billymac814

I always had trouble finding thread as well, I used the prewax nylon from tandy before with pretty good results. It's very waxy though so I'd pinch it between my fingers in a paper bag to remove some wax and drive it deeper in the thread. I don't know how many cord it was. I also bought some from the local shoe repair guy but found it too big, it was linen. Tandy sells linen thread as well but I think its only available in natural. I pretty much had the same experience as TwinOaks with needles, I use the smallest possible after breaking a bunch. I always tapered the ends. It's very time consuming but makes the rest of the stitching go much smoother.

Very nice looking. I don't usually like the look of rough out but that looks very clean and classy. I make a holster with a belt loop like that and I sew it on, mainly because it's over the gun so I don't want hardware touching the pistol. I've used T nuts before for those when it won't touch the weapon. I use either size 10-24 I think. Maybe it was 8-32? I have a question: When wearing that holster and during the draw is it very stable? I've thought about making something similar but have always been nervous about the weapon pushing down therefore pushing the belt up. Maybe I should just make one and try it for myself. It would make it a little thinner than having the strap center on the gun and easier than putting one on each side.

Thats ok, I think I initiated the hijacking. I contacted High Desert but I haven't heard back since I placed the order. If he doesn't return my email in a day or two I won't worry about it and make some out of Kydex, actually at this point I"m more interested in the snap covers, but if I order them I'll order the spring things too. Now back to the Hi Jack Have fun with your new machine. I'm sure your weekend will be exactly like mine was last week, sewing together every scrap in sight. Hopefully yours won't be quite as frustrating as mine was. My new needles came in today along with a lifetime supply of thread( at least it looks like it'll last forever) I haven't tried them yet, but I'm hoping it works better than it has with the correct needle. It's not quite the same as a nice saddle stitching done by hand, but I'm at the point where I have more orders than I can possibly handstitch. Well I probably could have, but I found myself not wanting to do certain things because of the stitching required. I now can stitch my small bodyguard holsters in less time than it used to take me to taper the ends of the thread and thread the needle.

I agree with using what's on hand, I have kydex so I may go that route, I did however talk to the guy at high desert and I'll probably order some off of him beause I want to get some of those snap covers anyway. I just figured if I could get some easily since they are cheap it would save me a bit of time. I actually think Id like kydex over metal though but for 50 cents I'll Oder a couple and see what they look like.

That was my original plan, I figured it'd be easier to buy some. Did you get your Boss yet?

Have you had any issues with that water based glue? I used some before on a holster and my edges separated. I think it weakened greatly during wet molding. Luckily it was my own holster. I used barge with good results and recently have been experimenting with Original Weldwood contact cement. Both have a smell but I seem to be in the school of thought that the worse it smells the better it holds.

I didn't mean anything by saying it could be had free or cheap, I just remember reading another post where someone got it from a beekeeper that didn't need it because it was a byproduct of his intended goal. Even so 150.00 seems reasonable for that much considering it'll last for ever(or 10 years, whichever comes first) It's been a week or so since I've applied the MPB on the seat, Any waxy or greasy feeling that it had after the applications has went away (just like the pamphlet said it would) and it feels just the same as any other conditioner I've used.

Thanks, I seen that one but it says at the top the ship time is 45 days maybe that just applies to holsters? I'll see if I can contact him

I'm making a holster soon that needs one of those thumb break snap things that looks like a squared off oval, I don't do these that often at all, and I haven't found them other than in large quantities or I found another place but they claim 45 day ship time. If anyone would want to part with 1 or a few I can paypal the cost of materials and shipping, I'm sure they'd go in an envelope without a problem. My email is mccabescustomleather@yahoo.com Billy

thanks for your response, it looks very good either way, there looks to be a distinctly different look to it compared to a dyed black holster unless it is because of the pictures. I like it either way, I don't normally like black leather that much but I seen a seat that looks just like your pictures, it looks like black but also looks brown depending on how you look at it and it looks like it has much more depth than black dye.

I'm looking for a color that is just like that, almost black but you can see brown. Is there any spirit or oil dyes like that?

Can you or anyone else tell me what color this is?

