ewayne53

I've only been doing leather work for a few months making knife sheathes and doing some wet forming. I decided to give holster making a try. Here's my first effort.

Yea I'm struggling but hopefully I'll get there some day! I'm a much better woodworker than leather worker.

Looks great, obviously very talented.

I saw some mistakes I made in my first attempt so I decided to make another one and I am much more pleased with this one. So here is my final product.

Very nice work.

Excellent work! What stain and finish did you use?

Thanks I still have a long way to go on the leather work. I'm proud of what I've done so far but I know they could be much much better. I've recognized some of my errors and will not make those mistakes again. But of course I'll make different mistakes... lol I took the idea of the tool rack from Tandy and made some modifications. If I were to do another one I would make some changes but you never know till it's done. Same with the stamp rack, I would put more angle to it. The larger holes were suppose to be 5/8 but in my haste I grabbed the wrong bit and made them 3/4" by the time I realized my error it was too late.

Well the kids aren't coming till Easter but I wanted ideas so I could get started planning early. I think I'm going with wet molding a couple of sheaths. That was my first thought but I didn't think about having them molded before they got here. As I said earlier I'm definitely a novice so I've been trying a couple project of my own. Didn't take me long to get tired of having to look for the right tool in the drawer and not having a safe place to lay it. So I decided I needed a couple of tool racks for my hand tools and stamps. I'm also a woodworker so I got busy looking ideas and scrap wood in the shop. Below is what I came up with. Waiting for some warm weather and I'll get a couple coats of paint and it will be done. The sheaths are a couple of my first projects. I also made the two wooden handle knives.

Thanks for everyone's input!! Much appreciated.

I'm a novice leather worker myself. And my grandsons (12 &16 years of age) are coming to visit for a couple days. They want to make something with me but I'm struggling with what to make. It would be easy if we had a week but we only have 3 days max and of course that's not 8 hrs a day. My daughter said they would love something they could hang off their belts. I first thought knife sheaths but I think that's too high level for them. I also thought about a leather/brass key snap. I appreciate any ideas.

I love the smell of leather so I can understand the appeal for a dog. But no pets in this house. Although I do spend some time in the dog house from time to time!

Yes it is, thank you! I don't guess the carpet will cause any issues?

I just bought my first shoulder of 7/8 veg tanned leather. I don't have a lot of room to store the leather flat so is it okay to store it in a 6" roll? It's in the house where it will be heated or cooled depending on the season.

I thought at the angle of the knife I wouldn't need a back piece but I see your point. I use to sail a 25' Catalina so I used it some but not a lot. We use to take it out on Friday afternoon and not touch land again till Sunday night. But then grand kids came along and I moved so my boating days I ended up selling it. The knife was a gift from my team at work and I could never find a sheath for it so I'm going to make one for it.

Here's what I have sketched out. I made it bigger simple because I thought it was to small. But now from what I'm reading I'm wondering if the stitch box is still too small. The bottom looks fine but the top looks narrow, however it would probably form okay around the knife. And the knife is 17/32 thick. What do you think?

DPMqulion - By adding 3/4 thickness do you mean width left to right? I have everything drawn up but had to make the distance wider between pouch stitches.

I have the book but unfortunately it doesn't do me much good for this application. My next project is a wet molded case for it but I wanted to try my hand at the basket weave first.

I received a Case Marlin Spike knife (picture attached) as a Christmas gift from my team almost 20 years ago. I've looked for a sheath to carry it in but couldn't find anything. So now I'm a beginner leather worker and my first project is to make a cross draw sheath for my knife like the one in the attached picture. Unfortunately I don't know the dimensions. I've watched number videos on how to make one but no one ever gives sizes. I need to know how wide to make it overall and how far apart to leave the inner stitches so the knife slides in snug. Is there a pattern I can go by and make adjustments to fit my own need? Thanks in advance for your help!

I've watched hours of videos on how to hold, sharpen and in general use a swivel knife. One thing I have never seen is how deep to cut. No doubt it varies with thickness of the leather but still should the cut be 25% , 50% or more or less through the leather?

I recently bought someones leather tools set/kit. Everything was still in the box and most of it was never opened as none of it had never been used. Going through everything I found 4 nice boxes which contain 4 Al Stohlman Round Strap End Punches (1/2 thru 1-1/2 " picture attached). I was impressed by what appears to be high quality tools. I looked on the internet to find a price and everything I can find that matches the tools pictures state they are vintage which I assume means discontinued. Everything says sold out and there is no price. Can someone tell me if these tools are as nice as they appear to be and if they are worth anything. Thanks...

You color me jealous. Do you have a pattern or is that something you came up with on your own. I'm trying to get started but that is definitely something I would like to work up to.

I was just thinking. There are a lot of boat, gun and woodworking shows. Are there any leather craft shows? If not someone should really try to get something started. I'm sure you would get plenty of participation. Life is hard, it's even harder when your stupid - John Wayne

I did some leather work (belts etc) with a friend years ago. I've recently watched hours of tutorials on cutting, stamping and stitching so I feel like I'm ready to try my hand. I guess my biggest concern is the quality of the stamps. For example I can always sharpen my knives but I don't want say a butterfly that looks like and ink blot or a basket weave that isn't detailed. I would probably start out with bracelets with concho's or beads, work my way up to arm bracers then formed knife sheaths and holster. Life is hard, it's even harder when your stupid - John Wayne

I've been shopping for leather craft tools and there appears to be as many tool manufactures as car manufactures. And a wide range of prices as well. So my question is whether there is that much difference in the quality of the tools whether it be stamps, knives, sewing, punch or any other tools. Or are you paying for name with the more expensive brands. I don't have deep pockets but I don't want to buy junk that I will be disappointed with or need to replace.