madmaxthesniper

Spend the entire evening meditating:

Russkie! Don't ask me over and over what it is! I mentioned it thousand times before. It's:

I suck at sharpening. ;)

All I have to do now is to sharpen it.

And that's would be the last step.

All I have to do is to sharpen it.

I used the similar technique to the katana handle traditional wrapping, called tsuka-maki, using thin leather strip, few strings of nylon and a drop of glue.

After Lyxol dry (the leather softener I used on the string) it should be the same color as the strings on the holster.

All I have left to do is: craft a ring to put his cord on the knife, sharpen the blade and make a fluffy padding inside the holster.

Hopefully tomorrow. And photoshoot too. :)

I was totally swallowed by beadmaking tonight.
This is how it looks in my place.

These beads will be on holster leather strings and on pull-out string.

Used thin leather strip and a little bit of Crazy Glue.

All I have leaft is to treat leather sides and make a small bead for the loose ends.

Why does it take so long?

Because many different things come at play, and after glueing one you have to wait for glue to set, and without this thing other one will not fit properly etc. Yesterday for an example I first of all set in and glued the bottom part of the button lock:

Please note the screw - it not only covers the inside, but also helps to hold button in place.

Then the leather strap was glued:

And now I can see where to place the top part of the button. And with top part I can gut the strap to size. And after... list goes on and on, but the mainthing is - it's like a chain, cannot do 2 things in parallel.

Today: lacing. Will be fun, stay tuned!

Sanded and lightly polished the holster.

Finish is automotive acrylic laquer, clear gloss, used airbrush to spray it on. STINKY!!! But totally worth it.

Sanded down all the nooks and crannies of the holster to 1200 grit. And bathed it in oil.

Oil will penetrate the wood and protect if from moisture and warping in the future, and the layer of polyurethane will shine and protect it even further.

But let linenseed oil dry first. :)

Dust of this wood is really bad.

That little cut-off on the side is for the pull-out string.
Thanks for patience mister Spiner, now when it's time for leather lacing and strapping it is real easy to screw this majorly. Walls are thin.

Goddamn dust, makes me dizzy...

Marine-grade epoxy.

Came out perfect.

Thank you Lord for this glorious invention!

5-6mm in one pass - no problem.

Fast, huh? :)

I made it to fit very loosely since I'm planning to line the inside with some fluffy stuff.

Aftermath:

Tons of chips and very unhappy Kia. =^_^= Dyson to the rescue!

Holster will be made out of wood. To be exact - black ash.

I would not say it was a great challenge to split it in two...

But it was tough enough. Then sanded it down smooth.

Thank God I wore a mask - dust is very fine and thermonuclear.

Yesterday I finally met Brent in person and polished the technology of how to splice a leather string into two:

Made a nice new bead:

And braided the string using the same method of wrapping a handles of samurai swords:

Came out quite nice! Good size and color.

Dunno what will come out of this, was never good with leather.

Beads are ready, but stuck on mandrel again. How to get them out I have no slightest idea.

But I was right and yellow Brenzomatic produces enough temperature to melt glass reliably.

No need to be very precise and accurate.

I made a big and expensive mistake with leather, just corrected. Today will continue.

UPD: OF COURSE they don't have it in stock, bastards...

Ordered some Kodiak cow hide upholstery leather from

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/department/cowhide/9075-03.aspx

Wee-heee! I thought they are out of business! Damn this shit's expensive even on sale.

Tooling leather I have is boring.