K-Man

I must be a slow learner then because I've got three of their machines....

It only takes one holster to constitute a patent infringement. And while there are some companies who hold the patent that would not bother with such a violation, there are other companies that will. Worth the risk? That's ultimately up to you to decide. It's best to do the research with respect to a patented holster design and/or feature and avoid the risk IMO.

Try Oswosso - they make embossing dies from your design. They just don't put the handle on it. I suspect you could find someone easily enough that could do that for you.

How many are you talking about being made - 5, 10, 20, 50? What kind of turnaround (as in time) do they expect?

My experience with the 700 was, in all honesty, less than stellar. While it can cut through the leather you're talking about, it takes more than one attempt to do so. The 1500 is a far better machine to cut from. I've cut saddle skirting with the 1500. The 1500 also has a larger cutting surface to work with/from. A good thing about the 700 vs 1500 is you can easily move the 700 around by yourself for the most part - not so with the 1500. I've had the 1500 for approximately 4 years without a problem. I had the 700 for approximately a year with a number of issues. The 700 is fine for lighter weight leather and fewer cuts. My recommendation would be if you can afford to get the 1500, you'll be much happier and more satisfied with the effort.

The basic rule of thumb at H.O. is there's going to be a 1/2 ounce variable on either side of the thickness of leather you request/order. For example, if you order 7/8 ounce in thickness, you'll end up with a variable through the hide of 6.5 - 8.5 ounce. That is quite a bit if you're looking for consistency. I also order backs for my work and I have it split to a specific ounce weight. I have the moss finish on the flesh side. While there have been parts of the backs that I won't use on a holster, I do a variety of other things that it would be suitable for. I would estimate that there was 1-2% of the leather I ordered last year that would fall into that category. I also buy some of the leather dyed - a shade of brown and their London Tan. I dip the item made from the brown shade in a bucket of brown dye. I end up with a reddish brown shade. It's easy that way and I get the shade of brown I ultimately want. I've never ended up with a washed out back from them. BTW, I spent a large sum with them last year. In my opinion, I would rather order direct from them (cheaper in cost) than rely on some of the other sources available if I'm ordering a large quantity of leather. If I'm ordering 1 or 2 backs or sides, then obviously I have to go to one of their outlets. My experience with Wickett-Craig is that their leather is not as firm or durable for the majority of the products I make. I have found it to be a better tooling leather than H.O. and it's excellent for those items.

Patents do exist for some of the holsters. Bianchi has a multitude of them. Some of the holster makers mentioned in the above list do have patents on some of their products. Some of the holster makers mentioned in the above list don't care about such rights and blatantly copy others. To each their own, but it is generally frowned upon within the custom holster maker industry to do that. Making a copy of any holster for one's own personal use is not the issue. It's when you copy/make the holster and transfer it to another for something of value in return. Just my $.01.

Nice job, rdb. I have the very same bike. Do you have a pattern for the bags? If you would care to share, it would help me quite a bit.

Speaking of odd happenings during an earthquake...during the 8.2 earthquake I went through, there was a lot of damage. However, in one instance there was a goblet that fell to the tiled floor and didn't break. There was a lot of rolling around, which included the cabinets. The goblet got lodged up underneath a corner of one of the cabinets. Had to break the goblet to dislodge it from its location....go figure.

Earthquakes are an interesting beast. I've been through a number of them. The strongest was an 8.2 that lasted for over a minute. What a ride that was. Cured me from ever wanting to go through one again, however slight.

Could you please email me a list of the basic tools and machinery you have available and the associated price. Please send it to {[leathercraft (at) hotmail (dot) com]}. Thanks.

That's what I did - took an existing, inexpensive one and disassembled it. We then modified the size and shape a bit to better suit our needs and make the actual assembly of it easier. We do two different sizes - medium and large. We also do two basic types - tooled veg tan leather and genuine exotic skins. Here's a pic of two exotic skin type: That's elephant trunk on the left and elephant body on the right. You can use just about any type material you may want.

Shorts: Nice job on the holster. Very clean lines. We've done that very same style for a while now for some of our customers. We add a throat reinforcement on ours. It was a spinoff from one of other holsters. Keep up the excellent work!

A few pics of a portion of my shop space:

If you are referring to the potential of pulling the holster/gun off the belt and the snaps breaking loose, if you will, then the use of "pull the dot, one way snaps", will cure that in nearly every instance.

I disagree. Perhaps you had a bad experience, but to tell others not to do it is not right. If it's done properly, it will work well for you. How do I know? Lou Alessi, of Alessi Holsters (been in business for 30+ years making holsters) uses an oven to dry his holsters. He's literally made thousands of holsters that way. So I think I'll follow his lead, if I was so inclined, rather than someone who's only been doing this craft for a far shorter time.

Actually there are some of the top names in the holster-making industry who use an oven to dry their holsters. They just don't do it at quite that high of a temp. Nice job on your first holster - turned out very well.

Here's another available: Genuine sanbar stag for grips, damascus bolsters. Blade is 440c stainless, precision 1/8 steel, heat treated to a 59/60 rockwell temp. Price is $250 + $7/shipping. Blades on all three are sharp and ready to use. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Steve at Artisan has provided some of the best customer service support I've experienced anywhere. I have three of their machines and would not hesitate to buy another. There are very few companies that I've done business with who have matched their level of service and support.

