alpha2

I second Nigel Armitage videos. Saved me from giving up hand stitching altogether. And JLS is right, there are MANY videos that have no business being on youtube. Like the ones that have the stitchers hands blocking what is going on, most of the time.

After making both of mine, I can see the benefit of one piece, folded!

Ah, neighbor! RE: Wyoming, in the Southeast corner, the stretch between Cheyenne and Laramie is actually fantastic! Whenever I could, (had extra time), I'd get off I-80 and take the route to the North, beautiful.

First attempt. The backside of the body stitching got a little wonky. Learning experience! The main difference between this one, and the second, is the dimensions. Couple of other details.

This is the second one, let me see if I can get a couple pics of the first one.

I've made two for my wife, at her request. (Actually, she requested one, then she said, "you know what you can change?") She loves them for when we're traveling and she just needs her ID, maybe keys a few bucks and credit card, and her LCP and spare mag. I made an insert for the back pocket to keep the cash and cards contained. I can send you some pics of what I did if you're interested. Jeff

Welcome! Where in Colorado? I'm in Ft. Collins.

And, when I say recently...I'm old, so that could have been as much as a year ago!

It may have been a one-off sale. The only time I'd seen water buffalo, probably why I jumped on it.

I had to return a number of belt blanks to Buckleguy recently. Worst pieces of leather I'd seen, was supposedly water buffalo. The surface looked like plastic (it wasn't, just the way they finished it). I made one belt, just to see if it was salvageable, it wasn't. This was one order, of one type of leather, can't speak to their other offerings.

You keep up with the bad puns, and we'll give you the boot!

Outstanding! I'm slowly working up to doing some scabbards. I've got a few lever actions that could use one. I've got an old book that shows how to do the pattern. What did you line it with? Jeff

Mine is the Weaver one, without the name. Probably got it from brand T. Be careful of those L-shaped pieces with the screws. Mine were just a hair long, and before I figured that out, left full length marks on the leather being cut from. I ground them down so they didn't protrude from the wood, and beveled the wood a bit too. If you angle the tool at all, that edge rides on the leather.

Hey, Rocky, no need to describe how you broke a needle, it's enough to know you do that, too!

You aren't kidding! I have a later version of Milwaukee's hole shooter, still called that. The trigger is almost the entire length of the grip, you CAN'T LET GO! I finally just stopped using it, one experience on a ladder did the trick.

Those are excellent holsters. A lot of good info above. I'd guess the "FBI" cant is the most popular. They supposedly use 15 degrees. If you make a high-rise holster, the cant can make it easier to draw. (Keeps from having to pull the gun into your armpit to clear the holster.)The cant also keeps the base of the magazine from protruding out behind you and keeps from printing. I did make a holster, once, that I overdid the ejection port. Essentially locked the pistol into the holster. (Revolver holster with the outer panel up over the cylinder can do the same thing.) JLS has great info on making handgun holster patterns and templates. The "stiffener" added to the top of the outer panel isn't required, especially with with the weight leather normally used with holsters. It does add a nice opportunity to spice up the aesthetics, though. Personally I like to go for less bulk, but I've made some with, just 'cause I could. I've seen pics of IWB holsters with the stiffeners, nobody will see it, and it adds thickness, but if it keeps the holster from smashing closed when you draw, it would make the re-holster easier. I agree slot angle is personal preference. I've made them both ways, didn't find a difference in usage. You'll see some with the arced slots, I don't see an advantage with those, YMMV.

Here's my take on leather hats. They're heavy. They're hot. They're hot. Some people don't even seem to notice, but I'm averse to hot hats, of any kind. If I wasn't bald, I'd never wear a hat. As to location, location, location, I tend to live where it's hot, or humid, or hot and humid. And now, I live where it's almost always sunny, and at over 5000' elevation. So not only is the Sun hot, it's not having to cut through a lot of atmosphere. Stand outside talking to a neighbor for 15 minutes in the middle of the day can show up on your head bone. If I go up in the mountains, it's worse. I say again, though, a lot of people seem to love them. I can see where the northern coast of the USA they might be alright. Phoenix, Denver, hot and humid Michigan, another story. Now, all of those places in the mid-winter, maybe okay.

I punch over a plastic cutting board. Since the punch is still cutting when it goes through the leather, the blow out is negligible. It will still "LOOK" different, as the punch is tapered. The higher on the taper the leather is when you finish the punch, the more beveled in appearance the hole will be.

Darn good thing to have on the bench. I made one for myself, lead shot, only because I have bags of lead shot here. Mine's no where near that purdy, though!

Interesting point about the top post. Thanks for that. I'll back it off a bit then. I had always done that previous to this issue, and it always worked fine.

Skipped stitches, shredded thread, complete re-timing of machine, every imaginable tension adjustments. Numerous needle changes to no effect. Same machine, needles, thread, leather that have always worked before. (You MUST see a pattern there!) After reading through all the threads on this forum, watching videos, talking to Cowboy Bob, I decided to just strip the thread off the bobbin and reload with fresh thread. Voila! The bobbin thread had developed a curly-q nature. What gave me the idea that might be the issue, was a video on missing stitches in reverse. (Wiz, Uwe? Sorry, don't remember. But if those clear plastic needle plates are for sale...call me! Best troubleshooting device...ever!) Not my issue, but watching that little loop formed when the needle started back up, so the hook could catch it, and just how important that loop was, suggested that any coiling of the thread from that bobbin, (only a third full of thread) that had been sitting on it for SOME TIME, got me thinking. I also found that I had put the conical spring in the bobbin carrier upside down. I reversed, (corrected) it, but it didn't do any good. I could tell that when it was in backwards, there was no bounce back when you pushed on the bobbin, like you usually see. Another thing, I remember seeing somewhere to tighten the bobbin carrier race screws, then back off one and a half turns. I tried to find that again, in case that was an issue, but couldn't. I did find two locations where it showed, but didn't explain, tightening them and leaving it at that. If anyone has any thoughts on that, feel free to post something. I had always backed off 1.5 turns, but now have them tightened. My thought is that if you have a screw with a spring, the spring is there to assure the appropriate tension when the screw is tightened. The very idea of tightening a screw, then back off an ambiguous amount, to achieve the proper tension, ignores the concept of a proper tension spring. When testing all the available avenues of repair, I used a considerable amount of the same weight and type of leather. It would sew just fine for from 3 inches to as much as 12 or more before the skipped stitches started and the thread shredded. You can imagine how I felt when I put the actual work piece in and started stitching. Cold sweat, pounding heart, promises to higher powers. I did sew three feet of successful stitching before I attempted it for the money. Finally, when I figured it out, I put in a call to Bob in Toledo with what I found. If we call these distributors with problems and questions, if we discover the issue, we really need to let them know for the next person with the issue. It's hard to believe, but they haven't seen everything. When I was working, I thought for sure that I'd finally seen everything, then reality bit me on the...arm.

Wapiti-boy for win, again! Now I wish I had some of those... Jeff

Nice work, again! Attached is a pic of my pancake knife...

Enjoy! Yes, they're beasts. Sometimes you need a beast. Jeff

Very dramatic carving on those sheaths. Nice job. Very even backgrounding, too! Jeff