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TexasJack

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Posts posted by TexasJack


  1. Thinking about making a rifle scabbard for myself to carry a scoped rifle on a 4 wheeler (ATV). Kolpin and some others make a plastic scabbard, but - no, I don't need to explain to anyone on this forum why I'd rather have leather!

    A pattern would probably be too much to ask, but a design or pictures would be most appreciated.

    I want to keep the dust/mud off of the rifle and (hopefully) keep the scope from getting messed up as I ride the ATV.


  2. The credit card thing reminded me of something that happened years ago. I was serving on the credit committee for the company's credit union and we just started issuing credit cards. The credit union staff couldn't reject anyone - only the credit committee could - so we saw all the really bad cases. One guy had a list of debts that went on for pages and pages. When he came in to discuss why he had been rejected, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a stack of about 50 credit cards held together with a rubber band and said, "I don't understand. None of these companies turned me down!" He was basically using each new card to make payments on the old ones.

    There really are clueless folks out there.

    As for the human skin, I remember seeing some program about museums and there's some small museum that has a pair of shoes made in the 1800's out of human skin. I googled it and this is what I found: Shoes Made From Big Nose George. It's actually a funny story, even if it's a little morbid.


  3. Chuck, I thought you'd already gone into hibernation for the winter!! Good to see you post!

    This is not a very elaborate thread, but it's fun to discuss techniques in some detail. I like to know why I might choose a particular method over another one, or when one method might be better for a particular application.

    Guys like Chuck and Will make this stuff look easy, but they've had some serious depth of experience to get to that point.


  4. ...First, . . . make sure the leather you are using for the loops is about a good 1/16 wider than the slots you punch. They then get pinched into the slot and don't move because of that pinch at the top and bottom because of the excess width.

    Second, . . . pull the loops tight around the cartridges as you go.

    Third, . . . contact cement your loops to a liner and sew the edges together to make your belt....

    As much as I hate to point this out, I am right. In order to KEEP the loops from slipping, you've gotta add all the steps Dwight listed.

    I'm not saying you can't do this method, merely that it has it's weakness. Dwight is simply compensating for that.


  5. There are several methods for making cartridge loops. I seem to recall a thread discussing that, but can't find it at the moment. The method illustrated in your photo is fast and very attractive. It does have one serious weakness: once a cartridge is pulled out, it's possible for the adjoining loops to become loose.


  6. That is a nice slide show.

    When I started reading this thread, I was picturing more of a regular bandolier (Pancho Villa) that just has a holster attached low on the chest. The ones presented by diamond d are more like modified shoulder holsters.

    I've never used a shoulder or chest rig, but I suspect I'd like a wide piece of leather on my shoulder or it would begin to dig in after awhile.

    While searching for pictures, I came across this web site for Australian Stock Saddle. They have some rigs I've never seen for shotguns, mare's legs, etc. Interesting pics.


  7. Chuck Burrows is one of the best and if you can get your hands on his DVD for holsters, it's well worth the cost. There's at least one on Amazon Frontier Holsters by Chuck Burrows, and I'm pretty sure they're still carried by Center Cross (www.centercross.com).

    On Chuck' web site, he posted this tutorial for a sheath a few years back:

    Wild Rose Trading Company Mexican Loop Tutorial


  8. Love Will's patterns! They look great and he did a great job laying them out. He's gone out of his way to help people make the kind of holsters and stuff that he does. Definitely one of the good guys! The Hand Of God tutorial is fund to look through, even if you're not into making holsters. Lots of great pictures of how it's done.

    I did one of the Weeping Heart holsters and was surprised at what a practical, yet extremely simple holster it really is.


  9. Tandy stores carry the books and often put them on sale. Still, you may be able to find them cheaper on Amazon or Ebay.

    For anyone fairly new to leather, the Stohlman book, "The Art of Hand Sewing Leather" is absolutely worth every penny.

    The three book series, "The Art of Making Leather Cases" is (I think) what's being referred to in this thread. It's good but be warned that Books 2 & 3 refer back to stuff from Book 1 or 2. You're best off to get the series. Some of the stuff is BADLY outdated - camera cases for 110 film cameras, cases for CB radios, etc., but the fundamental information still applies.


  10. Clorox is mentioned in a previous post, and it will kill nearly anything, but it is a bleach and can oxidize out color as well.

    Lysol is mostly alcohol and will do a decent job of killing mold, but be careful to get the unscented version or the perfume they use can be pretty strong.

    I've used Listerine (or generic versions of it) mixed in with water when casing leather. This is a high humidity area, so it doesn't take much to bring on mold. It seems to work pretty well.


  11. The concept with a diamond awl is to open up a narrow slot that the thread can go through, and then have the leather "set" or close back up that slot so that it holds the stitch tightly. If you make a hole with a pricking iron or drill bit or whatever, that hole will never close up as tight as the one made by an awl.

    If you try to make all of your holes with an awl, it's hard to keep from some of them tightening up and making it hard to sew.

    So, in my mind, there are two kinds of projects: those that work best with all of the holes made first (as previous posts describe) and those that can be done a few holes at a time. People that do a variety of projects may very well use both techniques.

    Then there are those who just don't like using an awl and are going to use one of the other methods, in which case it doesn't matter how many holes you do at a time.

    I hope that's not completely confusing.

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