JLSleather

I've had a few in the "needs improvement" bin myself. Well, that may be too fancy - I just call it trash can.

Put a piece of paper over the spot where you dont want glue. If you're just trying to glue somewhere in the middle, and don't need to see the UNglued part, then a sheet stolen outta yer printer will do. If you would like to be able to see the unglued section, then wax paper is the ticket. Yeah, like the stuff Mom had for putting cookies out the oven (don't tell Mom I got it). Oh, and if yer talking about the quart thing with the brush in the lid, then yeah, what Chief said! Hobby Lobby girl sends me little "utility" brushes, good n long, only about 3/4 or 1" wide, and like 6 fera dollah...

Agreed. You can't "know" how much it will draw, though you do a few you'll get an idea. This is going to be influenced by how tightly you pull the individual loops, the width of your strands, and the thickness of the leather. Without getting long-winded about it, pulling the left side strip over on a 2" wide piece TRAVELS FURTHER than doing the same thing on a 1" wide project. Thus, you "lose" more leather, though yer doin' the same thing. The people I've seen doing these (they were making belts like this was BIG in the 70's) would figure about how far the braided section should go, add about 15% to that, and cut the section strips LEAVING the ends long (and uncut). Do the twisting (not willing to call this "braiding" and offend the braiding community here, who have a category of art this type of thing doesn't even begin to address) on the twisty part, THEN cut the piece to length. You might experiment with this a bit, in the width and thickness of leather you'll be using. Take a SHORT guess, and do the twisitn'. If you don't like it, back out the braid, cut longer, and do it again. Still not long enough? Well, now you KNOW, and if it's boogered by now, you kin pitch it and be out.. like 38¢...

Personally don't care for it - I mean, the "foh" stuff in general. Just another marketing gimmick. "Faux" is French for FAKE. So, why not just CALL it fake? Because people won't [largely] buy it. Instead, call it "foh", "embossed", "print". Maybe add in a story about how this "imitation" is saving the REAL whales (or whatever)... But for the immediate question ... I assume you're not talking about crack in just the finish. That's tons of pressure making that 'design', but it can result in unequal tension -- top pressed more than middle, for example. This type of stress can cause cracking (not just in leather). If it's cow or calf, then enough moisture and slow enough bend should allow it to work UNLESS the grain separates (which I have seen in prints AND in leather with no print). It looks like the edges are still pretty square-ish.. not actually rounded. Did it not want to edge, or was it just tough to find an edge dye to match?

Now, having said that.. one more conversation about the way these are done. I generally DON'T mark stitch lines on both sides. If yer no smarter'n me, you could git moving along and mark slots on the "back" side, then have to sit there trying to line up the outside AND the slots. OR, you could mark a stitch line down the back, then find that when you run it through a machine, the stitches are just off the side of the 'lines'... The only issue, for a 'leftie' version (if there is such with a particular item) has to "flip" the pattern and copy the stitch lines and such to the other side. Shouldn't be a BIG issue, and this is the way they've been done so far.

OOPSsie. Hey, it's what Mom always says ... Somebody pointed out that I forgot the 'instructions' on the free magazine pouch pattern (gasp!), so here it is. This is 'cookie cutter' instruction that goes with all of 'em -- but then it's a digital page with each file, so just don't print it if you don't need it. Mag_Instr.pdf Bad news, it doubles the cost of the file. Good news is -- free x2 still aint bad

Whatcha think.. $3 too much for a mag pouch pattern? Tha's like $1 fer the front, $1 fer the back, and $.95 fer the instructions. 5¢ gits ya enough thread to do it, but you'd still need a chunk o leather .... Oh, long as I'm here, might could throw up a picture of the mag that pattern spits out. Just to be sure, i made a holster ta go with it

