Borders? Lets build a library!!

[Drayton Calhoun]

Check out mill bits and the like. A little grind here a cut there... I had a mill bit for years that worked great for a bizarre Celtic weave pattern. There are also a lot of Dremel metal bits that work well to for small corner fill.

[sfc rick]

I just thought I would add another border idea I completed on my new gun belt. It's still a work in progress but the border stamping is done.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Looks good. I wouldn't have thought of using the star stamp like that but it works nicely. Thanks for the pic.

[CurlyDrew42]

This has got to be one of the best threads.  Don't get me wrong, I always get fresh ideas when I thumb through my Al Stholman books but I love to see what other people think up and there are some killer combinations here.  Great work!

[Marshal Will Wingam]

It's been quite a while for this thread. I'm resurrecting it with a photo of one of my recent holsters with a very simple and effective border on it.



That was done with a tool I made years ago.



The photo makes it look like I drag the tool but it actually is used by pushing it.

Let's see some more borders, pards.

[Rube Burrows]

Love it Marshal. I recently tried to use a similar tool and can't seem to get it lined up enough to really do what I want to do. It's the craftool pro adjustable creaser thought and while I can get it to do good for making a single line with one part off the leather I cannot get it to work right to do two lines both on leather........if that makes sense.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks, Rube. You need to put your finger on top to push down on the tool as you push forward. Then rock it ever so slightly so it walks forward slowly. Unlike the adjustable creasers I've seen, mine has sharp edges that crease the leather almost like a knife.

[Holsterguy]

Pretty neet tool, marshal. Thanks for sharing!

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Pretty neet tool, marshal. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks. It's crude looking but it works.

[1961MJS]

Hi
I took several pictures of belt borders for a thread on Skidmore's leather cream and thought that the pictures could be helpful here.  I have several hourglass or double serpentine stamps from both Barry King and Tandy.  As a hint, when you pick the sizes you like, buy one from Barry King, they last a LOT longer.  Anyway, I've used both the Hourglass picture in the first attachment.  It looks good, but it is necessary (in my opinion) to draw lines on the leather as a stamp guide.  I'm an engineer, I measure things (except booze...).  I use soft lead pencils, drawing with the side so as not to leave a divot. 

On the Hourglass in the second attachment, I obviously used red markers which I read ARE SUPPOSED TO BE INVISIBLE, but they're not, so back to the soft lead pencil.

The hourglass is more interesting, but more of a pain to stamp.  with the single serpentine stamps, I just draw the outer guidelines and stamp with just a hair between the stamps.  Literally, just enough to see a separation.  I do 12 on the inside (both sides of the belt, and then the outside) so I don't have the whole belt wet at the same time.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Beautiful work, 1961MJS. Thanks for showing how you lay out the stamps, too.

[1961MJS]

Hi

This is a picture of the 4 new Barry King stamps I just purchased.  All four of the tools are very well made.  They are a Camouflage, Starburst #1,  Crown Serpentine #5, a Double Row Border #3, and a Lined Veiner #1 to match Rube's. 

The Crown Serpentine #5 is HUGE.  It is made so that you could (I think) easily just draw a line to guide it's stamping.  Due to the double line through out that tool, it's not really possible to leave space between the stamps and use a molding tool or some other tool to connect the stamps.  I believe that I have one of each size of serpentine border tools (Barry King and Tandy). 

The Camouflage Starburst border is an odd looking thing.  I will probably use it between to border lines about a half inch apart.  It might also be used for a weird Psychedelic era plant connected by vines. 

The Double Row Border #3 is more precisely detailed that Tandy's, but looks very similar.  I expect to use it quite a bit.

The Lined Veiner #1 will get a lot of use as another way to build a 3:10 to Yuma border.  I'll also try what Rube did and that is also in Packing Iron.

If there's a better place for this than the border library, feel free to move this.

Merry Xmas Y'all.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

You're in the right place. Thanks for posting the stamp impressions. It helps others to see what they look like. It looks like you'll be having some top notch fun, now.

[Rube Burrows]

Great looking BK stamps.