BHPshooter

Great post, Josh. It's always enlightening to see how other people do things. I make a similar design, and I haven't ever tried sewing the mouthband first... I'll have to give it a shot! I usually sew the forward wing, spread the assembly open and then glue & stitch the mouthband, and then close it all up and sew the rear wing. It can be a bit of a wrestling match, so I'll have to see if your way is less of a battle.

There is also the new-production Colt Cobra, which is an entirely new design. I have no idea if it will fit in a holster made for an older D-frame Cobra.

I don't mind at all. I have clearly not been on the forum for a while, though -- this was back in October, and I didn't see it until now! I use t-nuts where the snaps attach, and the Chicago screw as a secondary attachment point to keep the strap from freewheeling. The Chicago screws, I believe, have a post that is 3/16" in diameter and 1/4" in length. They work well for the purpose.

I use 7/8 for most things. If you are already using 8/9, I would go with that to start. I started out buying shoulders from SLC, and that worked well for me for a while. You'll have some good, firm leather that you can make 4 to 6 holsters with (per shoulder), and you'll also have some less firm leather at the neck, which can be used for things like IWB belt loops, and some spongier stuff toward the belly that you can use to practice stitching, test out dye or finish, and other scrap-related things -- I see this as kind of a plus, at least when you're starting out. I started buying full sides one or two at a time after a while. The biggest problem I have with full sides is that I'm stuck with a belly. There are some things you can use them for (scrap-related things mentioned above), but now I have so many bellies, I don't know what to do with them all... but I also don't want to throw them out. It seems unnecessarily wasteful. If anyone has cool uses for bellies, I would love to hear them! Anyway, once I started ordering directly from the tannery, I started ordering backs (a full side without the belly). It does cost a bit more per square foot, but it's worth it to me. Wes

Informative as always, Ray. I hope retirement is treating you well!

Yeah, I know... Subtle, aren't I? Might as well follow my obsession, I guess. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but for whatever reason, it fits my hand better than anything else. Anyway, to steer back on topic, I think it's better to see which way the local wind is blowing before you blow a lot of money on molds that you think might be popular. Southern Cross, if you have a particular favorite gun, focus on that while you hammer out the fundamentals. If you're already a fan of Gun X, you probably have some experience using and carrying it, which is helpful when you're testing and evaluating your designs. Wes

I started out buying shoulders, but it seemed that only about half -- sometimes less than half -- of the leather was usable for holsters. The rest was neck or belly, and too spongy to be useful. If you're buying full sides of decent quality, most of the leather (everything but the neck and belly, pretty much) will be suitable for holsters.

Agreed. For me, things definitely come in waves. I can go a year without touching a particular mold, and then suddenly I get a handful of orders for it. It's really hard to predict what will be popular as a holster maker. Even though some guns are indisputably popular, in my experience, that doesn't mean holsters for those guns will be in high demand. Early on, I bought a S&W J-frame mold, and it was almost 2 years before I got an order for a J-frame holster. I've used it a lot since, thankfully, but it continues to be sporadic. It's like that for a lot of really popular guns, like the Glock 19/23, CZ-75, and S&W M&P varieties. For me, the only ones that get near-constant use are the 1911 and the Hi Power. I know the Hi Power isn't popular for everybody... In my case, I think that's because I'm a Hi Power fanatic, and tend to hang out on a lot of Hi Power groups online. If I were to claim to have a specialty, I suppose the Hi Power would probably be it. Wes

Nice work, Josh! I know what you mean about splotches with Fiebing's, but it's not very noticeable on this one, in my opinion. I had the same problem. I still have a bottle of Fiebing's Pro Oil Saddle Tan. I absolutely love the color, but getting it to turn out right happened about 10% of the time. I've switched to Angelus for everything but black, at this point, and I've had far fewer headaches. Wes

It's largely a matter of taste, it seems. I've owned a few flat-backed holsters, but never really liked them. I'm not a fan of the way they feel, and they don't seem to pull the gun into my side the way 50/50 holsters do. I have experimented with making flat-backed holsters for giggles. It was educational, but I don't think it's worth the hassle, especially when I prefer my holsters the other way.

Someone just told me that they have a holster that causes their skin to freak out, and even showed me a picture of the rash. It doesn't look as bad as a breakout of hives, but it definitely looks uncomfortable. They have several other leather holsters -- some even came from the same maker -- and none of them cause any sort of reaction. I have to admit, it has kind of intrigued me. I've never experience anything like that myself, nor have I ever heard of such a thing. It never even dawned on me that such a thing was possible. Anybody else ever heard of this?

That may well be the case. It's understandable if they made that decision. It's not a huge issue, it's just slightly inconvenient. As a side note, if there are options out there that are better than paypal, I'd love to know about them. :D Yes, they have improved a lot in that regard.

For my last several orders at SLC, I've paid via PayPal. It's been a few months since then, and I can't find a PayPal payment option on their website anymore. Am I doing something wrong, or did SLC stop accepting PayPal?

Nice -- thanks for sharing this info!

I can, but if you don't mind me asking, why don't you take a crack at it? From your other posts, it looks like you're already knee-deep into leather working. I don't mean to sound at all critical -- I'm just curious. Wes