I think I'm going to start something similar to that. Then contact them prior to starting theirs for payment and they should have it within a week after payment. I would imagine this increases the chance they find something else first or change thier mind, but that shouldn't happen to often and realistically if they are the type of person who is willing to pay up front they won't back out. I never really considered doing this, and still probably wouldn't make the order before I get payment for a custom item, but I like the idea of getting it when I start and not a few weeks prior.

I'm suprised at how many people don't take deposits or get paid before starting an order, I started with MC seats which were all custom items that couldn't easily be resold so I always got a deposit and I just carried that over to my holsters. But in a reality I suppose I wouldn't need a deposit on them because they'd be an easy sell and I wouldn't have as much pressure to get them done(might not be a good thing). I may reconsider my methods. But I do find it's easier for me to keep track when I know that all my orders are paid for before I start them. I'm only 2-3 weeks out though, If I were further I don't think I'd feel good about having everyones money. I've posted pictures of my holsters in a forum and people get directed to my site if they are interested, I haven't had any issues, but I do it pretty descretlely and it doesn't come off as an advertisement.

It's been quite the adventure, mostly just a learning curve i'm sure, this is my first experience with a machine. The stitches don't look near what hand stitching does, but I think that is more my fault than the Boss's. Also I'm not using the right needle for leather, I'm using the round point one until my other ones get here. There's another thread if you haven't found it already that is very informative http://leatherworker...%20%20boss&st=0 Mine is the old steel one, the manual I got with it is old as well, it tells me to go just around the back of the secondary tensioner yet the new manual online says to go all the way around, when I go all the way around it eventually slips through the disks and wraps around the bolt and is very tight, and doesn't work right. So I'm not really sure what to do.

I just found another thread that says to go around the secondary tensioner a full wrap, in my manual, it shows just going around the back, I'm going to also try that and see if I can get my stitches looking a bit better. I sewed another one, and had a few issues, nothing major, just annoyances. I'll probably just start from scratch with the tension since it'll probably change some with going around the whole way.

I figured that was coming. I'll post one when I finish it. Here's the same holster as I'm making, this one was handstitched. I got quite a few other orders for these as well. They don't take long to stitch really but there's a welt in there so it's pretty thick to stab through, and I hate prepareing the thread to thread the needles. This one was a basic black (vinegaroon). I have some others that should look nicer when done.

Thanks everyone, I stitched a holster with it in about 5 min, I wouldn't even have prepared the thread for hand sewing in 5 min. It looks OK but not quite as good as my hand stitching did, I'm sure I'll get better though.

Thanks for the suggestion, although I was going through all the needles I got with it I found a 200 needle. It is just a round point one, not the chisel poing but I figured I'd give it a try and it hasn't missed a beat yet. I think i'll give it a go with that until the other ones arrives. Hopefully it won't take them long to ship it, they are in Ohio so it's only a day away by UPS so long as they ship it quickly. I'm sure it'll jam up or something as soon as I put a real holster in it instead of scrap, but so far so good, The chisel point looks slightly better than the round, but it'll do for a few holsters I suppose. I've learned a lot the past 2 days on how sewing machines work, I'm sure the Boss is a great stepping stone prior to stepping up to a powered machine. I am wondering if I should get the lube pot though. I'm not sure the advantages of it put I'm open to suggestions.

I've adjusted the stop that dictates how far the needle travels, I'll try to move the needle down some. I got it working about 90% of the time. It seems like what is happening is the thread is pulling back up with the needle and not creating the loop, I'm wondering if the needle isn't too large. My manual says to use a 230 with 277 but thier site says 200 with the 277 thread. All I have is what came with it and they are 230's. I ordered a pack of the 200's so hopefully they come quickly and I'll try that. It would make sense if its creating to big of a hole and the thread comes back through it before looping. I'm hoping the fraying of the thread is caused by an improper loop and it just splits the thread.

