JLSleather

Nope, not here. But from what I'm seeing, looks like she purdy close to the 686.

Oh, good - entertaining is nice. I'll be taking that quite a bit further afore long .. like rain days are 'topics' days. (I pretty much forgot about all that, but had a burst of folks signing up to my y-would-ya-do-it-tube!).

Veggie splits will be fine for LINING a holster or - depending on the weight - perhaps even to MAKE holsters. OR if you are using exotic leathers, then those should be fine for backing for the exotics. Lots of the boys use them for accent panels / stiffeners on holsters, but could also be sewn to many other projects. They don't have to be "scuffed" to take the glue, and the edges burnish like any other veg tanned.

About a JILLION articles, books, videos, all going on (and on) about "resist". Now, I get it -- most of those are aimed at SELLING you something (step one is convince you that you need it). And some are just not well informed, and have become convinced that's necessary, and thus convince you (intentionally or otherwise). I have used a bit of liquid stuff to block out very fine areas when applying dye, but turns out even that isn't necessary. Note in this video at about 3:53 -- the "resist" is in the process of becoming a curved back holster. But what I want you to see is the LEFT HAND GLOVE. Without ANY application at all, the area UNDER the holster is "masked off". You can make this a precision operation with very little prep (in seconds).

Good to hear those patterns are gittin some USE! I saw the table set up you made for that stitcher -- LOVE the layout and the thought you put into the setup.

HEY .. shark fin! Can you put a bit of curve in the pieces, and still be able to sew on the reinforcement? Takes the wrinkle out (except in the shark).

Like these, which I quit doing rather than debate price or timing. I thought the rope border was a nice touch to add in, but the USCG designed the rest of it the "art"! Various "ratings" have been used on the front, and some have 'stuff' on teh back as well. I don't make this for $250. At $250, I feel like yer "stickin' it to me". And those who suggest they can organize to buy 5 or 8 of them, pool their money.. that sounds nice on the surface, but I tend to see that as "stickin' it to me" 5 or 8 times!

Both sides the fence. I originally did craftaids, because i wanted to spend what time i had learning the CARVING, not the tracing and spacing. Then I got a copy of "belts galore " and decided to make all of those except the ones that sucked And while some people insist on something "new', I STILL get asked to make some of those belts from that book. Money must be tight all over these days (?). I get folks agree to $250 for a project, then want to add this, and that, and wunna those, and want it to still be $250. I try to be flexible, but unless there's a royalty-free, public domain pic of that somewhere, that may just not happen But I DO make my own designs sometimes, and sometimes share them for whoever wants to use them. Even then, if you 'n' me ''n' 100 other guys are all making that now, how "custom" can it really be ?@!

Did I do this one?

Fixd er! Occasionally, there are so many downloads of those patterns going on that it "boogers" the bandwidth -- which i could fix by bumping up my hosting plan, but I'm not sure that's required.

Been scratching my head a bit here lately about how to describe this concisely. At least in my mind, this is closely related to why people so routinely get the belt size wrong, so I think it's easier to tackle both of those together. Coming soon ... For now, I'll say that the PROBLEM with those '50/50' things is not the STRETCHING of the FRONT, but rather the COLLAPSING of the BACK. To fit, the INSIDE of teh holster would be the same as the OUTSIDE of teh pistol. And the gun doesn't change depending on the style of holster. Say it's 6" around the gun (just a number - whatever yours is). To wrap it in 2 piece holster, you can go around from center to center with each piece (50/50), or you can leave one side flat, and use the other piece to go around the rest (thickness of the top, plus height of gun, plus thickness of back of pistol), or 70/30 (or whatever your gun is). BUT IT"S STILL 6" "AROUND" the gun. This BEGINS to explain that, and I'll continue that before long. http://www.jlsleather.com/holster-design-upgrade/ Like anything else, leather has a tensile strength - and a point at which it weakens and fails. I don't like to STRETCH the leather for the fit. I want a holster that FITS the rig it was made for. A customer should not have to STRETCH the rig to use it. Holster makers often use the term "break in" to avoid saying they botched it. Here's a bit of simple thought, clearly stated: If the holster fits the gun when you make it, then STRETCHING it would make it NOT FIT. A holster should not have to rely on pressure from the belt to hold the pistol. So, obvious question is WHY, then, would I make those '50/50' rigs? And I don't as a rule. But I DO make the design that way, since from that "center line" size, I can quickly make small alterations to turn it into a "curved back" version, or an IWB, or an "avenger" holster .. etc. The same STITCH LINE PLACEMENT will still work if you cut teh "wings" off and add a clip, or a leather loop, etc. If you cut the "wings" off a "pancake" holster and add a belt clip, and the holster is now LOOSE, then your fit wasn't right to begin with - you are relying on teh BELT to retain the firearm. This looks like I'm answering two questions, but it's really just one question. KEEP IN MIND that you asked about making these "using numbers/measurements ". You could also wet the leather, form it over the pistol, let it dry, then assemble. A LOT of holsters are made without using any pattern at all. I don't do it that way, because it makes it difficult to machine sew close to the formed edge, and I don't want a stitch line AWAY FROM the pistol (you CAN easily do it hand stitching, though). I want to see it WHERE IT GOES, like ...

