JLSleather

Okay ... in a rough sense.... just to maybe answer your question without making one of these right now .... You have your "pancake" pattern ... BEFORE cutting out parts, decide what type of connection you'll use for the loops (you could just sew them, if you don't mind threading the belt through them to take on and off - but that's not done very often). Let's assume you're using snaps - line 24 snap is about 5/8" diameter, and I like to see a good 3/8" outside the snap (I don't mind 5/8", but NOT less than 1/4"). So, make sure you have 1" of material above where the slots are on your pattern to allow for the snap and the 3/8" [NOTE: you could just lower the loop, but that will change the angle of your holster] Now decide if you want to go with the same shape front panel - entirely optional either way. For this discussion, I'm leaving it the way it shows - and we'll need to alter it a bit to let it wrap around. This is done AT THE STITCH LINE (incidentally, this is the point of those 50/50 rigs). We want it to wrap around, and since I'm using a sweat shield on the holster, I want to include that in teh wrap around, to stiffen the sweat guard. The finished shape will depend on the cutout, and for this one let's cut out to below the belt line. Mark parallel line about 3/8" from stitch line, and another at least 1/4" under the belt line. and cut out this area in front of the front stitch line. Easiest way, punch a round hole for the bottom of the slot and cut up the sides.

Yes, you can use a 'mark' on it. But harness is pretty "waxey' -- you might want to consider perhaps a bridle leather, or even drum dyed skirting, which is the same veg-tanned leather but already colored. http://wickett-craig.com/leathers/skirting/

There ya go -- this is just as simple. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ANSWER THIS, I DID CHECK WHY-THE-HECK-TUBE AND FOUND BASICALLY NOTHING BUT STANDARD MARKETING CRAP. SINCE I HAVE LITTLE TO NO PATIENCE FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE INFO FREELY HANDED TO THEM, THEN CHARGE THE NEXT GUY FOR THAT SAME INFO, I WILL BE DOING THIS STEP-BY-STEP SOON, FREE OF CHARGE. I personally find it incomprehensible that with 10,000 members, nobody can provide this very simple information. Cut the front seam as shown in my pdf and the picture above - cut it out or use an oblong punch to remove that piece. (NOTE: you might leave a little extra material ABOVE THE SNAPS, depending on teh size of snap/connector you're using. I don't like to see less than 3/8" of leather, just personal preference- plan for your own hardware.) Once you have the shape you want, and the "hole" removed, mark your glue lines on it the same way you did before. Install your t-nut if you want it between the leather layers. Glue the front end and stick. So far, this is EXACTLY what you did when you made your "pancake" version. Then "open up" the holster on the table so the grain side is up on both pieces (like turning a book over so you dont lose your page). Be careful not to wrinkle the grain side of the holster. This will result in a "shark fin" sticking up, two layers thick, where it's glued. But the part with the material removed will lay flat and "come together" in a butt joint. Some folks sew this butt joint shut, but not necessary. You can use seam tape to hold it temporarily, but also NOT necessary. Take your "stiffener" piece (which may include sweat guard since it's IWB) , glue in place, and sew. Once the reinforcement piece is glued down and sewn to the back and front of the holster, the butt joint is locked in place. Close the holster normally and glue the trailing end (you may need to dampen the reinforcement piece). Sew teh back as with your pancake version. I'm late for something already, but I'll get this in pics later.

Basically the SAME as a "pancake" holster. Just cut out the leading edge and sew the "butt joint" together, then wrap a piece for "stiffener" (some folks add a strip of steel reinforcing between teh layers). Loops can be attached any number of ways, I think t-nuts between leather layers and a screw through the snap is most usual (and some like a leather or rubber "washer" behind the straps to shim the loops out a bit). http://www.jlsleather.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IWBa-1.pdf

I can carve But I know SQUAT about building a saddle. Correction: HALF of SQUAT.

I admire you "boss" boys -- determination!

I don't separate "artistic" from functional. I ONLY make functional items -- if it doesn't DO something, its useless (perhaps them "sensitive' guys want it?). But I think I have some skill at making functional items include artistics (which is a word I just now coined.. like artsy cosmetics). I have made leather "pictures" - -I recreated Stohlman's "pictorial carving" front cover just cuz i can (12x18 leather), and I did a 18:x24" (if I remember right) of a steam ship going up the river to be hung on a wall (all those guide wires SUCKED) because that lady was pretty determined to find out how big a check she would have to write. Honestly, the internet is changing the designs I use. It makes me a bit lazy knowing that I likely can google up 5 images quickly for anything I want to tool, and when I do something unique and new, I often don't post it because I know others will google and get me! TOOLING really is a bit mechanical - and not difficult. I always say I can teach a MONKEY to tool leather, long as he aint TOO drunk. Painting/coloring leather is almost as simple once you learn some basic ideas, and how the dye / paint of your choice reacts to the leather. BRAIDING leather -- now THERE'S an ART ...

