Brokenolmarine

Next I was going to build the strips to hold the D-rings which I'll sew at the upper edge of the back of the pouch. That is how the kid wants them. It's the way she wears the pouch, like a messenger bag. So, I gather up the tools I need. I measure the inside of the D-ring, 7/8 of an inch, and set the strip cutter. Cool little deal. Nothing fancy. Make sure I have the clamps, and the contact cement. Zip, I make the cut and then mark the back of the strip for cutting across to make to loops and then applying the contact cement. I need to leave the area for the D-rings glue free so they will move freely, and have glue on both ends of the two 3" strips. Git R Done.

Once all the grooves were cut, I wet the grooves and then attempted the fold. It actually worked pretty well, and allowed me to see I wasn't going to be able to use the extra 1/8" sewing area, so I trimmed it off. I cut a notch for the bottom and will definitely be sewing the bottom and sides by hand with a curved needle. Ignore the bruise on the back of my hand. For some reason a light touch bruises me up. Sucks being old. I got that taking shirts out of the dryer.

Back at it to begin the build. First step is to try and fold. Groovy.. yup, use the grooving tool. This cuts the V shaped tool to allow the fold, but have to wet the leather to keep it from cracking. I make several passes to prevent tearing. Don't ask me how I know this... It takes a lot of grooves to allow the test folds to see the pouch. A LOT of grooves.

I sent the pics to my daughter after the dye was done and she loved the improved green, agreed that it really popped and was thrilled. The orange however... blech. She didn't like that at all. I sent her a new pic this morning when both of the dye'd pieces had dried fully and she said, still looks like dried baby.. um. She still didn't like the color. I told her I'd dye it red, and if that didn't work, black. I sent her the pic of the piece dyed red. She loved it. "Like the blood of my enemies," she texted back. That's my girl! I may dye the red again tomorrow to get a darker deeper red, we'll see. I am looking forward to starting on the actual assembly. Never done it before. This type of build will be a learning process. Fail, and count it as practice and start over with Veg Tan.

Oh, in case someone was wondering. The wood block in the upper right of the lime green pic holds pill cups. THEY hold the dye. PILL cups turn over EASY and can ruin a project. (They also hold mixed paint, Watco Oil and other things that ruin projects.) I saw the cup block on a you tube video and made one the next morning. I think I might add a couple small holes in the block that will hold a couple paint brushes and an acid brush vertically. You know, stick the NON bristle end in the block...

So, I dyed the first piece of leather and a 1" wide scrap to use as the loops for the two D-Rings. Important to thing thru the project, or I'd either TRY to match the color or say I planned to use black loops to match the velcro. You can really see the difference in the green between the newly dyed piece and the original undyed leather. The new piece POPS. Should be easy to see when Jess is looking for it. When the dye dries, hopefully it will be even. If not, I planned it that way. Now to the orange..... Same thing, dyed the leather pattern piece plus the extra for the D-rings. Ah... planning ahead. It's okay, the orange, but I think the green base subdued the orange rather than enhanced it. Again, I'm hoping it dries even. In both cases, I tried to apply the dye evenly, but the leather had been previously dye, and it's chrome tanned, which I have never worked with. Flying blind. Almost ready to start sewing the D-rings and velcro....

My next step in this pouch was to test dye colors. I intended to dye ONE pouch a BRIGHT green. The other an orange color, so I pulled a piece of the cutoff and sat down at the workbench. From left to right: A dark green mixed with 1/3 yellow. Not bright enough. The center? The dark green mixed 1/3 green and 2/3 yellow. Pops! The end? Red mixed with 2/3 yellow. Works.

Miss Tina has gone to Hobby Lobby for the D-Rings this morning. We drove to Duncan Yesterday. Her twenty year old Bernina started to waiver in Straight Stitch Mode. She was in the middle of a beautiful quilt with 1" blocks. The 1/32" waiver in straight stitch might not have been so noticeable with bigger squares, but seemed glaring to her with the small blocks. Duncan is about two hours each way, but the Bernina Service center is there. She has other machines, but doesn't like to use the embroidery machine for basic sewing, and the antique machines are noisy and rattle, but do sew a nice tight line. He said two weeks, but doesn't hold much hope, that machine has a VERY high stitch count. She uses them a LOT. With our history there, he said he'd make her a good deal on a replacement. If that's what it takes to keep mama happy.

Yup, I cut out panels for two. Hopefully they'll both turn out, or one will. If not, I got in some practice and will have learned a few things. I'll dye both pieces, try to brighten the green, and turn the other either yumm tumm orange or red. I have scraps to work with. Thought I had D rings. Hobby Lobby... Here I come.

I used the hard pattern to cut out the leather. I'm done for tonight, but there is a lot left to do.

After I had the pattern drawn out, I cut it out very carefully and folded it. I wanted to check the size against the original pouch and look for sewing patterns and routes. Ah, size was good, but no... the sewing wasn't going to work. Back to the butchers paper and I added an 1/8 inch to the side and bottom panels to allow for easier sewing. I also figured out that I'll be sewing those panels by hand. I can use my machine to sew the velcro patches on the flap and front panels with the machine and attach the D-Rings for the lanyards prior to sewing it together by hand. Satisfied after folding the new paper pattern, I cut a hard pattern on poster board.

