katsass

FWIW Chavez, from the grumpy old guy; I primarily make holsters, some are western style rigs, but most are concealed carry stuff. Since I live and work in a desert area where the temps lean toward the toasty side, and the back side of them can be subject to perspiration, I just line almost everything I make. Most all my comtemporary rigs are made from two layers of 4/5oz or 5/6oz (or one of each), bonded together on their flesh sides. I treat each side the same and seal against dampness with an acrylic sealer/finish. Mike

Welcome from the grumpy old guy; I'm south and east of you in the desert area outside of Victorville. Been through your area many times enroute to Morro Bay, when I feel the need to see the ocean and get some fresh sea food. Mike

FWIW from the grumpy old guy; I 'taint an expert (EXPERT--- An EX; a 'has-been' and a SPURT. a drip under pressure) but I just used an old swivel knife with a filigree blade to cut the lines in this holster --- a copy of the original that's around 100 years old. Mike

jayjay, you are kind of speaking of apples and oranges. You say you use an airbrush to dye your leather, but ask what brands of PAINT we use. FWIW from the old grumpy guy; I use Fiebings dyes exclusively, Pro Oil and Leather dyes --- both. I don't use any paint on my leatherwork. Mike

YESSIR, Herman Schneider - Knife maker, Google him and take a look at some of his work.. He's the man that designed and made that humongous toad sticker in Stallone's movie "Cobra". Does some fantastic work. Mike

Well, have now taken pics of both sheaths and the knife that goes with them: Mike

FWIW from the grumpy old guy; That brought back a few memories and I had to dig through some stuff 'till I found this pic. I made this in about 1975 or so, and was the last one I have done for one of the old Llama .380s. Haven't seen one of them for a number of years, but the son of the guy I built this one for still has the gun and holster. Mike

FWIW, I use Fiebing's Pro Oil dyes for the most part, and a few of their Leather dyes --- except for black. For that I use vinegaroon, which you must make yourself. The dyes I dilute 50/50 (or more) with denatured alcohol. Mike

Well, just two cents worth from the grumpy old guy. First off, listen and take to heart to what Lobo and Dwight have to say. You'll not find better advice anywhere. Also, as Shooter says, 'tactical' holstering is not of any concern to me, not even very much when I was a LEO. I believe that I commented on this previously, but, especially when wearing an IWB (or any other concealed method of carry) re-holstering with a flourish or aplomb can be very difficult, if not impossible. When it is safe to use both hands on a bad guy, I really don't give a Hoo-Haw ( notice the politically and socially correct term) if I have to stuff the shooter in my hip pocket to get the job done. That said, the reason for so much current emphasis on the re-holstering is (IMO) the advent of the (now) omnipresent video camera AND the perception of the public about just what, and how, the 'good guy' (LEO usually) does with that shooter when it's time to finish taking the bad guy into custody. Now, I make a few holsters now and then --- have been doing this for a while. All of mine are made from shoulder leather because of it's inherent firmness, and because of the fact that the firmness of a holster is created in the grain layer of the skin, I (usually) bond two layers of lighter leather together on their flesh sides. This gives me a solid piece of leather to work with, with two grain layers and two smooth sides that, when wet molded, firm up stiffer (IMO) than a single thickness of leather of equal weight. The holster is also automatically lined with smooth leather.This type of construction takes a bit more work, but as said, I just make a few holsters now and then in comparison to many others on here, but I am sure of the firmness of each rig I make, and that it will perform as the customer requires. I'd rather work that way than make something in a style that the customer 'thinks' he wants, then finds unsatisfactory. A holster maker must pretty well understand the various strengths and limitations of the holster style that he constructs. Mike

Thanks to all for the compliments; Josh: The arrowhead is set into a cut-out in the shell and epoxied to a 1/32" piece of birch plywood which is sandwiched between the shell and lining. PL01: Yes, this is second sheath requested by the knife maker. He got the first, which has a three dimensional snake inlaid instead of the arrowhead. He got it away from me within an hour of my finishing it, so no pics were taken by me. He has promised to take a few after he, the knife, and sheath, return from the Knife Expo in Pasadena, Ca . this weekend where he is showing it (them). The knife is of stainless steel with a 6 5/8" blade and Sambar stag scales for the handle. When I deliver this to him I'll get a pic of the knife in this one also. The arrowhead was knapped by one of us old farts living out here in the desert about 40 miles from me --- he does great work. Bill: The wooden knife is the pattern for the actual blade. Made by the knife maker from some fairly nice walnut. Ferg: Thanks. I appreciate it. The design was a bit of a problem in that I wanted no 'bell' or 'bulge' in the width of the thing around the handle portion after molding. After three trials I finally figured out that the welt had to be eliminated in that area, and the leather belled out just enough to be able to pull back in after the hilt was molded. Never had to solve that sort of problem before. Again, thanks to all. Mike

I make very few knife sheaths, however, this is a departure even from the few I have made. It's for a 'collector' knife made by Herman Schneider, and made so that the blade barely touches the inside of the sheat, if at all. Made of 5/6oz outer shell, with a 2/3oz lining, a 14oz welt, and hand stitched. Had to use the wooden pattern to mold it. There's more to this type of sheath than for a standard working knife than I ever knew.. Mike

Bill, to tell you the truth I don't remember where I got the huge spool of natural unwaxed linen thread I have used for a number of years. The thing was enormous! I'm starting to get low on it and am trying to find out where I can replace the thing. For the white, I bought a little spool from Springfield Leather --- but I don't use much white thread. For black and brown I just dunked a wad of the natural linen into a jug of Fiebing's dye and hung it up to dry (watch out, if it slaps you in the face you'll look like you have scars all over the place) --- waxed it good, then when ready to use it, pulled a length through a little piece of brown paper bag to clean of the excess wax. Mike.

