billymac814

Thank you for sharing, I ordered a few of those felt bobs from thier eBay store last night, I'll call them next time to place an order for larger amounts. I definately have a dedicated pot to melt wax in now. I've just been making it in small batches by putting equal pieces into a bag and then in boiling water, the one time the bag broke and the wax went through the water and stuck to the pan. I was able to run the water through a filter and save most of the wax, but there was no saving the pan. Next time I'll make bigger batches, I wasn't aware beeswax could be had so cheap, I always just picked up those 1oz bars that are well overpriced and since it lasts so long I never really checked for bigger quantities. Right now I sand the edges with a belt sander or drum, bevel, use a sanding sponge very quickly, slick with glycerin soap, dye, a little more soap, then wax and onto the wooden burnishing thing, then the finish. I would be happy to cut down some of the time, sometimes I don't need to go through all of those steps to get good results but it generally takes longer than I'd like. Hopefully in a few days I'll have the felt bobs and try that out, thanks again for sharing.

I ruined a pan the last time I made some so I'd be up for purchasing some pre-made. Thanks for sharing the info, I'm going to look into the felt polishing wheels, I spend way more than a minute or two on each holster, and as of now I beleive I spend more time on my edges than any part of the build process. Lobo, Is that your entire edge finishing process, just edge, wax and use the felt wheel? Billy I just went to Duro-Felts website and it isn't really simple to order from, especially at 11:30pm, I found though that they have an eBay store and the prices are about the same once shipping is included.

For what it's worth: I oil all of my holsters with a light coat of pure neatsfoot oil as soon as it's dry. I dry in front of a fan or hung above a space heater. I'm going to make a drying cabinet as soon as I get a bigger shop space. You'll find that with so many different products that have different purposes there is almost a limitless combination of finishing steps one could have and it's easy to go insane hearing everyones different methods and wondering if one of those combinations is the "right" one. I went through a lot of different products and methods before I found something that worked for me. Find someone who's work you like and find out what they do and try that first.

Is there any advantage to using a vacuum set up like that over a press? I've been looking into presses and for a little over 200.00 you can get a 12 ton press and 2 sheets of gum rubber, you could go even cheaper with a 6 ton benchtop press, but I figured I might as well go bigger. Those prices come from Harbor Freight for the press (129.00-20% off coupon) and the two pads from Mcmaster Carr for 58.00 a piece. I used a vacuum bag with my shop vac but it didn't really did help enough to warrant the extra effort, they weren't very good ones so it's not a good representation of what could be done. Anyway, be curious to see the pros and cons of each set up before I spend money on the press.

I tried all the different methods and dip dying prior to assembly and molding works the best, also I find with the oil dyes it's way less messy for some reason. I used to dip dye them after they were formed for black holsters but I had issues with the dye penetrating evenly in certain spots. I never need to redye the stitching groves since the dye penetrates all the way through instead of just on the surface. I do redye the edges but only because I usually dye them darker, if it's a black holster I generally don't need to redye them. I leave it submerged for a few seconds, the longer you let it in the more it penetrates. Be prepared to buy ALOT more dye though. That's what works for me, it's all trial and error really.

Thanks, that's pretty much what I was figuring, I was hoping maybe I was overlooking an easier way of doing it. I don't think there is a way to attach them all before it's put together, not all of them anyway.

I need to make a pouch that matches another one that was made by someone else and there are rivits that hold it together in the back, I'm not exactly sure how to set the rivits since the inside is quite small and deep, my thought was to cut a piece of hard wood that fits inside and hopefully be able to set the rivits against it, but I'm not sure if that's the easiest way of doing it, I might be overlooking some simple solution too so I figured I'd run it by everyone. I didn't make this pouch but this is what I mean, the rivits on the bottom pouch are the ones I need to set. I want to match the design of this one but do it in a higher quality finished product.

