K-Man

Shooter: It means that the "grip" material has been removed/is molded without grips on the dummy gun. This, in turn, leaves the area open to put Crimson Trace laser grips on the gun. If you get a chance, go to a gun shop that has the C.T. display and you'll see what I'm referring to.

Glock 26 and Ruger P345 are sold, pending receipt of funds.

Are there any recommendations for a good quality western style belt buckle & keeper? Would like to keep the price below $50/set. Not interested in Leather Factory or similar low-end quality. Thanks.

Don: Sent you a PM.

Tucker Gunleather is the originator of the leather/kydex hybrid holster. Crossbreed copied the design off of him.

Springfield XD Subcompact and XD 45 are sold. S&W M&P .40 is sold. (One still available)

Rayban: You're right - there is a forum for asking for critique of one's own work. That doesn't apply in this instance, does it? And, yes, rdb took the action he felt appropriate. I'm still curious how one determines levels of quality and what the parameters are in establishing those levels.

A google/web search will bring up umpteen examples of work people call custom. You could spend a fair chunk of time on eBay and Etsy looking at what people call custom. IMO, there is a great shortfall of "quality" in the majority of the leathercrafted items I look at. And I don't mean necessarily here on LW. LW for the most part, IMO, is a place you come to find out how to bring your items up to a higher level of quality. There are without a doubt some truly gifted craftsman here on LW. What gets me though are those who talk a bunch of smack about how good their product is, nigh unto calling themselves a master craftsman, yet you can clearly see the shortcomings. Pointing out shortcomings seems to be a no-no at the highest level. IMO, quality goes hand in hand with the craftsmanship skill. If you lack the skill, you're going to lack the quality. People try to mask that with enthusiasm about their product, i.e., talking smack. Sometimes the enthusiasm/smack talking appears to be contagious and the viewer/reader sucks it all up. People say we shouldn't criticize another craftsman's work. How commonplace is it where people critice/negatively comment on Ford or GM or Toyota or whoever about their products? Are they going to start shutting down those conversations/suing whoever because that person said their product was junk for the price you pay for it? How is that different from what we saw here? I'm just saying. I suspect the politically correct way to have shown the item in question would have been to say something like, "I want to make custom XXX. The examples/pictures I've seen in my google research show a real lack in quality IMO, and what would be a corresponding high price for it. Here's an example: [link]. How can I make something in this style, and what would be a reasonable price for such an item?" That sound about right?

Okay - how do you determine quality and what are the parameters? Do those parameters extend across the board?

Glock 17 & Glock 19 - sold pending receipt of funds. Springfield XDM 3.8 & SIG P230/232 - sold pending receipt of funds. Also have available: Springfield XD Subcompact (Ring's) SIG P239 (Ring's - cut out for Crimson Trace Laser grips)

If you think that sling is bad, you ought to look at some examples of gun holsters. Admittedly, a person has to start somewhere. My experience has been that those who often talk the most "smack" seem to win over the customers. There's been numerous examples of that here on LW and a variety of gun forums I visit. There's a couple of holster makers that come to mind that everyone raves about the quality and craftsmanship of their product. I wouldn't give you $5 for their stuff. As one of my customers put it, "My 5-year old could do a better job." Some of these holster makers claim they've been making holsters for numerous years. And to top it off, they charge outlandish prices for their "custom" work. One holster maker I know of who makes pocket holsters charges, on average, $175-185 for a pocket holster covered with an exotic skin. I've personally examined the holsters and they fall far short of the quality and level of craftsmanship one would expect when paying that price. I just shake my head and move on. I've been told that one cannot point out the obvious to the readers because you're accused of badmouthing the competition. Reality steps on toes, and people don't like to be told what that reality is. All you can truly do, to be politically correct in such an instance, is to tell people what they should expect with respect to function/durability/etc. when selecting whatever item. Meaning, you tell them how a quality product is made and what it's made from - from the leather to the processes used. The quality of product by those using the correct material and processes is readily apparent. It will/should become obvious to the observer where the shortcomings are on a given piece, and you leave it up to them to make the choice. With respect to knife sheaths, go over to the Blade forums. Also google Paul Long and Sandy Morrissey (he's in GA) and you should get some hits on samples of their work.

I rarely put a "maker's mark" on any of my work. Why? Because like electrathon states, IMO, it detracts from the essence of the piece in nearly every instance. I can immediately tell if I've made a particular piece. Sometimes it's impossible to put a maker's mark, such as on a holster that's covered with an exotic skin like stingray. I wouldn't lose any sleep over someone asking you to leave the maker's mark off. Take some pics of it before you send it off to the customer if you're worried about someone else getting credit for the work, or you not getting credit. Then move on to the next holster to make.

