evandailey

I was wondering the same thing. Most of those Mare's Leg holsters are open on the front for at least 50% of the barrel length.

How did you form it? I was under the impression that English Bride would not take on water or hold a shape.

Weaver sells Herman Oak, Chahin, and other imported stuff.

My work table is 4'x4' and I made it from a sheet of 3/4" MDF cut in half and glued the two layers together. I put about 5 coats of polyuerethane on it, sanding between each coat. It's slick as glass and moisture resistant. The MDF is dense and absorbs shock well. I have a 2'x4' piece of new conveyor belting I keep on top for cutting and a 1'x2' marble slab I slide around for stamping. It works well.

I recently bought a CS Osbourne strap end punch and found it to initially be the same way. The problem in my case was that as received it was not even approaching sharp. Those things are not fun to sharpen either. But now it performs as it should.

All the various sizes of Ruger Single actions. I do more hunting/western rigs than anything else and these are by far the most common requests for which no dummy guns exist that I'm aware of.

Thanks Lobo and Bruce.

I've had a customer contact me about a western belt rig who lives in Canada. Are there any issues I should be aware of before selling to him and agreeing to ship him the holster? He's agreed to pay whatever the shipping charges are. I have zero experience with international sales and shipping.

Try this video.

Yes, the Weaver Master Lockstitch machine is a 441 clone also. I have not seen a Cowboy or Cobra in person yet, but I spent 45 mins with Vernon Weaver looking at theirs one day. I was impressed with it.

While wear on that part of the barrel is normal, the wear pattern in your picture is not. It looks to me like i can see fingerprint pattern in the removed portion, which would be consistent with you print putting pressure on the tape. However, that gun does appear to have been coated with an aftermarket finish which I can tell you from experience if the metal was not TOTALLY clean and properly warm before they applied the coating you can flake it off with you fingernail. The inside of the slide looks like this is going on as well. So you may have done it, but I would not say it was necessarily your fault.

I also have one from Jeff at Grey Ghost and am extremely pleased with it. My logo is all fine line work and it renders it very well. I have not had it all that long, but have no reason to think it will not last a good long time if I take care of it.

You can get an airbrush from Harbor Freight for $15 (their deluxe model). It is actually a very decent airbrush and perfectly fine for dying where you are just laying down large areas. The only area it really gives up performance to a higher end brand is in fine detail.

The normal procedure is to offset your tracing line with a compass by 1/2 the gun thickness plus the thickness of your leather (usually 5/8"-3/4" total). This new line will account for the leather taken up in moulding. Then from that line you draw whatever wings, belt loops, etc.you want for the style of holster you're making. There are many other threads on here that deal with making a pattern. Forum member "particle" has a video on his website you can buy to show the process as well. It's not rocket science, so don't fret. One thing I always do when making a new pattern is to take some corrugated cardboard and smash it down with a hammer to make it a bit flexible. Then I cut out and assemble with glue all the holster parts out of that to make a mock up. Make sure you have the corrugations running in the same direction as the barrel to make it easier to "form" around the gun. The cardboard comes pretty close to the thickness of the leather and this lets me test fit the gun in the design without wasting leather. It has worked well for me. I am usually pretty close from the get go but will often find a few places that need tweaking to get it just right.

Ummm.... the Sigmas are still a regular catalog item for Smith. I don't know of a time where they were not, but I could be wrong on that. But they are sold quite frequently still today. They are a virtual copy of a Glock 17, so much so Smith got sued and had to pay royalties to Glock for the design. So in a pinch you could use a Glock pattern. I have a pattern for an Avenger style that I made myself so you could go that route as well.

I did hand stitch it. Can't afford a machine yet. Thanks for the compliment.

I've been hanging around for a while now but haven't posted any pics of my work. I thought this one turned out pretty good so I thought I would share it with everyone on here. It's about my sixth or seventh holster and my first cartridge belt. Please give me your feedback. Thanks.

While I agree with the assesment that it makes a nice edge, I have not had the same experience with the dyeing stage. I have found that anywhere that a little of the Quik Slik gets on the face or grain side, that the spot takes the dye a bit differently than the rest. So far I have been able to blend it but it makes a light spot at first. And how exactly does it eliminate a step from glycerine saddle soap? I really cannot tell much difference between them. I am not an old pro or anything, so I could be doing something wrong. But I am able to produce pretty much the same results with both methods and don't see that one is any faster than the other.

Art, How do you apply the Montana Pitch Blend conditioner? I have been considering ordering some for use on holsters and gun belts. I'm not totally satisfied with the acrylic I have been using.

That's the style that Weaver Leather is selling for their new 441 Clone Machine. I was at their showroom a couple of weeks ago and Vernon Weaver spent a good 45 mins showing the machine to me.

I think you mean 6-32 screws and not 6/32nds right? 6/32nds is almost a 1/4" . 6-32 is a no. 6 screw with 32 threads per inch.

Close the door of the oven on a wooden spoon leaving it open a crack and set it as low as it will go. That's what I do and it works splendidly. That also helps get rid of the moisture faster.

I don't know what he's using, but all the rubber cememtn I've ever used IS clear. Lately I've been using Weldwood Contact Cement. It's clear also.

I'm guessing form the background he is photographing the bedroom mirror thus reversing the image.

Well I jumped into a pool that I have no idea how deep it is. I found and bought an old Singer 29-4 with the cast iron base for $180. I have no idea where to go from here now. It is going to need some work to get it up and running and I suspect it could do with a total restoration (which I'm not opposed to, I just don't know where to start) In another thread Wizcrafts had told me to check the free motion of the presser foot. It does have quite a bit. Everything turns freely however the presser foot only goes forward and back, it does not "jump" for lack of a better word. It needs a belt and is missing the bobbin winder for sure, if anything else is missing I wouldn't know. So I'm basically saying I'm in over my head. I hope some of you machine gurus can point me in the right direction.