George B

I think I will use a light gauge aluminum for the back, side and bottom as suggested. Yes, I plan on posting the pics. Thanks, George

The stuff Weaver leather has says it's "kipskin", veg tanned calf skin in 2/3 ounce natural. The heavier they list as "kipskin apron splits", 5/7 & 8/9 ounce. I've only been at this a couple of years, but the guy that taught me to make saddles called it "mule hide" and I use it for roping horn wraps. the first tight grained, and wonderful to work with, the second can be kinda fuzzy and only tightens up when I wet wrap a saddle horn. As a beginner, I was then, as I am now...totally confused.

Weaver leather has natural and pearl gray, natural is 2/3 ounce and gray is available 5/6 ounce and 7/8 ounce. Sorry but I have not found anything in colors.

I've never made a set of motorcycle saddlebags, plenty for western saddles but this is a first for a friend. He does not want piping on the edges so it will make my job easier. Throw over design with buckles to attach the the bags to the yoke which will ride across the fender under the passenger seat. Jeremiah Watt stainless steel buckles and conchos using W&C black English bridle leather, 10-12 ounce fronts with 2 layers of 5 ounce on the back with a sheet of Lexan between them. Yoke will be reinforced with 3 strips of 1" wide poly strapping in the yoke to reduce stretching and will slide down on to the brackets he made with spring steel clips to support the bags. Was going to start cutting leather this morning and decided if I was going to mess it up it should be paper first. I am so glad I did. Gotta buy me a roll of craft paper now. Took a while to figure out, if anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Hoping the bags look as good as the patterns.

Thanks for the suggestions. The holster is stored in the same container (open basket) with other completed leather items and no other leather item has the problem. The belt is in my house with my other belts an it too has the white on it. I tried the lemon juice a while back and it did nothing. I even sprayed a light water bleach mixture on both of them and after they dried the white came back. I will try to use a blow dryer on them when I get a chance to see if that is it. If so, how can I avoid it in the future? I oil with both EVOO and neetsfoot.

Hey All, I have been doing gun leather for less than a year so my experience is very limited. A while back I ordered a couple of horse butts to see what all the hype was about, one for a holster, another for a carry belt. Did myself up a nice Tom Threeperson holster with both a stitched and a laced welt edge, lined with horsehide. Took it out of the finished basket and to my surprise found it had turned almost white with what looked like baby powder. Wiped it off and replaced it back in the basket. Took it back out again this morning and it was even worse than a couple of days ago. The dual layer belt did the same thing and is hanging on the wall of my shop. These are the only two items that have done it, all my other leather is just fine. Is there something I'm not doing right? Maybe in the finish work? Or, am I just cursed when it comes to horsehide? I would love to start offering this option to my customers but I don't want this to become an issue with their finished items. Any advice would be great. Thanks, George

I soak it in warm water about 2 to 3 times as long as I normally would for skirting leather. I have used Bridle before with smaller items and it has formed well. I just make sure that the area out of the side I use has a good firm temper. Not sure how well the belly would form but I guess I'll try some when I get the chance.

Made the holster last night for a customers S&W 686 using Wickett & Craig Chestnut English Bridle leather and will be making the belt today. Good firm temper, formed well and has a great finish when done. A lower carry than I would normally make but it's what he wanted.

Have to agree with Deadeye, Wickett & Craig. They will even split it the same weight at no additional charge, but mine usually takes 2 - 3 weeks to ship. If you,re needing it refinished on the flesh side they will do that as well for an additional charge. Check the "Overstock " Leather section first, the prices are very reasonable.

Hello, In saddle school we used #277 on top and #207 on the bottom, some use the same for both. I was told you have to consider the amount of thread that will go into the hole made by the needle. On some belts I will go to #207 on top and #207 on the bobbin, just depends on the thickness of the leather and the width of the belt, but on holsters I always use #277 on top and #207 on the bobbin. Keep in mind I have only been doing this for a couple of years and still learning. I use a Artisan Toro 4000, the needle sizes are 794s and the difference between the 200 size and 230 size if the diameter of the hole they make, not sure about your sizes. A lube pot normally mounts on top of the machine and the top thread travels through it before going into the first tension disc. The thread is then lubricated as it passes through and is supposed to relax the stiffness of the black thread. I would first call the company that makes your stitcher and ask them what they recommend, it should be something they are familiar with. Hope this helps, George

Had a similar problem a while back. Black thread fraying up some on the stitches, no other color, just the black. All thread was from the same maker and all the same size #277 with #207 on the bobbin with a size 200 needle. Also had a problem with kinks and cutting of thread on back-stitches in the black only, even with the #207 on top and bottom. Switched to a #230 needle with #277 thread and this corrected the cutting stitches problem but not the others. Finally called the maker of the thread and asked if possibly I received bad thread in both sizes. Technical support told me that due to the dying of black thread it becomes much stiffer and can have problems with fraying and kinking. They told me to use my lube pot with silicone lube. I also reduced the tension on top and this seems to be working just fine.

I stored a small roll (left overs) of latigo next to a side of skirting leather and had the same problem. The oil, tallows and wax seemed to get sucked right into the skirting leather. Started storing latigo and other like leathers in a completely different area of the shop and have not the problem since. I do have to agree with an earlier post. The dog does look pretty guilty.

