wizard of tragacanth

E.X.C.E.L.L.E.N.T.! I love everything about it. Nick

I'm wondering if there is enough room in the clips for belt and pants? No doubt the clips will seriously abrade his belt and pants... however... it's what he wants. Nicely executed, Shooter. Nick

Yeah, if you put a top-coat on there (I use Tandy's Satin Shene) let it dry and buff it with sheep's wool, it should look jet black. Nick

That's very interesting. I might make one of these for the shift lever in my car! Just kidding. Thanks for sharing that. I had never seen a pommel holster before. I know there is a thread pinned to the top of this forum on pommel holster design but there is not one picture of a completed pommel holster in it. When I was young, I used to ride English, oops, where does this pommel holster go! Just kidding... again. I have been on a Western saddle or two, as well. Nice work. Nick

That is a very sharp looking ensemble!

Wow! Nice work! A 1911 in a Western rig... that's different!

The only advice that I can give you is that you should put your name on all of your work. You can do it freehand or with a maker's stamp, but it needs to be done. It really finishes a piece... and all artists sign their work, don't they? Nick

Nice work. Very professional.

Very nice. I like it a lot. The design really complements the gun. Nick

This design is interesting. I imagine that it is meant to be worn outside the belt but it looks like it may be even better if worn between the belt and the pants, creating more stability. Nick

BTW, if you decide to that you want to do more than a couple of holsters, you will probably want to pick up a coupld of tools: an edger (to trim the edges prior to sanding) and a stitch groover (to cut a trough for the stitching to lay in, which is perfectly parallel to the edge of the holster). Right now, I do not have time to post links to these. For a stitch groover, I highly recommend the one that can be used free-hand or with a guide... or you can buy two different tools for that if you don't want to fiddle with it. I use a #2 edger but many people use a #3. Nick

Dieselman, I can see in that second pic that your edges need more work too. Round the edges with sandpaper, start with 120 grit or finer and follow with 320 or such. Then burnish the edges. You can find details on how to burnish, pinned to the top of this forum, titled "Burnishing edges on a holster". You can also improve the belt slots by wrapping some sandpaper around a paint stir stick, dowel or even a screwdriver to sand them down and make them straighter. You can also use a screwdriver to burnish the inside of the belt slots. Seal all of the burnishing with a top coat. Nick

Wow! Nice looking rig. Your customer should be very happy with that.

Welcome to the forum! That's a good looking design... I think you're off to a good start. If you want to learn about sheath making... look around here for Chuck Burrows! He sells some DVD's on sheath making and other stuff too. Nick

A nice classic look for that wheel-gun... I like it. Nick

Mr. Epting... FANTASTIC knives! Nick

Fantastic tutorial... thanks so much! Nick

Nice stuff. Thanks for sharing. Nick

I especially like the revolver holster. Nick

Welcome to the forum! Nick

I have used the 2" Stohlman buckle and a Tandy oval punch (6mm x 9mm) and 3/4" spacing. It looks like this... Nick

Finally, a gift someone will appreciate! Merry Christmas! Nick

That holster looks absolutely top-notch. The brown sheath looks great but I think that I would want a little more of the handle of the knife to be exposed (personally). I stared at that nylon sheath for a long time... wondering how the heck to make something like that. Quality workmanship on all of those pieces, for sure. Nick

Very nice indeed.

A little tip... when you go to cut out the leather for your first holster, cut it at least 1/16 - 1/8" larger than the finished size because you will probably be trimming it down later. The bottom line is... you can always trim off excess but you cannot, very easily, add any. Nick