fredk

PS; the pens are great for colouring in the edges of assembled leather items where you don't want or need a fully slicked edge

@BUS There are acrylic pens which have ink in them. They are meant for artists. They're coverage on leather is not very good. Also, coating with resolene, which is an acrylic makes them soluble again and smudges them around the area and this gets into the leather and cannot be removed When buying the paint pens on-line look for a picture of it being used om a tyre/tire. That is the give-away. Or it might say The tyre/tire ones are not marketed differently. They too are promoted for artists, such as rock painters Some of the brands I have are; Gana,,Guangna, Toyo, Toma, Leto, Lit, Bought according to the colour offered and the price

I've found that ordinary paint pens cover very well. They come in acrylic or oil paint, many nib sizes from 0.7mm to about 4mm. They are generally meant for car detailers and for use on tyres so the paints are very robust. The cost under £/$ 2 each

Ultimately any plastic, whether resin or filament 3D or resin cast will break Only metal will be stronger. But resin 3D, filament 3D and resin cast will be strong enuf in most cases, otherwise Bunkhousetools would not offer the cast guns and use them their-selves to make holsters, and the 'blue' guns, made in plastic, would not be very popular Something that can be done in resin casting is to embed stiffeners into the casting, eg a length of steel or brass bar into the barrel section to make it stronger and more resistant to breakage. This is very hard to do in 3D printing

Although 3D printing your own guns would be handy, skip all the hassle, expense and possible calls by the LEA, Bunkhousetools has guns for moulding or fitting holsters, average price is about $35 to $37 with some smaller guns only about $25 Of course they are not 'blue's guns as such, they are moulded in the creamy coloured polyurethane resin that is common

So I was maybe wrong in thinking it chrome tan and perhaps it is indeed veg tanned deer

Cut a small piece off. With a magnifier of some sort look at the cut edge. If there is a blue-ish line in the centre, or a very faint blue-ish line that means its chrome tanned

@RiverDrift Did no one else butt in? If its chrome tan, I was buying similar sized pieces for about £7.50

for that size, I use the cigarette lighter first, the leather should or might shrivel up and start coming out like a worm. If something more is needed, a sewing needle, or pin to push the cooked leather out. I have a number of micro-drill bits that I can use to push the cooked leather out

It looks like chrome tan. Not worth much

I would go for the stud closure. It seems to be more used, its quick and reliable

works only with veg tan; wet it and stretch it out, pull it really tight and keep it that way until it dries

You can use a cigarette lighter to get the plugs out. Just play the flame over the area the plugs are stuck to heat them up. They'll smell bad and shrink or shrivel up and usually just drop out. No need to get the punch very hot so you'll not be destroying its temper When I do a punch session I do a few holes then into a wax block then back to the holes and so on. If any plugs get stuck I push them out with a scratch awl PS. Whenever I get a new punch I run a small rat-tail file up inside it to smooth it and remove any burrs

I could give you some brand names of the ones I use but that might be pointless as those brands might not be available in the US I buy mine thru ebay Just search ebay for 'paint pens' in all categories and you'll probably get hundreds of hits PS. ooh, I forgot to say they come with a range of nib sizes. from 0.8mm to 4mm. I use 0.8mm and 2mm mostly

They come in two basic types 1; is acrylic paint 2; is oil paint I use both types I get them for under £2 each, and often there are multiple buy discounts which with 3 or more they are £1.75 each Just about all the colours you'd need plus Gold and Silver