Billsotx

Merry Christmas to all y'all on this forum. Your in-put is a fine gift! Glad to be part of this group. Urrrrraaaahhhh!!!! Semper Fi!

Sorry, I of all should know not to be ambiguous - got in a hurry. I was just thinking Angelus and not their vendors. http://www.angelusshoepolish.com/ Look along the foot of the above page for Product Catalog and then choose from there. There's a lot of stuff over there. When I call they are extremely polite and knowledgeable and have helped me quite a bit when I wanted something new. They're more than just people selling stuff. Now Tina's going to have to re-dye her cuffs and hobbles ... lol!

You might checkout their website because they offer different types (grades) of dye - like leather, dye ain't just dye. I've had the best luck with their professional line.

I set mine 3/16 in. I would saddle stitch - 2 needles. Looking forward to seeing what you're working on. Good luck with it. ~Bill

I could do this for you but I'm lazy and if you do it you may pick-up another tip or find something you missed if you have already looked at this link. This is just one way to build a holster and it's pretty thorough. John Henry was Johanna's late husband and he was a world class leather-smith. As you go through it make notes of the individual tools that are needed for the task he describes. You'll end up with a pretty good start tool list when you're done. http://www.leatherworker.net/HolsterHenry.htm You might do the same thing with the tutorial that mattsh put together for us. mattsh's is pinned at the top of this sector of the forum. It's an excellent piece of work. Welcome to the biggest and best bunch of leather-workers in the world! These guys and gals are great. Don't hesitate to ask if you have questions. Everytime I come over here I learn something from these guys. Good luck with your gun leather. ~Bill

"Tear along the dotted-line!" When I layout stitch lines I always think - perforation - will this weaken or compromise the design and purpose. Good glue properly applied is the real strength of gun leather in my experience.

There you go! Zack White -

http://duncansoutdoor.com/customs_album/ They're working on this album so it may load slow. Worth a look anyway. Here's home just in case: http://duncansoutdoor.com/

I'd send those thumb buster snaps back to Zack White. I'll bet they'll replace them or refund your money. If it's a small batch they'll probably just send you replacements and tell you to dispose of the others. I have always found that Zack White takes time to listen, has good quality, and their customer service first rate in my limited experience.

Are you talking about a hammer thong for a Single-acton revolver?

The new window thing sounds right Johanna, but you're dealing with the internet idiot. Where do I find the preferences thing. I looked it settings on gmail and in Tools>Internet Options and >Browser Options on the browser tool bar but don't see that. I'll keep looking. ~Bill

When I click on a link (url) in an email in gmail it doesn't open that site in a browser. It will appear on my tool bar (Win XP) and when I click on it to open & minimize, etc. it appears to fly off to the left side of my monitor screen. If I right click and click Maximize it will open the browser, but right clicking and selecting Minimize only repeats the problem of it appearing to fling to the left side clear off the monitor's screen. I've sent the same links to myself at another email address (not gmail) and they work ok. If I copy from gmail and click and paste in my browser (IE) that works ok. This just started two days ago. Not sure why. I've run my anti-virus and anti-ad ware stuff and everything appears clear. Does anyone know how I can correct this? thanks ~Bill

What Jordan said! A friend of mine does rebuilds for Dell and he told me to buy a refurb next time. He said as mentioned they are returns although they get trades. Bottomline - someone's got through it and fixed what didn't work. The one coming of the assembly line doesn't receive much checking before it's boxed and shipped. If you save a few bucks on something like that, I'm better than new.

