katsass

From the grumpy old guy: Well, you learned a valuable lesson IMO -- multitasking holsters just don't work out too damned well at all. Holsters are made (again IMO) to do one thing primarily -- hold that shooter securely in one place so that you know exactly where it is when you need it. Now, I no way am trashing your workmanship and/or execution of the rig you put together, BUT (that word always seems to show up in my evaluations) I feel that nothing has been gained in the style of rig you have produced over a standard pancake or, (my preference) Lobo's design of the 'Enhanced Pancake' holster. It/they use less leather, have no nasty snaps or straps, and keep the shooter in tighter and more secure to the body. I'm generally against snap closures, straps, T'nuts, springs, and such, so frequently now being used to assist in the retention of the firearm in the holster and/or securing it to the belt. Snaps can (and do) break or malfunction; Straps can (and do) become stretched and/or (more often) unsnapped at the least opportune moment; 'T'nuts were designed for wood working and can (and do) loosen with movement when used in leather; and to rely on a spring to assist in the retention of MY shooter in the holster, just ain't gonna happen ever again -- been there and done that. I'm very much a traditionalist in my design and work in holsters, and feel that, in most cases, less is more. The idea of an 'easy on -- easy off' rig is, in MOST cases not a necessity, just a convenience. While working in plain clothes I did use one, and since my Dept. required our gear to be of 'commercial manufacture', I found one I felt to be the best. That was some years ago, but the holster was made by AKER, and was an 'easy on' and (sort of) 'easy off' paddle holster and held fairly well in place. There were times, back then, that I needed to ditch a shooter in a hurry, lest someone 'accidentally' brushed up against me to see if I was carrying. Other than that type of situation I see very little reason for them and prefer to know my holster is solid and secure where I want it. After all of this, my point is to maybe look at what you really want to do do with your rig, and what the benefits are to the design you choose. Again, NO kick with your workmanship. You have executed your design well,and have done a good job. I just go off on a soapbox sometimes. Mike

From the old grump: Before you decide to hand stitch (notice I didn't say 'sew' --- sewing is what Granny does on a dress) most anything, PRACTICE -- a LOT. Get it down well, each stitch done EXACTLY as the previous one in every way, or you will be dissatisfied with your outcome, Also --- take your time.. JMO. Mike.

IWB Kydex. Mike

From the old grump: Some of my holster and most all of my knife sheaths are lined with 2/3oz 'Tooling' sides from Springfield leather. Give them a call. Mike

Jake, thanks a bunch -- exactly what I need. Dealt with them some time ago, they weren't too bad. Mike

Every so often i want to add a brass belt tip to a project. Anyone know where I can get just plain polished brass belt tips? I only need a few, so am not in the market for a whole bunch. Mike

From the old grump: What I said before. The katsass be a southpaw -- been that way for over 70 years. Mike

O.K. From the grump; Sounds like you have it going pretty well, BUT--- #1: ALWAYS start a stitch from the same side. Front or rear doesn't matter -- as long as you always poke that first needle from the same side. #2; Poke the needle through and snug up well, pull to thread back towards yourself and stick your second needle in the hole from the opposite side. #3: Pull the second thread up until you have a small loop remaining --- NOW, look at where the thread from your first needle is placed --- it's either inside of that loop or outside. I personally keep it outside. If inside it will ride on top of the first thread when pulled tight --- outside it rides below the first. #4: Decide which way is easiest for you and either pull that first thread out of the loop, or leave it. Pull the second thread up snug, give them both a tug and go on to the next. Remember that each single stitch MUST be done EXACTLY the same as the previous one -- or, one side or the other of your work will appear to 'wobble' A pic of a holster showing both sides of my stitching. Mike . ,

tietz, I agree with you on tack, however, a very large part of what's going on now is the atempt to emulate, primarily, the Spanish influence of leather carving, and, the styles of the 'cowboy' era, (with some modern twists tossed in) --- post civil war. Especially in saddles and gunleather. Mike

