Littlef

A little practice on some new techniques. I have my little Coehorn Mortar, and I keep adding new pieces to the Artillery Kit. I just finished the bore swab, which obviously started off as a toilet brush. It originally had a grippy rubber handle, and I ripped that off, and fashioned a wooden handle. The remaining shaft is an odd tapered oval shape, and then there's a plastic ridge where the brush starts. This was challenging to get the leather lay right, and form properly over the ridge. I used binder clips to clamp it in place, and then as it dried, I used a paper folder to work the ridge until it held the shape. The stitch line isn't perfectly symmetrical, but the shaft itself oddly shaped. Its good enough for my purposes, and it was a good opportunity to try a couple things I hadn't done before. And now, it more closely matches the aesthetic of the remainder of the kit.

yea, that's nice. I like it!

I always just use an awl. But I have a little led lamp with a long gooseneck. I bend the neck to shine light low and across the scribe line. That makes a little shadow form in the valley of the scribe. The shadow makes it very noticeable. Laying a little flashlight on the leather would give the same result.

I always cut my feibings dye with denatured alcohol. That’s all I ever used. I don’t think I even knew they had a specific reducer.

Thanks. I like it too. For the thread I used Ritza Tiger thread in Colonial Tan. I think the thread contrast pops against the Spanish brown. I saw Chakotay made a video on youtube using this color combination, and I really dig it.

Thank you very much. The main pad is Spanish brown, the cover over the magnet is Cordovon. I applied a resist, and antique. The antique bled a bit when I applied tan-kote, so its a little darker then when I started. I also think my Tan kote went bad. Its way thicker than it should be,. Its almost a gel. Which is odd, cause I bought it in the last year.

I made this little Shotgun Rest with an imbedded magnet for a friend of mine. This gives you a place to rest the shotgun muzzle for a couple minutes while waiting for your turn, during a game of trap. In trap, you rotate shooting positions after every 5 shots. When it comes time to rotate, the magnet sticks to the muzzle of the shotgun, so you don't have to bend over and pick it up. Then, you just step on the front of the pad, and pull off the barrel when it's your time to shoot. I wet formed around the magnet using a paper creaser. When I got it shaped, I dropped magnets around the perimeter until it dried. I backed it in suede to give it some grip to minimize it slipping around. I sealed it in tan-kote, and then I used Fiebings spray water protector on the suede. Wworks pretty slick.

I remember doing this in geometry. - Probably did this in a drafting class also, but that's been many many moons ago.

I use mine far more for wood working than leather, but it comes in handy to find the center of a circle, regardless of the medium. - the center point is far enough out , that I can see on a quick glance that its off. But I worked out the process and I explained above to get the actual center. (or at least close enough that it works for me.)

I think any attempt to bend this would just warp or crack it. The red base is 1/2" thick and the ruler is steel. At least I worked out a process to make it usable.

I have a similar tool that's aluminum with a steel ruler. Its odd that mine doesn't find the exact center. Playing around with mine, I found a process to get the center point. I draw the first line through "center." Then, I turn it 180 degrees, and it draws a parallel line about a MM away from the first line. Then, I turn it 90 degrees and draw an intersecting lien. Then I turn it 180 degrees again and draw the 2nd parallel line. When I'm done, there's a tiny square in the middle, instead of a single point. The center of the tiny square is the center of the circle. I thought about returning the tool, but I think that's precise enough for anything I'm doing.

I know on the cheek pad on a M1D Garand (the sniper variant) they put a brass wood screw into the bottom of the leather to keep it from shifting. A rifle stock is just an oddly shaped taper than makes it tough to secure a piece of leather to it. You could place a thin piece of rubber between the wood and leather. I keep an old bicycle innertube in the workbench that I occasionally cut pieces off of for various similar type applications. - also comes in handy to make spacers, vibration dampening, or for a non-skip type application.

Good lookin Hat, well done!

lol, thank you very much

Gotcha, yea when the area around the end of the barrel is wider than the trigger guard, retention is tricky. Making a thumb break will definitely help. Another thing I've seen done, to add stiffness, is to mold a strip of kydex and sandwich it between the outer leather and the liner. - that might be worth keeping in mind if you have fit/retention issues as you work it out.

At least you actually have the gun, and will have the light. step one get those two parts together, and trace it out. If you are doing a vacuum form and you are worried about having some deep recess that could lock the light in place, I'd recommend maybe getting some molding clay and press than in any gaps, then wrap saran wrap around that area before doing your vacuum form.

Great lookin guit straps. That airborne strap really pops. well done.

That's a fine lookin scrap pile

All granite places don't give away scraps. I went to the granite store down the street from me, and asked if they had any scraps or cut out, and they all laughed at me. They had cut samples (which I'm sure were cleaned up scraps. ) I bought a sample piece for $25 bucks, which saved me from have to drive around asking other shops.

I think you’re good with either one you choose. A quick google search: Quartzite is much harder than marble is. measuring a 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, quartzite far surpasses marble which is usually around 3. Is quartzite more fragile than marble? As it is harder than marble, it is less prone to daily wear or tear and is also not vulnerable to chipping and stains. Besides being durable, quartzite countertops are also resistant to heat. Therefore, keeping any hot pan or pan on it will not damage it. It also doesn't scratch, even if you use a knife on its surface. and regarding the acid question. Unless you're planning on dumping acid on it, or leaving it in the back yard with acid rain for a hundred years, I can't image there being any impact. If you spill something on it that shouldn't be on it..... clean it off. I believe marble is somewhat porous, and could stain - but I would recommend never dying your leather directly on the slab.

One thing I was doing wrong when I first started leather work was being too conservative in applying dye. I was putting it on way too light, but then I'd have to keep applying more and more trying to even out coverage. By the time I got it even, I would have a very heavy coat of dye. Now, I do thin out the dye with alcohol, but I also use shearling applicators when dyeing. The wool holds a lot of dye. I found that when using the wool applicators, it floods the dye over the leather much more evenly and eliminated a lot of the blotchiness I had in the beginning.

I have one of those green self healing mats I keep on my work surface. It just stays on the work surface 95% of the time. Then I just put the granite slab on that. Depending on what I’m doing and how much noise it’s making, I also have a 1/4” thick piece of that rubbery pondo board. Sometimes I put that under the granite slab to absorb some noise. if I’m punching holes I put a cutting board on top of the granite. You definitely don’t want a hole punch hitting the granite.. Sometimes I don’t even use the granite when punching holes. — unless I have a lot to punch. I primarily use the granite for stamping. If I’m setting rivets I actually have a little anvil. The steel anvil makes quick work of rivet setting, cause it’s designed to be struck. Good energy transference.

I’ve used them as leather washers or spacers. Also if you ever need to put a rivet in a holster, I’ll take a hole punch and glue it over the top to keep from potentially scratching the firearm.

Thanks a lot. I have a lot of hours invested in that project. I took my time to make sure it was done right

lol, I feel your pain. My friend is super skinny. The straps were initially probably twice that long. I cut a ton of strap length off when we did the final fitting.