A word about "custom". It's true that MANY (MANY MANY) projects have been made from someone's pattern. Probably most of us who have ever made a holster have made at least one from Stohlman's 'holsters' book. It's apparently NOT just buying the tools and a "mark", or they'd all look alike. So, when is it "custom"? I see it ALL the time. "Custom" leather - made from a pattern (stencil, template, whatever). Available in black OR brown. Apparently, the color choice is what makes it "custom" (or if you REAL fancy, call it Kustom). Always reminds me of the Blues Brothers.. what kinda music ya got? Oh, we got BOTH kinds.. country AND western. Now, seriously ... if 100 of us download a pattern. Pattern says make this holster outta 8/9 oz leather. So, we each git our thread, stitch down the sewing lines, edge and burnish and dip in a bucket o' Fiebings dye. Black OR brown, or maybe even go ALL out and git some green. What the hay.. go nuts and spend the extra 15 seconds to spray a "fade" on the edge, so you got black AND brown Question then is, if 100 of us all make a holster out of Hermann Oak leather, stitch it with nylon thread, dip it in Fiebing's dye... WHERE THEN is the custom? If that's as "custom" as it gets, then I can get the same thing at any of several holster manufacturers done just as well (often better) for considerably less money. They're doing the same thing, they're just doing much more efficiently than a "maker" who does this. So, where does the value come from? If the stitches don't fray or come out, does it MATTER how they were put in? If a guy pays $9 / ft for leather, and another guy pays $6.50/ft for the SAME leather because he buys large quantities, does the holster made by the first guy become 'more valuable'? Some will say it's the time involved. But, if my car breaks down, and I WALK to the store to get the leather, is the finished product then more valuable, because there's time invested in it? Or am I simply not taking care of what i should be to make a quality product in decent time? You can answer this (I think) from numerous LW posts. A guy 'justifies' higher pricing because his are all "hand stitched'. Some where along there, he / she buys a 441 (ish) machine -- but instead of a price drop, there's a new story about responsible business people maintaining equipment So, put ALL this in the 'marketing BS' category and not in a conversation about art (or custom). Leather workers should absolutely NOT be 'hooked on' patterns. See a design you liked, get an idea from something, maybe learn a principle of construction -- then put your own spin on it.

I don't think I would go by that. I've seen some really -- well . let's say 'less than wonderful' - stuff with a "maker" mark on it. I've seen (here) numerous "makers" who had purchased a custom "mark", despite skills that were. ... ughh.. you know what -- never mind. Now, if we're going strictly by facts, maybe somebody could point out where I said ANYTHING about snaps?

Message sent ...... Let us know how it comes out.

Yeah, I finally got off m' backside and put 'em straight in the computer. No wavy lines, no bent paper from fudgin' onto the scanner ... You got the 5" version? I'll git ya one that prints much clearer than that

Naw.. still thinkin' bigger. I'm talkin' about that place that orders 50 holsters, or the first 50 belts, etc., then wants to back out once you've cut leather that you ordered BECAUSE of that request. True, you can charge a restocking fee - but unless you had agreed to such terms ahead of tme, you're pretty much guaranteed to become that @#$@!$@!#!@ who charged me and didn't gimme the goodies... (doesn't have to be accurate to have it said).

Which, Robert? You like the holster, or the signature?

Thanks Chief, Monica. The elephant is a bit "squishy"... I just glue the crap outta everything

Yeah, Jon talkin' bout "pickin my brain".. Ran RIGHT PAST that "enter at yer own risk" sign on my cap ....

Thanks, Jon. Just for that, I'm gonna git that Ruger pattern done up. Oh, wait... already started With that grip set forward a bit, that model always made me think of star trek phasers!

G43 (ish)

If you're not yet familiar with the machine, you might make a mark on there first - where the tension is set NOW - so that you can put it back. There are markers made for steel (I got some yellow around here somewhere), or some people use a dab of nail polish, etc.

Think you'll find that a #23 needle and 207 thread is the upper limit there. Still, that covers a LOT of ground. THREAD I like the bonded nylon, but some swear by the polyester. NEEDLES, BOBBINS, AND BOBBIN CASES These folks have EVERYthing in one place. Good service and good timing. You'll want 135x16 needles (or 135x17 perhaps for the webbing). And I suggest you pick up a few bobbin cases -- save you some time n trouble when switching threads. Just pop out the whole bobbin case, pop in the one you want, and off you go.

