Mablung

That might be part of my issue. It’s 6/7 oz Tandy either Economy or Craftsman single shoulder. Appreciate you checking!

You could, theoretically, make a wallet back with it, provided you use a veg tan or something else with a firm hand to make the inner panels and pockets. But LiftPig is right that it likely wouldn’t hold up to the banging around a wallet undergoes.

Indeed. I love my work, but sometimes I’d rather be making shoes. Appreciate the offer. I was thinking of PM’ing you anyway, as something about the issue isn’t clicking in my head. I’ll do so once I sit back down with my pieces and can start working it out.

Definitely have the spark. Just haven’t had the time. Trying to figure out how to adjust the overall dimensions and get the dart at the back right. Been busy with work, though.

Fantastic. I love those. Stirring me to go finish redesigning the heel piece for my chukkas.

@JLSleather Here are a couple pics of the holster I was talking about. Looking at it again, it seems the stitch lines are in basically the right places, but it still seems it stretched out a good bit. Boning could be better, to be sure. Couldn’t mold the trigger guard much because the pistol has a light on it.

Read lots of threads about “burnishing” and “slicking”. Right now I focus on making my edges uniform with knife and sandpaper, then slicking with water on the edge and a wooden burnisher. Other methods produce better results; I’m just focused on getting those couple techniques down. There are a lot of good resources, too, and there are some search tips somewhere around here for using Google to search this particular site more efficiently.

I gotcha. I won’t actually be much help with that , so I’ll keep my piehole shut so others can give relevant advice.

How long have you been doing leatherwork? That’s a great set of stuff.

Is there a particular reason you think a standard dye wouldn’t work? Water-based might not as easily, but an alcohol/spirit-based likely would. Unless the stuff you used strikes it in a way that prevents effective dyeing.

Lol. That’s two of us, then.

Glad to help in some capacity. What kind of leather are you using?

There’s likely a Tandy nearby, or at least near enough to make a day trip. Take a basic construction class and bring your tools, or just go in and ask questions. Skiving takes practice and a scary sharp blade. The “safety beveler” tool makes skiving easier but requires regular blade replacements. How thick is the leather you’re punching through? Most chisels need some sharpening and will need a good hearty whack with a mallet or maul to go through. You’re probably doing fine and have decent enough tools and just need some practice using them.

Snazzy; I like that look. I’ll try that on the next one. Thanks for the suggestion.

What kinds of issues?

Thank you! It’s a dream to use. Just needs a little tuning as I adjust how I use it.

Just make the dimensions a bit bigger. I made it slightly too small for my sermon notebook, so I cut it down for this other notebook and still made it a bit small. So for the notebook I carry to church every Sunday, I need a bigger cover anyway. This one will mainly live on my side table at home, so I don’t feel like trying to match the dye. I’ll just mix a new batch for the next cover and dye every component all at once.

Finished product. Antiquing isn’t great, partly because I started applying the SuperSheen topcoat too soon and smeared the antique paste a bit. But it still turned out pretty sharp, I think. Left the closure tab raw because I’ll rebuild this thing eventually. It’s been put on a smaller notebook than the one I carry for sermons on Sundays.

Couple of closeups of the edge. I couldn’t get a macro shot to focus, but this gets the idea across about the bevel and degree of polish. It looks more scratched in the pic than it really is. The bevel is fairly shallow, so at some point I’ll reprofile it again to make a more aggressive bevel to give it some extra strength. As long as I strop it every few cuts and don’t press down too much (a bad habit I developed when working with my dull Stohlman knife), it lasts several feet of cutting before it needs stropping. I like it a lot.

You know how you asked in another thread when to become proud of your work, @Thadrick? You’re there. This is beautiful work. That doesn’t exclude improving it, either. There’s always something to improve. But this is great and something to be proud of.

That stimulates a strange mental image.

I didn't explain myself all that well, I don't think. I may need to just reply later with some photos of the holster and a few arrows to try to depict, rather than explain in words, what I mean. It's also by no means impossible that I don't quite understand what my own question is regarding that particular holster. I do know that one of my questions is how to determine on an 80/20 design how to calculate where to place the stitch line. It looks, in the pics you shared, as though you have the stitch line about as close to the firearm frame and sight channel as you can put it, pretty much right along the molding crease. I tried to do that with my holster but am not sure I quite got it right. The retention is generally fine while it's in my belt, for what that's worth. (And I may have described a problem that doesn't really exist, as a result, for all I know.) Tell me if that still doesn't really make sense and I'll try to rejigger my explanation this evening.

@JLSleather, thanks for the pattern instructions. That simplifies the process for me greatly, which my non-spatial, non-mechanical mind needs. I’ll use this for making a couple pancake holsters and refining others I make. When adapting to more of a 80/20 molded holster, where do you generally place the stitch lines? I’m planning to remake an AIWB holster I made a while back, in part because I think it stretched around the stitch lines too much. Trying to figure out how to keep a snug fit without making it excessively tight (some of which will come from improving my boning technique, I acknowledge). One complicating factor is that I have a WML on this particular pistol.

I do not, though I have been considering getting a machine. Not in the budget for a a bit yet, but it sure would make things easier.

Couple shots of the vertical edge stitching and finishing. At a couple points it’s truly atrocious. But the rest actually looks halfway decent on the exterior.