You'll do better by calling. And unless they've raised the price substantially, you'll pay far less for it at Kel-Tec than you will from Duncan's.

Did you contact Kel-Tec directly? What was their response?

Glock 21 & 30 - Sold. Both S&W M&P 40's still available.

Have the following dummy guns and dummy mags available for sale. Price is $30/shipped for each gun; price is $15/shipped for each magazine. Will combine shipping for multiple items. Guns: Springfield XDM 3.8 (Duncan) Springfield XD 45 (Ring's) Springfield XD 9 (Ring's) S&W M&P 9 Compact (2) (Ring's - cut out on grip for Crimson Trace Laser grip) S&W M&P 40 (2) (Ring's) S&W M&P 45 (Ring's) Ruger P345 (Duncan) Walther PPS (Duncan) Kahr MK9 (Duncan) Glock 17 (2) (Ring's) Glock 26 (Ring's) Glock 19 (Ring's) Glock 21 (Ring's) Glock 30 (Ring's) Glock 36 (Ring's) SIG P232 (Ring's) SIG P229 (Ring's) Magazine: .22 Mags (2) (Duncan) Glock 17 (2) (Duncan) SIG P229 (Ring's) SIG P239 (Ring's) H&K P7M8 (Ring's) Can accept Paypal and Credit Card (Mastercard/VISA) as form of payment. Quickest way to reach me is at the shop. Our number is 813 659 3456, and we're available Monday-Friday, 9:00 - 5:00 (central time). You can also send me a pm or email through the site here.

Actually the P7PSP came back in the marketplace with a huge importation of them approximately 4 years ago.

All of the guns listed here have been sold.

Looks like we're going to Kentucky, and will be adjacent to Mammoth Cave. We'll be heading that way tomorrow, along I-40 until we get to Nashville, and then head north along I-65. We'll be at Mammoth Cave until approximately October. We ended up replacing the engine in our truck, and it took approximately a week to get all those repairs completed. In the meantime, my wife and I got to spend time with her family who's here in this area. We also ran up to Virginia to see some of my family. Particle - I'll get some pics posted once we get settled in KY. We made a couple of modifications while we were here. Mostly switched out the cabinetry (from wood to plastic) and the main tool box. This was done to help lighten the load. We probably dropped ~150-175 pounds with the swap-out. Weight is a big consideration when it comes to towing.

I crank down on it until it is good and tight. There is what I would describe as a good deal of resistance. I've done it this way with both dummy guns and genuine guns. I've had no ill effects on the guns themselves.

Give Tony at Leather Factory in Tampa a call. He can put the word out about the opportunity at the Festival. He can probably find you someone who can make you a top quality leather belt that are close/local to you. I would welcome the opportunity to make the belt for you, but we are no longer in the Tampa area.

Well....change of plans. The engine in our truck decided to go kaput today and we're having to either replace it or look to get a newer/different truck. The cost for a new engine will run us approximately $5000. So it looks like we're going to miss out on the trip to Montana. Once we've got the truck issue resolved, then we'll see where we can go next.

We've been planning this "adventure" since early last summer. We've gotten rid of our house, sold just about everything that was in it, put a few things in storage and have now gone on the road full time RVing. We purchased a 5th wheel trailer, nearly 40', and fixed up our truck. The trailer is a bunk room edition, which in essence means we have two bedrooms versus the traditional one. We converted the back bedroom into workshop space, along with the room that was to house a washer and dryer. I can make the vast majority of the same items we were before. I now have a Cobra Class 4 machine, which allows me to do a great deal more than the Artisan Toro 3000 I had previously. We'll be travelling all over the U.S. (lower 48), Alaska, and Canada. Currently we're in NC, and heading west to Montana in a few days. We'll spend the summer in Montana (adjacent to Little Big Horn National Park) and then head south to Arizona/New Mexico area in the fall. We plan on attending the Sheridan show. So, if you're along our route and want to see how we do things, to include trying out the Cobra Class 4 or how to make a holster or how we make the most of our limited space into a functional shop, feel free to give me a shout.

Mine spins at 3600 rpm all day long. Never had a problem.

Welcome to the real world of holster making. I looked at the thread on that forum. Your holster design is not something new or unique, and has been previously made by a number of holster makers. So I don't know that you'd have any legal grounds to any protection in that respect. I'm not saying that you cloned someone else's design intentionally. Oftentimes a person has an epiphany on what they think is a unique design, and later come to find out that they're doing the same thing that someone else has done long before them. IMO, you're choices are to draw up a tutorial of sorts for the forum or tell them you're not interested.