David, I'll chime in since it's been suggested. This probably isn't the only way and it may not be the right way, it's how I go about it. I stamp and/or tool right after I cut out the holster. As you pointed out the leather will stretch once you go to pounding on it - stamping/tooling it. Instead of gluing it to a backing I apply packing tape to the backside. I overlap the strips of tape about 1/2 to 1 inch and I let the ends run out a couple of inches because I'll next tape the whole thing onto a small piece of cardboard - real high tech here an empty cereal, cracker, cookie box ... lol! Can't help it, it's hereditary, my parents were depression kids. You don't have to attach it to a piece of cardboard if it's an entire holster, but that makes working with a mouth band or belt loops easier to handle. Oops forgot one thing. Before you put the tape on. True up the edges so your borders are nice and even and well defined and also layout your stitch lines, unless you just want to plow through you're work; some folks do that and sometimes it looks ok. Anyway the inside stitch line should end up between two borders in my opinion. That's the way I've seen it done mostly and that's the look I like. This is not etched in stone: If you're basket stamping (there's a couple of tutorials on the forum) I first use a lined or checkered beveler and bevel around my border on the side I'm going to stamp/tool. Next I'll layout a light mark if I'm basket-weave stamping and then apply all my basket-weave stamping. Then I use a decorative border stamp - a cam or geometric - and when through stamping and while still damp from quick casing I peel the leather off of the tape, not the tape off of the leather. If there's any residual glue and usually there is none from packing tape - rub that off with you fingers or a pencil eraser. I've seen others apply the beveling after the basket-weave and some even leave the bevel off and just run their border stamps. I've also seen it pressed, that is molded to the gun and that presses all your stamp impressions out into a remnant of a pattern and I tend to think - why bother to tool. You can find a link to my web on my profile and go over there and look at a basket-weaved 1911 holster and there's a tooled mouth band on a revolver holster. I working on the site so there's only a page, but it might give you an idea or two. Hope this helps. ~Bill

One envies you organization and patience.

How are you going to find stuff in that mess? Looks good Jordan!

Well that raptor won't have it's head in the sand ... Jeffe! Nice piece of work!

You'll get the best steel hooks, frogs, from Brownell's; look in their competition sector. Siegel's of CA have light weight brass hooks if you just want a simple carry strap, but they aren't up to military spec if you're talking a real sling for position shooting; they have 1 1/4" Conways if you want a wider carry strap instead of a 1 inch strap. I like them a lot for a hasty setup. Just to clarify my terms: I don't call 'em slings unless you can loop-up in them and get steady. If they're just for hucking over the shoulder and a down and dirty hasty positon when a good rest isn't available I call 'em carry straps. That's just me, don't make it right, and not trying to start an argument, but it keeps it right in my miniture military mind ... lol! There's slings and there's straps.

Jo, I'm still with XP. I don't think this machine will take Vista, it's pretty old. I found the Corral thing on a Windows newsletter. It also reviewed Roboform but that sounded pretty involved for my level. I think Jo told me about this Windows newsletter which I subscribed to about a year or so back. I'm actually learning a little, but mostly I'm a blind hog hoping for an acorn. I'll go back and look at the Roboform and maybe uninstall Corral and try that instead. Here's the link to this specific newsletter. You can get to others from there if you're interested. http://windowssecrets.com/paid/080925/ -or- http://www.windowssecrets.com/2008/09/18/0...ogin-data-handy You may not be able to access the above without subscribing to their newsletters. I donated a dollar to them, big spender me ... lol! I've learned a bucks worth from them and then some and it keeps me from bugging Johanna all the time. Here's their Home Page: http://windowssecrets.com/ Oaks, I thought about the hacker thing also. It might be a scam. I'm going to be on light duty for about a week so I'll spend some time on FP and see if I can get something better published on my site. I appreciate both of your input and I'll go back and look at that Robo thing sometime tomorrow. ~Bill

I found this free utility Password Corral. I'm not sure I understand it. It doesn't seem to have a tutorial. Just fumbling around it looks pretty simple, sort of resembles Excel on a little bitty scale. It's my understanding that it's a password vault and that it encrypts whatever is stored inside. Does anyone know if this thing is actually a safe system for storing data. The sales pitch (I selected the freebie) was you only have to remember one password - the one to Password Corral. I appreciate any info y'all might share. Thanks in advance for replies. ~Bill

Looking good. From a practical standpoint, an IWB doesn't need that much molding around the trigger, trigger guard area as the belt provides most of your retention properties. Looking at that area on your third photo indicates you're molding too wet. After you case wait until the surface starts to return to the dry color before you start molding and boning. It's a little harder to see with dyed leather, so take a mental photo of it before you case it. If you're pushing water when you start to mold, stop and wait a while longer. Good idea on extending the sweat guard. That seems to be the in thing now days. You might consider flaring the top band out (looks like you did that on front) and overlaying the sweat guard with it and moving the front belt loop back a bit more. (We see folks in class that have the sweat guard folding over which impedes holstering with one hand and not looking down at the holster because the thing is closing up.) Your edges look good but you can smooth them up just a smidge more - hand sanding is one way, or you can do it with a machine - dremel, drill, etc. If you use power use a light hand so you don't burn the surface; dampen very lightly when you do this. You're catching on fast. Looking forward to seeing the next one.

