camano ridge

Start out by making a holster for your own pistol. Show it around to co workers, make one for fanily member or freind have them show it around and orders will begin to take care of them selves. Since you have an XD you might get the holster pattern pack from Springfield leather it has a pattern for an XD. It would be a good starting point also look up Adams Leather, he has some patterns and more importantly he has some very good how to videos a couple of them are free the others the cost is cheap. All are down loadble. http://www.adamsleatherworks.com/product-category/patterns/

Like TX said there is a ton of information. If you do a search on these forums for watch strap or making a watch strap you will find several threads on the subject. A couple of the threads are mini tutorials. Also if you do a you tube search you will find some videos on making watch straps.

Try theclip.com they have some stainless, black oxide and nickle plated. http://www.theclip.com/store/home.php?cat=301

If you google scandi knife sheath tutorial or making a scandi knife sheath you will find many tutorials and you tube videos on how to do it. Here is one tutorial http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?22249-Scandi-Sheaths-My-Way

If you have more money the whetstone savy you can order a douglas blade from Sheridan for $27.00 comes sharp enough to pierce your leather and your hand all at the same time. http://www.sheridanleather.com/Awl_Blades_p/dt-awl-blades.htm you do not need to by a Douglas Awl Haft ther3e are other awl hafts that will work.

As for welt, to me it depends on the style of holster yoou are making and the gun it is being made for. If I am making a pancake style no welt. If I am making a fold over style holster, field use or duty style. I do add a welt depending on the gun. When I do use a welt it is primarily in the triggerguard area. Again for me it varies depending on the type of holster. As to molding again it depends on the style of holster. Most of mine are molded primarily on the front. If it is a flat back style holster I mold on the front. If I need a lot of retention I will do most of my molding on the front and some molding in the back. A sweat guard is a personal preference and a necessaty depending on the style of holster and the type of gun. If you put a large auto like a 1911 in a holster with out a sweat guard it may find away to gouge you int the side. If you have a love handle thing going and you do not have a sweat guard you are going to get gouged. If you have a non stainless finish you can get moisture from your body on the gun. These are my personal opinions others may have a differnt spin on things. You will find there are many ways to do things, ultimately it comes down to what works for you.

The simple answer to your question is yes and no. There are terms like J frame, K frame N frame etc. However you will find that manufactures make changes to their models that some times do not match up with older Models. You could make a holster for an N frame then find out it does not fit a particular N frame because the cylinder is shorter etc. K frames some have an ejector shroud some do not. Same with the 1911, A holster for a Colt 1911 will fit a Colt 1911 unless it is a railed 1911. There are manufactures out there that make 1911's however they don't necasarily match other 1911's. It can be confusing, trying to make a holster that will fit several guns can be complicated and not always the best. There are blue gun models that will work for more then one model of a manufacture however there is no real key that will tell you that. You have to rely on the persons knowledge that is selling the blue gun or ask on these forums if a particuler model will work.

The set you got is the one with the lacing fid, scratch awl and two awl blades. The two awl blades are bigger then what I would use. If you are going to stay with Tandy then I would go with Awl Halft 3318-01 and diamond awl blade 3319-05. Like mentioned above you will need to sharpen it. Once sharpened it will work reasonably well.

You might be trying to describe lift the dot fastner as pictured below.

I have the same question as dbusarow and why would you expect experienced craftsman to want to be fully equipped with Tandy tools? If a experienced craftsman is already fully equipped and does not need Tandy tools what compensation would you be offering then?

Get lemon juice spread it on the mold let sit and then rub off. Should take care of most of it. May leave a little discoloration but can be dyed over. Most important thing is to killl the mold.

Like electrathon says, you are putting to much overthinking and scientific process into it, use SWAG it's easier and works just as well. I use the smallest awl blade I can find. THe hole should be snug when you pull the thread through. Like Electrathon I use pliers all the time. When I am done sewing I have fairly small holes that have somewhat healed them selves around the thread. You will hate yourself if you tie a knot in your thread.

Chuck, thank you. I was aware of the current make up of neatsfoot, as I had seen that in some of your other posts. I should have put quotation marks as I had posted a quote in response to the OP's question regarding neatsfoot 30 degree. Thanks again for your clarification.

IT does not have to freeze. If it gets down into the 40's my oil has congealed and gone milky both neatsfoot oil and Olive oil. Seems like keeping it above 50 degrees is best.

Neatsfoot oil (pure) is made from rendered down cow and horse hooves. The trick about the oil is to get a cold pressed oil. This is an oil that has been chilled down to 30 degrees and the heavy fat called strenin has been removed.

Yes, the technical term is you dried the &!@! out of the leather. By the way don't expect the problem to be fixed right away rub on the oil or leather treatment and go away for a day. Give the oil or leather treatment a chance to migrate through the leather.

along with a little bit of oil you might try a product like skidmores leather cream I have used it on old dried gun belts and it has done wonders. What you need to try to do is get some nutrient back into the leather.

If you take your neatsfoot oil into your house or someplace warm it should turn back to normal after a couple of hours. My shop is unheated and I had the same thing happen. It even happened to a bottle of Olive oil. I now keep my oils in the house and take them down to the shop when I need them.

Not sure how you define good. I have a couple I will look around and see if I can dig them up. Also Al stohlmans book Making cases I think it might be volume 3 has instructions and pattern for scoped rifle scabbard. There is also one in the May June 2010 Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal.

Not sure what you mean by the leather comming undone. I have been making holsters off and on for forty years. I burnish the edge of the mouth and muzzle end before i stitch once main seam is stitched I burnish all edges using only a wipe down with a wet cloth. I then dye the edges, when the dye is dry I burnish then apply a beeswax mix burnish a final time. Nothing else is applied to the edge and i have never had the leather com undone. I do glue my pieces before stitching.

Here is one more pic

GLockanator here are some pictures for comparison. One will not work for the other as is. However if you are going to modify it it might be doable, however it will take a lot of cutting grinding and shaving plastic.

GLockanator, I will take a picture of the blackhawk and the comander together you will be able to compare. Give me a couple of hours.

You may have a difficult time finding an exact fit because every holster will be a little different depending on type of gun etc. You may have to enlarge some patterns thentrim them down to fit your holster. If you can get a hold of a copy of Packing Iron there is a wealth of patterns to look at. You dont need a pattern specificaly for a double loop mexican put the main pattern on the holster then on the loop you can use border stamps etc. If you are getting into making this type of holster their is a great deal of information and exmples at cascity.com leather shop forum. If you have a pictureof one of your holsters or a picture of your pattern i can look and see if I have any tooling patterns that might work for you.

That is similar to the Mexican Revolution style. That style is used a lot in munted shooting. The center piece is usually a little wider. looks good.