Southernbeau

You guys cost me money every time I see one of these nice western rigs I start thinking of wheelguns to buy for an excuse to build a holster

So I have just moved and am for the time being stuck in an apartment. Going from a house with a detached garage and workshop with plenty of space (although a mess and unorganized) has been a bit of a change. I haven't posted here much lately with the move and all but I'm quasi-settled now and am cutting up cow hide again. The going is slow but promissing for what I have to work with. So now to the point. My wife and I are house shopping and I am looking to how I want to set up my leather work area if I find a place with a suitable area. I'm still very much a novice, but with the experience of so many here I would be very interested to hear (or see pictures) of how you have your area set up. What have you learned does or doesn't work for you? What do you wish you had done earlier? What tools or setups could you not live without etc etc etc...? Thanks Joshua

No experience on my end, but knowing your work I would be willing to pony up a fair price. I see it as a matter of what your time is worth to you. You are the one with the skill and the request was made of you not from you. I don't see anything wrong with you doing it I wish I lived close enough to someone with the knowhow to make a similar request. Just come up with a figure that is fair to you.

Dig the colors. The whole thing is well executed. Oh and by the way your stitch line around the trigger guard looks perfect from the picture I am super jealous.

Hand stitching and lots of it...builds character. (In truth had I the disposable income I would have a machine)

I would be very interested to see the whole set especially the crossdraw rig.

Well done! This place (leatherworker.net) and you guys/gals are a great place to come to get humble. The work I see here is top notch and this post has me wanting to work with exotic leather bad!

I would be very pleased with that rig. Mike your work is always excellent looking (and I would imagine functioning). I enjoy how your lined work doesn't ever appear overly bulky.

Well I finally finished the set.... Here are the results very open to comments critiques etc. I want to learn and get better. This forum has been my teacher so if these are any good then I owe it all to you guys/gals!

That's definitely the plan but I'm still so new to this and its a funny looking rig so the reservations are there.

So an acquaintance of mine makes beautiful custom knives. He is kind of the reason I attempted making holsters in the first place. He has made a couple of leather sheaths, but prefers to work with kydex. He let me borrow the few leather working tools he had and off I went. He asked if I would be interested in filling orders for him when he has customers that request a leather sheath. While I am very interested in doing just that I am still very much a novice in working with leather. My question is this...(oversimplified I know but) If I can make a gun holster with fairly decent results (my opinion FWIW) is the jump to making knife sheaths possible with less of a learning curve? What is different in design and construction? How is the approach different? What do I need to know about making sheaths that I haven't learned in making holsters? I'm including some pictures of the 3 holsters I have completed to give you an idea of my meager skill level and to better give a representation of my limited abilities below... The pictures are in order from earliest to most recent work FYI.

Yeah I found those but was looking for more first hand experience.

Buddy wants me to make him a holster for a Steyr MA1. I had never even heard of these. It is terribly ugly but by all accounts very functional. So has anyone ever made a holster for one and have pics of said work? I'm all ears for any advice or specifics on this rig to be mindful of. I have attached a pic of the gun and am planning to make a pancake type holster for it along with a double mag carrier.

First thanks for the comments. I need a critical eye put to my work if I want to learn anything. I see what you mean about the long stitches I'm still spacing with a fork and using the $12 horse butts from springfield at this point. Will definitely keep that in mind for my next holster and get those stitches in closer. And yeah the little 'wings' are looks and looks only he wanted a "nicer" looking holster so thats what i came up with. He likes it I'm not nearly satisfied, but I'm having fun and if I can keep learning from you guys I hope to turn out a few decent holsters.

Well Glocks are still not pretty guns and I wish all my buddies shot 1911s (more fun to make a holster for a pretty bangstick), but a close friend carries a Glock and wanted a holster so I made him this. It's my first time making a holster for a Glock and my first time using vinegaroon. This is my third completed holster but I do have a nice box full of mistakes and holsters that won't work or won't fit or came out ugly as sin to show for it.