battlemunky

@LederRudi One of these days I'm going to try one of those shave kits as well but I'm going to reduce it down a good bit, that thing is huge as it is. My son is in the Navy and could probably use a cut down version. Not a ton of space on submarines. Thanks as well on the coloring, my eye for the aesthetic isn't what I'd like it to be. Cutting the slots was nerve racking, I was able to hide a little overcut with some aggressive edging and burnishing even. Thanks @ScoobyNewbie! They call it a pancake sheath, I believe anyhow, because it is two pieces of leather stacked on top of one another like pancakes. If you google pancake holster you'll see a lof of those as well and they are all of similar build, so I always assumed that is why they are called pancake style. I edited my one post with pics for you @plinkercases. That knife used to have a pocket clip but it got hung on my chair and bent out of shape so I was pocket carrying it for the last few years. It holds an edge and sharpens pretty easily so it has stayed. Thanks @bikermutt07!

I'll grab a sharps pic but its only a hardware store Frost Cutlery cheap-o. I'm not super into folders so all my nicer stuff is fixed blades. I wore this half the day and it has a really nice shape developing. I'll get a pic of that as well.

Nice job!

Thank you @Double Daddy and @alpha2. I appreciate the kind words

I have been watching a good bit of YouTube lately and came across Don Gonzales' channel and got inspired by his pancake sheath video. I've been wanting to get my tooling in shape and the sheathes aren't huge and still allow you to get in some skill while making a functional thing still. I don't have a stockman style knife so I winged it and made up my own pattern and tried to put some scrolly stuff on the sheath. I dyed the background Fiebings Dark Brown (Pro), the flat parts Mahogany (spirit), and hit the vines with some Eco-flo saddle tan gel antique. I left the backside natural. Finished with Fiebings Leather Sheen. My stitching is coming along nicely and the edges came out super nice. The leather is 8/9 oz Craftman Oak from Tandy. I really need to grab a bag punch-cutting those slots sucks and is risky! This is not my first attempt at tooling but it is my first attempt at anything close to floral. I accidentally put this in "Show Off" but please critique as you want. Mods, feel free to move this to Critique My Work if needed.

Looks great! That serpentine border looks great and so does your basket weaving. I wish I could comment on the technicalities of the saddle but I know nothing of saddles :-) Congrats on your 2nd one, I think it looks awesome!

That is great work and awesome seeing your process, thanks!

Really good looking diaper bag right there!

Not much to add except that you can use the bare basics for quite a while. Then you can upgrade a piece at a time. I've tried to let my skill level pace my tool buying. As I am held back by my tools I upgrade them. One day we'll meet a harmonious balance. Ah! Needles! In my opinion, there is no reason whatsoever to spend money on anything other than John James harness needles. I've broken one in the last year since I switched. I've broken more of the other brands harness needles than I can count....a few a day sometimes. JJ's are where it is at in the needle game. Regarding an awl...I have the Craftool single blade one that was like, 11 bucks US. It took me a good 2 hrs to get the blade in shape but it works well now. I have chisels and they are used for proper spacing more than hole making; just dent the leather with them and use the diamond awl to make the hole. After all Stohlman outlines using the awl in his book which is a holy relic in how to saddle stitch. Again, as others mentioned, I'm gonna mention Nigel Armitage here, both of his saddle stitching videos are excellent and they happen to be a video version of Stohlman's book. Another name drop is Don Gonzales on youtube. He uses an injector blade in an exacto knife holder and a trim knife and this dude is a saddle maker by trade. I've watched most of his videos and don't recall ever seeing a head knife. I have an Olfa click knife and a Stanley utility knife and they have been sufficient for much of what I've needed. I do have a skife and one of those offset Japanese knives for skiving. I use the skife more than the Japanese skiver. I have all but given up on my groover for the wing dividers. They are quite utilitarian. They make circles, scribe stitch lines, make a great consistent double line for borders, etc. Get a frosted quilters ruler by Olfa. Excellent for making straight lines. Also, a Veritas ruler stop is a good thing; I still don't have one but they look like an answer to a lot of problems. Welcome to the addiction and I can't wait to see you down the rabbit hole! One last bit from me: anything from Olfa is pretty amazing gear. They don't give it away but it is really good quality.

So, I see a ton of cool stuff on this forum and I think, unless someone else trumps you, that you have it for today's forum scrub. That flask is very cool and beautifully done to boot.

That is full of win right there! Good job all the way around.

Welcome!

I did! I picked a name to sell my wares under and am getting stamps made, figured I'd change the pic over. Thanks for noticing!

Thanks. I hate leather lock.

Finally got around to making one of these suckers! It was the first zipper I've ever sewn in. It was pretty easy once I got past "leather lock" and got too it. Hand sewing the zipper in blind on the zipper side was a bit of a pain but my stitching didn't turn out too bad because of it. I may make another one and line it and make it a little longer, this one I kinda threw together since it was a first time build. I'll glue the next one also.

Pretty good looking! I like the pullup on the middle leather.

Yeah man, clean as a whistle!

Good work!

You wouldn't happen to have any pics would you?

Also, if it is a spirit based dye as opposed to an oil dye, I have had multiple coats go strange on me. Most times it'll go some weird metallic color, like a red base with a clear metallic skin. Never had the problem with the oil dyes though.

I love that particular shade of blue. I made a sheath for my EDC knife that matches nothing I wear. I finished the edges in red. Looks like Capt. America. I wish I had some help for you but I don't.

Yep, I think it looks really good too and your stamping looks ok to me. I like that circular scaling stamp a lot, it is really pronounced.

Another outstanding bunch of work and time well spent! I really like your work man!

You kill it every item @Rolandranch! No exception here. I have the holster and belt opened in another tab about to go check that out too. #wunderkind