emr454
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About emr454
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Rank
Member
Profile Information
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Gender
Male
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Location
New York
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Interests
Holsters and other gun leather
LW Info
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Leatherwork Specialty
Holsters for now...
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Interested in learning about
Gun belts, sheaths
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First Horsehide And First Hybrid Holster
emr454 replied to emr454's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
I had it in the oven at 300 for a couple minutes and then did some fine tuning with a hair dryer, so I'm not sure why it looks shiny in the pic. An IR thermometer may be my next purchase though... I just built a holster press today so my next attempt should yield better definition and retention This could turn itself into a new hobby/obsession! Eric -
'alone In The Woods' Rifle Sling
emr454 replied to AMMO's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
Wow, that alot of stitching, talk about sore fingers! -
'alone In The Woods' Rifle Sling
emr454 replied to AMMO's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
Looks good! Did you hand stitch it or use a machine? Eric -
First Horsehide And First Hybrid Holster
emr454 replied to emr454's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
Thanks for the kind words! It amazes me just how much cleaner it looks with uniform stitching. Still not sure how I feel about horsehide, but I can tell these are bottom of the barrel strips, so to speak, and the better Horween hide should be head and shoulders above these. Eric -
So here is what I've made from the cheap horse butt strips from Springfield Leather. The first is a pancake for my S&W 6904. This was made from the nicest of the horse butts I received. I love the color of the drum dyed leather! So far, this is my best effort. I'm really getting better with measuring and marking my stitch lines. I just recently got a stitch spacing wheel so that also helps with it's appearance. Next is my first hybrid holster. This was my first experience using kydex as well. The kydex was one of the free samples I got from Springfield Leather and the leather is another piece of the cheap horse butts. This one is sort of a convertible IWB/OWB holster, but since my kydex forming skills are lacking, it works better and has better retention as an IWB holster. Feel free to offer your thoughts and critiques! Eric
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I've been thinking of making a leather belt for my wife. She just recently got her pistol permit so It's going to be a sturdy gun belt for supporting a holster. I might be limited to 1.25" width because women's jeans typically have smaller belt loops. Would it be feasible to buy a couple belt blanks and make a double-layer belt? I've never worked with any belt blanks before so I'm unsure of their quality and so forth. This will be done with a minimum of tools as well, so that's why I was considering belt blanks. Any ideas are appreciated! Eric
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Question About Dying Leather
emr454 replied to johnggrg's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
I had the same problem with Fiebing's medium brown, it looked more like dark brown/black. If you bought the spirit based dye you can thin it some with isopropyl or denatured alcohol. I find that a 3:1 dye/alcohol mix gives me more of what I would call a medium brown color. With that said, using a dauber or sponge may still require more than one coat to get even coverage, at least that was my experience. Definitely try it out on scraps first. Eric -
I'll be taking care of that today. Probably be just as easy to chuck it in a vise and use the 4" angle grinder to smooth it out. Eric
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Same here. Any bits of cement that ooze out of the edges really gum up any sandpaper I use. Eric
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The stamping was done with an old screwdriver bit that I ground down with the dremel into an irregular shape. That's a good idea! I didn't use a stitching groover on this piece, it was a blunt pick/stylus thing I found. I cased the leather for tooling and just made a groove with the stylus. Next time I'll try doing it one side at a time. Eric
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Here's my first attempt at a knife sheath. Very simple design just to cover the blade. I need to work on my edges a bit to make them turn out better. I also have decided that I am only going to make a stitch groove on one side of my pieces for now. I chucked a speedy stitcher needle in my drill press (not running, of course) and still couldn't hit both grooves when I punched my holes.
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Free To A Newbee Holster Maker.....
emr454 replied to Rayban's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
I'll take it! And anyone who's willing to give anything away is cool in my book:thumbsup: PM sent. Eric