Frank

Here are a couple more photos. I antiqued the rivets a bit and also the buckle. It was a pretty fun project all in all.

Here is another new one. A Cheyenne style holster with money belt in an antique finish. I think I'm starting to get a slight grasp of the antiquing thanks to one person in particular. Frank

Ray, I use Wickett & Craig drum dyed leathers for most of my projects. Just case them and tool them like you would normally do for standard un-dyed veg. tan leather. Remember one thing; when cutting whether with a swivel knife or round knife, that the drum dyed leather tends to be a little tougher. Keep all of your knives very sharp. The black drum dyed leather does bleed quite a bit when adding finish coats but once it is sealed, I have not had any issues with it. Frank

As always, great stuff Chuck Frank

Marty, I just used a cheap set of small wing dividers. I scribe a light line down the center and then set the dividers to the spacing I want. I then walk them down the center line, punching a small hole with the points until I get all of the holes marked. Frank

In my opinion, I would contact either Bruce Johnson on this site or also Hide Pounder on this site. They do create some very nice Sheridan style belts. I'm sure there are a great many others but their work really sticks out in my mind at the moment. Frank

Lobo, I had to copy your instructions and post them in my shop for future reference! Thanks for the laughs this morning. My show wasn't that bad in comparison to some. I fortunately did sell enough at my first show to pay for the trip and a new gun! I also received 4-5 orders from people after the show, which made it really worth while. I know that this isn't the norm but I would do it again even if it's only to get my name out there and get a little more exposure. Frank

If it's the wire loops that are giving you fits overlap them by one loop. For every two mallet strikes you make three loops instead of four

Did you happen to add a finish coat to the leather yet? Once a finish coat is added, it gets rid of that green or purple haze(dark brown will give you purple). Bag Kote, Top Kote, Tan Kote, Resolene will all help in this process. The other thing you might want to do is buff the leather after the dye dries completely to eliminate a bunch of the powder residue from the dye. Frank

Very nice Dwight. I've always thought that simple and clean looks the best. That must mean that I'm just a plain boring guy...lol Frank

Dwight, I really appreciate the comments. The buckle is a custom one from Tim and Jamie Parsley at Civil War Buckles They were great people to work with. The buckle was originally a 3 prong standard plate and they built a mold for it to be made into a 2 piece sword belt plate. They will also make them in a standard belt buckle as well. I think they prices start at around $20.00 and then go up another $2-$3 for the belt buckle style and then up another $10 for the 2 piece sword belt plate. I tell you, I will only purchase from them now for those style buckles as they seem very eager to work with getting you what you need in a timely fashion. Most of my SASS, CAS, and NCOWS customers have purchased from them. I think I have put a total of 6 Parsley buckles on belts. The sword belt plates and spoon buckles are easier to work with, giving adjustment on one or both side of the belt, depending on custom preference. The Duke belt for the customer was actually sewn all the way around as was John Wayne's belt. It was made to his request. As for my personal belt like that, it is open and I use it to stash my hunting license when I am out in the woods becasue I hate to carry a wallet. If you need any info on Parsleys, PM me your email and I can forward the photos and prices they sent along to me. Frank

I really like the looks of it. I do a lot of similar type work. It's nice to see some good variations out there. Frank

Thanks everyone. I really do appreciate the comments and the feedback. I knew something was wrong when I didn't hear but one or two comments the first time I posted. That's when I found out the site had a hiccup and deleted a bunch of posts. The one I forgot to post was the "Duke" belt and holster I finished for a guy. I posted it in a different area of the site for someone who needed assistance on the same style belt. Here it is again. Frank

Hey All, Since there were site issues, here are the photos again. I was not able to get back to one of you who commented. I apologize because I did not save the email. Feel free to post or comment again so I can get back to you with any questions. I do not post a lot of photos until I am ready to update my website. Here are a bunch of holsters and rigs that I completed for customers. Some are re-creations from Packing Iron, re-creations from movies, customer creations, and one holster and tooling pattern that cam from Jim Simmons. My customers really keep me on my toes with new ideas and creations. I really do love this job. Frank

Gary is still on here (leatherman1457). I just got an email from him last week. His email is: leatherman1457@aol.com Frank

Thanks for the compliments. Yes and no about the design pattern. The belt is a standard money belt that John Wayne wore, which is pretty simple to do once you get the hang of it. The holster was a different story. I kept tweaking my pattern until I got it "perfect" in my eyes. I looked at a lot of the holsters that he wore and noticed that most leather shops that make his rig were a little off in the area of the toe and mouth of the holsters. I must have made 6-8 holsters before I was satisfied with what the trigger guard area and the toe looked like. Frank

This is one that I just built for a customer. I'm away from the bench right now but I can get the info for you tomorrow. If it's easy to talk than to email, pm me and I'll give you my # or vice versa. Frank

You're welcome Joel. I'm glad it was the one you were looking for. I use a well polished hammer handle myself for the seats. It's a lot cheaper. If I drop it and ding it up....another $5-$10 and some sanding will get me another. Frank

I haven't seen the J. Watt videos but I am guessing what you are referring to is a "bow". Hidecrafters has them listed here. Frank

I know Tandy came out with the new groover that can be used alone or with the guide, more like the versa groover. I think they are around $25.00. I was going to pick one up just for the heck of it but never got around to it.

Ken, If I remember correctly, he was using oil tanned veg. tan leather. I want him to try on just standard veg. tan to see how he does. Maybe it will make a difference. Frank

He definitely spared no detail when it came to the tattooing. I am going to try and get him to tattoo a rifle scabbard for me. I'll give him the leather with the layout and have him tattoo and then I'll finish putting it together. I'm sure it will hang somewhere in my shop. I have given him a few ideas as to what kind of things he could do with that...table top covers, rocking chair covers (seat and back), photos, and stuff like that. I hope he goes ahead with the ideas as I think he would do great with them.

I just talked with my friend this evening and he said he has tried to tattoo leather using ink but it does not work at all. He mentioned that the ink likes to bleed through the grain of the leather and causes a mess. I'm also guessing that conditioning the leather afterward would cause problems as well. I forgot to ask about the needle that he uses but I'm sure I'll talk with him again soon. I just figured I'd give everyone interested in the topic an update. Frank

Hey All, I'm sure my friend is going to love the comments. He wasn't even sure if his work even looked good. Of course the most judgmental person is the one doing the work...or it should be anyways. Yeah, he just did the engraving with the needle, not with actual ink but if I know him, he will try it with ink to see how it works out. The next time I talk with him about it, I will try and get some more information for you all and keep you posted. Frank

A friend of mine stopped by this afternoon. I've been helping him out with leather working tips and tricks. He freely admits he cannot tool at all. He has been a tattoo artist for about 30 years. He pulled out this rifle scabbard and holster he made which he used a tattoo gun on. All of this was completed free hand, just going by photos and ideas in his head. I was simply stunned to say the least. If anyone wonders whether or not you can tattoo leather....tell them yes!!