Wylee

Man you folks are awesome! Thanks for the additional info. I am making a list and will place an order soon. I’ve even debated selling some traps to fund this new hobby. Fur prices are down and I’ve switched jobs...may not have the time this year to be out on the line.

That’s in bad Jimbob!! I swear I’ve seen that picture before....car kulture deluxe? Or is it your original?

Thanks all, I think I will start with the Tandy line then. I will be able to buy a bigger lot at one time with their prices. Also I do have a good swivel knife at the moment...I don’t know the brand but the guy I got it from said it’s top of the line from 1968. Lol. Pretty sure I’ll end up with the king knife at some point anyway. My art is mostly low brow but I’m in love with the western tooling of days past.

Lol to be clear what stamps should I get first and should I buy the craftool stuff or save my money for Barry? Im chomping at the bit and want to get started!

So I’ve progressed to carving and tooling... I bought a cheap set of stamps on amazon and that was a mistake. Most of them I had to tune up with emery cloth..now I’m ready to buy some nicer stuff. I have hundreds of old patterns, mostly Tandy and a lot of floral and Sheridan. I figured I’d get the craftool line (to match the patterns) but have read they are junk.. At any rate I will be spending about 100$ at a time. Looking to get the most useful stamps first then fill in the blanks as I go. PS Tandy is selling most of their stamps for 5.99$ right now.....I know I know I really want the Barry King stuff but not sure I can afford it at the moment.

I've been using kiwi saddle soap on the holsters I'm making and wonder if it will have an affect on gun blue/ metal? Thanks Lee

Jd62 I haven't heard of them, I will check them out for sure. Anchorage is hours away but I bet they would ship to me. Bikermutt, thanks man, you have been a positive influence from the start and I appreciate it. Motocouture, I will check that out. I'm a bit tech ignorant and forget about all these great apps. I'm on another forum and something like that would be helpful there too.

Thanks! Fiebings leather colors dark brown, two coats. It's the water based stuff. I have a difficult time getting product up here and have to order most everything...but I was at micheals with my wife and they had a small leather section with some dye. They had black too, I may go pick it up sometime. I've been trying to load more picks but this iPad seems to have a mind of its own and is picky about loading pictures lol.

Thanks moto, I tried using the over stitch wheel to set the stitch length and wound up just eyeballing it. Came out pretty even.

I agree with the skived and turned under, I can't wait to see it in croc!

Just realized I posted in the wrong department... feel free to leave comments and criticism.

This is my second holster and third project. I pulled this right out of the Al stohlman holster book so I claim no design just the extra stitching. It's not quite finished I'm waiting on rivets for the band as I couldn't source them locally. I will try to get more pics up when this thing decides to let me. But I can say my edges turned out a lot better this time. I'm kinda limited by budget and tried dying the edges with the same dye I used for the skin, then with a little water and an old wooden furniture spindle chucked in my drill I burnished away. Turned out semi glossy and way more even than previously by hand. The next holster I make I will attemp making my own pattern. I'm happy with the high riding easy access of this one but I'd like something that covers the trigger a bit more.

I am new to the art so don't take my opinion to heart. Over all I think the clutch is great but I'm wondering how the sides with the gussets would look with the edges finished separately then glued and stitched? Again I dig it over all.

A lot to go on here. You guys rock. I've been having a lot of difficulty deciding which tools will be worth while. I think other nubes would find this info very useful. Lee

I'm new to leatherworking and find your list very helpful. The goods Japan site seems legit, lots of stuff there. I've been curious about all the Amazon odd ball tool brands the same way I'm curious about Tandy. Everyone says buy the best I can afford and I agree but are these lower end tools really gonna fail me?? My biggest concern is sharp, I have heard the Tandy stuff isn't usable as they sell it..I'd hate to buy an edge beveler and have to learn to sharpen the tiny little thing before I've really learned to use it lol.