I tried ALD. I would not do it again.

Really two words in sewing leather. Call Bob. Beyond that, some simple statements for FYI: I have one of those piece of cobra 4 things, and I wouldn't care to compel it to sew with thread smaller than 138 (I don't even sew with that on it, but it probably would do it). Sometimes seems like more is better, maybe more so when you're new. Turns out, it's heavier than I need - I have NEVER sewn 3/4" , nor do I anticipate that I ever will. I have owned (and should have kept) a Consew 206-RB5 (like Wiz mentioned above). Very reliable machine, no issues. Sewed #46 thread up to #207 thread well -- just keep in mind that 207 is THE top end. Confim with Bob, but I think the Cowboy 227R is the cylinder version of the same machine. Not too many doing leather next door to me, or I would have swapped my Cobra 4 for the Cowboy 3200 (let the new guy save about $1,000). Trade the lift capacity for the (possibly) better range of thread size. Needles and attachments are same for both machines, so that's not an issue. I make holsters, belts, sheaths, and some lighter 'stuff' and can't remember when I sewed anything thicker than 3/8".

Looks like a good fit, and always "extra points" for using contrasting thread color Did you use the same leather (from teh same hide) for the panel? Looks a bit darker than the main front piece. Did you line it? Wondering why the stitch acros the bottom but not the top? Havent seen that grip before.. hmmm.. wonder if now Im gonna have to figger a holster to match those grips .... so many grips, so little time..

I don't much care for that holster. Looks.. idunno... unfinished somehow

If you're going to use DYES, I usually dye the whole thing the lighter color and then background the black over it (actually, I prefer the look of the chocolate dye there). But the order isn't critical. But you start using STAINS, it begins to matter which is first. Some stains tend to be resistant to dyes penetrating through them, and tend to be more opaque when applied over the dyes. In that case, you would want to keep the distinct colors separate. I don't like antiques, so I only use them about twice a year - when somebody threatens me with a check so big I agree to do it (I have been known to make TWO - one the way they asked and one WITHOUT antique - and they generally prefer teh NO antique when they actually see it). Point is, even after wiping off, dyes don't penetrate well over the pastes. In the case of dyed background, you would do that first, then antique the design.

Yup, me too. It's just thread, and it's not even the part you're keeping - doesn't need to be beautiful, just gone

Yup.

These are quite good. https://www.hobbylinc.com/paasche-jar-w:cover-gasket-3-oz-airbrush-accessory-h-193

Wherever you get your thread, know that even though the size on it is the same, thread from different manufacturers may not match. I say that because I had to find it out, nobody SAID that... you can get "277" thread from one supplier that is NOT the same size as "277" from another supplier. So perhaps it's a good idea to PICK ONE and stick with that supplier much as possible. Having said that, I like the stuff I get from Bob 'n' friends at Toledo Ind. 207, 277, 346, glides though the machine and the leather like it was LUBED

FREE of charge but not always available, just can't beat natural light when ya kin gittit.

I have 3-oz bottles for that particular green, because I use it often. Some shades (the red and blue) are not critical, and I use less, so I have 1-oz bottles of those. The brown shades, I use chocolate full-strength AND thinned - like on that fishin' wallet - full strength in the "cutouts" of teh horseshoe and thinned on the rest of the floral design. So I have an old bottle of dye almost empty, I just buy another and add solvent to the old bottle, so some of those have 2-3 oz of "thinned" in them. I had that happen a couple of times, where I mixed some "special" color for a request, did the project and had the customer all happy and going on about it.. then their friend decided they wanted one and I had to try to duplicate that color again after I dumped it. So I always mix more than I need, and save for a bit after, but I don't plan to keep every mix all the time. That shade of red on the welding logo was designed by the wife of the guy who owns the welding business... it's their co. logo, so had to be pretty durn close. Incidentally, the large rose handbag is from an old Al Stohlman craftaid design ... just painted on a purse because it was laying there ... Everything reduced is thinned with Fiebings Dye Reducer. Its' a no-brainer, being MADE FOR THAT. But I have used Angelus brand dyes also, and they are quite good. I don't generally keep a lot of that around, because they mix very well with other Angelus colors, but they do NOT like to be mixed with Fiebings dyes. I've had some WEIRD results trying to mix teh two brands ... one holster that should have been a brown tone turned out almost GOLD .. shiny like metal ... Maybe there's an answer in there somewhere...

