AlZilla

That August 3rd deadline isn't looking so unlikely, after all. The dye is really going to make that tooling pop!

Definitely like those. Looks like 34 rounds of ammo plus 6 in the cylinder. With my girth, I could probably fit a box on the belt alone with room to spare!

Perfection is boring. Embrace the splotchy. I've struggled with uneven dye jobs. I found that "dip dying" is much more even. You can return the excess back to the original bottle. Also I find that dampening the leather before dying can help. Maybe I'll try the neatsfoot oil idea. EDIT: The bottle in the picture says "2 tone". Did the manufacturer have a recommended application method? It's funny how it seems to have both absorbed more in that dark area and resisted in other areas. Could something have contaminated the surface?

Here's a thread that seems like a great place to start learning about the machines and it's capabilities: Off the top of my head, people generally prefer cylinder arm machines for bags. The little I saw at the above link seems to indicate the Pfaff 145 is a well regarded machine. Stay within it's capabilities (max thread size and thickness it'll sew) and you should be able to sew lots of things.

Now I understand the support strap you mentioned and the low mounted belt clip. So this is a sporting rig, not a concealed carry?

Fun seeing how each step builds on the last. Is this a standard pattern for you that you've tooled before?

Really? 13 minutes between laid out and finished cutting? (time stamps on your posts) Nice work.

Oddly, I was just zooming in and lamenting that my basket stamping always looks like it was stomped out by a herd of cattle. Stampeding. Drunk. I'll take obviously crafted by a skilled hand over die-straight machine stamping any day. I'll be following this one.

Well, it's all written in plain english. Seems like it ought to be pretty comprehensible.

https://smith-wessonforum.com/gun-leather-carry-gear/724748-al-stohlman-holster.html Yeah, I guess you have to be logged in to see them. Oh, well. Annoying, but it's not my board. I won't post links there any more. whatever that means ...

Wayne, Oh yeah, I could see just what you were doing to hold it down. Starting in the middle is a good point, though. I think it'd be easy enough to tip the blade if you wanted a more traditional skive, too. Most ingenious.

As I was reading your post, I was thinking "Yeah, but how are going to hold it taught?" Cool solution. Thanks!

I struggled a bit with where to put this one. On another forum there's a post about a genuine Al Stolhman holster. Carved in his familiar floral style and sporting his makers stamp. I don't know if these are common, uncommon or what, but it's the first one I've seen. Maybe others will find it interesting, too. https://smith-wessonforum.com/gun-leather-carry-gear/724748-al-stohlman-holster.html?posted=1#post142025031

Only 6? Pretty high level work for a "rookie" ... !

How would one make shoes with more supportive insoles? I'd LOVE to be able to make my own shoes but I need a Nike-like insole. I recently wore some boat shoes or something for a few days and my low back went to crap for a month. It still aches.

Here's an extensive page dedicated to Tornister bags. Maybe it'll inspire someone. I like the leather/canvas combo. https://www.militariacollectors.network/forums/topic/5377-the-german-tornister-backpack/

I see it. The provided link here 404's on me but if I enter it manually, it works. So, past all that, it's very strange how it seems to sew in circles.

That's a spammer.

I'd suggest making a video of the problem, maybe the machine sewing where it's not feeding, and post it to youtube. Then post a link here so people can see what's going on. It's just hard to visualize what you're talking about.

But I bet they'd like to know if their brand name is being pirated. Searching for "Coats Industrial Thread" turns up nothing that looks like yours. The blue dot with the chain is something they use, but I don't see any like yours. Interesting. EDIT: A search for "Coats Star Nylon" turns up 1 junk seller on ebay with some. Nothing that looks like a reputable thread dealer.

Actually, I think the whole body is cut from 1 piece of leather. Then the 4 corners are sewn up. Look at the next to last picture and zoom in on the bottom. It almost looks like a seam going at an angle from left front (as you're looking at it) and going towards the right rear, but I think that's an illusion. Imagine laying a piece of paper out and cutting a square from each corner so you can fold it up in to a box shape. I think that's all that's going on here.

Looks a lot like a short duffel bag.

Congratulations on the new machine! Is it ready to sew or a fixer upper?

I've noticed the hand stitching he does before and like it a lot. If you're going to hand stitch, it might as well be different than machine stitching.

I appreciate knowing that. I've struggled with Hobby Lobby level snaps and wondered about better snaps.