BigRiverLeather

http://www.mcmaster.com/# You can also get your finsih washers there, black, stainless or brass. Brass looks good, but the phillips screw heads strip out real easy. They are your one stop hardware shop

I think I can speak for him when I say yes, that is the type of setup he has used, as do I. A #6 T post with the barbs on it goes between the layers of leather before you glue. Some put it all the way through from the back but it looks so much cleaner with the T post between the layers. On his IWB you would not / should not put it all the way through as it would make contact with the gun of course. The screw I use most of the time is a #6 x 3/8" screw, button head or flat head scew with an allan head if available. I have an assortment of both black and stainless for different applications. I keep some 1/4" and 1/2" around too, as well as #6 T posts without the barbs for certain uses. You can now easily adjust the angle or replace belt loops for different size belts or if and when they wear out.

I bit the bullet and ordered up a Toro 3000! It shipped yesterday so I sould see it by the end of the week. Now Mrs. BigRiverLeather is going to make me clean the basement now to work down there with it. I hope the learning curve is not to great on it. The idea is to speed things up, yet still put out a quality product. Any tips from any of you would be greatly appreciated. I will miss the look of my hand stitched holsters. The heavy waxed thread adds to the look in my opinion. For the Toro I plan on using 346 top and 277 bottom. I don't even have any idea how that works yet!

This was an email I received that originated from Mark Garrity regarding Sig's changes in the P250c which affect holster construction. I emailed this infor to Rings, ASP, Duncan's and Lindell's so hopefully they take it to heart and get the new design molded as well as keep the "old" ones around. Don't know if you guys are aware, but Sig recently made some changes to their P250-C that will effect holster fit. The new version has a flat mil-spec 1913 Picatinny rail with frame running to the end of the slide, while on the original version the rail is rounded and stops about 1/4 inch short of the end of the slide. This flatter rail makes the frame extended further down on the edges, and will definately not fit in a holster tightly molded to the original frame. (I hesitate to use the words "old frame' as the entire pistol is not that old!). The frame on the orignal version is also recessed thinner than the slide forward of the triggerguard. On the new version the frame is flush with the slide width the entire length, making the lower half of the gun wider in the dust cover area. The original version's grip also has front-strap checkering while the new version is stippled, and the Sig logo on the grip panels has been relocated from being centered on the original to top of the grip on the new. While these grip changes obviously do not effect holster fit they may be the most apparent changes to ask a potential customer in determining which version they have; as Sig has not changed the model designation or added a prefix or suffix code marked on the pistol to it to assist in determining which version it is. For side-by-side comparison photos, go to Sig's web-site www.sig-sauer.com. Scroll down the left hand coloumn (products, accessories, etc0 to "Product Alerts". You will see 2 click-on links that open PDF files with photos "P250C Holster Changes" and "Sig P250C Grip Changes". As a side note the Federal Air Marshals are now issuing this pistol in the new version so holster orders for it may increase. The old Sig-Pro 2340 has also been redesigned as the new 2022. (At least they changed the model number here). It now has a square trigger-guard as opposed to the old-style P228 round guard, and a 1913 rail. I think they do this just to mess with holster-makers and keep us on our toes !

Hmm... I registerd in the directory and when I went to my email to confirm, I got this when I clicked the link to confirm my registration - Not Found The requested URL /pmd/members/user_confirm_email.php<c=e65f96a0114edb81261ea722d81e8d43-213 was not found on this server. Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request. Apache/2.2.15 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.15 OpenSSL/0.9.8m DAV/2 mod_fcgid/2.3.5 mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635 Server at leatherworker.net Port 80

I'll be following Johanna's advice and watching this thread as well. I have yet to find my site by doing a google search. I can get plenty of hits to forums I participate in, but my site does not come up. Seems strange to me.

I've seen / touched the caiman hornback hides Tandy has and they are NOTHING like this. Those are Croc and this is Gator. The hides at Tandy run $100. They must be trained to tell their customers that they are normally $200 because I heard the same thing. Ostrich Market (where I got this one of a kinder according to Henry) has caiman hides nearly twice the size for a little more money. Even if the price per square foot was the same, I'd bet the quality form OM would be better. Henry is great to work with. OM has black gator backstraps, not near the quality but good useable hide, for $15 each. Again, the skutes are kind of big, but there are plenty of uses for them, probably more versatile than the one I got here.