I've tried all of those steps as well as a few others. Do you mean moving just the needle down? I've adjusted the stop with not much luck. I'm wondering about the thread though, If I twist it clockwise it comes undone. I would guess that to be left hand thread. The thread I have is Nylon BB Bond H #4, size 277 P/n 50-0277-bk from Weavers. I don't know if that is the proper thread or not. I have it threaded exactly as it's shown in the manual, however I read a thread stating they changed how it is supposed to be threaded but I couldn't find any further details on that. I can't wait to get this thing running right. I'm sure to some that the Boss would be tedious to use without being powered, but from someone who handstitched everything this thing is going to save a ton of time and should pay for itself and a bigger machine quite quickly.

Friday I made a long drive to pick up an older but not really used Boss, It's the cast steel one, I got the machine, stand, edge guide, a few other accessories, thread, needles, and I also got with it a heritage foot pedal press to punch holes and drive spots,rivets, snaps etc and it cames with an auto centering thing. I really hadn't planned on getting a machine, but I've got quite a few orders and hand sewing just isn't cutting it anymore. I couldn't afford anything else at this point, and I got this whole set up for just about the cost of the accessories that came with the boss. I've wasted all day yesterday getting it set up and I got it to where it lays perfect stitches when it does, but the problem is occasionally the thread wont create the loop for the shuttle hook to pick it up, that problem is annoying, but I found a way that I hold the thread as its pulling up and it'll catch it. I'm using 277 thread and have tried several needles that are supposed to be correct for that thread. I've also tried several others that came with it. It would seem to me that either the needle thread is too tight, or the needle is to big, but I've adjusted for both. The biggest problem is sometimes it splits the thread and gets all jammed up. I don't know whats causing this, I've tried everything I could search of on here and the tippman site/videos, etc. Another thing I'm wondering is that I always waxed my thread when hand sewing, Is that necessary with this machine somehow? I could get a lube pot, but I want to know if its needed first. I ordered some newer needles- it looks like my manual recommends a different size than the site does, so I'm not sure what that means. I also ordered white thread, since it only came with black. I've made every adjustment that their site says, There is a part of the video that says if your machine is fraying thread that a small adjustment might be needed but they don't give the adjustment, they just give a phone number. I'm not sure if when it pierces the thread if that is considered fraying, but it does fray the thread. I'm going to call them tomorrow and see if they have any suggestions, I thought I'd try here first so hopefully I can get this up and running before I loose much more time. If anyone can be any help that would be great. Telling me I should have bought an electric machine for 5 times as much doesn't help though. My plans are to use this, get accustomed to how a machine works, sell it for more than I paid for it and then buy something bigger when the time comes.

Thats about the perfect response. I think I'll go that route in the future. It's not that I don't think I can do it, I know I can and make it look fine, the bottom of it though is very rough, a grinder really isn't going to save it either. I'll fix this one up and then maybe make sure I get pictures of the pan in advance before I give a price, I didn't really figure in any pan work to the price so I won't make very much on this one, but I'm more worried about it looking nice than how much I'll make.

I recieved a pan the other day that must have been made out of a shovel(i recall seeing a tutorial somewhere on how to make one out of a shovel) It is not symetrical to say the least and theres a lot of welding and mounting hardware on the bottom. I can cover it easy enough, but it's not going to be perfect, I hate to send something back thats not as nice as it can be even if it's not my fault. I'd say it's right on the border of a pan that I'd refuse to cover. I've been talking with this guy for probably 5 or 6 months too so I definatly want the job. I offered him one of my pans I use but it's not going to mount up without changing stuff on his bike and I know everything has already been powder coated. I guess I'll wait and see what he says.

I like making my own stuff, I'm making a maul right now, and I've made quite a few other tools because I can't really afford some things, however I can't imagine I can make anything better than what is available commercially as far as conditioners go. So far I've used Sno-seal, Sno-proof, and Aussie conditioner and probably something else I can't think of. Sno seal and sno proof seem to be very close, and Aussie conditioner seems to be a lighter mix if that makes sense, but the MPB seems like it would offer the most protection from the elements so far. It buffed off nicely and I don't think it's greasy, it feels and looks about the same as sno-seal and sno proof. I don't mind it being a little waxy, especially on a MC seat because I don't like them being overly slippery. Where did you get the beeswax in quantity? I've bought the small cakes but they are small and a few bucks, it wouldn't be cost effective to make anything out of them but I'm sure it can be had cheaper or probably free if you know the right person.