JLSleather

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

We could 'dog-pile' and 'critique', but might be better if YOU tell us what you learned. Thing about pride and learnin's.... if you really do learn from your mistakes, then the guy who knows the most is the guy who made the most mistakes!

I think there SHOULD be a distinction, but often there is not. If you put the green on the #3 and red where there's a 5, hard to call you an artist. Likewise with leather - tooled or otherwise. I can teach any monkey who is not stumbling drunk how to trace a line and "bop" a shade tool or beveler. In fact, I sometimes (less than diplomatically) refer to this mechanic ROTE as "old mcdonald tooling" (here a shade, there a shade, everwhere a ...). But I don't think art is confined to pictorial rendering either. I know a few boys who couldn't paint if you put a gun to their head, but give em some leather and a sponge and they produce GORGEOUS items - often items the rest of us didn't "see" there until it was done (much like a sculptor sees a chunk of rock). You don't need to be on LW very long to see that certainly more than half of leather people can't paint. Well, some can't and some don't , most likely. This is why that ant-streak paste is ever-popular. It goes in the low spots and comes off the high spots, much like kindergarten shading I try ot keep a combination of things going. I often airbrush the leather (no, I don't mean that "fade" around the edges of a project), I try to use designs that have some depth and perspective, and even the 'plain' projects I try to put a little something in the design. I really don't think about if that's "art" or just doing something I enjoy. That said, I saw a holster the other day that was perhaps the BEST looking holster I've seen to date (and I've seen a bunch). Paddle holster, with a simple creased border set in a bit from the edge, dipped in solid mahogany dye -- monochromatic as she gits. But the simplicity of the design was not "plain", but rather functional and CLEAN - rational and orderly. Artistic even ...

You might try line 16 snaps. I use 'em all the time -- never any problems. You might see them listed as line 16, or perhaps some places call them "segma" snaps.

That mag carrier holds the single stack '9' from Sig. I see ads and postings saying pouches fit "single stack this" or "double stack that". Keep in mind these are NOT interchangeable. While some patterns may allow the forming of more than one model, not all mags of the same caliber are the same. This isn't any big secret, but it does seem that at least some are misled by bad info "going around".

I thought we were talking about the belt loop -- or what I sometimes call the reinforcement (and sometimes "thingy"). In that case, the last pic is "better". If the belt is brown, then putting the stitch lines in (red) at the same angle is double benefit. It "locks" teh belt much more securely -- keeping the holster from "rocking" on the belt. Sucks to go to pull the gun, and have the holster move ... Plus, those math guys will tell you that angling the lines (especially the top one) allows more surface contact between the holster and the belt. LIke, say your holster is angled at 20° forward. Then the blue line is your original stitch line. Say that's 1.25" wide. Then the red, angled stitch line (which rides the belt) will be about 1.33" long (something about a cosine of 20° angles -- you'd have to ask a math person). Basically, that 20° line will be 6.5% longer than your "straight" measurment, without widening the piece. Doesn't sound like much... but a 1.25" strip would "grow" the line by nearly 3/32", or in other words, the safely the amount you're going to edge and burnish (in english - what was the starting size would now be the FINISHED size). Now, where did my life go? Not that I mind takin' a minute, but seems like I should be sitting with a couple girls while they discuss who's payin' fer breakfast ....

That looks better. Not sure why you felt the need to pull that back (toward the bottom of the weapon). I like as much "bearing surface" as I can get, but in the end you can only keep just so much. And the only part that "counts" is the part that rides the belt. Beyond that, I would angle your stitch lines at the "belt loop piece". Angle it roughly the way you want the weapon to ride. It not only lays better in there, but also allows you a bit more "bearing surface" on the belt without widening the loop.

How are you laying out the pattern? If you're tracing the gun, then just keep your "belt loop piece" inside the lines of the gun. The stitch line would of course (unavoidably) be outside of that. OH - - and I'd round that corner a bit (above your rear slot, under the grip) so it's not quite so sharp. But realistically, I don't think you're doing as badly as you seem to think ...

AND.. don't nunya go tryina make this fit anything but a P938 magazine (single stack 9mm, x 7). Single stack 9 mag pouch

I'm not sure what "DD" is in inches, but leather can move QUITE a distance. People make leather masks, which has to be similar (like a human head back to the ears). I seen foks makin' 'em from anywhere from 3/4 to 6/7 oz leather. That said, it does seem like anything molded to breasts should be hand-formed.