St8LineGunsmith

ya the wing dividers will help you get the groove straight or as I said you could use a straight edge and use the groover to follow the straight edge.

as a good rule of thumb your groove channel should be the distance from the edge the same measurment as the thickness of the two pieces to be sewn together so if the total thickness of the pieces of leather to be sewn is 1/4" then the center of the stitch groove should be 1/4" from the edge.

you might want to try a straight edge or if you have a pair of wing dividers you can make a stitch line with the dividers then follow the line with the groover you might want to invest in a groover that has a guide bar to follow the edge for a good straight channel.

I am glad to see these chest rigs making a come back. I think the movie Tombstone helped to popularize the rig again as well as a couple other western movies. I think it is much more comfortable to wear and easier to draw than the shoulder rig where the fire arm is holstered to the side under the arm.

the holster is actualli up in front of the hips I believe Mike was looking around the holster to see the hips what a hound dog

Sure is someone bumped up another old thread Will posted (the hand of God rig) there is some good info there in that thread too. here is the link to wills site http://www.willghormley-maker.com/index.html lots of good info there

guys just want to say instead of oiling the holster use beeswax instead smear it on then use a hair dryer to melt it into the leather and rub it in this will also make the leather more waterproof. wax bowl rings is a good source for bees wax and can be found in any plumbing department. I only use new ones

Hello nomadmad I am a disabled master pipe welder/Fitter/Boilermaker so i am no stranger to making belt buckles and stainless BBQ grills out of sch 10 pipe LOL I have spent a lot of time trampling around the south end of the Appalachian Mountain range deer hunting shooting and riding dirt bikesdown here in North West Georgia actually where the Appalachian Mountians start and also where the trail of tears started across the appalachian trail. I also used to build custom bikes I built the frames and mostly used either S&S motors and also built several from S&S and Andrews parts stuffed in Delcron cases which made for some bullet proof big bore V twin motors I never made my own seats although I had the experience to do it just never did for some strange reason anyway just want to say welcome there are a lot of talented folks here that you can learn from for sure.

hello and welcome to the forum.

I have been saying wow a lot today so I will say it again WOW!

Hello and welcome to the forum! your belts look really good. I am still trying to figure out if that is real barbed wire or not.

I love that Tarus Judge and has quite a kick to it with a 410 slug.

IMO conchos pose no more of a threat to dammaging the finish on a guitar than a belt buckle does belt buckles and spiked belts is the biggest culprit to dammaging the finish on a guitar than any thing. conchos on guitar straps dont come in contact with the guitar like a belt does however when storing your guitar in a case you have to make sure the any exposed metal on a guitar strap does not contact the guitars finish otherwise it can scratch the finish.

springfield leather company is good company to buy from I never used Zack white but the prices look good.

ya it is very good work indeed.

hey guys here is another old post that is worthy of resurrecting for its useful content and to honor the author who apparently has since passed away i cant think of any better way to honor their memory than to bump the thread back up so some of the newer members may be able to benefit which I think was the authors intent from its beginning.

I know this is an old thread but I thought it might be worth bumping up for those who have not seen it some good stuff on how to make the holsters. I bookmarked Wills site to use for reference.

looks good doc

that is St8 as in state state line LOL lots of people seem to want to add an r in there for some reasonLOL you are about 90 miles north from me, I am in Rossville GA just this side of the Tennessee state line in Chattanooga about 2 blocks away from Lake Winnie if you know where that is

you can also use wing dividers and a modeling tool .

Hello grittyroots where in TN you located? I am a disabled master welder/pipefitter/ boilermaker and used to own a chassis shop. did that for nearly thirty years before I had to give it up due to severe arthritis. and other health issues. now I am building rifles and trying to get more involved in leatherworking again.

here is a website I googled up http://www.schmitthenner.com/cuirass.htm#Make it Yourself

OH sorry Mike I misunderstood.

TwinOaks I cant think of any other person to use as an example for such professional looking stitching and I think he uses a drill to pre punch his stitch holes.

stitching chisels work better on thinner leather like6-7 oz i use a drill press or a dremel and a small drill bit to make my holes lot of people use the drill method whikle others will tell you it is not the proper way to make stitch holes everyone has their own method of how to make their stitch holes I think where most will agree is to cement the pieces to be sewn together first before laying out the stitch line and punching/stabbing/drilling the holes.