And there lies another question. I've known a few of those guys -- just a 'good eye', by nature (which i think is crowding the true definition of artist). Guy down south had a sandwich truck - used to sell me awesome breakfast burritos made on the spot. Painted his truck, I think out of boredom. Next thing - he only does breakfast runs, because the rest of the day he paints. For a LOT more money than the truck was earning. And, fella here in town wanted some advice on airbrushes - never used one, and had no idea what to look for. He showed me some pictures on his phone of charcoal drawings he did recently -- commission to draw the entire cast of 'sons of anarchy' tv show. Simple "rendering", they would be auctioned off to raise money for some charity. Like 8 drawings, brought roughly $500 each. Said they each took about half an hour. Total investment for materials under $5. I certainly couldn't do what he does. I could get there, but nowhere near as smooth and quickly as he does. Took a photograph of someone, and a charcoal stick, and a "wad" of toilet paper. 45 minutes later, there's a drawing on like 12" x 18" that looked like a black n white photograph -- AMAZING detail. Now, he had some reason he wanted to "try" using an airbrush. Which brings us to the "medium" for the art. One guy with a truck he used daily anyway. One guy with a piece of paper. Both making far more money than most leather workers I know. Now, I personally work with leather because I LIKE leather. Concerning money, I have made more money doing things OTHER than leather, and sometimes when I see / hear someone talking about 'making money' with their craft, I wonder why they chose leather. There certainly are other mediums with a wider profit margin.

Yeah, that 'cushion in the bank' is what I was talking about. I didn't mean a return like ONE holster - where you're talking about lunch money. I mean what about that order that causes you to order materials you wouldn't have otherwise...

"Needs to" might be too strong a term. Being your show, then it NEEDS TO be the way YOU want it But I like that strip / loop / stiffener / whateveryacallit to be as wide as I can get away with. I try to plan it where you don't have the gun (specially a corner) scraping the stitching every time it's in or out the holster. Maybe not avoid it, but minimize it. As for placement of the slots, I'm gonna draw up something, since I git asked about it some. It's one of those save 1000 words things.

Yeah, I'd like to get back to the revolvers -- those are always fun. Guess I'll order the "dummy".. that guy down the hill with the 629 aint been around ...

If ya draw the gun on the paper (or cardboard or whatever), then "theory" is the leather would bend at the top of the slide, yes? And your stitch line will be behind (OFF OF) the frame. So, 'stiffener' can fill between those two points. Note in the sketch the front slot is IN FRONT OF the slide. When the leather bends on this slot (path of least resistance thing), what is left is a "belt loop" that is as wide as it could be. The dotted (stitch) lines are angled in so to max the portion riding on the belt. Crap... I coulda had that pattern half drawn out if I wasn't gabbing !

Yeah, I SURE shooda hadda pattern out by now I "found" the dummy in the bottom of the drawer (again) the other day. One day you'll git a free one, though ... I don't know you need to reduce the back portion of teh "stiffener".. maybe just move the SLOT forward. You want to keep as much riding the belt as you can, which usually means the slot is up against the top of yer sketch. I'll sketch sumthin to demo that in a minute... But I WOULD leave a bit more on the ENDS of the back slot (above and below it). It's been done, but where possible I like to see 1/2" of material there. It LOOKS LIKE (from here) your rear slot might come back a bit. Like instead of removing material there, maybe leave the same amount of material but move the slot so more is between the slot and the gun. Without having that gun in front of me, I'd still guess that a feller otta have like 1/2" er better between the stitch line and the slot. The EDGE of the slot, not to the center of it. Good news about holsters that don't go quite right.. they're fodder for re-works. Wet the sucker down, put the gun in there again (plastic baggie or whatever), and then bone it in firm. Then just measure from yer stitchin' to where you WANT it, and measure the difference. STILL, ya got a covered trigger, a good stout sweat shield that aint gonna go all wet noodle on ya, plenty of room to grip the grip correctly, and a razorback. So, not all bad