SooperJake

Welcome to the forum! Jake

Utah..the best skiing ever! Welcome! Jake

Did somebody say cheese? :D Welcome to the forum! Jake

Welcome from Wisconsin. Jake

Nice work. Welcome! Jake

Welcome home. Jake

Hello from Wi. Jake

Welcome Mike. Jake

Welcome Eric. You'll find this place a boon on information and friendly folks. Jake

I just saw found this thread ( because I want to try lacing). WOW...Putnam that is awesome work. Is that store bought lace or did you cut your own? Thanks, Jake

TO, how much leather do you typically leave outside the belt slots? Jake

Mike, which step in the holster making process do you use vinegaroon? Are you pre-dying the leather at the start? Also, please define "a mild solution" if you would. Is that a box of baking soda to a 5 gallon bucket or? I just tested my batch and the color is awesome. A deep rich black . I was pleased to see a deliberate line I made on my test piece go away after total submersion. ( dipped half the test piece only, then the whole thing) Thanks! Jake

Even if the wings had no actual benefit, I'd recognize your holster in a second. Nothing quite like, it shape-wise, I've ever seen. Great workmanship, too! Jake

D fingers and Kats...I think both of you mistakenly got in the wrong thread, maybe? Has the forum gone wacky on us? Jake

Looked for a similar thread but didn't find one... I see on some websites the maker stitches all the way around the belt slots and some folks don't do that. Any opinions for or against and why? Obviously saving time would be one reason not to. Jake

I ordered some Pull-it-up fasteners from Sailrite just to try the idea. Wouldn't you know it they are back ordered!

Thanks,Lizard. On some of my earlier holsters I did just that...stitch all the way around. And I agree. Without that little bit of stitching it looks "unfinished". But there is a reason why this time I didn't do it. I've been trying to come up with a way to get a more accurate stitch line on the first try, and I think I may be on to something. Normally I would make the pattern in the usual fashion, just like you would see in Eric's AWL videos, for instance. But every time I made a pattern I seemed to lose the crispness of form in the stitch line along the trigger guard. In particular, the area at the front corner of the guard where it transitions back to vertical. It always ended up with too much space left over. Which got me to thinking " How can I make this mimic the gun lines better, and make the pattern a little easier than guesswork?". So what I did this time was to trace the trigger guard area with a .5mm mechanical pencil lead extended out far enough for the pencil body to clear the gun. Just the pencil lead touched the gun. Very carefully trace around the lower area without breaking the lead. Then, I marked the upper slide line in the same way. Next I added the full gun width plus 2 leather thicknesses to the upper slide line, shifting over that distance. Pretty darn near perfect fit. Almost too good, as Mike points out on the unrounded corner at the trigger guard in that stitch line. I even fudged out a lot of the detail I had traced to get the current line. Like the rail mount area, which all showed up on the pattern. It may not be revolutionary, but it worked for me. So I didn't stitch those areas at the mouth and toe, because I was anxious to see if my idea would work. Now, there is no need to adjust the curved stitch line which mimics the gun's line well. You just tweak the straight line on the other side for fit, except I need to round that one corner. Jake

LOl Thanks Kayak! Too late though..I just order a Canon S100. I want my damn Nikon back, along with the rest of my stuff some mofo stole from me back in 2010!~ Jake

The left hand picture is more true to color BTW...It is a nice fawn brown color. Jake

Yes, I agree...I altered the pattern to add leather to the outside of the loops. I punched an end hole and then it dawned on me I was too close to the edge, so I made it look balanced anyway. Thanks TO! Thanks Mike! Jake

I made this one for an XDM 4.5BBL .45ACP I've ordered an oblong punch because I'm not happy with punch/knife cutting. I just can't seem to get a clean look. Hand stitched Hermann Oak with neetsfoot oil/ tan kote finish. I finished the inside with Resolene . Crummy cell phone camera...I need to shop for a good camera. Jake

What did you end up using for the dye? Jake

Looking through the vast holster world I haven't seen common sense or pull- it- up type fasteners used, and they seem like a very secure way to close a loop. Has anyone ever used these or can someone shed some light as to why they wouldn't be a useful way to attach a holster? Both of these are commonly used in the boating world and are secure against forces applied from most any direction, as apposed to snaps. I'm thinking as applied to a pancake / snapcake style holster. http://dotfasteners.thomasnet.com/viewitems/miscellaneous/miscellaneous-pull-it-up?&forward=1 http://www.dotfasteners.com/common_sense.html Any thoughts? Jake

Awesome rig, Bob! What weight leather are you using?

I don't know either, Mike. That's why I thought maybe my needles were defective. I broke one the other day, and two yesterday on the same holster. One of the breaks was while using pliers. Jake