katsass

It appears to me that your dye may not have been totally dry when you wet it down for molding. Water seemed to absorb more in some places than others. I find that in winter the stuff takes a lot more time to dry completely. It MAY clear up after total drying, hope it does, you do nice work. Mike

As always, this is FWIW: Personally I wouldn't use the all-in-one, and I don't use Gum Trag. I was taught (many years ago) to cut my leather, tool if you're going to, dye (and allow to fully dry), assemble, finish the edges and finally. apply your finish. There are times that you must burnish an edge prior to assembly, however. I use Fiebing's oil dyes mostly, and an acrylic finish. To get a nice even color on the edges I'll dye them before (and at times) during burnishing. The moist dye often assists in obtaining a nicely burnished edge.To ensure a straight and even line for a contrasting color on the burnished edge I use a small piece of hard 1/4" felt, (the little 1" felt buffing wheels for Dremel tools work very well) saturate it well with dye and run that perpendicularly across, (either or both) the unfinished or burnished edges. Very similar to the instructions of my Al Stohlman's 1960 book on how to make holsters. Here is the only pic I can quickly find that shows a contrasting edge on one of my holsters, done that very way. Hidepounder and Fifty Years are right on, in my book. Mike

Ditto what Rayban and/or Dwight said. Don't see the need for a stiffener other than leather. Mike

FWIW from the grumpy old man: I make my initial trace of the firearm then measure the width if the gun at different points from hammer to muzzle. To each of these measurements I add the thickness of the leather I'm using..........ie. 8/9 oz leather equals 8/9 64ths inch (1/8 inch) I add the two measurements together and divide by 2 (1 inch width at the breech end of an auto pistol, plus 1/8 inch equals 1 1/8 inch...divided by two equals 9/16th inch) and put a mark at the point along the trigger guard side of the outline, 9/16 inch outside of the trace line, and corresponding to the location from which I took the measurement. . Continue making dots along the length of the patten at the locations from which you took your measurements. The diatances may or may not differ along the length of the gun. Take as many or as few as you feel you need. Play connect the dots. Smooth out the line with your inherent artistic ability. After a while you can get to the point that you can gauge things pretty accurately, keeping an eye out for wide trigger guards and that sort of thing. That's basically how these were done. Now, I don't bone my holsters, I just firmly mold them by hand. I also only use two layers of leather for almost all of my holsters, which would make boning much more difficult.....but my method keeps the stitch line tight. Wheelguns are a bit more of a problem but my system works for me on them also. Mike P.S. For pancake holsters, use your initial trace line along the top side of the pistol as your stitch line when using my method. Mike

Lobo, that's a great old piece of machinery! You did right by it with your holster design, great work. Mike

FWIW from the original grumpy old man:: I learned to always cut, then dye, then assemble. I use an airbrush to dye, and I use only Fiebing's Pro oil dyes. The only exception to this is when I do a project in black. For those items I assemble my project completely, then immerse in vinagaroon, then a soda solution and finally a clear water rinse. With the oil dyes I find that you (with a little experimentation) can mix and thin the stuff to make almost any shade of browns and tans you want. All of these are done with the airbrush and Fiebing's Pro oil dye. Mike

In the mid '50s, an old guy that prowled around the southwest with some donkeys and a home built 'covered wagon' with car wheels and tires on it, showed up at our place. His name was Jeff and he was probably in his late '50s or early 60s back then. He was a WWI cavalry vet that stayed out in the boonies, traveled where and when he wanted, panned a little gold, and live the life he liked. During the winters however, he would find someone willing to let him hole up, corral his donkeys (that pulled his wagon) and maybe feed him once or twice a day. He lived off of a WWI pension, what gold he found, and the generosity of others. We let him stay at our place that winter. I liked the old guy, and soon was watching him repair his gear for the upcoming spring. Watching and listening (he could tell a lot of stories) I would see how he repaired his tack and was fascinated by his sure moves and the few tools he used. I finally asked if I could help with anything. He said, "I'll teach you how to stitch, then we'll see if you can do any good." I spent about a week stitching up every piece of scrap that he'd give me. I found that the mechanics of the work were simple........the satisfactory completion of it was not. Finally however, after quite a bit of gruff criticism, I seemed to get the hang of things and finally was 'allowed' to work on replacing some portions of halters. That winter I received my first handgun....a S&W K-22 Masterpiece. I needed a holster for it and old Jeff hauled out some old leather, and old book of patterns, and his tools and told me to go to it. Under his eye I made the first thing I ever did in leather, enjoyed doing it and was proud of my endeavor. I wish I still had it. Jeff took off that spring and we never heard from or of him again. Mike

Thanks again! That's good news. I have been playing with a competition holster for the 1911 that really needs a steel shank.........and they sure do have them. The holster is good, but needs a stand-off.....and they have more than enough to work with. I'll give them a call. Years ago almost everyone wanted a thumb break holster, but they seem to have fallen out of use around here. As I said, I've only made one in the last year or so. Mike

Thanks Rayban..........they look really good with a great selection. My only problem is that I won't live long enough to use anywhere near their minimum order for thumb breaks.