My edger is one of my most used tools but I have had problems with it not cutting a clean edge. The first one I bought from Tandy and it seems to work ok on some scrap Herman Oak that I have, the other one I got from Springfield and it is the Keen edge one that's slightly different. I prefer it over the other one. I use Wickett & Craig leather and both of them seem to kind of tear the leather instead of making a nice clean cut. Is there anything I can do to make either of them work or do I need to find a better one, and if so what kind? I've tried stropping them by putting rouge on the corner of some scrap leather and then running the edger backwards, but this doesn't seem to help either.

You didn't have to send an envelope in? I'm sure I read that somewhere. Disregard my other post, I must be incorrect or thinking of somewhere else?

I don't know the process of ordering from JMR if they aren't answering the phone. I've never ordered from them but I seen in another post that if you want less than 1000 you can send money along with a preadressed/postage envelope and they send you what you want. I wouldn't do that if you don't speak with someone first though. I have an account with Ohio Travel Bag as well, i forgot about them. I just wish they had a better online store to make ordering a little simpler. They do have just about anything though, it only takes a few days to have an account set up with them. Also if you don't have an account set up with them you can order through Springfield leather, but you have to look up the part numbers and prices from OTB first, which probably would mean you'd have to call them. Nothings easy sometimes. Actually I'm probably just spoiled with online ordering, it's easier for me. I'm sure some people prefer using the phone. I do phone in my leather orders though.

The snap covers stay in there, They require some force to get them in there, I don't think they would ever go anywhere. What I meant by the metal tabs were: the ones I ordered from HDL were too long for what I needed them for so I made my own out of kydex, It's a little thicker than metal, but works fine. I got the Kydex from Springfield leather, I have a few different thicknesses, but I used the thinnest they sell for the tabs. I'd like to find shorter metal ones, but most of my holsters don't have thumbreaks on them so it's not usually an issue to make my own here and there out of kydex. I think JRM has different sized ones but it's not as easy to order if you don't need 1000 of them, they will sell them but there is a procedure to get them.

I'm a bit confused as well. I think you want to make your holster that doesn't fit the rail mounted laser fit the rail mounted laser. If you plan on getting into leatherwork, what I would do is just make an entire holster. It sounds like you got a decent holster from a decent maker, there's no sense in risking modifying it. Worst case scenario is sell it to someone else that would want one and doesn't want to wait for one, you'll likely get all your money back if not more. I wouldn't try modifying an existing holster for something like that, unless I'm way off on what your trying to do. It'll be difficult to match someone elses work with the stitching, coloring and finishing.

For your second project that looks pretty good. My first thing I made was something similar and it didn't look that good, I didn't have an awl and correct thread (or this forum) at the time. Wait until you compare that with something you made in a year from now.

Yea, I have to agree, learn how to make them, I do them similar to what was already stated, skive the ends down so they overlap glue them together and stitch them up. This way I know how they are made and from what leather they are made from. Also I'm pretty sure if you can buy them they won't come with the burnished edge which means you'd have to burnish them somehow, it's much easier to do this while they are flat. It would be very difficult to do it after they are made.

I've got them from High Desert Leather as well, the metal tabs are sometimes too long on some things so I ended up making them out of kydex. The snap covers are great though, and his prices are very good, and he ships quick.

Yea I think you'll be happy with it. Let us know what the differences between the blacks they have. With fiebings I can buff all day and still get rub off and the angelus seemed to set in really well and require very little buffing. The only reason I didn't get more was because Springfield only sold it in 3 oz bottles which don't last very long at all. I like to order as much as I can from the same place to save on shipping but I'm going to try the place mentioned earlier for larger bottles.

I used angelus pro black and really liked it compared to Fiebings spirit black and usmc black. It seemed to require much less buffing to get the excess off. As soon as I finish my last quart I'm going to switch to angelus for the black. I haven't used Fiebings oil dye in black to compare it.