Hello, one other thing I did not see mentioned is the UPS Canada. They do sometimes charge an additional percentage on top of other charges that the customer has to pay before receipt of the merchandise. I have had some issues with upset customers about this charge. If your customer chooses this shipping option make sure they understand they are responsible for any additional charges from UPS. I have used USPS, both express and priority with very few issues.

Thank you for your response. I figured it out by going to a local civil war relic shop here and looking at some belts and pictures. george

Hey All, Sometimes I get requests for items that require a smaller sewing machine than is capable of without resetting all the tension and stuff, so, my question is will a Singer model 628 sew items like light garment leather for bucking rolls, wallets and the such? I'm working on an extremely limited budget and found one of these lil' babies with table and all accessories. Will it work for the above? Thanks, George

Hi All, I have a customer that wants an 1860 eagle belt. I found the buckle he wanted but I'm still not sure the exact way to construct the belt. Is the sewn end go onto the smaller clip side of the buckle? How much extra leather should I leave for adjustment on the opposite side? I am planning to use chicago screws to adjust for lrngth and to secure the larger buckle side. How do you do it? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, George

Hey Denster, after looking at the article again, very closely, I see what you are talking about. At first I thought maybe it was the holster maker, but I can see where the trigger guard does not look quite correct. I found one with a shorter barrel at the local gun dealer I can use to form and do my pattern with. Is there a dummy gun out there I can use for future orders? Thanks and I appreciate the correction, George

Hey Denster, I know the standard sp101 is larger but this is the 22 lr, a new model that the reviewer used a j fram holster for that fit just right. From what I read the new ruger sp101-22 is almost identical to the s&w j frame and is a 22lr kit gun, more like the old k22 S&W. Thanks, george

Hello All, Have a customer who lives across the country wants a Tom Threepersons holster for his new Ruger SP101-22 with a 4 inch barrel. Looked at the Sp101 in 38 and it is a different lug and looks like a larger frame. My question, can I use a S&W J frame blue gun with the 2 inch barrel, extend the pattern for the additional length and still make a holster that fits the gun correctly? The S&W bluegun looks to have a shorter lug below the barrel, since it is not a detailed boned holster I figure the frame section will form out correctly. Am I correct? Are there any other problems I should be aware of? Thanks in advance, George

Hey All, slowly but surely I am becoming a sewing machine tech, but not by choice. After correcting a problem with cut back stitches another problem occured just yesterday. The thread is kinking up before it hits the top tension discs and is popping out. Throws the tension totally off and the stitches go south too fast to catch. Seems the way the thread is turned onto the spool on a roll of weaver #277 I am using is different then the thread I recieved from artisan when I bought the machine. I believe they send a right turn spool? I have been using the weaver for awhile now and up until this spool I have not had this problem. Is there anyway to correct this without having to scrap all my weaver thread and buying new? Thanks, george

Finally found the problem. Burr on the inside of the center presser foot after a needle break. Polished it out and no more cut backstitches. Thanks everyone for the replies, george

I can appreciate your point of view and yes at first glance I took it to be rude and also misplaced critisism of a simple observation of what I experienced. It was not meant to belittle another maker, it was simply an observation that made me question why someone would buy something of obvious low quality. As I stated in my title, I am new to all this as well and would never question anothers ability. I simply looked at what was before me and developed "my opinion". As far as the use of forums for discussions like this, I make no apologies. Last I heard, forums were for the open discussions of a particular interest as long as the user stayed within the rules of the forum and remained curtious. I respect your opinion, but do not agree with it. God Bless America George Definition of FORUM 1a : the marketplace or public place of an ancient Roman city forming the center of judicial and public business b : a public meeting place for open discussion c : a medium (as a newspaper or online service) of open discussion or expression of ideas

I'de like the S&W66 6"Duncans Customs S&W908 if still available email sent

Just returned from a local gun show in Hpkinsville, TN. and I was totally flabergasted at the gun leather I witnessed being sold. I am fairly new to gun leather, I have building for under a year now and a couple of years building western saddles. A local holster builder had a couple of tables set up with numerouse pancake holsters and such on them. I took a careful look at his work, rough, uneven and unfinished edges, cheap leather, bad dye jobs and belt loop slots that looked like they had been cut out with a chain saw. He gave me the speal about how all his holsters are handmade and how great they were compared to Galco and Bianchi, The whole time he is standing in his bare feet wearing cut off sweat shorts and a ragged sweat t-shirt with torn off sleeves telling me this, I am thinking "I would buy them over yours". I told him I was not interested and moved on, the whole time thinking how I have tossed away holsters that were not half that bad and that the guy will starve selling his work. OH BOY WAS I WRONG! People were buying them! And paying a premium price! I have booked a table today for the next show in Jan. of 2012. I am not going to do anything with my gun leather that I am not doing now, I will not sell shoddy workmanship or junk. But I will take all of those items I have been throwing away with me and set up a seconds table at half price as they are perfectly functional with blemishes and edges or stitching that didn't turn out quite right. I learned today that I have been way to hard on myself when judging my work. It makes me feel kinda good! Thanks, George

Thanks Lobo, I'll try duncan's again. And, I'll keep in mind the differences. My brother pretty much gave me the same advice, he is a s&w collector. Just my luck he's on the other side of the country.