Treed

This pistol doesn't have the high profile suppressor sights but this style allows more room for the sight channel on ones that do. Wrap around to the rear gives more room for the larger flashlight. It is a big with all the accessories but it is what the customer has and wanted something to carry it in.

Holster for a glock 17 size P80 with Holosun red dot, O-light Pro-Valkyrie light. Holster is 8oz Herman Oak with 2 oz lining, thumb break and Tandy background stamp for texture

Order for Christmas... P80 glock 19 with Holosun red dot, o-light mini light, holster 9-10 Herman Oak unlined... Tandy background stamp for texture

Its another one of those things that I look back on history for answers. In doing a lot of repairs on military equipment from late 1800's to 1940's. All of the pieces are stitched with stitching groves, most are made of leather at 6 to 7 oz. Most of the equipment is cavalry saddles, and other tack. The stitching was done with linen thread, used hard and survived. In fact most of the stitches are welded into the leather and cause great difficulty when you go to replace them. It may be an added step in the sewing process but it worked so i add it to my process. Bobby

No rodeos, no shows, no where to go except the shop. Time to do some experimenting and practice. Both purses are of Herman Oak 10 oz with 4 oz oil tanned chap leather gussets. Neatsfoot oil and fiebing's antique paste and Tan Kote final finish. The roses are done from a pattern by Steve Yezek of Lazy Y leather. He has some great pattern packs.

swivel knife would be the fastest and most accurate.....

practice, practice, practice and more practice..... check out youtube channel Joe Meling or facebook 23+ for some tips and tricks..... bobby

This is the first in a 5 part video in tooling this indian chief drawn and tooled by Joe Meling from Pendleton Oregon.... The series can be seen on u tube at Joe Meling or on facebook at 23+.....Joe is an outstanding artist and leather instructor Bobby

Who made the pebble tools that you are using and the pebble beveler? They look like they are steel and make a very crisp impression. Great job and love the other videos also.

I will try to describe what I would do with this pattern. Tandy sells a book and it is probably free in digital on there web site called inverted carving. Draw out the pattern and them make your knife cuts along the lines at the width that you want. Instead of beveling down the out side of the line, bevel to the inside towards the center of area. After the beveling is done go back with a small backgrounding tool and background between the lines. You can make a line any width that you want.

Yes..... I think that forgoing the background tool and just painting would have made the piece pop more.

the use of the background tool is to drop these areas to give you dimension and show off the tooling. When dropping this area it is suppose to collect the antique that is used. When painting this area leave it and use the paint to give you dimension and show off the tooling. Belt makers have been using this technique of painting backgrounds for years. Picture is from a good friend of mine a belt maker Joe Meling of 23+. Joe has great patterns and videos on leather working on his face book page 23+. Bobby

Question...... the areas around the tooling are you actually backgrounding this area or are you leaving it untouched until you are painting it. When painting the area we call background I don't touch it with any tools and let the paint color make the distinction between tooled and not. This allows me to remove any antique from the surface of the paint. Bobby

You don't want the fold to be a double thickness. The trick is to skive the leather down on the tooled piece just past the fold before you glue the liner down. This way you can run the liner the full length and reduce it at the fold. Depending on the weight of the liner some skive it also so that when done the leather is a uniform thickness all the way down the belt.

depends on the customer and what I think he can do for me. I don't have a large advertising or marketing budget because word of mouth has really built my business. So a discount if the customer that has a large number of guns is no problem. My product sells its self and if he is willing to buy more than one it is worth the small fee for advertising.

I do like it

It depends on the usage of the scabbards and the user. I myself do one of two things for myself, flesh side out (roughout) or grain out and flesh in. My weapons are using weapons and I don't care if they get some wear marks on them holstering into and out of the scabbard with flesh side in. My using scabbards are pretty plain so there is no need for the grain side out to tool and make fancy for me. There are methods of slicking and sealing the flesh side so that it becomes smoother. If the customer is really picky about his weapons then I will do the rough out or add a liner.

A scabbard to be used on the cart is going to be out doors with a gun going in and out numerous times. The problem will be inserting it in and out after being shot, dirt and other contaminants in the air are going trapped in the sheeps wool and far more difficult to get out than with smooth grain of leather. As the build up of contaminants in the wool will start acting as sand paper to the finish of the shotgun. I would make the scabbard with grain side in and with cover glued to the flesh side. Cleaning can be done with air from a compressor. This is the way I build saddle scabbards that are used for hunting horse back and so far the customers have been happy with the results

I have found 26 works best for me with 346

I think your holes look fine I would have just added more holes bring them closer together thus getting the lace edges to touch.... Fine looking rifle Bobby

Check out leather life on 23+ facebook page. The instructor Joe Meling takes you through the process from design, to sizing and tooling a belt. He also has a unit on doing a beaded belt that is very informative. Joe is also an instructor for Weaver leather and has a couple of videos on youtube for them. He shows you what tools to use but also how to use them. Leather life is done with a video once a week free to anyone. For more in depth instruction he has the leather life classroom that costs 10.00 a month for two videos a week.

For those that are drawing challenged as I am check out 23+ on facebook. The site is done by a very talented young man named Joe Meling in Pendleton Oregon. Joe does a weekly video called leather life in which he goes into one of the many areas of leather crafting. He just finished a series of videos on building a beaded belt from start to finish that is outstanding. Joe has some great videos that he has done on drawing floral patterns and layout on his facebook page. Joe was just picked up by Weaver leather as a spokesperson and instructor. He as doe a couple videos on youtube for them in patterns.... check him out a 23+

A gentleman in Pendleton Oregon named Joe Meling, is one of the most talented young and up in coming leather crafters in the business. Joe is one of the new instructors for Weaver Leather and is producing videos for them in leather crafting and tooling. Joe's business is 23+ and can be found on facebook under that name. Every week he does a video in learning to draw floral tooling patterns or in a series in putting together for a leather project. He calls it leather life and they are really good, free and very informative. He as just completed one on beaded belts from sizing, laying out the leather for the beads, inlaying the beads, tooling the leather, sewing, holes and hardware, and finishing the belt. Joe has also put together a paid version known as the leather life classroom that goes into more detail in each video and will have more videos in each series. The cost of the classroom is $10.00 a month. His teaching skills are outstanding, and the information in the free or paid version is worth the time to check it out. Kbarker the videos will answer all your questions but give you a great visual of the process Bobby

Tooling and wet forming depends on the items being made. I do a lot of tooled holsters in different guns that require wet forming of the holster. This type of item I will tool first before I form as the item that I am forming around is not solid and smooth to tool against. This type of item is also made with thicker leather and most of the time has a liner of tooling leather. The item is tooled, built and then wet formed around the gun. The item receives a moderate to high moisture content to the inside of the item and none to light moisture content to the tooled area. This type of molding will require something like a press or vacuum press to apply enough pressure to mold the leather to the item without deforming the tooling. Other items such as bags, ammo pouches, etc. I cut and form over wooden molds. These type of item I build a wooden copy of the item so that I have a solid base to tool against. I then cut and mold the leather to the shape that i want over the wooden mold. I then dry and as the leather comes back to right moisture content I then tool the leather over the wooden mold and then final construction.

great job as always Josh