battlemunky

Beeswax it and call it a lifetime.

Welcome!

I'm no fan of most Tandy stuff but for the items you have, I think you can use. Sharpen and polish up the awl and get to making stuff. When your skill builds beyond the level of tools you have, upgrade. Tandy has it's place and since you've already spent the $, maybe its worth your time to hold onto it. Their tools are usually a better value and of higher quality than their leather. Their leather has its place too but its usually cheaper to get a different leather online (even with shipping) than Tandy unless they are having a sale. Let us know what you end up doing and post up some pics of the stuff you make! Good luck and have fun

Got it. The inner and out cover on the one I made sandwich the spine piece but the groove concept applies the same.

I'm not sure I'm picking up what you are putting down @Northmount. I'll get some pics of the construction when I get back home in order to facilitate better discussion. Imagine it laying flat: It is laid up with a piece of 3/4 oz for the cover (outer left and right sides of the book), the 5/6 oz spine skived down on the edges and glued to the cover acting as a bridge joining the two sides, then the internal book cover pockets sandwiching the the spine from the inside. Then I sew each side all together. When you say to cut grooves, are you meaning on the spine section?

It just ain't as clean as I'd make if it was for a payin' customer. I did mess up on the basket weave in a few spots and have a single square in a few spots instead of the normal 1u by 2 u rectangles. And the corners on the border, 2 of them ended badly . It works like a charm and I owe a few folks at work one since they've seen them. I'm going to use 3/4 oz throughout the next ones though. That thick spine is a bit resilient to bending.

As with all your stuff Ryan, it looks amazing! Chaps, chinks, saddles....you have a gift dude. Congrats on what I consider a milestone...a well executed milestone as far as I can see.

I deliberately call out Tandy but I won't do that to you. Yes, as many others, I got started with Tandy goods. Then I got better. Tandy never did. The first hides I received from ANY other vendors than Tandy were far beyond better than Tandy. I still buy Tandy leather and tools from time to time. The last hides I bought from them were hand selected and still had bug bites that weren't visible until the dye hit. I'm not anti-Tandy but am am fully behind letting people know that there is a difference and that so far, unlike some others, I haven't had a negative experience with HO or Acadia. My experience is not vast but over 5 sides from non-Tandy sources and 10 sides from Tandy, the non-Tandy sources have been far superior. I even imagine "bad" HO is better than typical Tandy stuff with regard to fit and finish. The high end European sides I have gotten from Tandy have been top notch but they came at a cost that had I known about other suppliers I would have saved a few hundred bucks. I want it known that I'm not bagging on Tandy but being critical of where my money goes drives me to be honest and not slanderous. Also, Tandy personnel have, for the most part, been pretty helpful. I've encountered a few "experts" that had never sewn, cut, or tooled a single piece of leather though. I assume that if I went to other places in person I'd experience similar folks. All of them have been friendly and will help me spend money.

Nice work! I love the stitching for the retaining straps for some reason. Simple I guess? Looks great none-the-less.

Unless its a really deep scar or branding, I'm more concerned with fuzzy flesh sided leather. Unless I am shooting for clean perfection, bug bites, brands, scratches, range marks, and other "life happened to this thing" marks are kinda cool. I usually don't aim for them but I usually find myself pleasantly surprised by them. I also usually don't get them on most hides unless I'm getting them from Tandy. HO and Acadia are usually pretty free of blemishes on their premium stuff from what I've found. I'm hobby level though and don't move nearly as much as a lot of other folks do but this has been my experience.

So far, and I remain skeptical from my own experience with crap leather, both blanks I've bought for belts have been ok with a nice tight flesh side. I lined one anyway and plan to line the other since I like the lined one so much thus far. Regarding the price of a H.O. side, I won't buy it at that price, I just wait for a sale or find another point of supply. If you opt for Tandy, you need to pick it onsite. Tandy isn't afraid to ship you some fuzzy flesh side crap sometimes. You likely know all this but just be cautious. You could always line it also and while it won't fix the stability of the leather, it can hide the fuzz.

https://www.buckleguy.com/brands/Leather-Straps.html if you want Horween https://maverickleathercompany.com/product/hermann-oak-veg-1-5/ if you want Hermann Oak (I've personally used this and it was fine but I lined it anyway) https://maverickleathercompany.com/product-category/wickett-craig-leather/ if you want Wickett & Craig (I have a blank I'm going to make a belt out of, I'll likely line it as well) I prefer a beefier belt so I use somewhere between a 6 to 9 oz blank and then line it with 3/4 oz. I just buy the stated size and get a buckle to match it and so far I haven't had a problem with them fitting on the two blanks I've gotten. I have some Horween and it is quite nice but I don't have a belt's worth. I'd certainly line it too. Chrometan seems a bit stretchier than vegtan does. Not to mention the colors on the lighter more "natural" end of the spectrum are quite lovely, IMO.

I like everything about that set-up @Rossr. I'm usually not a fan of antler handles due to lack of ambidexterity but one cannot argue with the overall aesthetic of that knife and its pants. Beautiful all the way around.

That's awesome news and apparently, awesome work too.

That looks awesome. Love the shearling/saddle bark.

Looks really nice. How hard was it to turn it?

I'm glad you like making them because they look great man!

Quite stunning!

Looks great!

It shows man. Keep it up!

That thing is full of win! I kind of like the black too...

You can use practically any type of leather really. I have a piece of white chrome tanned crud I got in a remnant pack from Hobby Lobby for a coaster at work and it does just fine. I've been kicking around making a few out of nicer veg tan and doing some tooling though. I was planning on leaving them untreated aside from maybe a little NFO or go the complete opposite side of the spectrum and beeswaxing it fully. Methinks mostly anything will work for just a coaster. If you want a pretty coaster, you're gonna want vegtan so you can get the edges nice and tool it if you choose. If you seal it it won't absorb though, so if that is part of your plan, take note. Post pics when you get the plan ironed out and act.

Yeah, like @Lobo said, sunlight will darken it. Just for S&Gs you could drop a piece of scrap somewhere outside where you can keep an eye on it to see if it'll yield what you are looking for.

I rather like that. I'd have hit it with MOAR DYE!!! and damn near blacked it out.

@zzmikeg, so far anyway, I have zero issue vouching for their mallets. Its solid and hits pretty even, the handle is stacked leather and fits the hand well. I'd give them my $ again easily.