Jaboyd2u Report post Posted September 1, 2015 I am a self taught newbie. Started out tanning hides for myself to use later. Then sort of progressed from there. The photo hopefully will post, shows the very first order I made for a guy. He actually killed the gator and had it professionally tanned then aske me to make a belt, sheath and skeet shooting bag for holding shotgun shells. Maybe someone will like it...? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rohn Report post Posted September 1, 2015 Looks good from here. That is really cool - harvesting a gator and having stuff made from it. Looks like you are doing a great job. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaboyd2u Report post Posted September 1, 2015 Thank you Rohn. Appreciate the complement. I thought it was really cool to be able to say the belt you're wearing or knife sheath was from a gator you caught. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
capsterdog Report post Posted September 1, 2015 Very nice. Your stitching looks well done. It is pretty cool to say yea, caught this one and now I am wearing it. Pretty cool. Job well done! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaboyd2u Report post Posted September 1, 2015 Thank you for the compliment. I sew everything by hand. The belt alone took around 2.5-3 hours if memory serves me right. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MonicaJacobson Report post Posted September 5, 2015 That is awesome. You probably don't have it anymore, but I'd love to see if you have any more detailed pictures. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaboyd2u Report post Posted September 5, 2015 That is awesome. You probably don't have it anymore, but I'd love to see if you have any more detailed pictures. Thank you! Unfortunately I don't have real detailed photos of this. I have a couple more pics that are just a little closer and thats all. I will try to post them now.. The bag was for skeet shooting it is made to hold several boxes of shotgun shells at a time. I used the neck of the gator for that part so you can see the different pattern. The sheath was made using the back leg, that's why there are more raised portions there. the the belt was a cut away from the tail to the neck. Giving it a couple different patterns all flowing from the front to back... Closer shot of all together Skeet bag Sheath welt close up of sheath Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MonicaJacobson Report post Posted September 5, 2015 Wow, the sheath is even more knobbly than I thought. Very cool. Thanks for the additional pictures! I've only worked with a couple of scraps of alligator - enough to know that it isn't easy to work with. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaboyd2u Report post Posted September 5, 2015 Hey you're welcome! I was shacked at their different patterns you have on one hide. It was nerve racking for me to say the least. As this was not something I bought but something someone else killed and tanned. So messing up wasn't an option. I made sure to triple check the checks. I am thankful it turned out like it did. This was actually my first attempt at any exotic leather. I had only made a couple sheaths. No belts at the time. Certainly not bags. Thank you for your compliments. They truly mean a lot. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wild Bill46 Report post Posted September 6, 2015 Never thought of any type container? wheather it be for paper, skeet, knives, binoclears, Etc. Nice looking indeed ! Stay with it your a natural. ---- Wild Bill46 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaboyd2u Report post Posted September 6, 2015 Never thought of any type container? wheather it be for paper, skeet, knives, binoclears, Etc. Nice looking indeed ! Stay with it your a natural. ---- Wild Bill46 Thank you very much. Really means a lot. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Windrider30 Report post Posted September 6, 2015 That is really cool looking. How hard was it to cut only exotic leather that I have worked with is stingray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jon P Report post Posted September 7, 2015 Those are great looking pieces. I bet the person was excited to get them!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaboyd2u Report post Posted September 7, 2015 That is really cool looking. How hard was it to cut only exotic leather that I have worked with is stingray It wasn't that difficult to cut. I was using the belly though so that does play a huge role. The back with the nodules would be pretty difficult to work with. The main thing was getting the "fuzzy" portion off the flesh side. Seems like gator hide has a lot of it ( or at least this one and one other one I worked with had ) I had to use a sharp knife and lighter to get it all off. The hide is malleable as well so I used veg. tanned leather as the base to keep everything solid. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkullCanyon Report post Posted September 7, 2015 PM sent Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
l2bravo Report post Posted September 10, 2015 Very nice. I just did a bag with some croc backstrap/armor this week, and it royally sucked. Good job on using the pattern of the gator. That seems like a difficult time for me, during layout. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaboyd2u Report post Posted September 10, 2015 Oh man! I bet that did suck! I had a small piece of gator back an man it's tough. Thanks for noticing the pattern layout. That took me a while to figure out. The hide already had pieces missing from someone else messing with it. So trying to get everything to look right did take a while. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
