JRCHolsters

Does anyone know of a source of Large(8sg ft) Shark Skins? Ostrich market and Roje are dead ends at the moment. I need to make some full length belts and it seems everyone is dried up. Any leads would be appreciated. Thanks, Jim

Thanks, It really is nice hide. It's a little tricky to get it to show up like this. I usually dye in two steps. Burgundy before and after molding. let it dry hard and the a light coat of Cordovan.

Thank You, Benlilly, I appreciate it. Beardog, I bought a batch from Maverick Leather out of California. They got a shipment in from the tanner of hard rolled hides for me. I bought quite a few and i would say about 50% were like this.

Very Nice looking. Great color scheme.

I am always amazed at the grain of the holsters made from Horsehide, but this one really stands out. It is a P-1 Modified for the HK P30. It is Cordovan with Burgundy Highlights and Shark trim. Almost didn't want to send this one out.

Thanks. The brass doesn't look to bad in person. I should get some black buckles in to try out.

Here is a belt I just made for a good friend. I wanted to so something special for Christmas. It is double layer Horsehide in Burgundy with Alligator accents cut from the side of the hide. Hope you enjoy it.

Beautiful work!!

It is all I work in for leather. It just takes extra wetting time and boning. Not bad at all. If you have any issues or questions, don't hesitate to PM me.

Here is a nice HR-1 for the XDM 3.8 and Viridian laser light. It's burgundy/cordovan Horsehide trimmed out in Alligator. Hope you like it.

No problem. I hope it works as well for you as it has for me.

Here is what I do, YMMV. I rub a very tiny amount of superglue into the edges of all the exotics I work with. Then after it is dry and hard, I sand it down. Everything blends together beautifully! I use superglue on the edges of exotics, that don't come all the way to the outside edge. This gives it a very nice edge appearance. Hope this helps you out.

Thanks! I find that you really have to get Horsehide soaked to mold it. Probably have to soak it 2-3 times longer than regular leather. I also only get hard rolled hides, so that make for particulary dense fibers. The one thing I can say from my experience, you can get pretty aggresive with horsehide and not get the same burnishing you would get with cowhide. Even if you do, with all of the marbling and color variation, it isn't quite as noticable. Also, I do a light dye before I mold the holsters, then I do a second coat after the molded holster is dry. This gives a spectacular depth of color, especially if your mixing colors like Cordovan and Burgundy. Hope this helps you out.

I find about half of the hides I get have great marbling. I also try to order about 30% of the hides as long as I can get. Usually takes a lot of searching to find what I need belt wise. Somehow I have managed to do a couple of 50" belts, but luckily that is not the norm.

No problem, I will shoot it over to you in the morning sometime. Thanks so much. I picked out the horsehide pieces that had the most grain. Since it is so tight, the dyes create more interesting color.

Thanks for the compliments. I may have to make on of these for myself You certainly can use the pattern. Would you like me to take a pic and PM it to you?

I just wanted to share this Sloan/Keith style holster and rig I just made for a good customer. It is dark saddle tan Horsehide. Unlike to original, this uses boning and a grommet, as opposed to a tensioning welt. Hope you enjoy.

I second Roje. I buy most of my exotics from them

I talk with the customer on a regular basis and it's still going strong after 8 months. Going to have to just wait and see. Hopefully the way I bonded it continues to hold up.

I picked up a small quantity from Springfield. It was a very nice piece.

Some more of my recent Exotic work. Hope you like them. Full Shark belt over Horsehide Horsehide Ranger Belt with Shark Fleur De Lis accents Snap on Mag Pouch with Stigray Accents IWB Appendix with Stigray Trim IWB Apendix with Brown Shark Trim

I too, use the Cowboy 4500 everyday and am so glad I made the purchase. Initially, i wondered if I did the right thing, as I never used any kind of sewing machine before, so the learning curve was a little steep. After I slowed down and and got some great customer service and advice, it became a piece of cake. Like most machines, once you figure out the little idiosyncrasies of your particular machine, you will be happy you went for it.

I have used both. I prefer the hard rolled. That said, even though the soft rolled belts were not nearly as rigid, they do support the weight of the gun nicely.

Jake, Thanks for the input. I am going to give it a try and see how it works out. I appreciate it! Jim

Has anyone tried using the .40 XDM 3.8 bluegun for the .45? Springfield has no worthwhile specs on their website. Any ideas or leads would be helpful. I need to find something for this gun to mold with. Thanks in advance, Jim