doubleh

Nice work on the knives, Mr. Johnson. I have never warmed up to using a round knife for some reason. Color me weird I suppose as it seems to be a favorite of many.

Nice work on both items.

I use ordinary Johnson's paste wax . It is no longer available but Min-Wax has about the same thing. One little tub will last for many years as long as you keep it sealed when not in use. If I use the knife regularly I use nothing, the benefit of residing in a low humidity area.

Looks uncomfortable to me.

From long personal experience paste wax is superior to oil for rust protection. Oil works but doesn't last as long as wax does. Wax also neutralizes fingerprints which oil doesn't.

Glad to hear it's Ok. A knife or other tempered tool can be saved by grinding away past the color. If using power tools you do have to be careful and not get in a hurry or you will just make it worse. Go slow and cool a lot. I do it bare handed to feel how hot the metal is getting. Something most people today forget about is this can be done with hand tools. A sharp file will cut most knife steel and there is no danger of overheating. file to shape, then sharpen, and you are good to go.

If the metal doesn't have a yellow to blue tint you are probably OK. If it does the temper is compromised from a little to completely gone if it is blue. .

I am a real dummy with computers but put my pictures on imgur and then post them with no problem on any forum including this one. Just choose the photo, chose the size of thumbnail, click copy and it's ready to go. Anything more difficult and I couldn't post pictures. Imgur is free.

Very nice.

Volume made does not translate into custom made. Personally I would return them and look for a true custom bootmaker. I don't know what custom bootmakers do today but the one I worked with many years ago measured your foot right there in his shop and fitted a last to each foot. They fit first time and he had customers come quite a distance to get a pair of boots made by him. Now it seems most things are made just to get them out the door as quickly as possible and to heck with the customer.

Sometimes using it as a learning experience and making another that will fit is the least frustrating solution. I recently made my first border stamped slim jim holster. The border stamping turned out good but the slim part was too sim. When I wet it to form fit it the gun wouldn't go all the way in. I finally got it soaking wet and it still wouldn't and I didn't give up easily. Hard to do but in the trash can it went. My main trouble with the whole thing was dealing with my mistake. I have been doing leatherwork for many, many years and it really bothered me to make such a boo-boo.

It is straight from Al Stholman's "How To Make Holsters' book".

Thanks for the compliments. The holster works exactly like it is supposed to. It's just that every time I look at that stitch line I can't help gritting my teeth.

Around 1970 I made a wallet for my dad's birthday. It got little wear and tear as he was farmer and only carried it when going to town and it rode in a shirt pocket. I have never liked tooling thin leather and really disliked lacing one of these so I made very few. While looking through boxes for another item earlier this week I ran across a newer project. This was from around 20 years ago and my essential tremors had barely begun. It's 8-9 oz. Herman's Oak, lined, and fits a Ruger BlackHawk. I was surprised that the leather was a little soft along the stitch line when I sewed it together and consider it a major flaw in my work.

Nice. A design that has stood the test of time.

Excellent work.

Another "Wow".

I thought I had posted a nice work on this but apparently I didn't so here you go BA: Nice work.

That is a very nice hatband. Prairie rattlers are our predominate rattlesnake but diamondbacks are fairly common too and I have encountered a sidewinder once although It's been years since I have even seen a rattlesnake. Please clue me in on how you ethically dispatch one. Would using a hoe as the method of death of or shovel qualify? That was my most used method of dispatch until I decided to just let snakes be and continue to do their job of keeping small vermin in check. On the other hand i wouldn't mind buying a hatband sized skin from someone if I ever buy another hat.

A thumbs up for both a nice holster and your generosity.

There were three tools used, all with the same size bottom pattern. All were craft tools from Tandy that I have used for many years and have forgotten the numbers of. One is a retangle shape for the larger spaces and the others were the same tool with a round nose and tapered tail. I ground one of them thinner and shorter to get into smaller places. I seldom dye a holster but will sometimes use Fiebing's tan antiquing paste to highlight one. Thanks to all for the kind words.

She, not he for both. Thanks for the compliment.

Recent as in February of this year. I made the pattern and combined some of Al Stolman's and another's floral patterns plus drawing in some things to fill the corners to get this. Herman's 8-9 oz oak with a soft leather lining and right hand cross draw. Handstitched too. It's gun friendly as it will fit a single six, wrangler, or rough rider with a 4 1/2" barrel.

Time gets away and I should have said winter before last in my original post. Here is a picture of a belt I made for my tom boy oldest great grand daughter for her birthday that year. The different flowers are deliberate. Fast forward three months and one for the next in line with blue eyes, hense the blue background. Her name is Bentley and when I found the Montana Silversmiths buckle it had to go on it. I had lost a little more rust.

Primidone. It has been around for a verry long time and has few side effects but one of them you do not want if your are relatively young if you get my drift. My neurologist told me there only two drugs that will combat the tremors, both of which are the ones mentioned here. Propranolol slows your heart rate and since mine is already slow it's a no-no. There may have been a new drug come on the market but I haven't been told of one at my annual checkups. Primidone is dirt cheap and works pretty well for me so I am happy with it.