Littlef

I have not had that problem. I recommend trying it and checking to make sure it printed correctly.

not acrylic, but Tandy has a free patterns in their library. Spur Strap Pattern — Tandy Leather, Inc.

What I typically do, after I work out a pattern, is I use spray contact adhesive, and glue my pattern to posterboard, so its rigid. Then, I have a few different sized paper weights to help hold it down, in addition to holding it with my non-dominant hand, as I scribe around the pattern.

Definitely. That's a nice thing about vinegaroon. If you need to further clean up an edge after its dyed, the material is black all the way through, and not just the surface. Certainly helps with wear, down the line also.

The sizes really are not standardized. I've found that if you look at 5 different makers, each one numbers them sequentially, but the widths are different. I have found that typically the makers do give specs on their websites to give a little clarification. They normally give specs in how thick of leather for the tool, shown in in mm, versus showing it in Ounces. A quick google search should yield charts with corresponding thicknesses compared to ounces. Also - There's not a hard set rule on how much you have to bevel. In general, the thicker the leather, the wider the bevel, but it comes down to making a bevel, and determining if you like how it looks. I keep 3 bevels on hand. A skinny one, a medium one, and a larger one (I have no clue what the numbers are), and they cover pretty much anything I'm doing.

a cheap option is to just get a kitchen cutting board from walmart.

That's sharp!!

+1. I agree with Black Dragon. having the customer take a photo of their badge, above a ruler would be the simplest solution.

love it. that rig is a tank. My friend hunts and carries a scoped revolver in similar a chest sling. He really likes it. I've never heard a suppressed .45 fire. I bet you could make that nice and quiet.

Love those leaves. Great work.

Wow, I like that a lot chuck. Good looking blade and sheath

I have the same concerns about trying to carry a 10" blade inside your pants. That sounds uncomfortable, and very limiting in movement. I'd recommend putting the knife in your pants, lined up how you are intending on carrying it, and just walk around for a couple minutes. Try sitting in a chair, and try getting in and out of a car. I'm sure you could do it, but I don't think it'll be pleasant or comfortable.

looks good! those straps look really secure.

Finished bag looks great, well done!

glad you found it helpful. Post some photos when you’re done. I’d love to see the finished product.

If you're looping the straps underneath, I doubt they need to be glued all the way around. Use a heavy enough leather to support the weight, and secure the straps to the box to keep them from moving around. This leather box has a motorcycle battery in it, so its pretty heavy. Its really secure. The straps are just kept from moving around with the leather bands, but the straps themselves are not glued or stitched to the box itself.

lol, I was just correcting a typo, I didn't realize it would just make a whole new entry. Oh well. I've always polished ball peens. If you don't, you just transfer the dings to whatever you're working on. Same applies to leather work. It definitely makes for cleaner work.

I think the terms you are using are two different things. You bevel the edges to round over the ends, to give the edges a more finished look. You skive a piece of leather, typically to transition two overlapping pieces of leather. ie you thin down the top layer to gradually blend into the bottom layer, instead of having stair-stepped angled layers. That being said, a lot of it, is watching very closely to keep the edge beveler held at the same angle, as you round curved parts. After I bevel my edges, I regularly look it over and make sure its all even. If I find a place that wasn't beveled deep enough, and just run the beveler over that section again to clean it up. Also - it helps to have sharp tools. If the beveler isn't sharp, its much more difficult to get consistent cuts, because you are having to force it through the leather,

Thank you sir. I agree, the psalm swell on that handle is what attracted me to it (and a low price for an old beat up hammer.) When I refinish wood, I try to leave as much original character as I can. I'm really happy with them.

Thank you sir. Yea, I have a feeling there were some kids/grandkids involved, playing in the garage and about beat that hammer to death. Someone was definitely pounding steel with it. They split the handle half the length of the shaft. But it’s back in business.

I agree. My hammers have a few pits also that I decided it wasn’t worth taking off that much material. - it’s really neat that was your grandfathers, and it’s still In use. Definitely an heirloom tool.

Thanks. I certainly enjoy using these tools with some history and character.

That’s good clean work. It looks nice. I’m sure that was challenging, being an irregular shape with lots of little curves.

We were discussing cleaning up old tools the other day. I just added an old Cobbler’s hammer to the kit. Here’s what I did to this hammer – (and the other previous ball peen and tack hammer.) The heads were loose and rusted, so I pulled them off and soaked them in evaporust for a day. Then I took a metal file, and filed off all the gouges and pits from the working faces. I then sanded off all the tooling marks with 80- grit paper, and then worked through 120, 330, and 400 grits. I used my dremel and gave it a final polish it to a mirror, which is overkill. The handle had paint and grime, so I wiped on some paint remover, and washed off the paint splatter. The handle was split, so I pried the crack open to get some wood glue in there, and clamped it closed for a day. Then I sanded the rough gouges, and splintered parts with 150 and 330 grit paper (I was out of 220.) I put a couple coats of pure tung oil finish on the handle. The head has a steel wedge glued in place, so I just left it. I sawed a new channel next to the steel wedge, and I drove in a new wood wedge to secure the head in place. Two corners of the head/handle joint still had a little gap, so I cut two small square wedges and drove them in place. The head is rock solid now.