This tutorial is a good place to start: http://www.leatherworker.net/HolsterHenry.htm I would get a round knife or head knife. There’s a learning curve so expect that, a distinct skill, so expect more practice than a conventional knife, but you’ll find you can do a lot more with this tool than you can with straight blades. If you buy the cheapest one you can find, spend a few hours sharpening it or send it off to be sharpened, because it won’t be sharp enough out of the box. If you buy from a custom maker, you can just about bet it’ll be ready to go. http://www.leatherworker.net/Head%20Knife.htm http://leatherworker.net/sharpenheadknife.htm You’ll find Stohlman’s book on using, sharpening and maintaining tools invaluable.

Good point okie, but he put in the proper caveat - "It's for a polish pistol!" . . . LOL!

On the light color one: you might consider a series of bag slots, maybe as many as 8 spaced 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart; I'm not sure of the size of the knife and the sheath, maybe as little as four, whatever … you should be able to space them for practical use. Where a belt can be threaded in and out and around trouser loops and the knife end up where it needs to be. (You've got some good thinking going there.) It should meet the need the way I'm thinking. I would think a soldier would wear this under a ruck or armor, who knows - so a close, solid fit is mandatory. I'd want it to stay put and be there if I reached for it, yet not hang on my stuff and hinder me and not tie me up if I'm dumping whatever is covering it, and not fall off with what I'm shedding. Personally, I'll take a tight fitting belt loop any day. For a soldier a knife is not a primary weapon – not in my mind anyway. The belt loops on some of my personal (CHL) holsters are so tight that I have to thread the belt through them before I put my pants on. I'd make ‘em the same if I carried a knife on my belt. I’d want it secure, accessible, and defendable - who knows what or where the fight will be. I don’t want to get shot with my own gun or stuck with my own knife. … You can put a few miles on those loops and the user will appreciate that - consider blocking them; not to mention that's the sign of a well made and thought out piece of gear. You can dampen (the loops) that back piece with a spray bottle or sponge, use plain water - dampen it well, but don't soak it - then thread a mocked-up belt though the loops and bone in a good fit. You could use a piece of flat flexible wood or plastic, a piece of sheet metal wrapped and layered with duct tape; paint paddles from Home Depot or Lowes can work for this - you might have to modify them, sand off the sharp edges, reduce the thickness, or on the thickest ones use a belt sander or rasp to thin them. If you don't have a sander, rasp them down and then feather it out by hand sanding. If you take too much wood off, wrap tape around it to widen or thicken it - who says you can't cut a little back on ... lol! In a real crunch you could cut strips of cardboard (like cereal boxes) into the proper width and layer it until you get it thick enough to simulate a belt. Perhaps wrap it with sheets of plastic. This maybe is a quick, down and dirty version of a blocking loop, but it’ll let you turn out a nice practical piece. My preferred method is a mocked up belt. I usually line these with pieces of gutter flashing to add stiffness. All I’m looking for is to get the loops blocked; but you don't have to go to that much trouble or use up good leather, esp. if this is a one time thing. If you're going to stay at it, then I’d consider making some mock-up copies of your carry belts in the widths and thickness you deem practical. Hope this makes sense and helps. You've got a good idea there and you can turn out a real nice and practical piece of gear based on your first run. If you redo it let us see the end result. Tell that GI we appreciate him stepping up to the plate. May he kick-a and take names! Semper Fi!

Randy, A while back I saw a thread over there under the sewing machine section about Artisan customer service and they named a guy there that's a wizard with set-ups and trouble shooting. Sounds like he's been down the road more than once. There was a bunch of talk in that thread and everyone was satisfied with customer service. He might be worth the call. I'm thinking about an Artisan and I'm listening to you guys. Keep sharing, I'm all ears. ~Bill