As posted previously, I have two custom round knives available for sale. One is a full blade, the other is a 3/4 blade. #1: The handle material is giraffe bone, with mastadon ivory for the bolsters. Blade is 440c stainless, precision 1/8 steel, heat treated to a 59/60 rockwell temp. #2: The handle material is giraffe bone, with bark ivory (modern) for the bolsters. Blade is 440c stainless, precision 1/8 steel, heat treated to a 59/60 rockwell temp. The price for either knife is $250.00 + $7.00/shipping. Forms of payment accepted are credit card (Mastercard, VISA), money order, cashier's check. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. In addition, we'll have some damascus steel blade knives available soon as well. So stay tuned.

I never saw it as a debate, but rather your (TwinOaks) perspective that needed to be re-evaluated. I suspect you don't know who I am nor what I do, but suffice it to say that I only respond (to a great extent) to postings where I see the issues heading down an errant path, and hope by my postings to clarify the issue at hand. When it comes to holsters, and related accessories, I generally have a very sound basis for my comments - to include applied and practiced theories, which, in part, has come from making a great quantity (more than 2) of such items. In my opinion, part of becoming a master craftsman at what you do is having the willingness to learn from those who know what they're talking about. Sometimes it's not an easy perspective to follow. At the point you stop learning is the point you stop becoming a craftsman. As I mentioned above, there are a number of users on this board who can provide you (and others) with sound advice on the making of holsters. Best of luck to you and all here.

Yes, Mr. Kanaley is a member of the board here, and I've invited him to comment on his holster designs to help you understand the theories of holster making. I suspect I know why the stitching on the CCAT model is as it is, but I will defer the answering of your question to him. When a sight path is incorporated into a holster, it is, in part, an effort to do two things. One is to accomodate the already applied sights on a gun, and also to allow the user to put aftermarket sights on their gun at a later time without having to buy a new holster at the point they do that. People change sights on a gun as often as they change underwear. Most holster makers will ask the customer what style of sights they have on the gun or whether they intend to put aftermarket sights on in the near future. In addition, I never said that a sight path was absolutely required in every instance. I only provided a ways/means to incorporate one if USMC0341 (or anyone else) wanted to add one in on their next holster. The making of a custom holster is just that - it's made to fit the specifics of a particular gun. There are all kinds of variables and considerations that come into play, however, some aspects remain the same across the board. There are a number of users on this board who can provide you (and others) with sound advice on the making of holsters. Best of luck to you and those here on the forum - I'm outta here.

Thanks for pointing out about the OP's picture - guess I missed that. I don't believe I said that the only retention of the gun in the holster is achieved in the trigger guard area. That's only a part of it. A properly molded holster is what provides the correct amount of retention. Some holster makers detail that more than others. Part of the retention is achieved by the stitching also. And if you have the stitching too far away from the frame of the gun, you're going to eventually have problems with the retention. A sight path is not a gimmick. Try pulling a gun out of a holster that has some of the larger/taller after-market sights on it without the holster having a sight path molded or sewn in. All you're going to get is a big wad of leather and most likely excessive wear on the finish of the gun from trying to pull it out of the holster without a sight path. I know T. Kanaley at Milt Sparks fairly well and have talked with him on many an occasion. In particular, you mention the Summer Special. You might want to refresh your memory about that holster. Take a close look as to where the stitch line is in comparison to the trigger guard/dust cover of the gun. And if you happen to look at the picture of it on their website, you'll see a sewn-in sight path. My suggestion to you is to be sure you know what you're talking about when you post about it here.... Best of luck to you in your holster making endeavor(s).

Actually you do want to stitch as close as you can on the dust cover/trigger guard side of the gun. If you get too far away, then guess what's going to happen? Yep, the leather will loosen up somewhat with time and useage, and then you've got a gun flopping around in there. Which, for one thing, will make it mighty uncomfortable to wear/carry; not to mention, potentially unsafe depending on the gun. You want the gun held securely within the leather. A sight path can be achieved relatively easy with nothing more than a 1/4 or 3/8 dowel rod set atop the slide of the gun. You then mold and stitch around it. Take a look at some pictures of holsters made by Milt Sparks holsters, Josh Bulman holsters, Lou Alessi holsters, Matt Del Fatti holsters, as they will give you a sampling of what's been found to work the best.

Anytime you have the potential of metal coming in contact with the gun, knife, etc., you need to have it covered (or do some sort of redesign to move the metal away from the gun). If you use quality leather, such as Hermann Oak or Wicket-Craig, and have it finished with a moss finish on the flesh side, you really should not need to line the holster. IMO, it's an unnecessary expense to the customer and saves you quite a bit of time in putting the holster together. To my knowledge, buying Hermann Oak from vendors will only bring you the tannery run leather. To get the moss finish, you have to order direct from Hermann Oak. Exotic skins will not "stand alone." In other words, you have to apply them to a supporting type of leather, be it veg tan or horsehide. Oftentimes, the grain side of the leather is turned to the inside for the smooth finish. The flesh side is then turned to match up with the rough side of the exotic skin. This generally gives you the greatest surface for adhesion of the glue.