Big O

I've used it before. It's sealed on the flesh side. It would be my second of three choices: 1. Plain leather, with a (reasonably) smooth inner surface. 2. Gummed back leather. 3. Plain leather, with a rough inner surface. .....because, with #3, about the best you can hope for by using gum trag and a WHOLE bunch of elbow grease, is the equivalent of #2. I recently bought a couple of sides of plain veg-tan tooling leather from Waterhouse, and was VERY impressed with how smooth the flesh side was.

I think you're harder on yourself than you are on anyone else......Grumpy. As for "nothing fancy", that's what I like the most about your work - its simple elegance. No frills designs, but with great attention to detail. It's not just the lack of deep, detailed molding that makes them "smooth". On the highly detailed, "fancy", end of the spectrum, there are Pinnacle, Lobo and Shorts. Seriously, I would not have noticed the "flaws" unless you pointed them out, and would not have been able to locate them without you telling me exactly where to find them.

Force-drying the leather with heat after molding can really stiffen the leather. I'd concentrate mainly on the front surface of an IWB. I prop my holsters up in a cardboard box, then blow hot air from a hair dryer into it from 3 feet away for half an hour. Have gone 45 minutes before, without any problems......as long as it IS three feet away.

Brilliant!

Early attempt: Made from one piece of leather (which was entirely too thick):

I hate hate hate having to re-burnish and touch up the dye job, and avoid it whenever possible.

I've yet to make a shoulder holster, but I've worn them a number of times, and can give you some input from my own experiences. Wide straps, particularly where they go over the shoulders, are much more comfortable than narrow ones. The more flexibility in the middle of the back, the more comfortable the rig will be. For "horizontal" shoulder holsters, the more angle adjustment that's possible, the better. Also, for those, some sort of ammo carrier on the "off" side helps to balance the weight, especially if there are no belt tie-downs.

That's a very respectable first holster. I see you've discovered the sweat shield conundrum - the way it ends up farther forward than you planned. I've taken to routinely shifting it back 1/4 inch on the pattern, which seems to work fairly well.

Seriously, though, chaosready, that is some very fine work you've done there, and you should be quite proud of it. All any of us are criticizing here is the manner of carry, which was not YOUR idea in the first place.

I'd suggest you don't START by flat-out refusing to build it. First, try explaining the problem and suggesting alternatives. Usually, the customer's desire stems either from watching too many B-movies, or from wanting maximum concealment. And holsters such as this DO offer very good concealment - at the cost of safety. Point out to them that a holster can be worn anywhere on the belt that they can reach, and all that changes is the angle and/or height. Have them test this theory with an unloaded gun or blue gun by placing it against the belt and sliding it around. Then seek out natural voids around the waistline that lend themselves well to concealment. Nearly everyone has them in back, between the 8:30 and 3:30 positions. Folks that actually HAVE missed a meal now and then (I'm talking about folks here, not me) also tend to have them just in front of the hips, in the "appendix" postion, as well. Educating the customer is an added-value service we can offer.

Absolutely gorgeous!

That's a beautiful edge! Wish I could get mine that good.

Nice looking holster! You really should put your mark on it with a maker stamp. I've had a couple of people ask for holsters to accomodate a "cavalry draw" (where the hand slides between the gun and the body). I've discouraged it. Not only is it more difficult to do at speed and under pressure, but the mechanics of the draw make it highly likely that the muzzle will cross the body during the draw.......and not just a leg.

It seems to go easier, and looks better, when cased. ......and the grooving can help establish boundaries for the tooling. Just my opinion.

1911s. Definitely. I'd just get the 5", 4 1/4" and 3" versions without rails to begin with. And a S&W J-frame. And, these days, a Ruger LCP. After those, it's a bit of a crapshoot. (The Glocks kind of go without saying - all three sizes of the 9/40/357s)

There's no stitch line following the lower contour of the revolver. Won't the fit tend to become loose over time? It does look very nice, though. Love the color, and you clearly put a lot of work into the stamping. I've tried basketweave once, and we won't talk about that.....

I've learned through trial and error (mostly error) that the sweat shield always seems to end up farther forward in practice than it did on paper. To offset this, I simply move it 1/4" back on the paper.....

Finish, stitching, molding and edges look very good. Stitch lines follow the contour of the gun VERY well......but.....it looks like the stitch line along the TOP of the slide might follow it a bit TOO well, and then angle out to accomodate the front sight (which still needs to come back OUT the way it went in). I could be wrong about that. Belt slots look very wide, and look like they could use some touch-up dye on the edges. And I'm thinking that rear slot might be a little too far back, allowing the gun to flop out a bit from the belt. I'm a little leery of closed-end designs. They look GREAT, but debris, including the inevitable "holster feathers", can't just fall out the bottom. It's a very attractive holster overall. Looks like you designed it for maximum protection of the gun, while still allowing fast access.

Nice workmanship. The revolver holster looks a little asymmetrical, like the front tab is taller than the rear tab. I'd probably have tried to even that up, and EASED the bottom line of the holster down to the barrel. And the stitching could have been closer to the trigger guard. But I really really like the tooling. Here's a complete noob question: what tool is used to create the "pebble" effect, or whatever it's called, over most of those surfaces?

That IS good for concealing things. Since you're going with a belt, this expands your options quite a bit. Put on one of those shirts and take a good look at yourself in the mirror. There are bound to be places around the waistline where it hangs away from the body more than at other places. Also, explore the waistline between the pants and the body, for natural hollows which lend themselves to comfortable carry. If you can find a spot that fits BOTH those criteria, and is easy for you to reach, you might have just found the PERFECT spot for YOU to wear a holster! My trick at that point is to place the handgun on that spot, against the belt, find a comfortable angle and height, go through at least ten simulated draws from an imaginary holster at that location, and then note where the line of the top of the belt crosses the handgun. Replicate that line on your pattern, and your holster will be just the way you want it.

I can see where that would be an issue when you're cranking out more than a dozen holsters a week, using godawful expensive machinery (which is the only way that works). I'm still at the stage where I'm only producing a few holsters a MONTH, and doing it entirely by hand. Well...HANDS....both my own. I draw up a new pattern from scratch for every holster. I guess if someone wanted to buy a pattern from me, I'd have no problem with it. I just don't see why anyone would even WANT one or two pieces of file folder material with holes poked in it, though.......representing a design that was made to fit an entirely different person, with entirely different needs......

I'm thinking he meant the Baby Eagle, or maybe even their .380 Micro Eagle. I'm also thinking that anyone big enough to comfortably CARRY a Desert Eagle in an IWB rig.....probably doesn't NEED to.....

The Bianchi X15 was at least close to that. It was a vertical shoulder holster in which tabs headed off in opposite directions, kind of like scissors, from either side of the (folded) holster.

You might check out "overstitch wheels". They're basically spiked wheels attached to a handle. You just roll the wheel along your stitch lines, and it dimples the leather in regular increments. They make different sizes. 5 or 6 holes per inch is pretty standard. I have one, and tried it, but couldn't see the marks consistently, so I usually just wing it. The bad news is that it's sometimes pretty OBVIOUS that I'm winging it.