NoahL

Hello everyone, This is a sheath for a Mora #1 knife for a swap event on another forum. It is made of 7-9oz horsehide leather that has been heavily distressed in my "Apocalyptic Survivor" style (it's not for everyone, I know ), stitched with pure hemp thread, and finished with Leather Balm and Sno-Seal. The belt loop is a fold-over style that I modified with a slot at the fold and leaving the bottom of the loop open so that you can wear the sheath horizontally as well as standard carry, and that slot at the top also makes it very easy to tie cord to it for neck carry. I'll try and get better pictures when the new camera arrives Thanks for looking! ~Noah

I don't have a mugshot to go with it, but my fiancee got me a stitching pony! ~Noah

I saw those on your deviantArt gallery today--you, sir, are the master of steampunk leatherwork! ~Noah

You are missing your pictures, but I can't wait to see them! ~Noah

Looks interesting, and I would like to experiment with that style a bit--it looks to be big, tough, and worn is the name of the game in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. when it comes to leather. The stuff I do is made to look more like it has taken more abuse than it was meant to, but this looks more like normal wear over a long period of time. I saw a PDF article on doing that look, once, but the only thing I remember from it is burnishing the surface of the leather in spots ~Noah

It's not my style, but I really like the webbed background. I can't help but wonder why you are expecting people to bitch at you, though... ~Noah

Many of the places I listed will have a Tools section on their websites (at the very least, I know that Tandy Leather Factory and Zack White Leather do) and you will want to look for alphabet stamps, which will let you stamp each letter individually. As far as what other tools you need, that depends on what you want to do. If you want to sew the leather, you will probably want a stitching groover and overstitch wheel, as well as an awl to make holes to put the needles through. If you want to tool the leather, that is something I don' t really do, but Tandy has a set of 7 basic tools for that. As far as the metal clasps, that depends on what kind of clasps--can you put up a picture of the kind of thing you are thinking of using? ~Noah

If you Google these places, you will get their websites (also, you can find some at the top of the page on these forums): Tandy Leather Factory, Springfield Leather, Hidecrafters, Zack White Leather, Waterhouse Leather, Siegel of California Any of those places will provide the leather you want. Since you want to stamp it, you will want vegtan (vegetable tanned) leather, which you would be able to dampen and then stamp, and dye whatever color you wish. As for thickness, that depends on preference for bracelets--I like thick ones, and make them out of 7-9oz leather, but you could probably use leather half that thick and still be fine. ~Noah

Having not played S.T.A.L.K.E.R., I am a bit handicapped when it comes to envisioning it, but I remember seeing trailers and screenshots for it. Basically, large, durable, reliable, well-worn items? As for the burned look, burnishing the surface of the leather will give it a darker, burned color, yes. Alternately, you can dye it darker in spots to achieve the same effect--or I suppose you could actually burn it, but that would damage the leather, so it wouldn't be good to do to anything that maintains structural integrity. ~Noah

Looks nice and clean, and I like the pine theme--kind of Christmassy ~Noah

I have been playing with post-apocalyptic styling quite a bit, but I think that you have to make up your mind about what post-apocalyptic styling looks like. I have gone with a pitted, burned, worn look because I am envisioning a post-war type of scenario where there may have been a lot of things blown up and burned. I will readily admit that I enhance that look to play off of the theme more, because even in that situation, it is pretty doubtful that leather items would be quite as pitted or worn as I make them. However, you could just as easily make something in a patchwork style that a survivor would make themselves out of necessity using whatever is available, and that could be post-apocalyptic. On the other hand, you could have items that look as though they have been worn for a very long time, as there would be no way to replace them in a post-apocalyptic setting. Then again, maybe the apocalypse would have spared all leatherwork and it would look completely pristine ~Noah

Thanks! I definitely have a thing for steampunk as well, but I haven't quite reached a stage in my leatherwork where I feel comfortable delving into it, so this is as close as I'll get for a while ~Noah

