Bryan M

I won't. But you could relax a bit. If it was such a horrible idea there wouldn't be thousands of these being used world wide, as I've since found out. Even here in the states, its a version of a Bianchi Foldaway. So, just take it easy will ya? You don't have to be a jerk. I was being nice.

The trigger isn't exposed at all. Just the back opening of the trigger guard. As far as the muzzle being exposed, I've seen many, many holsters that do that. One nice thing about leather is you can change it to suit your own needs. I wear this daily. No issues at all. Sorry but I disagree with your assessment completely. I am safe.

Yes to the first question. It is very secure. I have no problems at all with retention. NO to the second question. No need to set it aside when you drop trousers. It is a very comfortable, easy to use holster. For me it is a good solution for carrying small pistols. LC9, S&W M&P 9 Shield, Kahr PM 9, sizes, hold very well I have had no problems at all.

I traced it and made a pdf file of the pattern for any who are interested. Just print out on an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper and it will be full sized. Simple Holster PDF.pdf

Yes this is a one piece holster. The pistol is wedged between the leather and your belt or pants. It wears very well and I think its a comfortable fit. I feel it could easily be modified into a two piece as well. More like a full holster design. I can understand why you would do away with the dip for the trigger guard, but your fingers can't get into the guard as it sits. I may just fiddle with it and see what not adding that will do to how the holster carries. It would be a minor adjustment. Oh, yes I looked the Bianchi Foldaway up and it is a similar design. Thank you for the picture though. I was watching a news report about something that had happened in Brazil the other day and saw that one of the local police had his pistol in a very similar patterned holster. It was nice to see that a professional was using one.

Had the wife take a pic of it in use. I can't quite twist my self up that way. I don't know about the Bianchi Foldaway. I had to look it up. It does have a similar look. From what I've been told its a very old pattern. So, I don't know which came first.

I've been looking for a quick easy leather project for a while. We were visiting my father in-law, a retired Nevada State Trooper, and he showed me a super simple holster design that I hadn't seen in years. Before we left he gave me a cardboard pattern of the holster and yesterday I made it and dyed it black. Today I went over it with saddle soap and burnished the edges with old denim. I know I need to improve some things. But over all I am very happy about how it has turned out. I think I did ok on the stamping. Not perfect by any means but not terrible either. I've even thought of making them and selling them. Of course I need to do a few, maybe quite a few, before I'm ready to sell any. Practicing proper technique is something I know I need to do. Anyway, here's a picture of it. You just fit your belt through the loops and it holds small single stack pistols or J-frame revolvers quite well. I will be using it for my M&P 9 Shield. Its a perfect fit for that size. Rides very comfortably.

I meant a bench grinder. I'm sorry I should have been more clear. I know to only cut one taper on the blade. I've researched many different styles before I settled on this shape. I primarily work in metals. I used the hand grinder in the picture to cut it off the parent band saw blade then used a belt sander to get the primary shape. Everything else has been done by hand. I did not let the blade get hot so no further tempering is needed. Its very hard steel either 15N20 or L6. Both have similar chemistry. Thanks for the interest.

No unfortunately I don't have a grinder. Its all hand work from here on in. Its on the list though. I do like a good power tool. I know buffers can be dangerous if not used properly. More than one friend has been hurt by them.

Well it took a little longer than I wanted it to but I did get more work done on it the last couple of days. I was able to get the handle shaped and sanded smooth. It turned out pretty well I think. I need to put a finish on it and get some small scratches out. And of course sharpen it. But other than that its looking pretty good to me. I'll post some more pics when I get it completed in the next couple of days.

I started making a skiving knife today. If I'm going to be making knives, I have to work with leather and a good skiving knife is a critical tool to have. I could have just as easily bought one but this is much more fun. I have a large piece of bandsaw blade from an old wood sawmill. I got it cut to shape and ground out. Then started the tedious task of sanding all the rust off. I got the handles roughed out and the pin holes drilled in the handle and in the blank. Then go it sanded to 800 grit. I don't know if I want to go much further. I don't have a buffer. Its on the list though.

Oh! Shiny! Your gonna do great with that Cc. Congrats on getting it.

