samcolt45

mlapaglia You've do this often with such vintage holsters as the one I described?

I jut received a vintage NOS Brauer Brothers K32, which I'd searched for and wanted for quite a while.My only gripe with the holster's design is its course-grain Interior, which is murder on finishes.I'm considering coating the inside of it with gum tragacanth to smooth it out.Your thoughts would be appreciated.Bob

After 15 years, I've decided to get back into leatherworking as a hobby. My interest is primarily holster making. As a wheelchair bound firearm journalist, most commercially made offerings simply don't have enough forward cant to accommodate my needs. If anyone knows of a class in the Vicinity of Manassas/Gainesville, Virginia- or if you' happen to be a leatherworker who lives in the aforementioned area and wouldn't mind teaching a gimpy gunwriter what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong and what I can do to make my work better, please let me know. Bob Boyd

I'm looking for burnishing bit similar to those leatherburnishers.com. If anyone knows of a souce for such a product, please let me know. Bob

I recently received some leather-working tools from an uncle who passed away. With the tools was various pieces of leather of different thicknesses. I haven't worked with leather in a long time, and my primarily interesting in making holsters. While tooling is a feature goal, at the moment my primary concern is determining what weight I'm working with and which is the best for making non-tooled, belt-slide-type holsters. Finally, can anyone tell me if Tandy's Leather - The New Frontier in Art is worth the money? So far the only book I've read is Al Stoelmann's book on making holsters? Any suggestions would be appreciated? Thanks, Bob Boyd

OK Mike, Forgive me, I'm a little confused. Thr areas which you suggest I sand and burnish, are you referring to the inside/skin side or the exterior? I suspect you're referring to the interior in order to improveassembly and the adherence of the glue. Regarding buffing, once I find such a cloth, (by the way, how about using a piece of burlap?) Once I stich the belt loop, make the fold and stich it, what's the purpose of sanding. What type of paper do you recommend? When casing, prior to molding,and since I have been unable to locate an aluminum oe blue gun or the correct nake or model, I know that means I'll need to use my own pistol, which I plan to wrap in seran wrap prior. I seen suggestions to place your project inside a plastic bag, prior to molding to avoid unwanted wrinkles/scratches, too. In the past I'm used a rubberized toothbrush for molding, some suggest the back of a spoon, but I find it bends too easy. Any thoughts about using Tandy's adjustable creaser (8072-00) for this task? You mention burnishing an edge after molding, which one are you talking about? What sort of final finishes do you suggest? Bob I How long should the pistol stay in once I

Thanks for the input Katass. My goal is to carry strongside. Last weekend, I cut my one-piece pattern with a 25-degree forward cant. I burnished, (which I'm starting to learn may have been premature at this juncture) beveled edges and I'm currently grooving my stitching lines. I'm currently wondering where I should go from here (once I finish with the stich lines)? I understand dyeing the leather is going to be harder since I already burnished,but I know it will be easier prior to assembly. But I also want to bone/wet-mold. My plan, unless someone suggests otherwise, is to dye, crease and assemble/ stitch it together, then wet mold? Your thoughts? Samcolt45

Thanks for all the suggestions fellas. I think one of the reasons for the problem I'm having is- well, come to think of it, it's two problems: 1: unlike the Tandy book example, I'm unable to hold the pattern and pistol to my beltline at an angle to scribe the pattern, and 2: I'd prefer my pattern be all one piece and not contain a separate stitched on belt loop. Any ideas. Sam

Greetings, I'm new to the forum, and have been making holsters off and on for a few years. An uncle past away recently, and I in herited his leather and leather-working tools. Recently I've been wanting to get back into making holsters, and Iintend on designing a pattern for a snub-nose Colt New Service of mine that's a Fitz Special conversion. My pattern is similar to that of a Yaqui slide, but being wheelchair bound, the zero, or neutral cant common to that design won't work for me. The same can be said with an FBI cant, which I believe is 15 degrees. I've been told by a friend of mine( who is a holster maker that has been trying to take me under his wing and help me in my quest) that I'd be better with something around 25 to 30 degrees, But after reading Stoelmann's book on holster making, his method for derterming holster cant is unclear, and for some reason my friend, who is elderly, keeps telling me to hold the front edge of the folded pattern up to a door and draw the angle I want with my protractor. Needless to say, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Bob Boyd Samcolt45

Greetings, I'm new to the forum, and have been making holsters off and on for a few years. An uncle past away recently, and I in herited his leather and leather-working tools. Recently I've been wanting to get back into making holsters, and Iintend on designing a pattern for a snub-nose Colt New Service of mine that's a Fitz Special conversion. My pattern is similar to that of a Yaqui slide, but being wheelchair bound, the zero, or neutral cant common to that design won't work for me. The same can be said with an FBI cant, which I believe is 15 degrees. I've been told by a friend of mine( who is a holster maker that has been trying to take me under his wing and help me in my quest) that I'd be better with something around 25 degrees, But after reading Stoelmann's book on holster making, his method for derterming holster cant is unclear, and for some reason my friend, who is elderly, keeps telling me to hold the front edge of the folded pattern up to a door and draw the angle I want. Needless to say, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Bob Boyd Samcolt45