It's the flashlights fault!

[miacova]

Well, a while back I had to buy a new flashlight for doing inspections at work, the ThruNite tc12 I purchased came with a cheap nylon sheath that the Velcro quickly gave out on. I searched around on the web and local shops to find a better sheath for it, not finding anything that would work I started looking at some videos on YouTube, and decided to try my hand at making one out of leather myself. A quick stop on amazon for a cheapo leather kit, a trip to the local Tandy store for some leather. After many more YouTube videos I decided to try wet forming the sheath I wanted to make. So I made myself a ghetto jig with a old piece of PVC pipe and a 1x6 got the leather wet and cussed, swore and yelled at it long enough for it to mostly do what I wanted it to do.  After it came out of the jig I managed to make some scratches in it with a swivel knife, beat it with some of the cheap stamps that came in the kit off amazon, put some dye on it and stitched it up. It turned out better than I though but laughable compared to some of the things I have seen leather workers make,  it dawned on me I had fun making it. So some more time on the internet has lead me here, where I am sure I will ask the same newbie questions many of you have heard 100 times before. Lessons I have learned so far,  Fiebing's leather dye does not go on evenly with one coat so a light brown ends up a dark brown and becomes hard as a rock. (I was told oil base Pro die is better) I need more light over my kitchen table, new eyeglasses because needle eyes are smaller than I remember, while saddle stitching if your needle catches the thread and you don't catch it in time you get to start over,  it's best if I use a ruler if I want a straight line. And that comes to why I have joined you all here, I have decided to either enjoy a new hobby and/or punish myself at the same time, I am pretty sure working with leather will be something I will enjoy.  The picture below is of the flashlight sheath ready to go on my belt.

Thanks for having me

Phil

[DJole]

That's a nice introductory story!
Welcome to the forum; lots of friendly people with lots of leather experience hang out here, and perhaps you can learn better techniques than cussing at the leather! 

[miacova]

12 minutes ago, DJole said:

That's a nice introductory story!
Welcome to the forum; lots of friendly people with lots of leather experience hang out here, and perhaps you can learn better techniques than cussing at the leather! 

Thank you DJole, the Tandy leather shop I went to is the one out your way:)

[alpha2]

Nice first project!

I also had a flashlight sheath where the velcro wore out almost immediately. Only time I've seen that. And I've seen a LOT of velcro!

And, cussing at the leather is an ancient and proven method. 

Jeff

[DarrelT]

9 hours ago, miacova said:

 while saddle stitching if your needle catches the thread and you don't catch it in time you get to start over, 

On my first sample project I split the thread with the needle on the return stitch a lot. A tip that I learned on YouTube to avoid that. When you're inserting the return needle, pull both ends of the opposing thread back to leave some space in the hole for the needle. Push the needle through half-way, then pull the opposing thread through the hole in either direction to make sure it's not wrapped around the needle. Once I started doing that I stopped splitting the thread.

[Smartee]

Loved your story   and the sheath!

[YinTx]

Solid first effort for sure.  Welcome to the craft.  I think @bikermutt07 says something to the effect of wanting a new belt and deciding he could make it himself.  $5000 in tools and leather, and months later, he now has it.

2 hours ago, alpha2 said:

And, cussing at the leather is an ancient and proven method. 

 

That hadn't occurred to me.  Always used the method when working on my '68 Ford, don't know why I didn't apply it here.  Might hafta try.

YinTx

[bikermutt07]

Oh you have stepped in it now.....

Welcome to the most fun frustration you will ever find. Even more difficult than fixing up a money pit with your spouse as the only help.

I found this little kit from one of my favorite sellers the other day. This looks very well thought out. I have a few of the tools and can say the hole punches and wing divider are top notch.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F153332451784

It takes a minute to get here, and China is on vacation right now, but this is a fine deal. Even comes with a poundo board.

[GRod]

14 hours ago, miacova said:

... and cussed, swore and yelled at it long enough for it to mostly do what I wanted it to do.

 

5 hours ago, alpha2 said:

And, cussing at the leather is an ancient and proven method.

 

3 hours ago, YinTx said:

That hadn't occurred to me.  Always used the method when working on my '68 Ford, don't know why I didn't apply it here.  Might hafta try.

Around these parts I call such vocabulary "project language".  As in...

Q: How  in the world did you get that motorcycle tire on the rim yourself without the mounting rig?

A:  I used every screwdriver in the house and lots of project language.

[alpha2]

Project language...I'm using that from now on. No more cussing for me!

[Joshstrange]

That's how I got started.  this time.  I was sick of cheap store wallets so i bought the minimal stuff to make a wallet and now several thousand later and a lot of lessons learned I have started to sell stuff.  I originally got started because I was sick of my cheap nylon knife sheath so I bought a 4 in 1 awl some leather and dye and made one, that was 10 years ago.  those sheaths were primitive at best and I quit doing leather work for about 9.5 years and am just getting back into it.  The good news is as long as you learn from your mistakes it only gets better.