SpringyCL45

Bump! This is a great thread with TONS of information. I will say, motivation is key.

Sorry if there is already a thread covering this :-/ To all the holster makers: Are any of you concerned with or have experience dealing with people trying to sue you or the company because they said your holster caused an accidental discharge? I know many of you have disclaimers on your websites related to this but would that actually hold up in court? Ever since the MickD's hot coffee incident, how can one protect themselves against these kind of things? Simple disclaimers, good insurance, what?

That's really cool! The carving looks good too! How did you secure the bottoms of the card pockets if you don't mind me asking? Also, what weight leather is that?

I've been reading about different leather quality for different brands and have received sample kits from Wickett & Craig as well as Horween. I've been hand buying Tandy leather from one of their stores so I've only ever used Tandy leather for my few projects that I've completed and as far as know the Tandy leather works and looks just fine. Maybe I'm not that educated in leather yet? I want to try something else: HO, W&C, Horween, or ? to compare the leather to Tandy. When I received the sample kit from W&C I was surprised at how it looked and felt. The little square swatches felt very light and stiff almost like cardboard. It also looked like they cut all the squares from the same piece of leather and just painted the dye color on top of the square? (Like all they were showing was a sample of the colors they offer not at all a sample of the leathers they offer?) Is that normal for them? How am I supposed to touch and experience a type of leather they offer? Just going off of their samples it makes me want to stick with Tandy and I know that can't be right... Now, the Horween kit I received, is a different story! As soon as I took the swatches out of the envelope I could feel the differences between each swatch and could tell a difference between theirs and the Tandy leather I've been getting. It also looked like they actually cut each swatch from a separate truely dyed side and represented their line accordingly. Again, I could just be completely wrong about W&C but has anyone else experienced this? The leather sides purchased from W&C not being like their sample swatches?

I'm in awe! Did you hand stitch everything? And did you cover the white with something (masking tape or the like) to protect the white from scratches and oopses during the production? Amazing.

I'm relatively new to leather working and have purchased a few sides from Tandy to start me off. I'm looking into Wickett & Craig for my veg-tan and pre-dyed leather since I hear a lot of good things about them. However, I just received Tandy's holiday flyer in the mail and see an ad for some "assorted color upholstery & chap hides" for 79.99 (elite price.) Would you buy up one or two hides to work with or would you say I'd be better off saving the money for a W&C side instead? I will mainly be working on holsters, bags, wallets, and belts. I thought I read it wrong but apparently that price is for a full hide (45 sq ft @ 3-4oz.) Looking at everyone's awesome projects on here is getting me pumped for mine! Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Fantastic work!