Michael, as I say, just moisten the leather's edge and then a quick, light swipe with the soap --- things go a LOT smoother and quicker, and I think the edges are better. PLUS you can dye the edege after burnishing. Mike

BAD idea Ken. The wool will attract and hold itty, bitty droplets of moisture from the atmosphere and leave little, bitty orange rust spots all over your shooter. Wool and shooters don't mix. JMHO Mike

FWIW; I understand that you need to grind down the hard little 'nubbins' around the primeter of the portion being used as an inlay, then possibly skive or sand down the underlying skin for a nice, clean fit. Mike

Dwight (not to try to steal the thread) but I ended up in the 'brownshoe' Navy, and a 'twidget' to boot, so I never got around a sail needle much while in service. I've tried one a few times but had an awful time getting uniform stitching with it. I learned to saddle stitch long ago so I have stayed with it, as it SEEMS easier to me --- maybe it's just the product of proper instruction and practice for each and/or either method. The sail needle SEEMS as though it would be quicker though, at least on stuff around 5-6oz or so. Mike

i use a dremel to drill my holes and i think it works great, you need to have a steady hand and make sure you are going straight down on the leather and through to the other side. its a lot easier on the hands for me but i never really had a GOOD awe either I've done this, but a caution; Most folks I have seen that use one, use a 1/16" drill bit. That size will often 'show' the holes after stitching. Use a 3/64" bit and a #1 harness needles. You'll need to pull the needle through with a pair of pliers, but in the end, your stitching will look "mo better". Also, with the Dremel, alignment on the back side of your work is essential, the thing will punch through QUICKLY, and misalignment is easy. With an awl, you can work the tip around a bit to ensure proper location of the stitch line much more proficiently. JMHO Mike.

Well Michael, glad to hear that you are back amongst us. i only have one comment re: your stitching; Tain't bad except that right under the front of the trigger guard is that sharp, pointy corner. If you'd just radius that little corner I'd say it was damned near perfect. If you aren't using it, I'd also suggest that you pick up a bar of glycerin soap, ((Neutrogena can be had most places) dampen your edges with a sponge and just a quick wipe with the edge of the soap bar will make the burnishing go a LOT easier and quicker. You can even dye the edges after if desired. Just a helpful suggestion from the grumpy old Mike. Hospitals aren't fun, the nurses aren't pretty and they do things to you that I wouldn't want done if I were feel GOOD!. Mike

You hit it right on the head. I use 6spi for most of my work. Mike

I use 4 cord (strands) 5 and 7 cord, depending on what I'm stitching. 7 cord for the welt side of most holsters. Mike

Well Jeremy, I don't clean it up AFER stitching, I do it prior to. I take a small piece of brown paper bag, (why this seems to work better than other paper I have no idea, but it does) I fold it in half, place the end of my thread into the crease and draw it through between my fingers. I do it twice, rapidly enough to feel a bit of warmth, and 'bingo', no excess wax. As to the nyltex, I just generally stay away from the synthetic theads of all kinds. I have found that under certain stresses, the synthetic threads will cut the leather much more quickly than will the natural linen. I'm just kind of a traditionalist in some ways I guess, but if waxed linen will hold up in holsters (what I generally make) for up to a hundred years or more, (as exeplified in the book "Packing Iron") well, it's good enough for me. Mike

Well, it's just MHO, but I feel that waxed thread will not abrade as much while stitching (sort of acts as a lubricant),; will resist oils, moisture etc. which can ultimately degrade the stitching (rot it), and, since I was taught to stitch by an old WWI cavalry soldier (back when i was a kid) that said that the Army (back when) wouldn't accept any leather goods NOT hand stitched with waxed linen, I have stayed with it. The Bianchi holster was (most likely) stitched by machine, and waxed thread will gum up most machines --- so they don't use it. Most commercial makers use a synthetic thread like Nyltex. I've used it but went back to waxed linen for my stuff. Mike

Well, FWIW from the old grumpy guy; I don't know if one considers this is 'perfect', but it's about as good as this old fart can do;

Thanks Chancy, here's another type of inlay that I do once in a while. This is Karung snake on a holster for a Ruger number I auto. Mike

Jon, I'm just saying to cut the window you need to draw your strap pattern, on it, draw the window in the location and in the shape you want to use, mark your leather from your pattern, then cut it all out. Cut your 'gator largeer than the window to allow for glueing and stitching. In other words, don't cut out your strap, then try to allign a separate window pattern on it afterwords. You'll just never get it quite correct. Mike