Starting on the holster and knife sheath

[Brokenolmarine]

Don't have to be pretty, just have to keep the clamps from marking the project.  First tooled sheath, worked hard, I thought it looked pretty good. (It didn't). Clamped it.  Plastic teeth left grooves in the leather.  Made covers from the scraps.  Been using them ever since. 

[Brokenolmarine]

Back out for a couple hours today.  I antiqued the loop after correcting some small issues with the tooling that likely only I noticed... then recoated the finish.  I set that aside to dry, and with my tongue held just right, I marked the holster for sewing, and drilled the holes.  The front went where I wanted.  I used a saddle stitch and sewed it up tight to insure we stayed together.  Using dark brown dye, I dyed the edges of the holster and the thread and the tooling, and set 'er aside.  While THAT dried I went back to the loop and buffed it out.  The holster was folded over and I marked the location of the slots for the retention loop and punched those with a slot cutter.  Then I could measure the loop and cut it.  I punched the holes I'll need to sew that together tomorrow once everything is done.

One last task before stopping for the day, I burnished the edge of the holster where the welts are, and they cleaned up very nice.  Looking good.  Tomorrow?  Burnish the edge of the skirt, the top of the holster body, (Which I should have done before assembly... duh.  :roll: ) ... and install and sew the retention loop.  I'll also drill holes at the bottom of the holster and in the skirt for a tiedown, which will keep the holster from moving up and down in the loop.  I WON'T be tying down the holster for quick draw.  :twisted: 

I need to address that rough side to get rid of the ragged look.  A little sanding and some burnishing there as well should help.

Miss Tina suggests taking the square edges off in a few small places and otherwise it's good.

[Gezzer]

It will look very nice once you knock that flesh side down !

[Brokenolmarine]

Out this morning after a nice breakfast.  I made a Western Omelet.  Fitting don't you think? 

I trimmed those curves I wanted, including the bottom of the skirt.  Smoother look there as well.  Then I burnished the skirt edges and reburnished the holster body.  I have picked up tips and experience along the way, and am getting better, still NOT perfect, but looking much better.

There might be some touch up later.    I did sand the entire rough out to about 400 grit, then burnished and dyed the area that will show.  Big improvement.  When I do the next one, I'll line it, avoid this issue entirely.   Next up, I waxed all the bits and pieces again and buffed them to a high sheen, then carefully sewed the loop into position after installing the concho, with blue loctite.

The piece is mostly finished, all that is left is to add a hammer retention strap at the top and the tie down lace at the bottom.  I likely won't use either, but they will give it the authentic look and the tie down lace will insure the holster doesn't shift in the retention loop.  Not bad for a first try at the western belt.

Next up is the knife sheath for the off side.  Waiting for the matching concho's to come in from Tandy.  They are due to start shipping on Thursday after the year end inventory finishes.  I ordered back before Christmas.  Maybe end of next week?

I can build the sheath and use a stand in Concho of the same size.

 

[Brokenolmarine]

I forgot to add, I learned a lot along the way.  In my next build, I will know what to do and how to do it.  More importantly, I will know what NOT to do.

  I made a number of mistakes along the way that were costly.  Duh.

 

[DieselTech]

Nice work. It really looks nice. I think the Concho's really accent the whole rig. 

[DwightT]

Looks great.  And thanks for the detailed description of the process.  I often learn something new from your posts.

    /dwight