From the grump; As a rule of thumb --Don't get veg-tanned leather over 150 degrees - it'll do strange and nasty things ti it's self. Mike

From the grump: Your questions take me back in time; The first piece of dead cow skin I ever messed with was when I needed a holster for my first handgun -- an S&W K-22. That was in the early '50's. I was 13 or 14. We had some skirting leather on the ranch and I saw some pictures of holsters in (probably) the American Rifleman. Started figuring and messing around and came up with sort of a pattern for a Mexican skirt holster. I had a good knife (needed in leatherwork) , ungainly and ugly, but it holds an edge. I still have it and use it. With that knife I cut the pattern, wet the hide down and folded things where they needed to be folded. I marked hole spacing for lacing (didn't know how to stitch, but found a spool of leather lace) with a table fork and punched holes with a nail. Laced that puppy up and carried that rig 'till I left the ranch -- and a step father -- at 17, when I graduated from High School. In the meantime I had learned to stitch and repair horse tack, still with very basic tools; a knife, an awl, needles, a gouge -- that was about the extent of things. What all this story says is that you CAN use some pretty rudimentary stuff to get a basic, usefull item done. My advice is to get a few books that cover the basics of construction with leather. Learn to stitch well, and how to 'work' leather. After that, if you wish to go on to tooling, stamping and carving, you can get books on that area. Each area of endeavor will require different tools, and the books by Al Stohlman (for example) will list those needed items better than a bunch of us can try to put together a list for you. Each of us do somewhat different things in our work, and rely on somewhat different tools, and each of us have our favorites well as favorite (and differing) methods. AND, if you are a southpaw like I am, that can really foul things up too. JMHO Mike.

From the grump: It kind of depends on what you are making IMO. A supple wallet is nice, but a bit too much neatsfoot oil on a new wallet can burn your butt -- literally. For a rifle scabbard, I'd want it fairly rigid -- to absorb some of life's little 'hard knocks'. Holsters now, I make sure they are quite rigid. I make mine from two layers of light weight leather, 4/5oz, bonded together on the flesh side. When wet molded these become more rigid than does a single piece of leather of comparable weight, and I want them that way.. In the application of neatsfoot (or any 'conditioner'), moderation is the key. As Rawhide says. LIGHT coats. .All of my stuff gets a light coat of neatsfoot oil, prior to the application of a finish. I use an airbrush, however most any method works fine. A key to remember is that neatsfoot doesn't dry, it attempts to uniformly penetrate the fibers, and that takes a bit of time. I allow 24 hours after application before I start finishing. Remember that leather items become more supple with time and use. Just like a new pair of leather work gloves -- they don't feel right 'till you work in them a while. Mike

I agree with your characterization of the differences between American and English leatherwork. You must understand that the English have centuries of tradition to maintain, while here in the U.S. most of the leather work is the result of trying to keep alive the traditions and workmanship of our 'western' era, post civil war (around 1860 or so). It's primarily done by individual and independent craftsmen --- most of us learning bits and pieces as we go. Ask any three American leather craftmen how to do one thing, and you'll get four differing answers. Hell, we've not got the centuries of tradition and example that you do. We've only been a country of a combination of French, English, Spanish, Irish, German, Russian, etc. mutts that left every civilized nation in the rest of the world less than 300 years ago. But we try our best. Mike

Very nicely done. Mike

From the grump; George, you done good. I like it, good design and workmanship. Mike

Emmabeth, some of the finest leather work I have ever seen is from England. I'm very sure that English and American methods differ in ways I do not know. Basically many are the same however. On that holster I used an old Osborn awl and actually 'fished' those holes from one side then the other. Instead of using the awl, then a single stitch, as one does when working at it as a full time job or vocation, (and many do that in the U.S.) I punch all of the holes at one time, then go to stitching while watching the tube in the evening. I'm a small, one old man operation, doing nothing but custom holsters and knife sheaths. I work slowly -- as NOBODY expects an old man to do anything in a hurry. Mike. i

