Holster for a LV medium shoulder plane

Re: Holster for a LV medium shoulder plane 

Skip in Falls Church

>

Re: Holster for a LV medium shoulder plane 

Skip in Falls Church

>

Re: Holster for a LV medium shoulder plane

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>Nice work...nice driveby too:-)

Any more news to update about the breakfast or is it still a no go? JR

Re: Holster for a LV medium shoulder plane

Skip in Falls Church

>Thanks Joe, it was really a fun project and I've gotten better as I've gone along. Now, if I can just come up with a good interlace design for the flap. (And execute it so that it looks good.)

I'm still up in the air about the breakfast, my primary coverage will be in Florida that weekend. I'll have to see about the secondary one. There's only 4 of us to cover 24/365 so getting off can sometimes be a pain. But I'll keep trying.

Skip

A leather question

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Skip,

Funny thing...I was just thinking this morning while doing my stretches (beats paying attention to the odd creaking noises my body makes), this time about leather holsters for tools. Are there specific types of leather that should be used for tool holsters or guards? It seems to me I read somewhere once that some types of leather tanning result in salts that can cause rust.

Bill

Another leather question for Skip

Dave (Arlington, VA)

>Hi Skip -

First off, let me say that the holster looks absolutely great! After seeing Bob Smalser's tutorial on making a leather holster for his pocketknife, et. al, I've been giving it some thought myself.

My only question has to do with the particular plane you decided to holster. It's a shoulder plane (obviously) and as such the blade should project from the side of the plane body by some small amount. As a result, I was wondering if the rubbing process caused by taking the plane (and its blade) in and out of the holster might not abrade or dull the crisp edge on your blade - making it somewhat harder for your plane to do its job of getting into corners.

Don't really know. Just a question. Don't intend to detract from the fine workmanship exhibited in the holster. The holster looks very cool!

Regards -

Dave

Re: A leather question

Skip in Falls Church

>Bill, I use veg(etable) tanned leather and it seems pretty benign. I've had several of my block planes in holsters I made several years ago and they haven't rusted. I don't know about chrome tanned leather, I don't use it.

I think that one of the main reasons that veg tanned leather is used is because you can wet it and mold it. To do the front bottom part I made a mold out of a piece of 3/4" maple so I wouldn't have to clamp a piece of soaking wet leather over the plane for 6 or 8 hours. Since Rob was kind enough to design the medium shoulder plane slightly less than 3/4" wide, that worked out great. The holster is just tight enough to hold the plane without having to force it in.

I've found holsters to be really handy. It lets me hang them in odd places and if I need to take them anywhere, I don't need to worry about them getting knocked around. If you're interested in doing some holsters I'd say give it a try. If you need any help, I'd be glad to contribute anything that I can.

Skip

Re: Another leather question for Skip

Skip in Falls Church

>Hi Dave,

Thanks for the compliment - I don't do leather working nearly as often as I do woodworking - but I find it fun. If you're thinking about trying it - I say go for it. :)

What doesn't really show up in my crappy picture is that in the molding process, both edges angle outwards so that the blade doesn't come into contact with the leater. I don't think it would cause a problem if it did, the holsters I made for my block planes allows the blade to come in contact with the leather and I haven't seen a problem with them. When I made up the holsters for them I thought about putting a piece on the back at the toe so it wouldn't come contact the leather - but decided to just leave it. I do glue a leather "button" over the metal base for the snaps on the inside so there won't be any scratches.

Skip

Thanks, Skip

Dave (Arlington, VA)

>Just wonderin'. Sounds like you've taken some thoughtful precautions. Again, congrats!

If you can come to the breakfast in January, bring the holster and some of the tools you used to do this work. I for one would be very interested in seeing it - up close and personal.

Hopin' you can make it - but understanding the challenges/trade-offs -

Dave

Re: Thanks, Skip

Skip in Falls Church

>I'm going to do my best to make it - and if I do I'll bring the shoulder plane and a block plane so you can see what they look like. I'm planning on doing some sort of celtic design on the flap so I won't promise how it will look if I haven't finished the work on that.

The Celt in me simply abhors a space that can be decorated and isn't. There's no reason that something practical can't be pretty as well. :) The sheath I made for my dirk really came out well, it's got interlace all the way up the sheath and is probably the best leather work I've done so far.

Skip

Re: A leather question

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Skip,

I've worked with leather quite a bit but never done any "molding". Can you give any more details on your method for doing this?You mentioned that vegetable tanned leather could be wet to mold.I never inquired into how my leather was tanned.I just found scrap leather where I could or bought hides from shoe makers.Where do you get vegetable tanned leather?---Jack

Re: A leather question

Skip in Falls Church

>Hi Jack,

As I understand it - keeping in mind that I'm a lot less experienced at leather working than woodworking, veg tanned leather is the only type of leather you can shape or mold. It's actually pretty easy, just soak the leather down then shape or mold it.