For water based dyes ......yes. For oil or solvent based dyes.......DEFIITELY NO. Mike

I have had good luck doing as Mike Craw has described, however I use(d) a steel stiffener in them. Waaay back (35 yrs or so) I would break off the ends of old hack saw blades to use as stiffeners. I'd grind the edges smooth and shape as necessary and drill a second hole on the un-drilled end. Now I use stiffeners obtained from High Desert Leather in Utah. I make very few holsters with a thumb break however. Here are a couple of ones done over 20 years apart.........the first is for a little Llama .380 (basically a mini-1911) and had no problem with the 1911 style safety......made in the early '80s. The second is for an old Beretta 'Brigadier'.......made about a month ago. Mike

Just 2 cent's worth from a grumpy old man; I don't like Edge Cote. It makes your work end up with a 'plastic' appearance. Good burnishing with a coat or two of dye, then a finish coat of your choice, ends up much better in appearance. JMHO. Mike

FWIW from a grumpy old man. I have hand-stitched for around 40 years now and find that I now have definite callouses at the crook in my little fingers, however, early on I used band-aids where I pulled my stitches tight. Easy on...easy off. Mike

I have used very strong coffee and have made stain from green walnut outer hulls. Both look very dark yet produce and quite pale color unless multiple applications are made. the coffee made a perfect color on prong-horned antelope I carved some years ago. Mike

Ditto what Rayban says........I do just as he does. Mike

FWIW; The first thing that I have found when using any of the acrylic finishes (including Mop and Glow, which I have used for years) is that most people tend to use way too much. The stuff isn't paint, It isn't designed to smear on in a thick coating. Thinned 50/50 with water, applied to warm leather with and airbrush or by a QUICK dip, and it should penetrate and dry quickly. When used, if you see a a milky white covering.........you got too much on. With an airbrush I mist, dust, or apply a very fine covering to WARM leather, the stuff disappears almost immediately, the same with dipping. It penetrates and seals. When dry, I'll usually then apply a little neutral wax by rubbing a finger in the stuff and rubbing that into the leather and buff to a final low gloss. No rag or applicator is used, you'll get too much on the leather. The secret is.......moderation. JMHO......from a grumpy old man. Mike P.S. IMO leather should look like leather.......not leather with a plastic coating. The acrylics will penetrate and show almost no shine........until too much is used.

Skald: I wouldn't add the coffee or tea to the batch of 'roon'. Just brew it up separately and dunk the item in the that which you don't drink, let the item dry just a bit.......so it ain't dripping , then into the 'roon'. You are adding the tannins to the leather....not to the 'roon'. That's how I do mine. Here's the last one I did just that way......the streaks seen are actually 'stretch marks' not seen in the leather 'till it came out of the vinegar black.......not variations in the color. Mike

Thomas, I have used the Weldwood Contact cement for around 30 years...I use the liquid rather than the gel.....that's just a personal preference and the result of starting with it prior to the 'green thing' got going and they took the solvent out of the stuff to make the gel. . Then, as Dwight says, get a good diamond shaped stitching awl...and learn to use it. Mike

Grant, here are some pics of a prototype I did a while ago. Hope these help. Mike

Bronson, I use primarily shoulder leather....except for historically accurate western holsters. My normal holsters made from shoulders are made by laminating 3/4 or 4/5 oz skins.......glued up flesh side to flesh side. For single thickness historical holsters I use backs, usually 9/10 oz. I feel that back leather has a bit less stretch in it and forms a little more firmly than single thickness shoulder leather does. Mike

fish: Great looking sheath, very well done. I played with the idea of a cross draw for a lock-back blade some time ago. I had seen something similar many years ago, and revved up the grey matter (which at my age is a little rough to do) and made this little rig as a prototype. As you can see, it ain't made for a chubby guy, 'cause if you have much of a 'dew-lap' (you know, a belly or love-handles that do lap over your belt) this thing could cause problems. But is was a fun exercise. Mike

FWIW: I also use an airbrush for dying my stuff. This (pictured) rig was around $70 or so when I bought it. That was for the little compressor and the 'quick change' air brush. I don't think they have increased in price much over that.....if at all. I like the quick change feature because I don't have to clean the brush after each use, just the bottle. I use it to shoot dye, neatsfoot oil, and finishes. I primarily use Fiebing's Pro Oil dye. Sorry, but no help here on the long snaps. Mike

Shorts....no offense taken....if you were pointing a me.....as it seems you were. I'm a grumpy old man; I do things my way, and I don't take offense to much anyhoo, BUT, when I do!........ Lord luv a duck. My mind gets going faster than my typing finger can move, so ultimately, I just don't do come backs very well..........so it generally isn't worth the effort to get stirred up..........besides, it gets nobody anywhere. Enjoy your turkey-day. There's no problem on this end. Mike P.S. You do good work girl.

ShortBBL: Take a look at the pic of the airbrush rig. That little bottle in front is half full of neatsfoot oil. I use the airbrush to shoot neatsfoot after wet molding. Lobo's explanation is better than I can put things into words, so all I can add to his statement is, "I couldn't have said it better myself". Mike

I use only shoulders or double shoulders for most holsters. I do use back leather for historically accurate western rigs though. As to the weight, I use mostly 4/5 oz for contemporary holsters.......two layers bonded flesh side to flesh side. I feel that this gives a more firm finished product than a single thickness of heavier leather, and also finishes as a lined holster. For some larger handguns I will use a layer of 4/5 inside with piece of 6/7 as the outer shell. This style takes more stitching than most people doing numerically larger orders wish to become involved with however. For historically accurate holsters I use a single 9/10 oz chunk of back. I like to personally select my leather, and the only place within a day's driving distance of me is Tandy, however I have had good luck with phone orders from Springfield Leather. Mike