Brokenolmarine

Thanks for the comments...

You are thinking of the Quilted Pattern. I've done that one as well, and I used the seeder to tie the blocks together on that. The tool I wanted was a Shell Pattern, but couldn't find it anywhere. This Basket Weave doesn't use anything in the corners to tie them together although Don Gonzales does mention it as an option in his video. I have watched several, most all of my skills come from YouTube since there are no classes in my area. (I live among the cows, hayfields, and woods... by choice.) Yup, will start with the shading today, if the arthritis allows it.

This closeup gives you a better feel for the beginning emergence of the basket weave tooling. I have mentioned the magnets several times, here is a peek at the magnets that will run across the center of the display.. you can see their outline on the leather tooling.

I spent two days, and about six one hour sessions (arthritis) on the basic beveling, and it's gotten me to this point... the basic beveling is done. A close up look at the emerging pattern. Tomorrow I'll start enhancing this beveling with the lined footprint by extending the bevels to create a more 3D look and further create the appearance of the over and under effect. A couple more steps after that and the basket weave will be complete, and I can start on the serpentine. Then, I have the magnets to install, the lighting, and the glass front frame and hinges. Yup, we are so close to complete. NOT. Watch this space, so much more to come. So many more opportunities to fail. LOL.

I decided to start beveling the lines for the basket weave pattern. The serpentine pattern will be last, as I don't want to distort THAT tooling by resting my hands on the border while tooling the inner pattern. That's a lot of tooling inside, and with my arthritis, I'll be resting my hands a LOT.

After all that time agonizing over the layout, I settled on a serpentine border for the edges, and a wide tooled Basketweave under and above the magnets. I carefully laid out the design, with a heavy ruler and a sharp pencil. Then cased the leather and cut it in. It was looking good. In preparation for tooling I taped the back of the leather to prevent any distortion of the panel. With the amount of tooling I'll have to do, I don't want to take any chances.

In order to properly mark a tooling window I'd first need to cut and fit the quarter round molding. So I'd first need to BUY quarter round molding. The molding was CAREFULLY cut and fitted over the leather and I marked the interior edge of the molding on the leather with a Sharp Pencil. I had my tooling window. Then I broke down the entire framework, CAREFULLY marking every orientation, every joint, a/a b/b c/c etc. The test fit was excellent. Fail to mark the joints and the glue up could be WAY off.

A bottom was cut and fitted, then test fitted to the frame. NOTHING is even close to being permanently attached at this point, all held with the band clamps. Too much to do before we ever reach glue up. Had to decide what backing would go behind the knives. Blue or burgundy velvet, another cloth, or ... wait for it... LEATHER? I had been making a lot of leather sheaths and thought leather might be awesome. A tooled leather background? I had to decide. The area was about 4' wide and 16" tall... lotta leather. I spent a couple days thinking it over while I played with tooling patterns for an large area like that in my head... It could work... I just needed to commit. I finally committed and CAREFULLY cut the needed piece from a nice roll under the tooling bench.

I played with designs in my head for a week, then started laying out the cut list. OMG... Have you guys seen the price of wood these days? I typed in Oak, and nearly stroked. So I typed in pine. Still was some sticker shock. So I went out to the storage side of my workshop and looked at the slabs I had, and found a few nice pieces. Thing is, it would take some work. This was rough wood, which would mean I'd have to run it thru the planer, then square up an edge then rip the pieces to the width I wanted before I could start cutting to length or adding the angled cuts to form the case. No rush, and the total cost? Zip. Just time. I have that. The raw boards above were run thru the planer, then ripped, and cut, dado'd for the bottom, and test fitted using band clamps.

Since a lot of my past hobbies are no longer available due to physical changes, I do a bit of woodworking, build some knives, and do a bit of leatherworking in the shop. I can also shoot or fish on the good days... (from my kayak mostly) but mainly I work in the shop, an hour at a time. Lately, I have been challenging myself, building knives. I don't sell them, I either give them to friends/family as gifts, or keep them. A table by the front door is laden with them and the wife told me I needed to build a display case to hang on the wall. "Someone could walk off with one of your knives," she shook her head, "We have service people in and out at times." "Worse yet, a guest's child could pick up one and they are RAZOR sharp. Get them off the table and in a display case where they aren't easily accessed." Challenge accepted.

They all look good. Your stitching looks incredible.

I have a Galco Miami Classic I wear in the Winter months to carry my SIG P220 in cold weather. I have used this method for a couple decades, and love it. I carry a snubby in a pocket holster in warmer months. The Tombstone Rig, or just a clip on western cross draw for the SA 357 might be a great car gun for summer.

Looks good to me, especially if you haven't carved a belt in over a decade. I keep saying I'm going too, but waiting for my weight loss to bottom out. Down 40 so far... That my be it.

Fredk, I normally don't go for things hanging from mirrors, and in some states, it's illegal. It was in VA, back when I was working... But for a smaller item like the mallet, I could see it. If not the mirror, the visor mount in the corner, or my gps mount on the dash.

I like the thumb hole, I'd put the debit card in that slot since it comes out most often, and in my electronic scan protected wallet I sometimes have to fight the slots for the contents.

I was thin when I was younger... Now that I'm old and gimpy, I'd need a lot LONGER straps.

I could see something like that hanging from the underside of one of my workbench shelves from a cup hook, or as a Christmas decoration. Better yet, hanging from the mirror in the car... That would be a conversation starter. Nice job.

The Gun in the pic is my Match 45. It's a Springfield Armory Frame and Slide, but nothing else is factory. The rest is after market match grade built by our PPC Gunsmith back in my Competition days. Worth every penny.

I love stag handles on knives and guns. I had a pair of spalted maple grips made from a tree we cut down on our old farm and I seasoned for about two years. Then I made several knives from the same tree. They turned out awesome. They look almost like stag at times. Later I changed the screws in the maple grips on the gun as I thought they looked better black.

Most knives are legal in Oklahoma, switchblades included. I think ballistic knives are illegal. I owned a couple switchblades throughout my LE career, but rarely carried anything but my Benchmade folder. It was faster than a switchblade and did the jobs I needed done better. I bought it around 1995 and they are now discontinued, but It's still my Daily Carry Knife. These days it looks old, worn, scarred, beat up, and well used. Oh, wait, So Do I.

Thanks, I'll give them a look.

Craftool E294. Thanks.

The boot knife from Jantz is their SS444 Razor Edge Boot Knife. (Pg 20 in the new catalog) The background stamp I used along the stitch line was a craft tool E294 I like this tool because it adds texture, but not too much.

The knife fits tightly, and the boot will provide additional pressure to hold it in place. It's hand stitched and I used my stitching pony, which I recently mounted on a base to make things easier. prior to mounting on the base I either had to clamp it to the table or workbench or hold it under my thighs. This is SO much easier.

Tried my hand at a boot knife, just to see how it would turn out. New technique for me, rolled pins. I wasn't completely happy with the result, but I'll get better at those. The copper bolsters were made from barstock. The blade came from Jantz Knife Supply. (knifemaking.com) I have arthritis and can't even think about forging my own blades. The sheath will allow the wife to carry the blade as she moves around the farm doing her morning routine and checks on the coops and the barns throughout the day. She likes it. Front view: Required back view: