JLSleather

Those prices are $12-15 per foot! I guess I'm the only one thinks that insane. Seriously, if you determined to use H.O. leather, the tannery sells it for UNDER $8 / ft. ANd that's the A-grade. If you want GREAT leather, and don't want to buy 20 sides at a time, and dont' want to pay a FORTUNE, then I'd suggest you call Matt or Kylie at Wickett & Craig. GREAT leather, in natural tooling or drum dyed, Backs (I generally don't buy the belly portion) are under $10/ft, and NICE. http://www.wickett-craig.com/preview.html I don't do tandy at all. For a while, I might order there, but only if I was picking it in person. But last time I was in one, I went through a BUNCH of hides in several stacks just to find one that I could stand. No more. I've ordered quite a few at Springfield, but not any more. I did get some decent leather, but it was always hit or miss - one hide is fine, the next one is junk.... that type of thing. They have always been willing to replace or refund a bad piece,but I simply can't be bothered to play "mail tag". If in the future I need one piece, I may call them. But they should know by now that if the piece isn't the one I asked for, they're getting it back. I mean, how hard is that.. no, sir, we do'nt currently have a piece of 7/8 oz HO tooling leather that's clean and firm. No harm no foul. Did I already mention W/C?

Josh.. that doesn't go THROUGH the main belt? I would have thought it would go on thru like a ranger belt.... I gonna go download that patttern, maybe.. Proly easier'n digin one out the mess!

So, the one on Bob's site is for the larger machines? http://www.tolindsewmach.com/images/accs/slotted-plate.jpg

Nice! I haven't made one of those in years, but that looks good enough to make me wanna make one "just cuz'!

I have a slotted plate for the cobra machine, never installed - $50. Maybe somebody can pipe in and tell you if this would fit the 3200. Blanket set (3-piece) already went cheap!

Oh, and... I have a 6 foot aluminum straight edge and a utility knife with disposable blades. It's worked for years. Total time sharpening the blade, none. No, I don't have a video showing how to use it

WHAT THE .. @#$!%#! So, a 7 min video, where the guy doesn't even pick up a straight edge until 2 1/2 minutes, and then 'eyeballs' the cut anyway? Alrightey, then ... at least I didn't kill the whole 7 minutes (FF to end).

Why is there an "open area below the foot"? Is the feed dog too low?

Assuming you mean cutting patterns, depending on the amount of use it will get. I have some handbag patterns done in plain 20# paper (like you'd have in a home printer) because they aren't used often. Others I have printed on #100 card stock at teh print shop (that cute girl down there means I may have a couple extra printed, even if I don't need them). Frequent but not heavy use, posterboard (you can lacquer the edges for more strength), and Frequent use, sheet metal patterns or just have the cutting die made.

I actually did mine from the other end, as they say, right from the start. I do leather - and then cross out the things I don't make. One example.. cigarette cases. There have been MILLIONS of them sold (probably more like billions, but who has those numbers anyway). I've had people ask for them for years. But I don't smoke. And if you smoke, that's your business -- but you can't do it at my house. So, I simply don't have any foot in the door to that. I don't mind doing notebooks and such. But for a while there, the coast guard boys had me making 'charge books". No problem there, but it looked like I could end up making JUST those, which I don't want to do. Now, far as a 'money making' thing, it might be worth it to get OTHER people making those with my label, but it would require people I could trust to do it right, which isn't possible. So these days, I may hire something done (I have some dies made by others, etc.) but I do not (and will not) have any employees. That alone auto limits me to what I can PERSONALLY get done in a day... Oh, and I have NEVER built a saddle from the ground up. I have replaced some saddle parts where a guy asked for that, but there simply wasn't the demand in my area when I started, and nowdays many people have no objection to saddle parts that are clicked, machine embossed, and assembled -- and honestly there are people doing that too cheaply for me to even jump in.

Yeah, I have one of those 20-ton HF things. I like the space usage, actually -- 3 square feet of floor space is better than losing ANY counter / bench space. No, you don't need 20 tons, but at one point the 20 ton was $50 LESS than the 12-ton, so ....

Tip: Vegetable tanned "splits" are "suede". The definition: The term comes from the French "gants de Suède", which literally means "gloves from Sweden".[1] Suede leather is made from the underside of the skin, primarily lamb, although goat, calf and deer are commonly used. Splits from thick hides of cow and deer are also sueded, but, due to

Yeah, I'm the dissenter (again). I think better to one-side the design, and make a left and a right. But then, I think the 42 is too big for a pocket gun anyway, so .... And I really don't like ANY holster closed at the bottom. Partially closed I could live with, but if it's closed, then anything that GETS in there will STAY in there.