I'm going to try it, I wish I'd have seen this for the belt I made last week as it was for someone I knew and not just a random customer. At what point do you stitch it up? It seems it would be easier to stitch it when its straight, but I don't think it would bend as much after it's stitched but on the other hand maybe they do since they mold to the body after they are stitched and sealed. This would be a good time to make myself a new belt but I'm getting behind as it is so that's out of the question. That pillion pad was way bigger than I wanted to make it, but the guy claimed his girlfriend needed it that big, hopefully she didnt hear him saying that. It was supposed to match the seat in my avatar picture, but they were made at different times and that seat was tough to match perfectly because I mixed some colors and didn't really keep track of how much of each and I didn't have the seat in person to go off of, I'm still not sure how close they are as I never got pictures of them together. I'll let you know how I make out with curving the belt, the next one I have is still a few weeks away on my list.

I can't believe I never thought about casing them and then curving them that way! I've never really considered cutting them on a curve because it seems like there would be more wasted leather but more importantly I think every body shape would require a different curve, mine has an odd shape to it after wearing it for a while, it's not a smooth gradual curve. I have a few orders for belts so I may try this on them, it should really help cut down the breakin period. I make my belts double layered, glued and stitched. I don't think there's any comparison between this and a single layer for the reasons already stated and in my opinion the finished product looks much better and slides through the belt loops easier since both sides are smooth, It is at least double the work which makes them more expensive but there's plenty of cheap belts out there if someone wants a cheap one.

You'll be much better off using better leather and you can do so without spending a fortune. You can order directly from Wickett & Craig and they have no minimum purchase, other than you must buy a side. You can get their "special" grade, which is #3 grade for 100.00 a side, the number 1 grade usually runs right around 200.00 for a side. I think you'd be just fine with the #3 for making holsters, if there are marks it's easy to work around and it'll be much better than the cheap stuff at Tandy. I bought a number 3 out of curiosity along with a side of number 1 which is what I normally use, I was suprised at how very little difference there was between the two, both were very nice with almost no marks.

Thanks, I don't use any eco-flo products, it was Fiebings paste antique, the color was tan, and it was finished with Aussie Leather conditioner, I've since switched to Montana Pitch blend though. I did some airbrushing on it as well to darken up the shadows slightly after the antique was applied. I didn't use any type of resist or anything like that prior to antiqueing it if that helps at all. I just put it on and wipe it off as soon as it's on with paper towels.

I'm going to use the paypal option, it will be the easiest and less room for error since I won't have to re enter any info in most cases. It won't cost anything extra, actually it'll save me slightly with the delivery confirmation being much cheaper. If there's additional wait time it's really not a big deal, they've already waited long enough that a few extra days isn't going to matter, if it does for some reason they can pay to upgrade. Most holsters are less than 13 ounces so thats not an issue, if I'm shipping an expensive item like a seat or something it goes UPS unless it fits in a flat rate box. Sounds like you need a good system, I know the money I could loose by using the wrong shipping method sending 10 or so a week, sounds like your moving a lot more than that. Thanks

Tina, Thanks for that link, they have Angelus dyes in pint bottles and are reasonably priced as well as some other things, I wish I wouldn't have just ordered 2 quarts of Fiebings. Do they ship fast?

I'd be interested in hearing your results with the Angelus finish. Did you buy a quart of it? I used their dyes in the past and really liked them but the 3oz bottles were too small and I didn't see quarts at Springfield, or at least on their site so I just stuck with Fiebings. I haven't noticed any tackiness with the resolene when I use it, I was very reluctant to use it for a long time because I thought it was going to make the leather look plastic, but I actually like the way it works. I'm sure you'll be fine with whatever you use, your stuff is always top notch.

I would think either she didn't mail it when she said or something happened that it took that long to only go that far, I've shipped across the country in less time than that. The downfall is it's not guaranteed to make it in a specific amount of time, thats usually not an issue for me.