I do a bit of blacksmithing and what I've been able to find out is.... "Some cowboys also added small metal Pajados, also known as Jingo Bobs or Jingle Bobs, near the rowel, to create a jingling sound whenever the foot moved." Also it comes to mind that a loose or larger hole than is needed would cause the rowel to move a lot on its rivet. Creating a louder tinkling sound. Another thing that I think of when it comes to sound and metal is carbon content. The higher the carbon content the more bright the sound will be. 1018 mild steel would be dull and lifeless, 1085 high carbon steel would be bright and lively.

I live in Alaska, where the men do manly things like, take out the garbage and skin moose with our teeth.

When I grow up I wanna be like Mike!

Yes, thats so you can't pull a vacuum and get the post stuck in the set. Blacksmiths also use holes in a tool like that, its called a monkey tool. Those are used to square up tennons on various things that have tennons. Rails, grates, gates ect. The same principle applies. The fit should be so tight that you get no deformation of the burr as you set it. Thats tight enough to cause a problem with vacuum.

Use a tackle box. If it will sort fishing gear it will sort leather working gear. The bins for long lures are the perfect size for stamps. They have many configurations in a huge number of sizes. I bet you can find one that will be perfect for your tools.

I like it.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. Packing tape? Like the regular plastic type? I'll give that a try and see how it goes. Thanks for that tip. As for a strap to close it. I did figure out a way to do that, that will look good and still be attatched to it. I just don't know if I have enough leather to do it. LOL. Cogs, ya, and this isn't the first time either. When I started blacksmithing I went straight to making tongs. Not quite as simple as it sounds at first. Now I can make them no sweat. But thats years and many hundreds of hours later. Last month I was talking to a knife making friend and he had made a small set of tongs he uses to pull his needles through his sheaths. I thought it was a neat project and will be my next blacksmithing job. And will help me merge the two crafts. As for the strap my idea is to stitch it to the binding in the center. and let it hang free on the ends. But like I said that all depends on if I have a long enough piece.

Here's my first real project. I had some Tandy scraps and I put together a kindle cover for my wife. I'm still working on it. Need to finish stitching, edging, burnishing, and buffing. Seemingly endless list. But I'm new at all this so I tend to go slow with newer stuff. I had some issues with the leather stretching when I tooled it and it didn't line up like it did when I first cut everthing out. But, I went ahead anyway and continued with the work. The tooling needs work I know as does the stitching. In my haste to get something put together I neglected to put in a snap to keep the cover closed. I suppose I still could but I don't want the bottom of the snap to come in contact with screen of the kindle. I am saddle stitching by hand. Bryan

Go look at a welders apron at the local industrial supply. I have been blacksmithing for quite a few years and thats what I use.

If your going to tell the truth, tell all the truth. Solar is second only to neuclear power for cost per kilowat hour. Germany, even with all its government subsities only uses 1.1% solar power. The reason? Cost. Spain has suspended its solar progam all together. Why? Its too expensive. Fully half of the cost of a solar system is the silicon waffers that make up the grid. Silicon is very expencive to purify to the level that is needed for a solar panel. The rest of the "soft" costs associated with solar power are the mounting systems and the connections to the homes, businesses ect. In the SW United States, some solar power has reached "grid parity". That means its less expensive than other forms of power generation. Why is that? There is very little cloud cover and rain. This is the exception rather than the rule. The least expensive form of energy in the US is coal. At $.008 per KwH, is the cheapest form of energy. And we are the Saudi Arabia of coal. Coal is getting more expensive to use. The reason for that is regulation, not supply and demand. At some point there will be parity between coal and solar. Some estimates say 2017. I reserve judgement on that estimate for my own part. I did a little self study for my climate and part of the world. For a solar system for my home the costs would be $35,000. The expected pay off would be 25 years. The life of the system would be 15 years. In other words I would have to replace the system after 15 years and I would never recoup my own costs. For countries like Australia, solar makes much more sense. I have friends who rely completely on solar/battery systems for their power they are so far off the grid. But they still cost an arm an a leg to get them. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2010/11/101105-cost-of-solar-energy/