Leathersmiths.....show us yer stuff, THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED, USE THE NEW ONE

[Dave Cole]

That rig sure looks nice to me  RR, and welcome to the forum.Dave

[Dave Cole]

Just finished this one up, not very Western but leather none the less.My good friend Alan Folts did this beautiful dagger with a carved Mother of Pearl handle and carved blade and I did the sheath inlayed in lizard and a nice black Tiger's eye stone.Dave

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

 Pretty neat Dave, I could see this one riding on a Johnny Ringo rig real easy, nice work pard, and thanks for the look see.

[Rocky River]

I'ld be proud of that one, Dave.

[KidTerico]

Dave ,thats one very nice knive and you out did your self on the sheath. It sure goes good with the knive.OH by the way your right, its not western .KT

[Skeeter Lewis]

Welcome, Rocky! Looking forward to the rest.

Nice work, Dave.

This is a plain possibles bag. I used grain on both sides for the strap so it rides more smoothly on the shoulder. The leather roundel covers a magnetic closer. I use the 'M' stamp as a substitute maker's mark.

[Johnny McCrae]

Howdy Rocky,
Welcome to the Forum. Nice looking Rig. We look forward to seeing more of your work.

Howdy Dave,
Beautiful job on your Sheath. It really compliments the knife.

Howdy Skeeter,
That is a very neat and clean looking Possibles Bag you have made there. Great job of molding!

Many thanks to you Gents for sharing your work with us.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Skeeter, nice work on the bag pard, your work just gets better with everything you post, keep it up, and thanks for the look see.

        tEN 

[Irish Dave]

More very nice work all around. Good job pards.

Damn! It's coming in faster than I can keep up.

[KidTerico]

Skeeter nice looking bag. KT

[GunClick Rick]

I love that Tiger Eye stone Dave,very nice sheath and knife
And that's a darn nice possibles bag

[Django]

Thats a pretty looking knife and sheath Dave
Django

[JD Alan]

Well, shock of shocks, JD is actually going to post something he (finally) made. It's been a work in progress; the belt first, then a  few weeks later the strong side holster, and a month lafter that the crossdraw, which I finished up Friday night, in time to use it on Saturday.  Thanks to Kid Terico for the buscadero pattern. He gave me a double, but I went with a single this time.

Once again a learning experience! I won't try to run a stamp like that down the middle of the belt again; it looks like a drunk man stamped it! I used drum dyed leather for the outside of the holsters, and decided not to dye the lining. The belt is not lined, made from 10/11 Herman Oak, their cheapest run, which of course I had to dye.

Dave, cool knife sheath, as always.

Skeeter, that's an awesome bag. Could you explain how you got the molded look ?   

Thanks guys, JD

[Dalton Masterson]

Good looking rig, JD!!!
Keep it up!
DM

[Kid Terico]

JD nothing wrong with that. Looks darn good. KT

[cowboywc]

Howdy JD
You did a fine job. That stamp is hard to run without a boarder to go by.
WC

[Skeeter Lewis]

Nice work, JD.

You asked how I got that molded look. I wet mold the leather around the bag-shaper, spending several minutes shaping it manually. Then I put two tacks in the offcut area to hold the top edge parallel to the wood. Then I push the frame down over the top. That really helps to define the shape. Then I clamp it all together. Leave until totally dry.Then repeat the same process for the lining, with the grain side down.

I've made three or so of these, and as you can see, my clamping has left indentations!

Hope this helps..

[Skeeter Lewis]

'Nother pic...

[Johnny McCrae]

Howdy JD,
Nice looking Rig! Please let us know how it works out for you at the shoot.

Howdy Skeeter,
Thanks for posting the pictures of your molding technique. Very informative!

[JD Alan]

Thanks for that explaination Skeeter. I assumed you molded it around a wood block, but that second piece is a real winner. That must have really taken some time to build, but the results are awesome!. How much of a gap to you leave for the leather? Could you give the demensions of that bag? With the popularity of messegner bags (man purses) these days I would think there would be a market for something of that quality if it was large enough.

K T called, and we talked about that stamp running down the middle, and now I know why it looks the way it does. Thanks for that tip Terry, I appreciate it, and thanks to all of you for the encouragement

We had a great Western 3 Gun shoot yesterday, and the rig worked just fine. The last 3 times I've shot it's been Wild Bunch, so it was nice to go back to the Bisleys.   

[Skeeter Lewis]

JD, it's not small - about 9.5" wide by about 8" high.

I leave 1/8" gap for the leather. I used 5-6 oz. leather.

Yes, it's a lot of work, both the carpentry and the leather work. If I charged for the hours I put in, (just for the leatherwork) it would cost far more than the market would bear. That's the trouble with hand-made!

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

    Nice work JD, your stitching is looking real good, that rig will make your look like a top gun for sure, thanks for the look see.


   Skeeter, good info. pard, thanks for sharing with us.


           tEN wOLVES 

[santee]

Good job JD!

[GunClick Rick]

Looks like a fast rig there preacher.You should stamp"Like a thief in the night" somewhere..

[Irish Dave]

Nice job, JD. Keep it up.


*******

Skeeter: Thanks for a peek at the molding blocks.