Whacha Been Up To......

000Robert said:
I have got back on my Carothers UF Bald Eagle sheath. I trimmed around the eye, and darkened the back of the inside of his beak with some watered down black paint. I think that I need to go back over the iris of the eye some more with some more yellow. I also don't know what kind of stamping that I want to do around him. What do yall think?

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Wow that came out awesome !!!! Really Really nice work !!!!
I don’t know what tooling would do it justice ???? My first thought would be to have the Stars and Stripes as a background.
 
duramax said:
Wow that came out awesome !!!! Really Really nice work !!!!
I don’t know what tooling would do it justice ???? My first thought would be to have the Stars and Stripes as a background.
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Thanks! I think I'll just leave it as it is. I'm also planning to use Neatsfoot Oil on it, which will be the first time that I have tried it. I'm going to sleep on it and decide in the morning if I want to do any tooling on it. It's a SOB sheath so I will probably rarely wear it, though I could move it on around a little and make it a weakside sheath. Anyway, I'm more eager to get working on some leather pants for my DEK1 since she is my main EDC knife.
 
Well, I have my CPK UF knife and sheath in my steel press. I hope nothing shifted on me. I'm pretty sure that I held everything in place. I put a light coat of super sheen over the eagle. Then I covered it with wax paper before I clamped everything in the press. I wrapped the UF with a few wraps of aluminum foil and folded some back under the tip a little to give the sheath a little extra room at the blade tip. I also left the leather a little long at the handle so I can trim it later how I want it.
From now on after I get what I want to paint stenciled on the leather, I will preform the leather before I paint it. Maybe that way would be better? I hope that I haven't ruined my eagle...

UF-SOB-15a.jpg
 
Alright! My eagle is ok! I lost just a little tad of pink that stuck to the wax paper but you can't tell it looking at the eagle. I'll let the leather dry on out and then start working on putting it together and finishing it up. I left it in the press for 2 hours. That should be good enough.

UF-SOB-16a.jpg
 
It looks like the thunderstorm has passed and we still have power, so I'll start a pot of Dunkin's French vanilla coffee and start sewing up my UF sheath.
I am thinking about this strong-side OWB sheath for my CPK DEK1. I'm thinking about painting a bald eagle swooping down to snatch a rabbit, or the bald eagle swooping down to snatch a fish out of the water. What do you guys think?

DEK1-OWB-1a.jpg
 
000Robert said:
I wish my stitching looked that good... :(
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If there's anything I can do to help let me know. I've found with leatherwork especially that it seems like I'll improve in an area but don't really know how I got there. I wish I could point at something specific that could help.
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
If there's anything I can do to help let me know. I've found with leatherwork especially that it seems like I'll improve in an area but don't really know how I got there. I wish I could point at something specific that could help.
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I guess I just need better tools. Plus sometimes when I punch the holes through, I don't keep the tool straight enough and get them crooked. I also don't have a sewing machine.
I was wondering if a sewing machine stitch is as strong as hand-stitching? If a sewing machine is used and someone cuts a stitch, will the rest of the stitching start pulling out?
 
It's funny you mention that because with these sheaths specifically I'm about to transition to using the sewing machine.

A lot of talk has been had about the strength of a sewing machine stitch and a saddle stitch. A saddle stitch is mechanically stronger, that's really not open for debate. With that being said though, a machine stitch is insanely strong, I think people get the idea of pulling a hem on a shirt and think that's what happens with leather. The fact that the lock stitch is tucked up inside the thickness of leather, you don't really have that. Mechanically it works the same as a pants hem, but the material makes things different is what I'm trying to say.

've ripped apart a lot of leather off of my Cobra 4 in the name land testing and it takes pliers and a LOT more force than you'd expect to peel things aparr and then you get to a point where they simply wont separate anymore. I don't see any user end activity that would make a machine stitch fail.
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
It's funny you mention that because with these sheaths specifically I'm about to transition to using the sewing machine.

A lot of talk has been had about the strength of a sewing machine stitch and a saddle stitch. A saddle stitch is mechanically stronger, that's really not open for debate. With that being said though, a machine stitch is insanely strong, I think people get the idea of pulling a hem on a shirt and think that's what happens with leather. The fact that the lock stitch is tucked up inside the thickness of leather, you don't really have that. Mechanically it works the same as a pants hem, but the material makes things different is what I'm trying to say.

've ripped apart a lot of leather off of my Cobra 4 in the name land testing and it takes pliers and a LOT more force than you'd expect to peel things aparr and then you get to a point where they simply wont separate anymore. I don't see any user end activity that would make a machine stitch fail.
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That makes sense because the leather will squeeze on the stitching. When I'm hand stitching, I have to have my awl to open the holes back up while I'm working on it because the leather will start closing back up. A machine would be a lot faster and make the stitching prettier.
 
000Robert said:
Next month I'm going to get at least one good USA made oblong punch. My belt slits always look like crap no matter how I do them.
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I just picked one up from Tandy a few weeks ago. I think it's a 1/4" oblong. I've been trying to find a good source for solid stainless buckles. So far the only ones I've been able to find are in Novia Scotia, Leather Smith Design or something.
 
Made these burnishing tools (broomstick, nails, superglue):

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My son getting home from day working. If machine stitching wasn't strong enough we'd know.

Mgm8GRR.jpg


This martingale I made him with silver dollar conchos takes a lot of abuse. Constantly being soaked in horse sweat and then dried out and then soaked again. Bashed through brush, takes a licking and keeps on ticking:

yqqIhuQ.jpg


Pk4YdmL.jpg


FZTOzVi.jpg


If machine stitching wasn't strong enough we'd of know a LONG time ago!

HNLRHB7.jpg


7vJNWcn.jpg


q4PDflI.jpg


Finished off a new batch of knives and sheaths:

wpxA8Sd.jpg


vuI0VUN.jpg


y94y7sV.jpg


6T5zXFN.jpg


Wt7ouQK.jpg


Zp8Z7nf.jpg


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Clean, awe inspiring work Dave and a great testament to michine stitching.

On a side note to everyone I just saw that Weaver Leather Supply is giving away a Weaver 303 sewing machine (1/4" up to size 92 thread). I'm not familiar with the machine but the price sure is right😁
 
Redmeadow Knives said:
I just picked one up from Tandy a few weeks ago. I think it's a 1/4" oblong. I've been trying to find a good source for solid stainless buckles. So far the only ones I've been able to find are in Novia Scotia, Leather Smith Design or something.
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Tandy's oblong punches don't say made in the USA so I don't think they are. I'll pay extra and get a good punch. I'll probably need a 1 1/2" and a 2 1/2".
 
Horsewright said:
My son getting home from day working. If machine stitching wasn't strong enough we'd know.

Mgm8GRR.jpg


This martingale I made him with silver dollar conchos takes a lot of abuse. Constantly being soaked in horse sweat and then dried out and then soaked again. Bashed through brush, takes a licking and keeps on ticking:

yqqIhuQ.jpg


Pk4YdmL.jpg


FZTOzVi.jpg


If machine stitching wasn't strong enough we'd of know a LONG time ago!

HNLRHB7.jpg


7vJNWcn.jpg


q4PDflI.jpg


Finished off a new batch of knives and sheaths:

wpxA8Sd.jpg


vuI0VUN.jpg


y94y7sV.jpg


6T5zXFN.jpg


Wt7ouQK.jpg


Zp8Z7nf.jpg


zudbyRg.jpg
Click to expand...

Very nice, Dave! I guess that settles that. I'm a believer now.
 
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