Josh Ashman

Lookin' good Shooter, thanks for sharing!

Thanks Matt and Robert! I heard back today that it was a big hit on Christmas morning and that it fit perfectly! I'm always a little nervous about building cartridge belts as a surprise present so I was glad to hear it fit. Thanks again everybody and have a great New Year! Josh

Thanks Billy! I believe those were 8oz with a 4oz backer on the cheeks and browband and around 10oz on the throat latch. All HO veg tan then oiled pretty heavily and followed with a good rub down of Aussie Wax then set in the sun to soak it in. I never wanted to make headstalls until I got a sewing machine. The thought of all of the sewing kept me away from wanting to make lined ones and the thought of buying a harness or bridal side kept me from wanting to make unlined ones. These seem to work pretty well and my wife talked me onto a getting a 12oz bridle side which also works quite nicely for unlined headstalls. All the best and happy New Year! Josh

Super nice and clean, great job! I wish I could get my carry holsters to come out that clean! Merry Christmas!

Thanks Double H, Steve and Bruno! Bruno, You are correct, no lining. The spikes on the spots are just folded over then I use a domed rivet/spot setter and a mallet to give them a good solid tap over a plate of steel. This sucks the folded spikes into the leather nicely and I haven't ever had a problem with scratches. I do use a thim piece of scrap chap leather between th setter and the spot to keep from marring them up and to help my one size setter work for smaller spots. Cheers from Missouri, Josh

Thanks again folks, I really appreciate the kind words! Merry Christmas! Josh

Great job Frank! I like everything about the whole lot of them. The colors look great, clean sharp tooling and well designed holsters. Thanks for sharing them! Merry Christmas! Josh

That is a heck of an order! Great job Camano! All the best, Josh

Thanks for the kind words everybody! I appreciate them. Red Cent, are you sure it's not just the Ruger in the rig that you like? I've noticed your a Ruger fan, I am too OT, that sir is just 3/4" plywood. you can see all sorts of marks in it from years gone by but it's usually covered with cutting boards now. I just moved them out of the way to take the pictures. I framed the bench up with double 2x4's on the front edge and it has posts built out of doubled 2x4's @ 2'-8" OC. I do my tooling on a marble slab that sits directly over a post, cutting and layout are done on the big cheap vinyl cutting boards from Walmart, skiving on a glass cutting board and I have a few of those rubber mats that I use to punch holes into, I put them over the vinyl cutting boards. rivets and the like are set on a 1" steel plate I place over a post. It works OK but it's a real mess as all of that just moves about and gets stacked here and there. I just moved all of the cutting boards over to one side to take the pictures. Thanks again!

Thanks guys! CR - it'll carry a shinny new Single Six when it gets where it's going. I stuck my beat up old one in it for the pictures

Done in time for Christmas... 10/11 HO, JWP hardware and Fiebings liquid acrylic black antique over a heavy coat of NF oil. Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas! Josh

I've heard them called "quick change" buckles. I have a set of reins I got as a present with them. Whoever built the reins just used a metal "square" but I think a "D" would work OK too. Attach it to the back piece however you want (the reins are at home or I'd look to see what they did) cut a slot through the next piece that folds over and cut your tab to fit through the "D" or square on top of that. I hope that makes sense and helps! Josh

Thanks Snubby!

Again, it's not a science, it's an art. Different approaches can still get great results. I'm similar to what JLS noted above in that I don't really oil formed holsters, maybe wipe a sheepskin that once upon a time had oil on it over the grain side of the leather but I do oil everything else and I heavily oil some items, so in that regard he and I are different. Neither is wrong, we're just different. If you like it and it works, you've done the "right" thing. If you don't like it or it fails to perform the way you wanted do it differently next time. If your sling is dry and looks like it may crack when flexed then oil it but don't go so far as to have oil dripping off of it. The hide can affect how much is "right" as much as anything else. Good luck, Josh

lol, thanks JLS, spelling never has been a strong suit

I like Fiebings Aussie Wax for a "finish" on leather items that will see a lot of rugged use and that I want to be fairly supple. It's basically a beeswax/oil mix that you can get ready to use. I rub it in by hand then set the item in the sun or some other warm place to soak it in. Josh

Thanks Rohn and CR! Yes sir Camano, the bleed know does go through the holster body. I started doing to make sure I didn't get the holster body wanting to pull back through the loops when the pistol is drawn. It didn't happen very often but every once in a while one would move around and bug me. Josh

It was too cold for playing around with pictures too much this morning so I ended up with these two together. The gun rig is for a SW500 as ordered by a customer and the bridal was a well appreciated birthday present to my better half. JWP hardware and bit on the bridal, leather is 8 oz HO with a 4 oz oil tan lining. The gun rig is 11 oz HO and 4/5 for the bullet loops with black Fiebings pro oil dye and several coats of NF oil and saddle soap. Thanks for looking, Josh

It really is a personnel preference sort of thing. I put a little neatsfoot oil on everything I build, slings and belts get more than holsters and less than tack. IMO oil always goes on after the tooling is done and before any sort of acrylic finish if your going to use an acrylic finish. That said, leatherwork isn't a science, there's 100's of different ways to do 1 thing and any of them can be the "right" way if you do it right. Good luck, Josh

Lobo, I'm impressed by the time you take when sharing your knowledge with the members of this forum. Thank you for chiming in from time to time, it's nice to have an experienced maker like yourself share your views. Best regards, Josh

TexasJack, I've made several this fall like the one pictured below. Get a long piece of butcher paper or some other similar heavy paper that you can have long and wide enough, I use velum paper in a 24" wide roll used for printing construction plans. Get your piece of paper that is as long as your rifle or so and fold it in half and proceed just as you would for the Stohlman holster pattern making process. Lay the scope on the center of the fold and "roll" it over to the side, trace around the rifle and scope, I leave at least 1" and maybe a little more to the edge of the pattern around the barrel and then a little more than that once you get to the fore end of the rifle. Make a nice curve down to where you wand it to end on the stock and draw a flap that looks nice to your eye. Good luck, Josh

Lookin' good Camano!

Keith, My 2 cents is that the dye just gives you a color, it sounds to me like what you are really going to be interested in is the final finish you put on after that. I dye pretty much like Jim describes above although I also cut the dye with alcohol as others noted. Play around to get the color you like and remember you can always go darker. Once the dye is dry, generally around 12 hours although humidity and temperature will cause that to vary put a coat of neatsfoot oil on it. If you want a rigid concealed carry type of holster be sparing with the oil, if you want a supple holster with some flex you can go heavier. You can also skip the dye and just use oil, it will darken the leather and time in the sun will darken it even more. After that soaks in (oil doesn't dry, it soaks in and you can overdo it so several light coats are better) top it off with an acrylic finish (Resolene, Mop and Glo or anything other type you like), I use Mop and Glo and I cut it 50/50 with water or you can also "grease" it with Sno Seal, Aussie Wax, Saddle Butter or any other similar finish. There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to go about it, just the way you like best. For me, I like my field gear to be oiled fairly heavily (usually 3 good coats) then greased and set out in the sun for a few hours on a hot afternoon. I like my every day concealed carry holsters and mag pouches to be fairly rigid, they get dyed, a very light wipe with oil then the 50/50 Mop and Glo. Good luck, Josh

What Dan said, with the possible addition of a rawhide burner wrapped around the front of the horn to cover the binding and then mulehide wrap. Good luck, Josh

You bet Doug, good luck on it. If you go with the halter bolt/ring set up make sure to post some pictures! Best regards, Josh