HandyDave

Like has allready been said best ways to cut cost in leatherwork is to get proficient with your time management on your projects. And if you want to use quality materials only way to save money there is to buy in bulk. Tandy for the most part sells junk in my opinion. But if you like the cost of there crappy import Brazilian hides then you might look at frogjelly.com they sell alot of the Brazilian and European hides that are cheaper then some of the big name quality suppliers like wicket&craig. But the hides i have used from frogjelly where 10 times better quality then the tandy hides.

All i can say is damn. Thats alot of beautiful carving and tooling. Makes my hands cramp looking at it. I can see why it has taken you some time to get this far and look forward to finished pics.

I prefer a groover as well. I make mainly heavily used outdoor gear and gun leather. And if the stitching isnt recessed that fraction the groover makes it will rub and fray against everything. And a groover in my opinion doesnt go no where near deep enough into the leather to break the structure of it. Now thin softer leathers i will use a divider to make a line cause ive found when you pull thread tight it kinda sets itself into the leather. This is one of those questions where there really isnt a wrong or right way its what works best for each person and what there doing.

Been there and done that way to many times. I got 2 scrap piles. 1 for small cutoffs that my sister gets most times for earrings and bracelets and such. And 1 pile that is messed up projects and such. Most days you just know first thing if its gonna be one of "those" days. And the time is better spent watching old westerns then trying to push threw the crap.

Another nice chest rig indeed. Allmost everything i make for myself is natural un dyed vegtan. Ive done a couple items for customers left natural. I love the way the natural veg tan grows and ages and takes on its on story as time goes. I wish i could get more natural orders but it seems like browns and blacks is what most of the gun crowd wants.

Nice lookin sheathes sir. It also looks like your maul you posted awhile back is holding up great.

Really nice work. Nice use with the exotics. I would say your on the right track or is it left track? Either way great job

Thanks. I really enjoy the pieces i get to go wild with.

Thank you sir. I wanted give the young man something way cool and speacial. And its a great show piece for my work that is gonna be seen by tons of other veterans and active duty military.

I havent posted any projects lately but wanted to share a speacial project i just finished. Its a over the shoulder scabbard for pistol grip shotgun. Specifically the mossberg shockwave. Its a surprise piece for a young man who is 19 and works full time goes to school and is national guardsmen. A good customer told me the story of young man and asked how much for a basic scabbard to give as a gift. So i made a deal with him and told him if he would pay for my basic and allow me free reign on putting a design on it i would go over the top and give the young man something truly unique and badass. I went full on military with design as my way of showing my appreciation for the young man getting this piece and every other man and woman who have served or serving. I hope i can get the pics to upload after all this typing. And hope everyone here enjoys. I look forward to hearing your feed back.

Beautiful thoughtful work as usual sir. Great job.

Thats great. Very cool and different. Thanks for sharing.

Great looking gloves. But i would like to see and hear more about the tape measure with the molded leather wrap. Thats just cool.

Same with my great grandma. She had me cooking and sewing,gardening and so much more from time i was around 5 or 6. She allways said i needed to know how to do the stuff so i wouldn't be dependent on someone else doing it for me. A comment i have for the original post. It sucks when we put so much work into a custom piece only to have something go bad toward the end. I have a scrap pile like most. But on projects like yours where something happens to the surface i overlay with some exotic or embossed leather. Then its a saleable piece with bad spots covered up. Out of sight out of mind.

Beautiful work. I love making the western rigs. And enjoy seeing rigs others have made.

Have you checked frogjelly leather? I find some stuff there sometimes that i cant find elsewhere.

Just wanted to update and say i dont have that blue anymore. I gave a bunch of the leather that i want ever use to one of my little sisters. I asked her about the blue and she said she has about used all of it. Sorry about that. Wish i could tell you where it came from but it was part of a huge lot i got at an estate sale. I gave about half to my sister. Colors and patterns i would never use.

I second stiffer covers. I like 4/5 oz covers and have used 7/8 oz in the past. Then do a seperate binding area in a thinner more pliable leather so it folds easy. I usually just wax and buff my pieces that im leaving natural vegtan.

Really nice work. And im sure it will put a big smile on the ladies face everytime she looks at it. These speacial projects are what i like to call handwashers because its good karma brother. Great job.

Ill look threw my bins tomorrow. Im 85% certain i have a good section of the very leather in your pic. Same blue same pebble pattern. Its part of a huge lot i bought last year at an estate sale. Theres alot of it im never gonna use in the work i do. So if i still have that blue id be happy to work something out if interested.

I use buckleguy allmost exclusively for my hardware. They very seldom are sold out of the parts i use. Except black 1 1/2" belt buckles. They do sell out of those often it seems. But when i get down to a dozen or so i order more soon as available to make sure i have them when i need them. Another site i use for bits and pieces is Steckstore.com

I was just reading threw. Really like the dino pencil case. Very cool. And you say your wanting to do a backpack that he can use even when hes a little older as well. Why couldn't you rescale the pencil case pattern to make it alot bigger? And where the belly of dino meets the sides that transition could be made out for the zipper more like a backpack zipper works across the top. And you can incorporate the 4 legs into the straps. Hopefully this idea will help.

If you dont need the dies i deffently wouldnt pay 800 just for that press regardless of what it once was or has been made into. Like has been said for roughly 200 bucks you can get a hydraulic style press from harbor freight or several other stores. Northern tool has there 12 ton shop press for 180 bucks with free shipping to lower 48. Now depending on what kinda dies are with that press they could be worth quite a bit. Just my 2 cents.

I second this answer. The round hole for the corners keeps them straight. If you want perfect triangle then i would just use round holes for the hole thing. Which would make for a straight stitch instead of the offset diamond chisel stitch.

I really like this idea as well. Would be great way to store all my thinner garment and bag leathers. Thanks for sharing.