evandailey

I presume that is 5 parts dye and 1 part alcohol?

Will they sell to non-professionals if you go to the store? I have opportunity to be near there for business occasionally. I know they only sell to businesses via mail order.

In the two pictures you show, it appears one is stitched between and one is not. I'm no pro, but I made mine without stitching between each one. I simply made regularly spaced slits in my "base" leather and laced the thiner leather through the slits basket weave style. I then stitched each end to secure it. It worked well for me.

They all look great! Care to share your technique for getting that wood grain effect?

I'm no professional, and some may laugh, but I have used the ziploc vacuum bags with the little hand held pump with pretty good success on lighter leather. I don't think it would have done the job on the last one I made with two layers of 8oz. veg tanned. But it worked well on a couple of holsters I made out of oil tanned leather.

I always thought those were filled with fairly fine lead shot. I've never cut one open but that's sure what they feel like. I would think that would be a lot easier to make with shot because you could stitch it most of the way up and then pour it full and finish the stitch.

I don't know where you got your groover from but I got mine from Harbor Freight and it was exatly as you described. That cutter is totally ground wrong. It should be ground rounded on the end and tapered right up to the edge of the drilled hole. The sharp edge left by tapereing to the hole is your cutting edge. I had to regrind mine. The starting image of the video that got posted shows a good picture of what it should look like.

Did you make the head knife blade? If so what steel is it and where did you get it?

That is a nice looking rig for sure. But I am confused about one thing.... Cowboy action shooting with a 1911?