From the grump; get the sharpening jig. No matter how good you are trying to maintain the angle, you won't be able to do so well enough. Get it, set it and leave it alone. Mine has been set for over 40 years.Stone it evenly and strop with super fine white polishing compound -- then bare leather. Mike

Design

No, very seldom do I insert a welt at all. Only when absolutely necessary. I call that edge the welt because it's the welt edge, and is better than calling it a seam. Mike

OK, first the holster is considered to be a Mexican Skirt holster --I drew and modified this for the 1911 pistol. Here's a pic of basically the same style of holster, but done as an historically accurate one As a sideline, If you are really interested in holsters and how they progressed from the time of the civil war, up to the tail end of the 'golden age' of the movie shot-em-up westerns, get hold of the book "Packing Iron" by Rattenbury. To make the thing in question, I cut out the pattern from 4/5oz shoulder. Cut the 'window' in and burnish the edges of it. Dye the whole flushdingering thing. Cut the ostrich shin leather around 3/8" larger than the window -- all around. Glue that puppy in place and stitch it down (closely) around the edge of the window. Cut a mirror image of the pattern in 4/5oz shoulder, and use contact cement to stick the two flesh sides together -- right over the back side of the inlay.Burnish all edges except the welt. Start stitching all around except for the welt. Wet it down, fold where needed and let dry. Stitch the welt. Wet mold, trim, sand and burnish the welt Apply finish --Simple -- just takes a little time. Mike

Yes, I'd say the shell was viegarooned. As to dyes, black dye is not always black, as you point out. I suspect that Fiebing's USMC Black has a good brown content, although I have never used it. I surmise this from the fact that back in the day, when recruits for the Marine Corp. were being 'indoctrinated' to Marine ways, they were issued a pair of brown dress shoes -- then told to "make them black and shiny" with a tin of Lincoln black shoe polish. Marine's shoes always had a very unique brown tint to them -- until they were finally issued black shoes -- sometime after I needed to give a damn. Mike P.S. I just hit the steel wool with a torch -- takes care of the whole thing in one fel swoop.

Just to beat a dead horse --- I use a 40+ year old Osborne. Newer ones arent near as good I understand. Mike

From the old grump; A question; what type and size of needles are you using? Proper needles for saddle stitching leather are harness needles, in either #1 or #0 size IMO. They are available from any GOOD leather supplier. Tandy sells a needle with a huge eye -- don't know what it's called because I refuse to even look at Tandy stuff anymore. 30 or 40 years ago they were pretty good -- , not so much any longer -- .IMO. They will also sell size #00 or even #000 for hand stitching, again, IMO, too damned big. As to using a pair of pliers to pull the needle through, that's how I was taught, long before many here were born. Taught by a WWI cavalry soldier whose ancillary duty was to care for the Army issued horse tack, issued to him,and in his care, and that's how he was taught. Small hole, and the threads are held tighter. As to finishing, I don't double back. I stuff the first needle through, throw a figure '8' knot (a granny knot with an extra loop) and stuff the second needle through. Pull it tight and the knot disappears between the layers of leather. Clip the loose ends flush. A pic of an example of my hand stitching. Mike. P.S. As to going through multiple layers of leather while stitching, that should make no difference. This second pic is of the welt on a holster I made a year or so ago. Thickness doesn't matter.

Speaking for Dwight (not that he can't,or won't, I'm just butting in, trying to put off having to go out in the heat) His is made from two pieces of double thick (two pieces, glued flesh to flesh) leather. These are each handled as if a single thickness of heavier hide. When stitching up, you are going through four layers of dead cow skin. Clear as mud? Most of my stuff is made that way, for final firmness and the fact that you have a smooth interior. Mike