I saw this awesome backstrap with the beautiful medallions and skutes, in a gogreous cognac color and thought, man, I can make some nice holsters with that. Well, when I got it I was even more amazed at it's beauty, but most of it is far to heavy and large for a holster, and frankly I don't think it should be cut up and sacrificed for that. It has so much more potential and I could do what I want with much smaller, less uniform pieces. Holsters are my thing. This is much better suited for a shotgun case, golf bag, some awesome midevil armour or something greater than I have experience for. Maybe I'll hang on to it until I have the confidence to do something great with it. Maybe I'm over selling it, but I sure think it is beautiful. Any ideas?

Linky?

At first I thought "Man, I wish I lived that close". Then I thought "Man, I'm glad I don't live that close to them. I'd be even more broke!"

+1

My paint booth was a large cardboard box on top of my mini fridge until it warmed up enough that I take three steps outside my sliding door and do it right there outside. That way I don't have to hold my breath :D

Thanks! I left a message with them, no content on their website. Google gave me this though - From this thread http://pistolsmith.com/holsters-belts/21076-another-aluminum-dummy-gun-manufacturer.html

I'm planning to attach the shark skin to 4-5 oz. leather using Barge Cement? Acceptable?Barge yes, a minimum of 6-7 is what I would use. Shark is quite piable and offers little or no support The shark skin is black. Should I dye the other parts before assembly? Typically, I dip black holsters after assembly.Agree with Denster, dye your other parts first. Should I groove before stitching? Any suggestions on grooving such a rough surface?I used my stitching groover, several light passes until I had a line, then used my 4 prong diamond chisel punch ftom Tandy to mark the holes. I actually used it for punching the holes which is what I use all the time. A very small brush with black dye on the groove before youstitch will keep it black. How do I mark stitching lines on the rough, black shark skin? I'm referring to the weapon outline stitch line.See above Do I burnish edges the same as vegetable tanned leather?Yes, it burnishes nicely. take the small brush and black dye to the edges first, or even a black sharpy should work. Is Bag Kote okay for a top coat?I have no experience with Bag coat, but I believe it should. I use resolene 50/50 with good results

Hmmm, since they will be making the G19 special for me I wonder if it would do me any good to request "close tolerances" and a harder composite? We'll see. I might have to poke and hope on this one since I can't get a non rail G19 anywhere else. I'm sure there are some out there in the rings from their old models, but trying to track one down = needle in a haystack. Is that "National Law Enforcement Training Center"? There is also Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center . I couldn't find any info on training guns on either site.

Regarding Boomsticks comments on using a basic mold to cover several different manufacturers models, How do you rate the mold manufacturers molds as far as their specification on the specific modle they cover? The three that I am aware of are Rings, Duncans and ASP. Duncans seems to be the one that offers the most different variations. I had some luck with ASP recently on making a mold for a couple of guns that were discontinued, one being the Gen II G19 w/o a rail. The picture on their site shows it without a rail, but when I asked, their production mold DOES have the rail. They agreed to make me one without, as well as the P229 without a rail. Same scenario on the picture on their website vs actual production. I know that Rings makes the P229 in a Non rail version, but I'd prefer to combine shipping, plus ASP is considerably cheaper at a wholesale cost. I have a few of Duncans molds, but to date, the only ones I have used are a P238 (not cocked and locked ) and the Kahr K9. No complaints from the customers on the fit on those. I did one for a Sig Commander off of Rings Comander knowing and telling the customer that their were differences in the dust cover. He was willing to give it a try. His was tight, a day with the gun in a bag made for a perfect fit according to him.

On the recommendation of others here, I also picked up the Harbor freight brush. I picked up a nice badger compressor that had a brush only attached to it at a pawn shop for $65 which I thought was a decent deal for a badger. I could not find just the bottles for the HF brush. I wanted some more so I just ended up buying another brush with the 5 or 6 bottles that come with it. Cheap enough. For me it was very, very easy. I tried it on a couple pieces of scrap leather. My quality of finish with brown and mahogany skyrocketed immediately. It's almost impossible to make it uneven. I've not tried any two tone work with it yet. It might be a little tougher with the lack of control you might get from a higher quality brush. I do want to try out the vacuum pump. Some day I might end up in the black. Maybe. When I have ALL of the tools I need

SOAB! I might have to order one of those from you :D

That is excellent work! Take a look at the "first and last hoslter" thread and you will feel pretty good about your work. No pistols, that sucks!

Agreed, they do make a quality product, but to use terms like "hate" and saying that proven designs "just don't work" is not very savy. For instance, to claim that anyone that uses leather strips for their sight cnnels is using a poor design because the slide will rub on the thread and wear it out. He should know better. Any reputable maker is going to put a stitching groove in those strips. Ahh, whatever. It just seemed tacky. I've been in sales for 20 years and my philosophy is brag up your product, show the benefits and let the customer make his decisions. Sorry I blew up :D