KrisQ

No offense taken It's not my favorite buckle either in this application, but it was the best one out of the center bar buckles I had on hand. Ya know- I knew the word keeper and just couldn't think of it haha, thanks for the reminder

Took a quick pic of the back- it is clean, only thing on the back is the bigger belt loop (is there a term for it?). It's actually stitched between the front and back layers. I peened flat all of the rivets that are visible from the front on the back side of the front layer... so you can't feel any of those rivets even if you're trying to feel for them (also doesn't hurt that the back layer, as mentioned, is also 10oz leather). I'll take a picture of me wearing it on a day that I've showered haha- it may not be obvious if you're not paying attention to the orientation but it is a cross draw rig. The revolver is a 7.5" barrel and I'm average height... so it would've had to have been a buscadero style to sit low enough to not be awkward when drawn, and that just wasn't the look I wanted.

Thanks all! That's exactly what I was going for

My first cartridge belt/holster build. Probably not a traditional western look- this is my own take on a rig for myself. Most of the smooth leather is Wicket and Craig English Bridle, and the accents are shark skin. Belt is 2 layers of 10 oz leather (it's THICK), holster is also 10oz leather lined with 2.5-3oz veg tan. The cartridge loops are 2 layers of 2.5-3oz veg tan. Also debuting my maker's mark! Holster pattern designed from scratch... winged it on the belt as I went. (I finished the belt first so the pictures were taken at different times.)

arashikage thanks for confirming it's not just me! Ed- I reread the listing and it doesn't mention being a pull-up leather (link here: https://www.springfieldleather.com/Black-Sharkskin) Anyway had some that I attached as a decorative piece onto some veg tan that I "moist formed" and the oiliness on that piece seems to have largely diminished. Not sure if that is a product of the water forcing the oils to redistribute and perhaps some got soaked into the veg tan, or if that forced the excess oils to the surface and I wiped them away as things dried off. So it does seem there's an end to it. What I've used it for so far won't contact clothing so no biggie but I'm about to make a belt, so it seems after some time or some process the oiliness disappears (hopefully!) Kris

Hi all- I got some shark skin in black from Springfield Leather recently for a few projects. No issues actually working with it- but it seems to be very oily. I left a piece sitting on top of some natural veg tan calf overnight and it left black oil marks all over it. If my eyes aren't deceiving me, sometimes I think I can see oil seeping out when I'm stabbing with an awl. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this oil tanned, or is it the natural oils in the shark? Does it eventually stop after it dries in open air some, or can it be sealed with any of the standard leather finishes without ill effect on the overall look? Attached pic has a test piece of the shark in question. Thanks!

Thanks all! I got the Montbelle leather from Rocky Mountain Leather and had it split down to 3oz. Whatever process they use to create the surface texture makes it hard feeling to the touch. Impossible to see divider marks on it- had to put masking tape on while I was marking stitches so I could see. It is fairly stiff. Definitely stiffer than 3oz tooling veg tan. The cash pocket is not lined; I lined it on the prototype I made of similar weight leathers and it came out thicker than I wanted. Not unreasonably so, but I wanted this to be thinner than the wallet I was replacing (which was falling apart and had a surprising amount of cloth in it for a designer "leather" wallet).

Hello all! My name is Kris- I may have actually been a member of this forum a decade ago (or maybe even longer if it's been around that long) but on an email address I no longer have and I can't seem to find any of my old posts under common forum names I used at the time. Anyway, back then I did a handful of utility projects and now with quarantine rules have picked back and and refined my "fine" leatherworking skills. This is my first or second wallet depending on how you count it. Nothing earth shattering in design but I did design it myself; I made a prototype after I drew it up and found I made the pockets too tight. Increased sizing ever so slightly and then made this with "good" leather. French Montbelle on the outside, Vachetta on the inside, .6mm tiger thread. Inside stitching looks nicer than the outside if you look closely- the texture on the black leather is very hard- enough so to cause the stitching chisel to wander, and even to force individual stitches out of perfect alignment. If I did it again I might punch it from the back side instead. I enjoy looking at others' work and will probably have a question here and there. Nice to be here again!