BigRiverLeather

I gave up trying to find a reliable source other than Rings. I can either order from XYZ, let them place the order from the same place, takes them 2-3 weeks or more and I saved $5 or $6. I'll gladly pay that much for fast, freindly, knowledgeable service, which I've ALWAYS received from John and the others. That said, If there is something I need, my first stop is eBay. I've picked up a few reasonable deals there.

Beautiful. That should last him forever and a day. I'm curious, how/where did you attach the retention strap on the back side? It appears it's sandwiched between 2 of the back pieces but from the side angle it looks flawless.

That's a very nice looking rig. Those Bobergs are a different animal and make for some unique holsters. I'm the same way - if I had the extra jing laying around I'd like to have one of those. Maybe after I own every Sig made. I got the chance to meet Arnie Boberg and tour his facility in the St. Paul area. It was surprisingly small. Arnie is a super nice guy and super smart with a lot of imagination and ambition.

the other option, although the springfield pre-cut options sounds cheap enough, is to take your 7/8 strip to a drum sander in your drill press.

Good Job on that. As others have said, higher quality leather like Hermann Oak and Wickett and Craig will have much nicer backs. However, that probably doesn't help you if you have a big shoulder or side of leather, probably from Tandy or similar. I'll tell you what works for me is to put the flesh side of the leather to a sanding drum. I have one in my drill press and I use it all the time for many other things as well so if you don't have one yet, get one. I use a 4" drum and keep a smaller on (2") handy but for anything else I'll use my dremel with a sander bit. Just be sure to give it a good brush to knock off any bits that may have come off of the sander. A rough grit like a 60 or 80 works well. I've not tried it but hitting it with a higher grit afterwards may smooth it out even more. Regarding the little piece on the backside of your holster that was pointed out with a question mark - Whether intentional or not, that actually provides a little support to keep the mouth open. I bring mine up like that to, in fact I often cover the trigger guard depending on the gun. More importantly, at least to me, is I run the leather all the way around the sweat shield. It helps keep it rigid in one of the areas that can tend to get loose and floppy, even with guns in them.

Talked to Jerry at Artisan, he gave me some things to check which I'lll do tonight.

Thanks for the reply. These two items are Greek to me though. I looked through the 3000 manual and saw no mention of them in the maintenance section or the parts section. So, I'm not really sure where to start with that.

I'm sewing with a Schmetz 180 needle, 277/207, 2-3 layers of up to 8-9 oz Veg tan for holsters. In the past occasionaly I'd get an errany missed stitch, seemed to be more predictable with exotics like Elephant etc. But now it seems all of a sudden with 2-3 layers of anywhere from 6 to 9 oz Hermann Oak I start out my stitching and in about 5 or 6 stitches, it starts to skip. If I somehow manage to get it to catch by repeatedly trying in the same hole, it will usually skip on the next stitch. More often than not it will fray and or stitch right through the thread. All of the issues are with the top thread. I visually inspected the timing and it appears to be timed right, though I did not take exact measurements. Even when watching the hook with the plate off, it seemed it would catch a few times then it wouldn't, or the hook would go through the middle of the thread. I have a fresh needle in it, 180 Schmetz. I tried the trick or lowering the needle a touch, a couple of different times, and that did not help at all. Could this be a thread issue? Black thread, not sure of the brand but I'm at least 1/2 way through the spool. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Every once in a while someone posts a superb piece of work that is truy inspirational. this is one of those cases. Absolutley beautiful.

This. USMC is a little blacker, but that is the only redeeming quality. Pro is the only way to go. much less buffing required and it coats evenly. I use Supersheen (cut 50/50 with water) rather than resolene, but that's just a personal preference.

It had a strap that went over the hammer you can't see - you can see the snap for it. Also, If I were to do it again (I hope not) Id add a strap that would go around the waist to help stabilize it. That was his deer hunting rig. He's since moved to Arizona, probably hunting armadillos with it now.

That's awesome! Nice color. I did this one shortly after I started working with leather for a co-worker to chest carry his S&W Performance Center 500, 10.5" barrel with a scope. Here's the bad news - I brought it to him, he started to put it on, looked at me and said - "this if for a right handed guy" I forgot a very improtant question at the time, RH or LH? Ended up making a whole new one for him. Hand Stitched! Here is the peashooter that went in it

I'm very close to getting my hands on a few more of these. I might have 2 extras available. I can see if I can get more. It's been a long time coming but in fact we were supposed to get together last weekend. It's been delayed a couple of weeks due to personal schedules, but we are close. I can see if he can make some more. They are not as durable as an aluminum mold, and maybe not quite as much as a Rings, but if you don't beat themexcessively with a mallet, they will hold up fine.

I use a drum sander in my drill press, may upgrade to a oscillating sander someday. The grits I use on my drums is Around 100 or so, but then I after I bevel the edges I go in with these Scotch Brite Finishing sander flapper wheel. It conforms nicely to the edge. I have them in Medium and Fine. I really like the fine. I wet the edge and go at it with this and it gets me to a point where I can then go after it with 400 grit paper by hand, then burnish it. Lots of hand work on my edges.

CompTac sells their plastic injection molded clips and Garret industries sells the kydex clips. I predict they last 2 hours for a guy that can wreck a steel clip.

Never mind, got it handled. Mitch Rosen has the mold.

I have someone looking for a quality holster for his Sig P210 that lives in IL, in the Chicagoland area. Anyone out there live somewhat nearby or have a P210 to mold to make a holster?

I've emailed the guy that made the molds for me a couple of times and he has not replied. Can't say what that means, only that I've not had any luck reaching him.

The product I received was top notch. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again. They would support heavy pistols very well assuming they were properly affixed to the holster by the maker.

Well then, I'll dig into it and PM those interested when I find something out. Give me a week or two.

Like this? I had offered a free holster on a local forum to anyone who had a GSR I could use as a mold for an order I had. Turns out one guy that volunteered was a mold maker by profession so he made me a couple. I modified one to be a commander and another to be the commander w/o a rail. I've considered having more made to sell if there is enough interest, but I think they might be kind of pricey at about $50.

A while back I had some issues with a large multiple order with the holsters being too tight. Bagging wouldn't work. If it did, it wasn't for long and it seemed they shrunk back. That was when I first tried LeatherKote. I got if from Brownell's. Create your account as a manufacturer and you will get a good discount. I bought the small jar and shipped it to the customer. It immediately solved their problem. I keep some on hand now and use it frequently. It really slicks up the draw and any holsters that come out tight are no longer an issue. ETA: last time I went to buy some (spilled my jar, normally will last a LONG time) Brownells was out and I was able to get it from Midway. http://www.brownells...ct/LEATHER-KOTE

Since they were curtious and had what I wanted at a good price, I took the high road.

UPDATE: I talked to the fine folks at JRM and there was no issue ordering a small quantity of clips, at least if it was a clip they had in stock which for me happened to be the 3007 (see chart above, top right. I ordered 30 clips at .90 eachwith the powder coat finish (.15 more than than the less durable black oxide)

Ah yes, Making Glock mag carriers. Another reason Glocks SUCK Same here, it took several tries to get the stitch lines done. Use your scrap leather until you get it right. Cutting it wider at the top and stitching it wider there will help keep the stitch lines parallel with the mag carrier. Not telling you anything new. I might have to give that vac setup a try.