Stetson912

Yeah, like Caesar said, more interested in people making things. Nothing against them or their business model or whatever. But I don't watch many of their videos any more. Seems more talk and less leatherwork. The latter being the reason I started watching. And it may seem silly, but I think his hat is too darn small for him and he kinda wears it funny. That bothers me for some silly reason. But that aside, as it doesn't really matter, I started with tandy products. I don't get much from them now but every once in a while. Tandy I think serves as a beginner get your feet wet type place. Which is a great thing. It seems in recent years a pickup in leatherwork but I still feel it's an art that is fading. So if tandy gets people seriously interested in the craft I'm all for it.

Wellp, I have a thick skin. Thanks everyone for those suggestions. I'm usually better than this. I will remake it and send it to them. I feel bad letting that out of my shop now. He did request a 20 degree angle (measured wrong maybe?) and my belt fit through the slots ok. But, I do see what Dwight is talking about. As for the beveler, I may have used too small of one. Not sure the size. And I did have a few slips that I tried fixing with the spoon but, may have made worse. I will do a part two! Practice right? Thanks again everyone. I'll take it to heart and make a better one.

They are going to offer double shoulders in Hermann oak leather. They don't make a double shoulder that I know of. It is a nice cut. You can make belts and holsters and sheathes from it. I'm sure there are many other things as well. It'll be a new product that I think people will be like. SLC has been affiliated with Hermann oak for a while, I imagine they hashed out a deal to make it worth Hermann oaks while to produce a double shoulder. I think it would be nice to have the option though

I'm sorry your brother is weird hehe, nah I'm just teasing. To each their own I suppose. I'm sure your nephews will love their own rig. They'll be out catching bandits.... Or robbing stagecoaches... In no time!

The bersa and shield cooks molds I had worked well for me. But then again, I couldn't compare the measurements accurately. Maybe I'll compare to a specific sheet. Be a good reason to get some calipers haha.

Here is a simple belt I made for my dad. He likes a thin 1" wide belt. I had some Hermann oak strap I used that was 8/9 oz dyed it black and creased it. Nickle brass buckle from buckle guy. Turned out pretty nice I think. Let me know what you think

Black all around. Even my hands are black... Somehow.. haha. Glock 30 (SF)pancake... Ahem... Flapjack holster for a friend's husband. 8/9oz wickett and Craig. Hand stitched blah blah. Let me know your thoughts!

Well, if you have it to spare why not? Haha! That's just pocket change right?

We chose the wrong craft! Hehe

If you're on a budget they have silver ones for $165... You could almost get 10 of those!

Has anyone been told their prices are too high? Well fear not! If someone comes to you and says 'your prices are too high..." Or "that seems expensive..." Just show em this. A $1500 paper clip.... Haha! "Complimentary delivery by Christmas" hehehe

Very cool clintock. Yeah, I'm afraid you're right jls haha. But that's ok with me.

Well it's all situational for me. For example, the fold over holster I made for my nephew for a cap gun, I marked out the holes on each side and punched through all the way down one side then the next. They lined up and I stitched them together no problem. But, a pancake I made I would mark the stitch lines and then partially punch with the chisels. The. Finish with the awl. Why? The pancake is 2 layers of 8 oz. While you could go through it with the chisel the size of the holes would be huge. And if you aren't completely vertical you'll get a wonky set of holes. The fold over was a single layer of leather. Pretty easy to sail a chisel through. And by being carful on my pattern and accurately marking the holes, it all worked out. You can use the chisels like a pricking iron. I do all the time. Thicker items like holsters etc don't need stitched at a high spi. Really 7spi is plenty and a lot of people fo less. This is somewhat preference. But the item is a lot thicker which lends itself to this. However, an item like a fine bag or wallet would benefit from finer stitching. So a higher spi chisel or iron should be used. You could use a chisel on these items if it's fine enough, but usually they are really chunky and the hole would be too large. I tend to use irons more for this. That said, crimson hide makes a great stitching chisel. Highly polished and the teeth taper unlike a lot of chisels that have teeth of uniform thickness. If you want a good chisel I'd recommend them. As for pricking irons, there are a lot of good ones. It depends on how much you want to spend. I like the ks blade punch irons. High end you have doldoki and Blanchard. Wuta makes a decent iron and I think Amy roke makes some but I'm unaware if they are available. There is also lekoza (I think that's what they are called) that seem affordable. And makers leather supply has a set they offer in after sizes also.

Very much so. Personally I never could keep a good truly consistent angle with just an awl and wheel. I wasn't terrible but not good enough. So my "crutch" should we say is using pricking irons. It's very easy to follow the angle with the awl. I use diamond chisels as pricking irons sometimes in the same way. All depends on what I'm working on. My chisels are probably 5/6 spi and my irons are 8 I think, so I use the chisels on large beefy items like holsters and sheaths and the irons on smaller things like small notebooks or wallets

I think stitching is somewhat relative. One person may not like a technique or method of stitching that others do. Some like round holes for flatter stitches or using a stitch groove to achieve that same look. And others (like me) like the more angled stitch look and use techniques and methods accordingly. I also don't like a groover at all. I never use mine anymore. That's not to say one way is better than the other. They both do the same job, stick pieces of leather together with thread. It's just the journey getting there that is different. Some like the groove to recess stitching, and there are times that it may be necessary, but for what I do, and the amount of tension I tend to apply, the thread is recessed enough without a groove, so I don't find it necessary for ME to use one. And the straight vs angle is all just asthetics if you ask me

Ok, good questions. I do a mix of both. Sometimes I mark my stitches with pricking irons and then use an awl to make the holes. Sometimes I use diamond chisels for chunkier builds and punch all the way through. Usually, I only punch holes on both pieces of leather when it's a basic stitch line that's easy to line up. Most other times, I mark one piece of leather and stick the other piece(s) to it then make the hole with an awl. There are ways to mark and punch holes so they line up nice. It really makes stitching easy. I'm going to recommend you look into Nigel armitage Vimeo video series. It is a paid subscription and I know there are those that are against that type of thing, but the information he provides is invaluable. He will also show you the pre punch technique and has a video doing that with a gusset. I believe it's about $4 a month. Not expensive at all.

Awesome, I'd like to see it when you're done.

Awesome, I'm going to o do the same. I think it's a good idea.

I'll have to use a strap or snap as I don't have any sort use. But I think the construction is a good method. It isn't full size and probably not as good as they used to be. I bought it on Amazon haha. Thanks!

I don't, I wish I did. I will have to figure out how to make a pouch for those caps now haha.

I hadn't thought too but that sounds like a good idea! Just a little box type thing to stuff a bunch into?

Or be the one robbing them... I wouldn't put it past him... He can cause some mischief I reckon. It is really over built tho, 10/12 oz saddle skirting for all of it haha. The little cap gun only weighs a few ounces hahaha although that's unloaded... We all know how heavy them 8 shot ring caps can get... Might add a gram or two!

I hope he does. Good way to get rid of that cheap skirting too, that stuff is fuzzy and hard to work with. Not much of an it left though now haha. I'm thinking I might add a hammer thong too. Just cuz

This project was fun, it's a Mexican loop holster and belt for my nephew. It is for a little cap gun I got for him. He is 5 and like playing pretend and stuff so, I thought this could help with that. Let me know what you think. The pics show the holster still wet and I'll just do a wax finish on it.

Very nice! Did you birnish the edges? I'm not familiar with the Sully but I thought it was veg tan. And in my experience, I run my wood slicker over the corners when I nip them like that. It rounds them out pretty nice. Awesome work!