baby, we have decided it's no longer financially feasible for momma to work. So, I'm needing to find a way to bring in some extra money. I used to have a Consew 206RB that I used to sew leather rifle rests, but sold it a while back when the rifle rests weren't selling and we were about to sell our house. Big mistake... Should have kept it! Anyway, now I'm looking for a machine that will stitch up holsters, belts, and stuff like that, and won't break the bank!! I really like the Boss, but unless I can find one for around $500-600, they're out of my price range. Well, I don't really have a price range, but like I said - momma's staying home, and we have 3 kids to feed on one income... What type of machine should I search for that can easily sew two layers of 8/9 oz. leather? I was never sure if the Consew 206RB was really appropriate for that.

In that case, which craft tool number is this guy using in the following video at 5:39? I have one of these, but the holes are too big - I think mine is larger than his, but his stitches look perfectly fine to me...?

Are pricking irons simply used for marking the diagonal lines on the leather? Or do you actually penetrate all the way through to eliminate the need for an awl?

Thanks Randy for the compliments and tip on the straps - but I didn't build the holster - it was made by Don Hume. I simply made a belt that's too thick for the metal clip. I'll probably simply build a new holster for my Kahr with a better attachment method for gun belts. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

Wow - those instructions are almost comical! I haven't seen instructions that good since... well, never!

I'm sure this has been covered, but I can't seem to get the "And" feature to work with the search engine, so I just get a lot of posts with the word Shoe, or Polish, or Antique - but none with all the words used in the same post/thread... Anyway, can you use shoe polish for antiquing leather? What is a suitable top finish that is compatible with shoe polish? I'm making coasters, and would like to buy stuff locally. I assume some sort of spray acrylic finish would work for the final top coat, but wanted to make sure... I've already tooled the leather, and applied two coats of Tandy Satin Sheen. Do I need to do anything else before I antique them? Perhaps a third coat of satin sheen for good measure...?

Okay - so, like most things in my life, I did a little research, looked around at my existing resources, and dove right in without a completely worked out plan.... I recently made a gun belt, utilizing two layers of 8/9oz. leather. When I tried to wear my Don Hume IWB holster, the metal clip that it came with doesn't work with the thickness of the gun belt (the belt is too thick, but I don't think it's really any thicker than most other people seem to make their belts). It seems it was only designed to work with single layer dress belts. Thus, the metal clips from Tandy and such will probably have similar problems. Anyone else run into this problem? I don't have any pics of the back of the holster, but the second image is from a quick google search.

For what it's worth, you can pick up a really cheap sling for sizing reference. You might even be able to use the hardware from it, assuming it uses Chicago screws. Here is a sling that's on my Marlin 1894C .357 Magnum lever gun. It's very comfortable - I love the grip the suede provides. The wide portion has suede lining on both sides. The skinny belt portion is a single heavy layer - the end where it widens is skived down, and is sandwiched between the end of the wide portion, and sewn together. The hardware is brass Chicago screws - one on each end of the sling. The keeper is riveted with two tiny brass rivets.

That sounds really interesting! Any pictures you'd care to share? Welcome to the forum!

I also glue all the way to the edge, then I place a few recipe books on top to press the pieces together. Then I stack about 12 more recipe books on top of those, and because I'm bored, I toss a couple more on for good measure. I've not really noticed any glue line being visible in the finished product.

I believe because it's not "true" Damascus, but is instead recreated by modern fabrication processes. Sort of like those new diamonds that are formed in a machine under intense pressures - it's still a diamond, but it's not what most women would appreciate on their wedding band... Check out this 4-part video series - lots of babbling, but they show a bit of the process of making modern Damascus steel, and I think they explain why it's not true Damascus that they're creating. I don't think the Tandy Damascus steel is simply laser etched. There is probably some legal reason why they can't call it Damascus, and thus the reason you always see "style" appended to it... But I'm no expert...

Not even close to perfect, but here is my first attempt. I plan on making several - maybe 7 by the time all is said and done.... I opened the image in Photoshop, cropped away the white around the outside, then set it to print at 3" wide. I think 3" is a little small for the tools I personally have in my collection... I don't have any dyes on hand, so I'll have to save the finishing for another day.

Hello everyone - I was browsing the forums this morning, trying to find ideas for nice Christmas tree ornaments for friends and family. I wasn't looking for the basic "tree", or "star", etc. ornaments, but something more fancy. While I was browsing Tandy's website looking at their free patterns section, I noticed a couple of the circular portions of the spur strap patterns, but they still weren't quite fancy enough. While not exactly a pattern, conchos seem to be just what I was looking for. Here is one I found that I might try to duplicate out of leather. And instead of tooling the seeds in the middle, I might see what kind of jewelry stones I can find at the craft store to attach for some nice color.

Some kind of pelvis socket for a bi-lateral leg amputee?

Thank you Tac for the thoughtful response. I should have added - I know what a sight channel is, but didn't know what a "stitched" sight channel is - what the difference was. I couldn't figure out how stitching/pinching the sight channel together would help in any way - but your explanation of actually adding strips of leather explains it all. I actually saw a patent on this (you have to register, for free, to see the images). But assumed there was something else and more simple that people were calling a 'stitched sight channel', because this seems like a pain to incorporate on one-off holsters for the DIY guy... Thanks again!! http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5161721/description.html

Can anyone tell me exactly what a stitched sight channel is? How does one do this?

Thanks ryano - that's a handy resource!

+1 - And how does one find auctions like these? I feel a used machine may be in my future, but only if I can manage to find one for a great price. Baby #3 due in about 3 weeks.... LOL

Hey, that's awesome!! Love the ruby eye on the bird! Beautiful color, and I love the way you integrated the whip into the handle. Very neat!

Tim - thank you for taking the time to produce this tutorial! Regarding Steve's question - if possible, do you have a way to check the actual angle of the pattern? To me, it looks like almost exactly 30/60 degrees (I held an adjustable triangle up to my screen over one of your enlarged images...).