Go2Tex

It is hard sometimes to get it tight across the handhole, depending on all the variables involved. I always glue it, though. It holds better than you might think. Rough it up real good if you suspect it might pull up. That always helps. Swell forks do present more problems on the fit-up. I would look at the design, the shape of the hand hole area. The higher you bring the seat up on either side on the swells will increase the amount of leather that can be pulled up by a curious fingered customer, obviously. Keep it as low or straight as possible, making a gentle curve down the face of the fork to the base. Also, the hand hole doesn't need to be big enough to get your entire hand down in there, either. Just big enough to get a good hold with the fingers. It ain't an access port. The bigger the hole, the weaker the seat, particularly with an all leather groundseat. At least, that's been my experience. Others might disagree. There are many factors that are involved. Below are 2 examples of hand holes. The first will most likely be harder to keep it tight than the second example.

Yes, I have tried masking with a similar product. I forget the name. Liquid mask. It works really well. Kinda spendy, though. Hobby Lobby has it. Again, it will leave a hard line that you need to deal with. It's like a rubber paint that you brush on. Not too practical for very large areas, like a fender when you just have a floral spot in one corner or something. If you have an intricate design that you are trying to mask off certain small areas, it will work but will be time consuming for a large project. Again, it leaves that very distinct hard line effect between masked and unmasked areas. As I recall, it blocked out leather dye completely. Antique might be a problem if you rub it too much as you apply it. You could rub the mask off. I think it is mainly intended for airbrushing art work.

Nice overall look. Well done. Main complaint, if any, not enough pictures to really fully appreciate it. I would glue the seat down around the hand hole. It looks loose there. Construction wise, I'd be hard pressed to find much to complain about without seeming overly nit-picky. It looks to be a fine, well made using rig. Just an observation for conversation sake and not really a critique, but I don't put cross-over rope straps on a swell fork. They work best, it seems to me, on the big fat wood post horns and slick forks. It's a matter of choice, of course. I think I've done one on request, but it was just for looks anyhow and more likely to hold a picnic basket than a rope. I guess it could be used as a night latch.....

I don't know about fast, but I have tried dunking in water and let it dry out a few times. It helps, but once the oil is absorbed by the fibers, it tends to stay there.

This is an interesting subject, as I have attempted to restrain the antique from large plain areas, and as a general rule, try to keep it out of my stitching. You can mask off an area using masking tape and then carefully apply and wipe off your paste. This, of course leaves a hard line which can then be smoothed out or blended a bit. It requires the use of your resist to the area that you will blend and somewhat beyond, just to make sure. Resist, if strong enough to do the job, will also be a bit plastic looking, because it is. You can dull that shinny look with deglazer, or lacquer thinner. Be careful there, though, because often the paste will stick to and/or stain the resist product and then transfer to the leather when you hit it with the thinner or deglazer. It's all a tricky proposition and a bit of a crapshoot. How many coats you use, the climate conditions,.... grimlins lurking....bad karma. The best look for plain, untooled leather is just plain leather, with no finish except oil and perhaps TanKote. But, sometimes it is just more practical and more predictable to resist the entire piece and then carefully apply the paste where you want it. As for the tan coloring on the carved area in your picture, that looks to me like just the burnishing effect of the tooling. Maybe they used highlighter on it? Who knows? With an ad picture, they might have even used Photoshop.

I've been using the Weaver saddle seat foam, but I generally find that 1/4" just isn't quite thick enough for inlays. So, I usually have to double it or use a thinner piece of foam on top of it. Think I'll try Panhandle, though. thanks for the tip. Unless my math is way off, it looks like McMaster is about 4 times as expensive, and open cell foam will suck up moisture.- Not good for a saddle seat, it seems to me. Is that Panhandle crepe open or closed cell?

As for the brass hardware in general, try Weaver Leather.

It seems to me that these saddles with the rawhide braided horns were factory made and the investment the customer has in it would not often merit a removal of the swell cover and re-braid with rawhide. This is a rather labor intensive, and therefore expensive repair, as has been mentioned. So, anything you can do to avoid removing the swell cover is probably going to be the best answer for these situations. Just cut off the rawhide and restitch a half cap and then wrap with latigo.

