erricrice wrote on Oct 9^th, 2024 at 5:46pm:



Looks great! What type of leather did you use?

Erricrice, the leather is fine.
If you want to soften it then oil it - any veg or nut oil will do.
If you want to shape it then wet mould it first.
Find the shape you want it to take, something like a coffee cup base ?

Run hand hot water into a bowl, drop the leather into it and watch.
After as little as 10 seconds or as much as a few minutes you will see the leather change colour as it soaks through.

Place it over your mould and smooth it down - a bone folder is best but a tea spoon works.

Leave it to dry in an airy place with a stable temperature.

2 days to a week.

Oil it and use it.

This process works best on veg tan leather, which is what you look to have but is less successful on chrome tan leather which is the bulk of what is available.

Good luck.
😁👍

Good luck and stay safe in hurricaning badness.

erricrice wrote on Oct 10^th, 2024 at 11:38am:



Yeah as Zud said you’ll have a hard time stretching it if it’s chrome tan. If it’s veg you should be able to pull it over a broom handle with both hands and that should be enough. If it’s not moving with that then it’s probably chrome tan

erricrice wrote on Oct 12^th, 2024 at 8:50am:

 

I'd say time well spent!  I hope things weren't too bad for you down there.  Definitely a scary situation.

First Mersa sling from cheap nylon from Bunnings. The rope is remarkably stiff though, which I think is a good thing.

I'm struggling with determining how long the split in my pouches should be. This is about 5 1/2 inches or more, probably too much. I had some extra length at the end and did this tab thingy as an experiment. Will go down to the playing fields maybe this arvo to fling some tennis balls.

Anyhoo the sling is 30 inches folded.

Absolutely LOVE these netted pouches!  My fat old fingers could never pull that off!   If you ever think of selling, I would most definately be interested. 

I've spent a lot of time and effort failing to produce anything as lovely as these.  Have you tried these designs in natural fibers like linen cord or bamboo yarn?

My new paracord Balearic inspired sling.

I incorporated two finger loops which feel a little more comfortable to my hands. I honestly don't notice any change in accuracy, but definitely in comfort.

I tried something a little different with waxing this time. I've recently just processed some of the beeswax from the hives and was molding the melted wax into bars for storage, I decided on a whim to submerge the sling into the molten wax. It was pretty caked on when I removed it, but I placed it on a baking sheet with parchment and placed it in the oven at 170 F (77 C) for about 15 minutes. It was fairly interesting to watch, rather than the wax dripping off the sling, the paracord seemed to absorb every last drop of it.

It worked nicely, I think I'll do this again in the future. The sling is a tad bit stiffer than the start, but feels smooth. I did have to brush the suede and treat the leather again though.

Agree with erricrice.  Looks slick Sriracha!


@Yeoman - Nice job!  A lot of guys like a tab release.  The one you have is longer than usually seen, but if it ends up working for you that's what matters.


@RhonanTennenbrook - Absolutely beautiful.  You're really getting that style dialed in.