CaptQuirk

Welcome! I enjoyed looking at your work, that is some nice tooling. Keep up the good work, and thanks for doing what you do... the first responder thing, not necessarily the leather stuff.

It could be worse, your wood could be termite riddled.

I think that is how it would be described. Woven in an out of slots in the belt. I'll be looking into that soon, when I do my next belt.

Would a pyrography pen be anything like a woodburning iron?

Not sure this is the right place, but this is where I'll start. I found mention of the Georgia Leathercrafters Guild somewhere, and have been trying to get some info on them. They have a facebook page, but not having facebook myself, their page is blocked by a "Join Facebook" ad. I tried shooting them an email, weeks or maybe months ago, and no response. Sooo... anybody know somebody?

Hey Hawk, if you pay real close attention to the gunbelts, you'll notice they are worn just about every week, but by different people. Except the Cartrites, they always wore the same belt... and the same clothes. They may have smelled a bit gamey, week after week, but at least they could edit different shots into different episodes and look the same.

Hey Dwight... they kept the extra cartridges in their vest pockets

That looks really good. How did you do the lettering?

I don't know who beat me to the Sig 938... but can I borrow it maybe? Huh huh?

I'd say it looks good, and the stitches won't show when worn. BUT, from what I have read, stitching the cartridge loops down is the weakest method. Of course, I only read that after making my belt with sewn down loops too. Oops! Overall, it looks good and functional.

Try adding some swirls and knotholes, no wood is that nice

That second one looks more practical, with a shorter barrel. I can't see trying to draw such a long gun like the first pic. It would likely do better as a back holster? Nevermind, just noticed the snaps. Duh huh...

It looks like there are 2 layers, the larger inside layer with scallops, then a regular belt sewn down to it. Likely the scallops were made with a small strap end cutter. Then punched and domed rivets. I'd hate to think about having to cut each on of those by hand. If they make many of these belts, they would save a lot of time with a mallet die.

Get the Stohlman book on holsters, it has a very simple shoulder harness, and I believe a pattern for that pistol. I can double check later. Here's a link to the ones I made- http://smokewagonleather.us/shoulder.html

Anything by Al Stohlman. Check your local library and see what they can get in before you go shopping though.

@MADMAX22- I mostly make holsters and the occasional belt, and focus on tooling them. Since I am starting out, I make some mistakes on occasion, I haven't been buying the pricey top notch stuff. Rather I have been buying bellies that are on sale. Ruining a piece of that doesn't bother me as much. I would like to try a little of the good stuff now and then, but can't do a side... unless it is a real price buster sale. For example, Tandy's November flyer has a side of Craftsman for $70 I think. That will keep me going for a while, and actually cost less than the bellies I usually get. But not knowing what is what, I am pretty much stuck with buying what I know... ya know? I have heard about W&C, and heard mostly great things about their leather. I have also heard that they sometimes won't ship for weeks. Add that to the fact that it will take at least a week for delivery, not likely to happen. I want to get what I need, so that I can finish a project for somebody. But this last point is secondary to cost at the moment.

That is a thought that never occurred to me. I'm a rifle hunter, and need a pad on my 30-30, specially after having a power port for chemo put in my right chest... just about where the butt rests. Recoil wasn't too bad before, but can really hurt now.

Now we are getting to what I really wanted to know! What is so different about the Horween? Not having a lot of money to experiment with, I'd like a bit of foreknowledge before spending on the wrong stuff... or look for the right stuff to spend my money on. Not having a splitter, buying skirting would have been a mistake, especially buying any large piece.

I don't have much experience with stock covers, but that one looks like the top is covered for cheek padding. It also looks like a large bore shotgun, and that is what is really confusing me.

Thank you Tinker, that also helps a little. I'm not sure if I am asking the correct question or not. I understand a lot of the basic stuff, such as the cuts of the hide, the difference between veg and chrome tanned, thickness, etc. I just don't know about the different types of leather... is it still leather if it comes from a kangaroo or a stingray? Does kangaroo tool and carve well? Would it work for tooled holsters, or is that expecting too much from it? I know that most finished leathers are pretty well what the name implies, you might be able to dye or re-dye it, but it is meant to be used as is. Skirt leather is used for saddles mostly, but thinner grades make good holsters or belts, and can usually be tooled or carved. As you said, the thickness and strength sort of predetermine what you can do with it. So, am I just getting too hung up on brand names?

Thanks Thor, but that wasn't the info I was looking for. Rather, I was looking for the actual leather names, and what they are typically used for. Horween is a tanner, and not a type, so that is cleared up. Latigo is used for hard use stuff that might get wet. But what do you do with Kangaroo? Like I said, there are a lot of names thrown out there casually, but for a beginner, it is a bit overwhelming. What is Bison good for? Pebble milled is usually soft and thin, so I would guess it is for garment, upholstery, or bags? The other technical terms I'm getting... sort of, except for the term "irons", used in weight I think.

I swear there are almost as many flavors of leather, as there are flavors of ice cream. I've heard the names Horween, Latigo, and now Kangaroo? I know veg tanned is for tooling, but what about all of the others?

I've been curious about Tiger thread, and now Maine thread... never heard of that one. I have tried something akin to kevlar thread from Springfield, and it was affordable, and not too bad. But lately I've just been ordering the 25yd spools of "white" "brown" and "black", mostly because I needed thread when cash was low. I got some stuff from Springfield that would not stay twisted for nothing. I actually watched it unknot itself one night. The stuff I've received from Tandy is so heavily waxed, it leaves clumps. Then there is always a problem with white thread not staying white... need to fix that problem.

I looked, but I don't care for those "Leave a message, and we'll get back to you with the price" places.

That S-T leather place took their print catalogue and scanned it. So yes, thy have a real catalogue, and I just asked for one.