So, your first request was for left handed with screws?

Welcome fellas. For reasons too long to put up here, the site was having some issues with the storefront over there. Weird, but not to worry. Free patterns still right where they were, and the "paid" versions still over at cutesy. More coming shortly.. actually getting a bit of breathing room coming ...

The issue is not the finish of the leather, but the tannage. "Suede" is merely the surface condition. The grain has been removed. In fact, if you take [ what people around here call ] vegetable tanned leather, and flip it over, viola... suede. But not chrome tanned. I personally don't care to use suede leathers, but I have done it. Again, if you make an unlined holster, then the inside IS "sueded" (though not actually buffed so it's 'nappy'). Long as it's vegetable tanned leather, you could use it to beef up the thickness of the leather, to firm up the holster (two thinner layers are firmer than one layer of same thickness), or perhaps to have the inside and the outside of the holster a different color. PLUS, Andrews was talking about and showing a glock POLYMER pistol, not blued steel. With today's finishes and materials, the "writings" about "suede" are less relevant than they were in previous years.

I like a #11 x-acto blade. Quick cutting, perpendicular cuts (no angled edges), cheap (50¢), and no sharpening (pitch it and replace it every 5th or 6th strap).

Angelus makes a little "pen" for those narrow areas (two sizes). For anything above about 6 oz leather, a wool dauber (comes with 4 oz bottles of dye, or you can buy them separately) works well as anything. If you're ordering from Springfield leather anyway, they carry them there http://springfieldleather.com/36993/Pen%2CDyeliner%2CBroad-Tip/ But as you see, they mark them up quite a bit https://www.turtlefeathers.net/shop/dye-liner-broad/ https://www.turtlefeathers.net/shop/dye-liner-fine/

You'll likely want some variation in that I don't have a 'problem' with kydex, but that one-size-fits-all thing just doesn't work anywhere. No need to have a different one for every model of firearm, but one or two does NOT work for all. Do a search on Ebay and you'll see what I mean. Or perhaps someone will chime in from there and show you (there are MANY ebay users here). Oh, and my only issue is I personally hate those cheap metal clips ....

Sadly, no -- nothing to recommend. I've ordered punches from 4 different places in teh past couple years, and ALL of them came needing sharpened. I was a tool maker forever, so I know HOW to sharpen, I just don't think I should HAVE to on a NEW tool. A guy I know (who knows leather) said he got his at Weaver, and he likes those. Now, I haven't used those, but that guy DOES know leather, so FWIW ...

That stitcher is a beast. Still, all the "holster makin" videos i"ve seen (I use quotes because someone CALLING a video "holster making" doesn't make it so) that guy is the ONLY one that contains any actual information. Sure, I know .. 1000 guys will show you how to trace a pistol on a table. 95% of those will show you a pair of hands cutting some leather (often with a knife they are 'offering' for sale). One other guy, I FF to find that it was 10 minutes into the video by the time he got the leather cut out. How's that go.. you'd think the elephant with the short trunk wouldn't want to draw attention to it! But seriously... if you can't trace the gun and cut the leather, perhaps you shouldn't be playing with sharp knives (much less firearms). Andrews talks kinda 'laid back' style, but actually SAYS something while doing it. We've all seen (and will see again) those geeks who want you to think that if they CHARGE you for the video, then it MUST be better. When the new guy asks, I tell 'em save the money you'd waste on those marketing goobers, and watch this free one. As for the burnishing - no different than tooling. There is a "right' moisture content ...

You said a mouthful. Wait, I admit that I'm not that bright... but are you saying that people are BUYING a reputation?

Fact is, I probably wouldn't have noticed it if you didn't bring it up. I didn't even see anything there that "heated". I think more political than correct

And THERE'S the thing, camano. Most people aren't ignorant enough to think they are getting the gun with the holster, but every so often you'll have one ignorant enough to try to accuse you of false advertising / fraud / deception. Way back when (Feb) - I opened a cutesy shop, since that seemed so popular around here. Right off, some old boy bought a holster pattern. A week or so later, I get a nasty message -- he been watching the mail box for his holster. Maybe he believed it, maybe not, but he was willing to write nasty comments because he was expecting a hand crafted, tooled leather holster for under $10. Etsy removed teh comments, since the picture clearly said "HOLSTER PATTERN" (in red capital letters) and the materials used section said "digital file download". Didn't keep "zippy" from trying, though ....

I don't know Juki. But I think if you do a little research, you'll find that many of the people who speak well of the cobra machines are those who have never used something else. If I was a notch smarter, I would have spent the money on that Adler ...