New projects just finished...

[Peterk]

Hello all,

Here are a few new ones I just finished:

Sig P225

1911 Belt slide to fit government, commander, and officer sizes

First knife sheath for a Gerber knife - This will be my gift to a professor of mine for his 50th anniversary of teaching.

Thanks.

[rdb]

They all look damn good to me. Color is good. Stitches look clean. Shapes and cants look good .

I'm not sure I like the closed barrel end, unless I'm missing seeing an opening. It looks like one piece of leather folded over to make the holster, if so...kudos in making a pattern to work like that.

[Peterk]

They all look damn good to me. Color is good. Stitches look clean. Shapes and cants look good .

I'm not sure I like the closed barrel end, unless I'm missing seeing an opening. It looks like one piece of leather folded over to make the holster, if so...kudos in making a pattern to work like that.

Hi rdb,

I believe you are talking about the Sig holster? There is definitely an opening on the bottom of that holster, since I don't like closed holsters either for functional purposes. What I did was when I drew up the pattern, I left a bit more material on the bottom and just folded it in when molding. The knife sheath also has a drain hole on the bottom; I cut the gusset just short to leave a bit of room.

[WaG35]

Those are beautiful PeterK. Very nice.

[MADMAX22]

Very nice looking. Interesting take on inlay for the knife sheath,

by the way which color did you use to dye the first holster. I really like that finish.

[Randyc]

Peterk

Nice job on those holsters and sheath. I really like that shade of brown. How did you do it?

Randy

[Peterk]

the Sig and 1911 holsters were dyed with a 50/50 mix of light mahogany and bison brown (Eco-Flo) on the first airbrush coat, just bison brown on the second coat, one light coat of neatsfoot oil, then finished with a coat of Satin Sheen. The edges were edge koted and waxed.

the sheath was done with two coats of bison brown, one coat of neatsfoot oil, then finished with satin sheen. For some reason when airbrushing bison brown on leather, it always comes out with a slight sheen and look more like metallic bronze. I usually wipe the holsters with a microfiber cloth right after airbrushing to take out that metallic look, but this time I left it on. The neatsfoot will take some of the sheen off and it actually turned out pretty good I think.

Thanks all.

[badger]

Oh, I'm a fan

I really like the colour and the stiching.

Very cool.

Karl

[GregGaub]

The finish is what caught my eye as well. It's simply gorgeous!

That's an interesting finishing technique you got there. I've been thinking about trying an airbrushed finish, but a compressor would be a hard sell with the bank (wife ;-) and I hear airbrushing with cans of air is an exercise in frustration. I especially want to use an airbrush for finishes. It's really frustrating to add a finish, with the lightest of touches, and still have some dye come up. If I'm not watching like a hawk, it ends up somewhere else on the item.

[Peterk]

The finish is what caught my eye as well. It's simply gorgeous!

That's an interesting finishing technique you got there. I've been thinking about trying an airbrushed finish, but a compressor would be a hard sell with the bank (wife ;-) and I hear airbrushing with cans of air is an exercise in frustration. I especially want to use an airbrush for finishes. It's really frustrating to add a finish, with the lightest of touches, and still have some dye come up. If I'm not watching like a hawk, it ends up somewhere else on the item.

I've been involved in plastic modeling and firearms refinishing for some time now so applying finishes via airbrush onto anything seemed like the natural, and right process to do. I actually tried wool dauber and foam paint brush on test pieces to see how the finish would come out but all that did was reinforce the airbrush choice. If I want a bit of antigued/worn look to the holsters I will use the foam brush to apply, or apply via airbrush and drag the foam brush across the surface while it is drying.

The water-based dyes, thinned just a tiny bit with water (or not), would require no more than 25psi of pressure to apply evenly, so a simple tankless compressor could be had for not too much money, like this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=92403

Do not waste your time with canned air like the paasche basic kits, or the preval sprayer. You will spend more money on canned air than a compressor.

Edited December 23, 2008 by Peterk

[Shorts]

For some reason when airbrushing bison brown on leather, it always comes out with a slight sheen and look more like metallic bronze.

I see that on Bison Brown as well. I usually spray through that until it no longer has that metallic color and ends nice and dark.

The coal black does get that blued/red metallic look as well.

I've found the following coat of Resolene darkens everything to its proper color.

[Twosons]

... a simple tankless compressor could be had for not too much money, like this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=92403

Do not waste your time with canned air like the paasche basic kits, or the preval sprayer. You will spend more money on canned air than a compressor.

That's the same one I use to refinish my firearms. Works like a champ. I caught it on one of their sales and used a 20% off coupon. It ended up running about $35ish.

I hated the canned air route. It is expensive and the cans freeze up.

I love that 225 holster. That color is outstanding.

Edited December 24, 2008 by Twosons

[Peterk]

Thanks all!

To darken the Bison Brown, or any color for that matter, a light coat of neatsfoot oil does it for me. Just can't put too much otherwise the holster is useless.

[MADMAX22]

Hey Peter I was wondering for your inlays do you just glue everything. I see you didnt stitch the top portion, is the bottom half stitched and the top glued.

[Peterk]

Hey Peter I was wondering for your inlays do you just glue everything. I see you didnt stitch the top portion, is the bottom half stitched and the top glued.

The inlays shown through the "windows" are just large enough for the windows. The inside of the sheath is lined with the same faux allegator with the glazed side against the knife and the smaller window pieces are glued flesh to flesh to the liner.

The glazed allegator-print side would not stick to anything, including the flesh side of the outer cowhide, using any glue, so I had to glue another larger piece of faux allegator's flesh to the flesh of cowhide, and just use smaller pieces shown through the windows. Don't know if that makes any sense, but no, I did not sew it, and the cement is holding the pieces strong. This won't be for hard use as I will be recommending my Professor to use the nylon sheath that came with the knife during daily chores on his Elk Farm, and use this leather sheath for special BBQ events.

[MADMAX22]

The inlays shown through the "windows" are just large enough for the windows. The inside of the sheath is lined with the same faux allegator with the glazed side against the knife and the smaller window pieces are glued flesh to flesh to the liner.

The glazed allegator-print side would not stick to anything, including the flesh side of the outer cowhide, using any glue, so I had to glue another larger piece of faux allegator's flesh to the flesh of cowhide, and just use smaller pieces shown through the windows. Don't know if that makes any sense, but no, I did not sew it, and the cement is holding the pieces strong. This won't be for hard use as I will be recommending my Professor to use the nylon sheath that came with the knife during daily chores on his Elk Farm, and use this leather sheath for special BBQ events.

Thanks for the info, pretty sure I understand it.

Depending on what you used to glue it it should hold up just fine even for the rough stuff. I know that when I use the white leather weld stuff or contact cement if I do it right I need to allmost destroy the leather to get the two parts seperated.