You can get it from Tandy - something that might be a good idea for a beginner as leather comes in different weights and you might want to return it. There are also sources on the internet - my list of them is on the computer at work. If you want, I can email them to you. It comes up on eBay although you might not want to do that until you get a feel for the different weights.

You might also talk to the shoemaker you get scraps from, he may know a local source. If you do any Reniassance fairs or festivals where there are leather workers, you can ask them - they may know a local source that's cheap. (I did that at a big Celtic festival up in Leesburg and got the address of an inexpensive local source. Then promptly lost the address.)

Also be aware that you can get split veg tanned leather, that means that the surface looks like suede - I'm sure it can be molded, but I have no idea what it would look like if you did.

Skip

Hey Skip

Dan Donaldson

>Could you e-mail me the links also? Some of them might be good additions to the links page here at WC.

Re: Hey Skip

Skip in Falls Church

>Hi Dan,

Sure - I'll be working Thursday through Sunday, so I should be able to email them one of those days.

Skip - making a blatant play for sympathy for working Christmas Eve and Christmas.

:-( (best I can do as I was asked to work too!

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>But I told tham no!JR

Re: A leather question

Jack Guzman from Maine

>Thanks. That's alot of info.I'll do a little searching and see what I can find.I wouldn't mind you emailing me a few of your sources if it's not a big deal.---Jack

Re: Hey Skip

Jack Guzman from Maine

>You've got my sympathy.My boss is a pretty easy guy--I work for myself--so I don't work when I don't want to.Of course,I don't get any benefits either. Merry Christmas--Jack

Re: A leather question

Todd Hughes

>I used to do a good bit of leather work, mostly knife sheaths and making shooting bags just about all of it out of vegitable tan.One of the ways you can tell vegatable tan is to look at a cut edge of it, chrome tan will be white in the center while veg. tan will be tan or natural all the way though.Also vegatable tan will not be soft and floppy like you see in chrome tan. If the leather is dyed when you buy it it is probably not Veg.tan which is normaly sold natural.

When I made a sheath I would trace the patten ,[made from a piece of brown bag] on the leather then cut it out.After cutting it out I would put it in some water, only takes a few min. till the leather changes color all over take out shake a few times to get rid of surface water.Then while still wet I would normaly brush on some brown dye, Feibrings,[sp?] is the best. Cut a welt fit it to the sheath and then with an awl punch the stiching holes. You can use a marking wheel to lay out the holes but I never would since I wasn't worried about it being perfect. Using waxed linen thread with a needle on both ends stich back and forth in a lock stich pulling it tight, at the end you just back stich 4 or 5 stiches .I always knotted it off but probably not needed.Now the leather will still be damp and I would put the oiled knife in the sheath, hopefully it will fit! With the knife in the sheath I take a piece of bone or antler and rub the sheath up against the knife to fit it and then burnish the edges. If you are going to draw designs into the leather you do it now.I would often put a cross checkerd pattern in them using an awl and pair of dividers. Let dry. Next day I brush on another coat of dye and then oil it up with somthing like a leather paste.I never liked neats foot oil for this. When dry I would wax it up with some Brie wax and buff with a rag. Can get a good look also by spraying it with some black spray paint and then wipping it off befor it dries leaving it in the cracks.

I have always heard that leaving a Knife or pistol in a sheath will make it rust, probably true though I have found many old knives in thier sheaths that were OK......Todd

Re: In my case "NO" was not an option

Skip in Falls Church

>Besides, you would want all that water out there in the system wandering around where ever it wanted to go, would you?

Re: A leather question

Skip in Falls Church

>You're welcome. I'll see what I can round up tomorrow or the next day and mail it to you and Dan. Merry Christmas to you too.

Skip

Re: A leather question

Skip in Falls Church

>I do things a little differently - but the basic process is pretty much the same. Of course I am one of those that is a bit more of a perfectionist, mix that with inexperience and it takes me a bit longer.

I's guess that leaving metal objects in leather can lead to rust - but I'd guess that wold happen if the leather got damp (or wet). I picked up an older Osborne head knife that literally had a crater in one side of it. It was obvious that the sheath it was in had been soaked many times over the years. The sheath was hard as a rock. I'd guess that if you keep the leather dry rust wouldn't be a problem. BTW, I did rehabilitate the head knife and used it to make the cuts on the holster I made.

Skip

Re: A leather question

Jack Guzman from Maine

>I made pouches ,vests,knife sheaths,I even made a holster patterned after one I saw in a painting.It was made of one piece of leather that when sliced and folded properly became a complete holster.I still wear the last vest I made,it's getting a little tattered. I laced with lacing I cut out of a round or when stitching was needed I used waxed nylon through holes made with an awl.Never knew about the tanning though.I guess I've used plenty of vegetable tanned from your description.---Jack

Water? System?

Don Thompson - Cutler Ridge, Florida

>

Re: Water? System?

Skip in Falls Church

>Ummmm, guess if you didn't catch what I do for a living the statement I made could seem a little strange. :) I work for a large water utility and make sure that the drinking water gets from the plants to its destination while making sure that there's not too much or too little water in the system or any part of the system.

Skip