JLSleather

Well, how bad does THAT suck? Talked about it so long I forgot which gun I needed.

Smoooshy. It's tough... durable, which is good. But also tough to keep 'seated' in place while skiving or stitching. Not "harder" than cowhide, just different.

Leather is a bit spongey.. especially in the black skirting. The brown and the chestnut not as much, but the black has WAY too much waste.

Thanks, Rohn. Can't decide which I'm more happy about.. the holster worked out, or the elephant bein' gone!

Broke 700 downloads. Jus sayin'

This one off 'n the mail today. That elephant looks nice, but it sure ain't the most funta work with.

Still good for belts, long as your belts are about 30" long! Or, since the gouge is across teh hide, I guess instead of 10 belts, feller could make 20 pet collars!

That might just work then, Red.. Ray 'n' friends (bunkhouse tools) carry the blackhawk in a couple of lengths

TOO many hides on the table all at one time. 6' long aluminum 'ruler' stuck between them, and when I went to pull it out (which,it occurred to me might not be the best way to do it) ... yeah..you guessed -- weight came down on the ruler (other hide moved) and put a GOUGE across a 7/8 oz H.O. back. Good thing I can use it for holsters, cuz there's about 14" across that hide (about half of it) that isn't useable for belts any more. Slash right across the hide, pretty much in the middle..

Anybody else seen a downslide in the quality of drum dyed skirting? I called 'em about the last batch, though I didn't send it back. So this time they discounted it just a bit, I guess for that. But, these hides are better, but still not the quality i'm used to seeing from W/C. Guess I'm going to go back to using just H.O. for a while.

Yep, that's where I was at with it too.

True. I'm just considering the 'wisdom' in 5 of us all having the same 'dummy' sitting on a shelf somewhere, because we found it helpful to have. Once.

3/4" plates ? Uhh. okay That'll do 'er! As for level sanded (?) I didn't worry about that. I used cold rolled steel, which is pretty durn close to flat.. all you need. The press bed will "float" any irregularity (long as your die is parallel top and bottom, and the cutting board under the leather will 'cure' the last few thousandths of an inch. You may need to machine a flat surface if your steel has been out collecting rust all summer, or if it has been warped by flame cutting.

50 years got a good idea. I have screw jacks (some might call 'em machinist jacks) to set the working height. If you're cutting / clicking, not so critical with a hand operated press (you'll feel it go through). But using teh air (or hydro) it's good to know where to stop. Also with embossing dies or stamps... good to be able to press them all to the same depth. Imagine a set of embossed coasters where some impressions are deeper than others. The jacks are easily adjustable, and makes them all teh same depth. This doesnt' require "fancy"... two 1/2" or 5/8" bolts and 4 nuts will do 'er ..

I've done it, and there ARE a few boys you kin trust. I like the dummy guns myself. Always somebody wanting to bring me a gun, but truth is if I see somebody coming up the sidewalk with a gun it's not gonna go well These dummies you kin stick in a priority mail box and have it about anywhere in the US in a few days. I got one now, guy wants a holster PATTERN made up, for a gun I've never dealt with before. Now, I could just have him buy the dummy gun and send it, since I assume that if he wants a pattern - then he probably has use for the gun! And there IS a blue gun for that model. Makes more sense, HE buy that Rings gun, send it to me, and I return it with the pattern (which I have done in the past). I have also charged more than that to COMMISSION pattern making for others. I get the dummy gun, and the right to make that holster, but the PATTERN is theirs - I don't sell or share it with anyone else (you may have seen my Boberg examples). Them dummy guns things is only $50, so we're not talking about life-altering, mortgage the shop type money. Still, $50, $50, $50.... you guys know the routine

I got the same one Red -- works great. Ya might wanna pick up a couple of 3/8" steel plates to use with it... I cut mine 8" x 18". And you can spend $100 for 'fancy' cutting boards, but that kitchen thingie at Walmart works very well (total investment about $10).

I got a few a while back.... had to try them out. Actually, I found them too thick, and they didn't have a particularly quality feel. Now, I didn't order one of everything, but I wouldn't order any more of the 6-pocket or 4-pocket card versions I tried out. If you've ever seen tandy's "mission grain" pig, it's basically that same texture, but considerably thicker. My opinion, TOO thick for a wallet. I've made a lot of my own over time, but I was actually hoping they were going to be able to handle that FOR me. Perhaps down the road ...

I have most of the guns I think I need. Occasionally, someone wants a holster for a gun I don't have a dummy for. I sometimes just let it go, if it's not one I think I would use more than a couple of times. But I've wondered before if a "swap meet" type thing was possible around here. As in people who are interested could actually swap guns (dummy guns) for a week (ish). Now that I've written it out, I suppose that would require more personal integrity that what is commonly found these days. Oh, well.. guess I'll go buy a couple more that I'll use maybe twice

Had m' buddy draw out that kidney belt idea on his fancy 'sunday go-ta meetin" toys. Certainly much cleaner than my chicken scrathin's http://www.jlsleather.com/diy/other-diy/

YIKES.... tha's a LOT o' backgroundin'! Lookin good.

HEY.. don't that machine have a little round bobbin case with the bottom tension right on the case? If I remember, you can pick up bobbin cases for CHEAP ($5?). Guy could keep one for 138 thread, one for 92, one for 69... never mess with the tension. When you swap thread size, just use the case for that size, and WAH LAH....

Bigger hole, or smaller thread. Can you UPsize the needle one size (or maybe that's tops for that machine?) Worst case, use the 23 needle and reduce thread size (like a 92). Pulls up in the hole a little easier... Oh, wait... I'm assuming that you ALREADY tried reducing the bottom tension (?).

For a holster that thick, it might be just as easy to hand stitch that one. Put a #25 or #27 needle in a drill press if you find that easier than using an awl. A change from 5/8" down to 1/4" is quite a bit. ALways sketchin' sumthin'... so I'll put this graphic thought here for the next guy comes 'round.... not that you 'n' me need it

Dave 8-9 leather is plenty to tool in ... the belt in that pic is tooled in 7/8 ounce, and the borders are good n straight. Tooling with the leather still too wet is probably the most common mistake made by leather folks (my own guess just from talkin with foks). As a rule, all tooling is done BEFORE assembling anything. There are a few exceptions, but that's another day. You'll need a pattern of some sort if you want to make them match. Doesn't need to be laser precision, but a general idea. You're the knife guy, so I'm not gonna even try to tell you the shape you want You can 'test-fit" a piece of leather using rubber cement. If you're careful about where you put the cement, you'll be able to trim teh leather the way you like it, and still pull it back apart. Then you can use that piece to cut the shape of the other piece. From there, simple matter of doing any tooling you want on there, and assembling as you normally would.

No worries ... glad ya kin use 'em! Anybody hadno trouble followin that weight belt / kidney belt layout?