Looks great, Storm! Did you stitch that with the hemp you went and got? ~Noah

Thanks! I pounded it with a background texture tool from Tandy and with the stucco wall outside . I normally to leave some uneven dying on the edges, and leave them mostly unburnished when I do these, but I figured I would try the burnished edges on this one. I agree, though--it looks too finished for the style. I have never heard of Trekking Biwell, and I have a lot of Sno-Seal so I'm going to use it, but when I run out I will have to look into it ~Noah

No problem Storm. I can't wait to see the card case you use it on--it's definitely nice stuff, in my opinion ~Noah

Hello everyone, This was an experimental piece made of 7-9oz horsehide, only lightly distressed and given a faint striped pattern, with a 100 year old lock plate hanging from twisted, tangled, patinated copper wire. What do you think? Thanks for looking! ~Noah

Thanks! Here are some nicer pictures of it that I took outside today when I had a little spare time: ~Noah

Hi Storm, You're right that in a post-apocalyptic scenario, nobody would need it, but it's the style I was going for--glad you like it! The hemp thread is actually 1mm hemp twine that I got off the internet, but shortly after I got that, I found out that Wal-Mart carries it . Sometimes I wax it, sometimes I don't, and this time I didn't. With the hemp, I haven't noticed any discernible difference in durability or its ability to hold stitches, and since I finish with Sno-Seal (a wax mixture), the thread gets some wax melted into it in the end anyway. I appreciate the advice on increasing capacity! In this particular design, I actually used a welt to give it the space for the cards, but I think your idea may still work with it. I just forgot about the rivets taking up space inside the case, otherwise I could've snuck a few more cards in there, haha. Thanks! ~Noah

Hello everyone, I finally had some business cards made up, and my pockets and wallet aren't exactly the best places for them, so I made myself a card case. I think next time I will make it a bit bigger, since this one only holds 5, but for now that is all I need (I think ). It's made of 7-9oz horsehide leather and stitched with hemp thread. There is a belt clip on the back so it's easy to put on and take off. Closed: Open, with some freshly applied oil at the bend: Thanks for looking! ~Noah

I wear gloves when working with vinegaroon, but really only because I don't like the smell of it on my hands. I've never had my skin discolor from it, though. Very odd...

...and then I saw that Raga came over here and posted . Raga has some GREAT stuff that I've seen on several blade-related forums, so posting right after seeing his thread is a bit daunting. Aaaanyway, here are my 2nd and 3rd sheaths ever! I definitely learned a few things, and I have three more sheaths to make soon, so hopefully those look better than these do. Both are made of 7-9oz horsehide, dyed with vinegaroon, and stitched with hemp thread. I DEFINITELY need some boning tools, because all those lovey marks are from using the handle of a butter knife (the closest thing to a boning tool I have). This one I treated with Leather Balm w/ Atom Wax and a spray-on leather waterproofer, and water beads off of it, so I suppose that works (it doesn't have that bluish tint to it anymore, though, so I probably should have taken another picture): I went a bit overboard with the finishing on this one, to be honest--EVOO, Leather Balm, Sno-Seal, AND the spray-on leather waterproofer--but it looks pretty good and water can't touch it (this was taken before buffing, which was probably stupid of me, since it's nice and shiny now): Thanks for looking! ~Noah

It would have been for straps, but I made due without it in any case. Thanks for the tip, though, and I will definitely check out your bracelet thread! ~Noah

That's just beautiful! I love it! ~Noah

Hello everyone, This is a simple drawstring choker made of 7-9oz horsehide that has been vinegarooned, oiled, and leather balmed. The spikes are the 1in collar spikes from Tandy, and it's laced with military grade paracord. Thanks for looking! ~Noah

Ahhh, we forgot to mention that! Yes, the groover you get from Harbor Freight uses the larger (I think they call it a "saddle makers groover") blades. It makes a slightly deeper, wider groove, which I need since I use pretty hefty hemp thread, but you may not. You can probably improvise a little bit and put something in the hole in the handle to take up the extra space and make the blade snug, if you don't want to get the larger blade now that you have the small one. ~Noah