My Daughter has a medical condition that is pretty dangerous and always carries two epipens, and uses a Service Dog. HE has started to have seizures. Cruel World isn't it? So she has to carry his meds as well. She found a little pouch to hold both and has worn them out. She asked me to make her one, rather than buy another. It didn't have to be exactly like the other, just similar in size and shape as the dog is trained to bring it to her if she goes down. If rescue approaches her, he will pick up the pouch and "Give" it to them. Jess had brought some Chrome Tanned leather and said the lime green was fine. She wanted a bright color. I started by measuring the original pouch and transferring the design. Using the measurements, I created one of those fold it, patterns. I did that on butcher paper, actual size, I took my time and was very careful. I wanted the pattern to be as neat as possible, as I know she loves the design of the pouch and has been using it for years. I imagine I'll be making them for a while.

I just practice stamping and carving on scraps if I don't have a project, or make an extra sheath for an existing knife for practice, or for a new knife. Working toward making the western gunbelt.

As I said, I was going to make a nice leather handle, even cut it out, just knew I would never carry the case and take a chance of scratching it. A friend of mine bought a very nice shotgun in one of those wooden/leather carved cases. He bought a nice aluminum case to take the shotgun to the skeet range in. That really nice case never left his gun room. (Guest Room)

Last one for today. This is my Armorer's box. As I was building it, Miss T thought it was going to be a Jewelry Box. Slow and Steady work, so many drawers, beautiful walnut trim. I spent three days with the drafting of the detailed full scale plans and then meticulous cutting and fitting together of all the parts and pieces. I dovetailed all the drawers and they all slide on integral rails. If you look at the front of the box, the grain flows across the front of all the drawer faces. The side of the box is a closet. The top is a storage bin. When she saw the drawer pulls, she found out it was shooting related. "You have got to be kidding me!" She laughed. "You were willing to buy me that OAK and Brass tool chest for the tools last Christmas, it was $350." "Okay, you got me." She walked away shaking her head. Two weeks in the shop for an Armorer's Tool Chest. Hey, Retired, I got nothing but time. The drawer pulls are spent cases. Free, and fit the theme. The hooks the cleaning rods are hanging from? Spent cases in the caliber the rods are set up for, a pair of them. The hook and the brass tip. Note the bookmatched door on the closet for the cleaning rods. Tina said it looks like an owl. I used acrylic glue to stabilize the knot. Fun project, challenging and with the payoff at the end of having all the armorer's tools at hand.

This project was special. Miss Tina asked me to make her a Sewing Chest to hold her yarn while she crocheted. I told her to show me what she wanted to give me an idea. She said plywood was fine. NOT. The final result was made from walnut and spalted maple. Note that if you look real close you can see the bookmatched ends and wings. The wing doors are Meant to overhang to make them easy to open to refill the yarn, or change out colors that she will no longer use on the current project. The center top panel is the FEED control and the holes were drilled, routed top and bottom and sanded glass smooth so as not to interfere with the feeding of the yarn. This was a custom design but was based on several days of looking at dozens and dozens (more than a hundred?) images of chests on line. She used it a lot until she started quilting. But, sometimes she gets the bug, and will crochet baby stuff, or another afghan. I loved the challenge. Lot's of hand plane work, and fitting of the various pieces. SHE likes it, all that matters.

I thought I might add a few more of the woodworking things I have done. I decided to try a rifle case, along the lines of the fancy shotgun cases I saw at the gunshow I attended a few months before. You know the ones, the cases cost more than many of the guns you see, but they are housing custom shotguns that cost more than most people's homes. This case was made from a Single slab of Black Cherry, and took more than a month. It ran thru MOST of the tools in the woodshop and was quite the challenge. But, the finished project was worth the effort. Unfortunately, Anal as I am, I still look at the case and see each and every flaw, and mistake I would correct next time around. I bought a handle kit, then decided NOT to bother. If I want to carry that Henry Carbine anywhere, I have a padded soft case, and IT won't scratch.

Nice work. Very powerful. But I agree with the backstitch. The loops pull the eye away from the amazing tooling and trimwork in the leather. Great job.

I used some light thread on a sheath, but dyed it with the leather to match. Then antiqued it all to tone it down. It's a personal choice. Nothing wrong with it, and some like it a lot. My daughter asked for it on a couple projects.

Holster does look good, but on western holsters, I too prefer darker stitching. But, the stitch lines look good.

77 to 90 Helos, avionics, doorgunner. A few other things I couldn't even tell the wife about.

I thought the one with the brown hair was the photo you worked from. Great job.

I like the color and style of the sheath, very clean execution

My first real project, a practice sheath that Miss T decided she wanted me to finish for her. I was actually just going to tool it and toss it, but she liked the design. Put a hole in the top and I can hang it from a lanyard while I work at the barn... Gave me a chance to actually sew something. She looked over my shoulder while I did it. I still need to burnish the edges and finish the leather. But I am pretty happy with the outcome on the sewing. I took off the "double foot" and installed the" Left Foot Only" and it worked great.

Report post Posted 55 minutes ago Looks like all the votes are for stitching the belt loop rather than using rivets. I'll give that a try on the next pouch I make this weekend. Thanks for all the comments. I'm not quite sure what you mean. And when you wear the pouch, the belt loop doesn't even show. I'll try adding glue on my next pouch. And for protecting the stitches on the inside, is it just a layer of contact cement you put on them? I haven't stitched my belt loops yet but I'd imagine that proper stitches, hammered down afterwards would be pretty much recessed and not prone to getting damaged. °°°° I just use contact cement. A light coat, levels itself as it dries. It's a simple step, doesn't take much time, and for knives and guns, if nothing else, will waterproof the stitching. But, the tip of the knife could dig in.