c2369zulu

Hello All. I am working on a western money/cartridge belt for myself and I made a small mistake (see pic). I am leaving the natural color of the leather, so I just used extra virgin olive oil as a finish oil. Well, when I got the oil good and saturated into the billet leather, I thought maybe the oil would create enough "moisture" to leave a burnished makers mark when I stamped the mark on instead of using water. Looking back, I guess the oil does not saturate as much as water would, but anyway I use a medium Al Stohlman Maul and it did not leave too good of an impression. I know you are not supposed to try to re-stamp anything, so should I just leave well enough alone, or would you try to re-stamp anyway? It is for myself, but I still would rather it look right if others look at it, you know?...........Rory

I have only made a few cowboy style holsters for a Ruger Vaquero that have been lined. As Zooker said, I glue the spine first and work my way outward on each side of the spine. I will sometime push either a wooden mallet head or a yellow nylon mallet head into the holster pocket to help curve the inside at the spine.You may have to cut your outside piece slightly larger if using a pattern to make up for the lining adding more thickness, or adjust how far from the edge your stitching line is placed to help make a little more room. Once the inside piece of leather has been curved to shape with the outside piece and the hoolster is completely glued, I trim the excess from edges of the "inner" piece of leather which now because of the curvature, sticks out further than the outer piece...................Rory

Thanks Samalan. I can understand where you are coming from on the buckle sets, but the look very closely resembles the popular Black Hills Gold jewelry in a way. Most of the Men's Black Hills Jewelry I own (rings) have been made with either sterling silver or gold for the main portion of the jewelry and feature a brass and a copper leaf. The combination of the colors seem to work well together. Thanks for looking..........Rory

Hey Josh. Thanks for the compliments and thanks for looking! Sorry for not posting more photos. If I get a chance I will go back and add few more. This was my first attempt with this pattern, so I wanted to get the feel of making one in its basic sense first. The next one will be lined, both holster and belt.............Rory

As the title said this is a "plain" version of Will Ghormley's Black Canyon Rig with no tooling or stamping. I did use the Black Canyon Buckle sets and some of the Black Canyon conchos to spruce it up. I had a few screw ups, like adding one too many cartridge loops which messed up the alignment of the chape side. I shortened the chape and had to move it forward and use one of the buckle hook holes for the chape side rivet hole to get everything back in line. I may redo the cartridge loops as the strip came up pretty short leaving only the skived tip of the strap to attach the conchos through when I finished the last loop. I have a copper rivet I want to redo also for the holster wrap too as the rivet did not dome over very well.......Rory

Fantastic job and great looking saddle! I am still entry level at leatherwork and I hope to one day make a saddle. I have no horses and don't live on a farm, but I would like to make one just to make one, for the practice and just to be able to say I made one ......................Rory

Nice Holsters Shagey71. Aside from what HelluvaEngineer mentioned, the only issue I see is that there aren't enough 1911 handguns shown in the photos . BTW, Tandy Leather sells a round white nylon "edge slicker" that can be mounted on a drill. The problem is it only has one size groove. The handheld wood slicker from Tandy with multiple sizes works great. I also like to use HidePounder's method of using a piece of canvas to burnish also. I edge, then rub the edges down with glycerin saddle soap bar, use the wood slicker briskly first, then I then rub brislkly with the canvas wrapped around the wood slicker. I may repeat the process later as the edges dryout or get worn. This works for me, but may not be the best way. I picked up a square yard of canvas at the local fabric shop. They normally have denim also..............Rory

<-------------- This guy is jealous of your tooling/carving ability. Looks Fantastic!!!!!...............Rory

Your belts and holster look great! Wish my tooling turned out that nice. I am still trying to get the swivel knife and proper casing down. Do you cut the belt ends with the squared off tip by hand or do you have a punch for that? I like that style! I have looked for a punch with that type of taper with no luck........Rory

I really like it. It looks great! Funny, I just made a belt similar with the large veiner and mule foot, but un-dyed and unlined with only a mink oil finish. I wish I had a splitter to thin out the end at the buckle fold, but they are expensive. I have tried practicing with a skiver, but the results weren't that good for me to risk using it on a belt. I used large line 24 snaps to secure and the Nickel Seaton Center Bar buckle Will Ghormley puts on a lot of his belts. I also use a metal square for alignment of stamps as Will Ghormley illustrates in the H.O.G. Rig Pattern Notes and as you mentioned. The metal square I picked up at Lowes has a thicker 1.5" side and a 1" side. I use the 1" side and mark on each side of it. I generally run the veiner out a few stamps and come back with the mule foot. If I cover the mark with the very end of the toe of the veiner as I go, it usually leaves just enough room for the mule foot between..............Rory

Thats awesome! Thanks for sharing............Rory

Very cool project and great job! I would also be interested in the pattern or a tutorial if you are willing to share. Thanks for posting.............Rory

Spectaculous!!

Dwight. Thanks for the comments and compliment! I have used the Fiebings Pro Oil Light Brown and love it. Bought one of those big (liter?) plastic bottles of it actually from Tandy. I keep forgeting when i order the stuff to look for the "oil dye" in the listing. Made the mistake the other day of trying to order one of the little tin cans of contact rubber cement from Tandy and ended up with nearly a quart of the white elmers glue like leather bond stuff. BTW, does anyone actually use that stuff? Seems the contact cement would be better, but maybe I am the one missing out by not using it..........Rory

Nice job! Those are sharp looking...........Rory

Looks good. El Dorado? I made two of that style from the Will Ghormley Pattern. Made them slightly too tight both times though. I like that look.........Rory

I like that style of case. Nice work!

Nice clean work! I like the closure design on the 4th and 6th holsters..........Rory

They look great! Where does one get Cape Buffalo and how does it hold up compared to other leathers?.............Rory

Ran/DickF. Those are some fine looking holsters you guys have made! Thanks for the tips!!..............Rory

That is one fine looking rig you have there. Great Job!!.......Rory

Hello All. I was wondering if the Tandy "premium" shoulders, that have that cream colored smooth finish product applied to the inside, can be dyed like normal (inside part). Any advice is appreciated........Rory

Hello All. Just wanting to know where I need to start to begin making whips. Do I need books or DVDs or both or does one work better than others? Any direction would be appreciated. Thanks................Rory

Oh ok I am with you. I did think he meant the configuration of the pouch itself, sorry. Yes, I just grabbed a mag a threw it in just for the picture and did not give any thought to how it was in there. Thanks for the comment/tips/compliment..............Rory