Excellent work, indeed. Love the color. But, what really impressed me, and to be honest, I'm damn jealous, is your molding work. It looks like you used a press or something. I can't even come close to that nice of molding, no matter what I do. It looks like an injection mold, for godsakes. May I be so bold as to inquire how the heck you do it? The stitching.... well, you have a Boss. I guess it beats hand stitching, if you don't consider all the time you spend trying to make the damn thing work, replacing broken needles, and cussing the day you ever bought it, etc. Or, if you live off the grid in a van or commune, and are into masochism.... it might make sense. But, on the off chance you might be in the market for a spare, I have one for sale....

Yep, all leather is definitely not created equal. Just like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Many things show up after it is wet. Sometimes I will wet an area before I cut out my parts just to make sure that some blemish or imperfection has not been hidden by a crafty tanner. Drying leather with a blow dryer is always risky and I try to avoid it if possible, but that is not always practical either. Drying naturally is best, as it dries more evenly. For molding a holster, you need not thoroughly soak your piece. Just a quick dunk to make it pliable usually works best and takes less time waiting for it to dry. The marks in your photos don't appear to be from over heating, though. The tan overall color does, but the blacken spots are really odd. They almost look like iron stains. Try some oxalic acid, or wood bleach on them. Or, just start over with a better piece of leather.

Well, now we know what you've been doing all winter....

Well, not really. I guess I could take a picture of it, but, like I said, it was for a Ruger .22 and not the 1911. Plus, I didn't need the flap. So, it's not going to help much. The ramp was a trial and error design process. Now, as for the original .45 issue holster, for a price, I could open it up and make a pattern..... ehem, for a price, that is.

Loved the articles. Great info and instructions on measuring. May I have permission to link to them from my website?

Yes. I oil, let it dry a day or so, then add Tan-Kote. It gives a mellow satin sheen. Resolene is better for sealing antique or black dye, but it is harder to re-oil and looks plastic.

Have you considered Fiebings Tan-Kote? Not as shiny a lacquer but much better for the leather.

This is a great piece of history and a fun project. The swivel would be challenging, but the holster itself is what is most interesting to me. I just happened to have one of those old surplus military issue 1911 holsters and decided to copy the style for my ruger .22, just to pack around the yard hunting moles.... yeah, ok, I was a little bored one day. The unique aspect of the holster for me is the fact that the molding is done on the back side, rather than the front. So, the front is more flat. The other distinguishing feature is that ramp or raised area inside the holster that tilts the butt of the gun outward, apparently to make grabbing it easier when you are in a combat situation.

Well, first of all, thanks for reminding us of how nice it is to live in a free enterprise capitalist country like the US without all those enviro-nazi restrictions on everything.... yeah right. That being said, I've always suspected that antique paste was little more than shoe polish anyhow. Try a little tan shoe polish and see how it works. But since this is a big project and cost is no object, why not just pay the cost of shipping for antique and tack it on the cost to the customer?

Yeah, ditto all the above. Very nice holster. If you run an edger down the flesh side and maybe rub it down, or temper it, that will take care of those fuzzies, at least for a while.

Beautiful work. Looks very comfortable too. I've never considered polishing a holster, but the appearance is really nice. I just might have to give this a wirl. I can see doing it on a saddle seat....hmmm. Nah, too slick. But nice.

OK, sounds good. I look forward to using the system.

Dennis, I checked out your webpage and watched the video and I must say I was very impressed. I believe you have an excellent system and I plan on ordering at least one set, maybe a couple. Have you been able to establish a chart of tree specs from your cards? In other words, can I just take the results of which cards fit and match them to a particular bar angle, width, rocker etc.?

I'm interested also. Please keep us posted on the status.

Looks like it's time for a new saddle...

Very attractive. Well done. Just a curious question, though. Why the screws on the belt attachment? And, are those tabs reinforced with something? I assume the hole is to accomodate a pants belt loop?

Powers that be? You mean, like, the ownership? You mean, as in, writing a letter to the company? No. Waste of time. I told one of the sales staff at the time but of course, that went nowhere. W&C is like every other company out there, trying to save a few pennies by dropping all pretense at customer service. Then they wonder why the phones stop ringing all of a sudden. These automated phone answering systems with their menues from hell are the worst idea anyone ever came up with. But they all do it. People universally hate it. But it's a cheap assed way for companies to handle calls instead of hiring a sweet, cordial receptionist to sit there and answer the phone, find out what you want and route you to the next available sales person or department. That was the old way of doing it, and yeah, sometimes that meant being put on hold for a few seconds, but, at least you knew the company actually cared enough about your business to hire someone to TALK TO YOU! Sign of the times.