A simple basketweave holster

[Boriqua]

I dont know that I did anything amazing with this but the leather is a show stealer. Sometimes you get lucky and this last roll has some great striations running through it that I like alot. Give it up for happy accidents!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rohn]

Very nice work!  I like it a lot. Your basket weave looks very nice.

[bikermutt07]

Looks great.

[torker32]

Very nice work..

[Red Cent]

Exceptional.

What is the color? Dye?

[Boriqua]

That is a combination of Fiebings Dark Brown, Pro oil black, Saddle tan, medium brown and medium brown stain. I charge an extra $5.00 for these but they are a bunch more work and time due to curing between applications of color than many of my other holsters but I really like making these and I love the result so I chalk up the lose in time to my own amusement and march on. I’m not sure anyone who buys them knows how many more hours they entail but ... if I am not stretching to make the most cool stuff I have the capability of then what’s the point.

[OLDNSLOW]

Is that some H.O. leather?  or? Are you doing one coat at a time to reach the end results?  Also what wait leather do you use for your builds?

 

Thanks

O n S

Ron

[plinkercases]

Interesting choice not to use a cammo to boarder your weave.... very straight forward... I may try this approach if the right piece presents itself.

And beautiful finish on it. Well worth the time even if only you know the time!

[Boriqua]

I got this roll from weaver and it is there regular 8/9 oz double shoulder. Its usually good to very good but this last roll I got was excellent and draws up dye wonderfully and has some really nice figuring. I actually like it very much when there is some soul in the leather and when I used to go pick it out at tandy I gravitated toward the rolls most other people turned their nose up at. I was all over the ones with wrinkles and fat marks. The weaver leather is pretty consistent though and I never have to deal with hairy nasty flesh sides like I did with Tandy and the price is great. I have been VERY happy with the Weaver stuff.

I am not against cammo at all but on this and a bunch like them I just like to bring the color of the wings up onto the basketweave so it fades in. So this one starts out with just a mist of black at the edges then transitions to dark brown, medium brown up on to the basket weave which was base coated with saddle tan and then antiqued with brown. I apply the colors separately and let them dry before applying another. I used to just blend them all in wet but then I had to wait for it to dry and hope I got what was in my head and I didnt like the loss of control so this method works out better for me but the holsters take longer to do. Here are a couple with cammo and it just depends what I am doing and what I am feeling the day I start out. I do less custom orders than I used to so now I make what I want and put it up for sale and hope for the best.

 

Opps edited to add

The dark brown is built up on the original post. I saturate it pretty well but then let it completely dry and feather in more individual coats until I am happy. I am guessing that is what is really picking up the striations by not burying it in heavy dye.

 

Edited May 22, 2016 by Boriqua

[rickdroid]

No matter how you do it, you cannot argue with such great results.  I truly hope that some day I can come close to your quality.

rick

[LederRudi]

8 hours ago, plinkercases said:

Interesting choice not to use a cammo to boarder your weave.... very straight forward... I may try this approach if the right piece presents itself.

And beautiful finish on it. Well worth the time even if only you know the time!

Yeah, as uncompromising as the german purity law...mallet, stamp and leather, nothing else!

I like that holster a lot (the other two no less). And, yes, the color is beautiful!

[Toney]

Very nice

[OLDNSLOW]

I meant to ask are you air brushing or using a dauber?

Thanks

Ron 

[klaykrusher]

I like these a lot!  Very nice Boriqua!  Gonna have to experiment with your dyeing process....

[Boriqua]

15 hours ago, OLDNSLOW said:

I meant to ask are you air brushing or using a dauber?

Thanks

Ron 

Hey Ron

The dye for this gig was applied with an airbrush. I probably use my airbrush 98% of the time now.

[OLDNSLOW]

Thanks, I keep going back and fourth between air brush and dauber when doing my coloring as I only have the harbor freight brush currently.

[Boriqua]

1 minute ago, OLDNSLOW said:

Thanks, I keep going back and fourth between air brush and dauber when doing my coloring as I only have the harbor freight brush currently.

The harbor freight works fine and I still use mine sometimes but it has mostly become my wifes so she leaves my iwata alone. I used my harbor freight exclusively for a couple of years.

I often use a combination of air brush and dauber on the same project. I find that i can get streaky results with the dauber alone so if I want to lay down alot of color quickly, like maybe the black on the back of a holster, I will spray it first fairly wet which seems to open up the pores and gives a nice smooth start and then I immediately go in with the dauber and lay down some dye. I find that I get a much nicer result than when I use the dauber alone. I havent done any scientific testing as too what happens but I know I get a much cleaner, faster solid color when I do it that way.

[OLDNSLOW]

Thanks for the info I will have to try that.

[splinters]

Well done Boriqua and thanks for taking the time to post this.

P.S. Very interesting that the basket weave is bordered by the stitching. Looks very good IMO.

Edited June 24, 2016 by splinters

[JLSleather]

You know, a 'real' tradesman would lined up the basketweave with the fat wrinkles

I'm jus' playin -- that looks GOOD