Awwww.. shucks Tha's just some ole Fiebing's spirit dyes. Thinned the red about 10:1 and thinned the black (USCG Rating) about 20:1. And mix the green about 3 parts green, 1 part dark brown, 15 parts reducer (that green is too "loud" without teh brown tone). Here what I dun did with the PAASCHE air hose connector :

The VL (and the VLS) is a good brush. I've used em for years. Haven't seen a project I couldn't do with them, from relatively small detail to broad surfaces (though the entire back of a full size binder did take a bit longer than I would have liked to get a good solid dark brown). ONLY issue with the Paasche brushes, they use a different connector than a lot of other brands. Like SONY, great products but require SONY add-ons. I added a quick-connect on my paasche airbrush hose, so all I have to do is pop the whole assemly on or off. Not only good quality brushes, but they're indestructible, and replacement parts are available EVERYWHERE (in fact, I've been known to pick up a replacement needle right at hobby lobby 10 mins up the road). About any compressor will work, long as it will blow 20-40 psi. Some examples? Roughly 13 x14" over all. Done entirely with VL #3 Outer circle (in red) is 3" dia (VL#1) and handbag with large rose about 12" across (VL#3) Full size men's wallet (original art by Al Stohlman) with VL#1

3' x 1' x $5 is $15 per side? No machine shops? Simple face mill should take care of it. The set-up would maybe take a bit, but after the first one, should be able to "plane" (mill) them at about 5 min per side. Even at $60/hr it's still a bargain. That's $1 per minute .... thinkin' out loud here, that's roughly 1/2 the cost as weaver, but lets you duck the shipping charges. Simple job... and if they're using a CNC machine, even easier -- just need the new guy to clamp it down and hit the "go" button 4 times an hour....

Patterns aren't that difficult... only ONE INSIDE DIMENSION actually fits - for example - a 5" 1911 .45cal. Certainly there are variations in the cosmetics, but it either fits or it doesn't. But I'm never swayed by 'name dropping', or names at all. Everybody messed with leather knows who Al Stohlman was, even if they don't carve much. I don't know if he was THE BEST, but he certainly was the BEST KNOWN. Which is my point -- being widely recognized didn't make him any better or worse than if nobody ever heard of him. Holster makers have pretty much all heard of Bianchi, but I don't see anything stellar about his PRINTED work (I'm willing to accept the possibility he may have done things MORE IMPRESSIVE and I just haven't seen them). What's in a name? Nothing. When I was a kid, you couldn't eat breakfast cereal without seeing a picture of Bruce Jenner - 5 time olympic gold... blahblah.. Now he's ... WHATEVER he is. ... Which was the point about veterans. That "it's for the vets" thing carries NO weight here, but I've got that one a number of times. I've known vets who were great guys, doing their thing, raising families, minding their business. AND I've known vets who are now serving prison sentences. So that alone buys nothing. (It was a vet who blew up the OK city building, and a vet became the DC Sniper). COPS about the same way - and you see a lot of those around leather, particularly holsters. While some of them may have once been up to something commendable and worth recognition, many are now simply fat old men who have come to think they are owed something, or hope to use their history of not getting a job as some sort of "reference' FUNNY story -- a while back, I was barking by the street with yet another of those people unwilling to tend to their own life. Guy down the street walked over, invited himself to the conversation, and got told whatever is going on here was not up to him. And I admit, I deliberately added a bit of "smart mouth" in the tone. And the guy says, "in case you didn't know, I'm a cop". And I answered, "since I JUST MET you, I don't see where that could possibly be my fault." So, conclude: don't tell me your a vet, or a cop, or ex-cop, whatever, and assume that "earns" you something. I have TWO brothers-in-law who are cops - in different countries - and I wouldn't close both eyes around either of them. I may have brought some of it on myself. I have been known to sell things at or below cost to help a guy out, I've GIVEN things to people I thought they could use, so maybe people decided that I do that all the time.

Not far behind you Ken. 'Cept no grandkids as yet. And I haven't picked up a guitar in so long I'm not sure I aint forgot (or at least got fingers out of shape). And my boat aint so shiny as yern. And I'll be catchin' more walleye than bass. And my wife aint welcome ta join me. Otherwise, SAME HERE ENJOY!