Well, yeah - that question was for him actually

That from somebody who certainly uses more harness than me, and likely more bridle than me -- I'd go with that. But what is an a55 hole?

Nobody knows, or I'd be using one. A 2-d program will likely do everything you need, and cost a LOT less.

Looks like she peeled purdy good. Still in teh works, more to come? (WHY does that 'h' stick like that ?@!)

Yikes -- did I let the get away for another YEAR?@! Marking ...

HEY ... WHO'S the dummy now?@! (hint: it's me). Found this post, right on this site, from a few years ago. The wrap reinforcement is done a bit different, but he's got some pics that would have made my entire conversation.. you know.. basically useless.

Well, I don't want to be found bragging about my less stellar moments, for fear I might WIN, and I just can't bring myself to fall for that AGAIN~ Enough to say that no, you are not alone.

Well, thanks - but that may sound a bit more noble than it really is. COULD be that some guy bashed his leg so bad he needed knee surgery... and now gets to spend part of the day SITTING and part of the day IN THE GYM firming up a knee. I mean, just guessin' here ... and if some think he aint chargin' enough, probably just write it off to disorientation due to blood loss. But I wouden know. OH, I think Boss Lindsey is going to be selling these for a few bucks here 'n' there as he gets the chance to upload 'em. Look this kid up if'n ya need somethin' like that.

That actually HELPED somebody?@! Well, okay - cool! Sew the leading edges together ahead of teh front stitch line. Where the pieces come together at the top of the front stitch seam, some folks sew the butt joint first before adding the reinf panel. Scuff the area where the panel will go, apply glue, stick and sew the panel to both front and back panels. Close back end of holster, sew back stitch lines as "usual". Honestly, I tried to 'get away' on this one with a quick, down 'n' dirty pdf on the site. Now that it's been brought to the front here, I'll get some time to actually DO one with pics -- likely be more helpful.

Leaving you with front panel, back panel, and wrap. It should be easy to see how the panel spans the front and back through the 'slot'.

Adding a horizontal line where the belt line crosses the center line ... and penciling in the contour of the sweat guard is just copying teh back panel sweat guard at this point. Make this line higher if you prefer, depending on how much you want to reinforce. Sketch a contour to the line from some point on teh sweat shield, as you see fit... And round the bottom portion of the panel into the wrap around section. Keep in mind this is the THEORY, and your actual panel will likely need to be about 1/4" wider than this. Easiest way to get your pattern is put the front and back together, then wrap a piece of leather around the assembly, mark, and trim (make a paper pattern from that before stitching it on).

For illustration, I added the stitch line to the back panel, and twisted the parts around so the leading stitch line is vertical. Once you have the idea down, no reason to do this consistently. This is done to show the idea behind making your reinforcement "wrap around" panel (what, you thought I forgot what we started out to cover?@!). The front 'wings" will get glued together up to the front stitch line, leaving the rest separated. If you glue these sections, you end up with something looking like the back portions of front and back panels, with that "shark fin' sticking up in the middle. Something like this ... (note I put the bottom belt line back in for now)

You may have noticed that with this particular pattern, if you go UP that 1" from the belt line in the leading edge, that would put you in the cutout area. To 'fix' this, we'll move the entire front wing out 3/8" - the distance of the slot width - and then come up to our new line. This gives your base IWB pattern (I didn't cover the loops here, but that will get included in the pdf version) And of course, these changes would need to be made also in teh back panel. This shows the 'theory' of it, but in actual practice, it's much faster and easier to glue the pieces, then cut out both front and back together - eliminate tedious lining up edges.

Here the slot has been removed (but not the stitch line), and I have replaced the belt SLOTS with belt LOOPS. Also added line 24 snaps where they would fall if you let the pistol ride at the same height and angle we had before. You can see, this does not leave enough room above the snap to assemble the holster. You could drop the loops lower, long as you understand that will raise the rig and make the pistol ride higher. Instead, let's adjust the pattern so that we have the same height and angle. I want 3/8" ABOVE the snaps, so I if you have one of those 12" tandy squares, you can just lay it on the top belt line, and mark the other edge of the square, giving you a parallel line 1" above the belt, which is about what we want here. Pencil in the change to your contour pattern, keeping in mind proper space to properly grip the weapon.