Mhicks

Have been wanting to try a couple of these, aside from getting my stitching process messed up on one side of the brown strap I'm pretty happy with them. Black chromexcel SHF and a Horween Dublin that I had split down to 3oz.

I did not use any stiffner, the only place that it could really use it would be on the front and maybe the lid but the wide flange on the lid really help it hold it's shape. The liner is a lamb or goat that I found at tandy, it wasn't big enough to get a one peice cut so next time I'll take my templete with me to make sure. Which edges are you referring to? I added a 5/8" 2oz veg tan strip to the inside edges to cover where the liner stopped and to be able to burnish the edges of the opening, I didn't dye the edges but they are burnished with wax. I'm not asking to be contrary, any critiques are appericiated as I would like to improve anything that I can.

I got the insert off of amazon, if you search for "Ciesta Flexible Camera Partition" there are quite a few other ones but this was the largest that I could find and it was $37 I think and was so much nicer than trying to make the insert. Thank you, having to work on everything after it is shaped makes it a fairly slow process Thank you!

This one is a little bigger than the one I made for myself. Improved on a few things but still not quite where I would like the overall quality to be.

Most everything I've been working on as of late, lots of Horween Chromexcel SHF, in dark brown and black and it is so nice to work with. DSCF0271 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0269 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0298 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0284 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0317 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0360 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0368 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0258 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0259 by michicks, on Flickr

Thank you for all the information, I picked up some resolene and went ahead and got a glass slicker to smooth them up a little more. I have 3 belts to do so I'm going to finish the first one after the stitching is done and go from there.

Thank you for the response, I don't have a glass slicker but I do have some scrap oak or walnut I can use to make a small slicker for the time being. Good to know there isn't a wrong way, I'll probably apply the finish prior to stitching. Thanks again!

Sorry if these topics have been covered, I looked a bit but couldn't find what I was looking for. I'm making a few belts 2 layer belts, black on one side dark brown on the other. I'm using some pre cut H/O strips and I need them to have a glossy/polished finish. The leather has a bit of a texture to it, I'm assuming I need to get that smoothed out prior to applying something like a clear-lac to finish the belt? I do apply the finish after the stitching is done right?

Very nice work can't wait to see it when its finished.

The bottom corners where an absolute pain and between being new at this and being 6'5" with large hands it was downright frustrating at times trying to make sure I kept the stitching right. I thought it would cut some time by having less seams but I'm not sure it did.

Thank you for the comments. I ended up liking the color but I used a tan colored dye but I didn't know to cut it first... Here is a picture of the inside I would have preferred that the inside flap have been long enough to the top on the side but I didn't have enough leather so I added a thin piece where the seam was. DSCF0104 by michicks, on Flickr Here is what it looked like before folding. When I made the cuts I didn't account for the thickness of the folds so by the time I got to the top where I did the folds the cut in the leather was showing hence the 4 thread loops on the front corners. 20150821_231115 by michicks, on Flickr

Started this and a camera half case at the same time and finished it last week. Was the first thing I'd every made with leather and I didn't realize what I was getting into completely but here it is. Aside from needed a few more screw post it is done. I wanted something to carry my cameras around in, originally I was going to put a layer of padding between the Veg tan and the Lamb liner but since I decided to make the bag from 1 piece and fold everything that was looking to hard and decided to make a removable liner of 3/16" foam with leather glued to it. The amount of little mistakes/learning moments were beyond count, one of the biggest is that opening a bottle of dye and going to town is not the proper application technique and second biggest is if you can't clamp it glue it before you try a stitch it or it will move on you. DSCF0103 by michicks, on Flickr Please excuse the messy kitchen... DSCF0105 by michicks, on Flickr 04 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0108 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0102 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0101 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0100 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0099 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0097 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0096 by michicks, on Flickr DSCF0095 by michicks, on Flickr

Think we got mixed up, I was referring to one of these To round out the holes in the cut out area's, I think it will just reach until I get a set of punches. I do have a set of slanted chisels that I used but you can't tell because the thread was to big.

Thanks for the advice, think the rotating hole punch that I have should reach until I get a set of regular punches. I used .08 because it was the smallest on hand but I'll be on the lookout for some lin cable in short pieces.

Overall I'm not to pleased with how it turned out, I need to make some adjustments to the template and probably start the stitching in the back to keep it from stretching on me after making the first corner. Oh and smaller thread and needles, I used a 3mm pricking tool and the .08 tiger thread was a little big. I've ordered some .06 thread and smaller needles and I'm wondering if a smaller awl would help? I'm using a 144-43 Osborne and it seems to open the holes up to much most noticeably in the curves making me skip a few holes because the bottom holes were running together.

I'm just getting started and have been laying out templates for things I want to make using Bristol paper. It is 100lb paper, it takes pencil very well and erases clean when you want it to. Its a little pricey but I just picked up a 19"x24" booklet with 15 pages for $15 at hobby lobby.

Thank you for the info, I was pretty sure just stuffing the pad between the 2 layers would be okay but it wasn't something I could find any information on. The base dimension's are only 6"x 12".

Getting started in leatherworking and one of the projects I'm laying out is for a camera bag to a mirrorless digital camera and a few extra odds and ends. I'm using a 5-6oz veg tanned leather and found a blue lamb leather I want for a lining. I would like to add some padding for at least the bottom of the bag at least 1/2" thick. Can I simply put a layer of some type of upholstery padding between the 2 layers and just glue/stich the edges? Or try to full glue the padding to both peices of leather and stich? My other thought is to lamb lining and use a layer of neoprene on the inside for padding but I would rather not.