MikeG

Thank you all for walking me through the why of the reinforcement strap. I have been following your work for some time, and that has encouraged me to tackle this project. JLS, I have read your holster pattern design tutorial over and over, and hopefully I'm beginning to understand it. Boriqua, thanks for the pictures. Dwight, I really respect your experience and your opinion here. In this instance the Taurus is fairly compact, but I will pay special attention to the opening (I will add the reinforcement) and making sure the belt loop is substantial. I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks, Mike

My son wants a holster for his birthday. I haven't made a holster before and don't want him shooting himself because of a poor holster. I have settled on an avenger style holster for his Taurus 709 slim. I have pored over this site and much more. JLS, your patterns always come to the top. So on to my question . . .. I have a basic pattern made, but I am not satisfied with the belt channel/reinforcing piece. Perhaps since the gun is small, but everything I try looks clunky to me on the front side of the holster. So now I am wondering is there a need for the reinforcing patch to wrap around or is it mainly for style? I have done a LOT of searching and if there are avenger style holsters without the belt channel wrapping around to the front, I haven't seen them. Any thoughts from you holster experts on stitching a belt loop to the back side of the holster without wrapping it around to the front? Thanks!

Wanted to share a positive experience. I was having trouble with an Iwata airbrush. As far as I could tell, there was nothing wrong with the airbrush, but I could not get the nozzle to screw on & thus it would not work. I called their hotline for some ideas, and.Kirk at tech support advised against me trying to fix it myself (probably wise because I am old & shaky & my eyesight ain't what it was!). He gave me an authorization number and address to send it to. His phone support was superb, I returned it to Iwata, and a few days later received another nice phone message saying it had been repaired and was on its way back to me. Even though it was out of warranty, Iwata repaired it as a courtesy. I don't usually post about these experiences, because every one is different, but this such good customer support and standing behind a product I thought I would pass it along. Mike

Good strop! Add a piece of round braid and you can strop your bevelers, too.

Nice! Your work is very clean and finished. How is the key ring attached to the flap?

You didn't specify what style burnisher you are using in your drill press. If you are not using a "yo-yo" style or something similar, that may be a reason you are getting uneven results. I can achieve an edge burnish I am happy with using the cheap nylon Tandy disk burnisher in my drill press. I use the dowel style burnishers for curves and tight spots, but not for anything like a belt. I also have a disk style burnisher on a sewing machine motor screwed to the edge of my bench. It's really handy for small items and touch up when I'm too lazy to go to the drill press. That said, there are many, many threads on burnishing here on the forums. One variable that is sometimes overlooked is the leather itself. Some burnishes almost effortlessly, others not so much. BTW, I also like Atom Wax.

JLS, I have enjoyed seeing your work and appreciate your creating and sharing patterns. You are a long way from me, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view). You can try a Google search inside these boards like this: site:leatherworker.net Minnesota Also try replacing "Minnesota" with "MN" Good luck finding folks in your area!

Welcome to the forum! I'm in middle Tennessee. Nice start to a frontiersman's kit!

Nice! Old sewing machines are addictive. Looking forward to seeing your patcher all painted up! There are lots of folks on the "Leather Sewing Machines" section of the forum to share info with.

I have a camera without a case (hint, hint) . . . . I know I'm in the minority, but to me the reversed straps shout handmade and unique. Yeah they are a little fuzzy, but kind of cool. Your craftsmanship and attention to detail is superb. Thanks for posting this. Now I'm going to go have a beer and sulk about what it would look like if I tried to make it.

Thanks for posting your one-of-a-kind bag. I looked at your website and bookmarked it. You have posted some great information there - Thank you!

Nicely done - I have something similar for a little Kel-Tec. I really like to be able to carry without drawing attention. Mine is cut down a little more so it is easier to get hold of.

Thanks for the kind comments. This has been fun. Several friends have offered to help with providing the caps, but not much else . . . . Kiwican, I take a pliers and open the crimped part of the cap until it is flat Then use a piece of pipe to further flatten and true the crimped part. Then punch a hole in the fob. I cut the leather round I punched out down to fit inside the back of the cap and then assemble it with contact cement, stitch and burnish.

I made a few keyfobs over Christmas as presents, using a template found on the forum here. Was using conchos and padding them. I think they turned out well. Then I came across an idea using bottle caps in leather & thought it might work - YES! My wife likes them. The trick is finding the right bottle caps - I was lucky and the beer is not bad. She is not ready to let me mass produce them yet, but it's a start . . .

Hey, Gnome - There's a Singer 31-15 for $200 in Old Hickory and a Consew 250 for $250 in Lewisburg on the Nashville Craigslist. There are a lot of these machines floating around. I'm guessing you will want a walking foot machine, but the folks here on this site can tell you whether a particular model machine will be good for what you want to do. Good luck!!

I'm in my 13th house. I've bought and sold using realtors and by myself. I have dealt with my share of the bottom feeders, but have also been fortunate to work with two phenomenal folks (both were brokers that owned the business). The coolest house deal was one we bought from the owner on a handshake. Got the paperwork from the bank (before the internet), and completed the deal in about 15 minutes. Of course that was also before asbestos, lead paint, radon and hazardous waste. Ah, the good old days . . . .

Hey, Gnome & Homestead - good to see some more southern folk on here. Tennessee's a pretty big state. I'm between Nashville & Chattanooga. How about you? BTW, I have a couple of round knives, and although I'm totally an amateur, I always do better with a round knife than with a brand new razor knife blade. Hey, Gnome & Homestead - good to see some more southern folk on here. Tennessee's a pretty big state. I'm between Nashville & Chattanooga. How about you? BTW, I have a couple of round knives, and although I'm totally an amateur, I always do better with a round knife than with a brand new razor knife blade.

You have some beautiful and unique hardware on your bags. Really sets them off.

Love the speedy holster. Waiting to see your quick draw holster . . . .

Nice clean stitching. It looks like you put the conchos in after stitching the conchos down - does that mean the screws are exposed on the back side? Can't help you much with burnishing thin leather, but there will be lots of others who can chime in. You might consider rolling the edges under so there is no exposed edge. As for pictures, take a look at Irfanview. It's a free program that is super simple -- image>resize allows you to shrink pictures by percentage. You can also easily crop and enhance colors. I've been using it for years and still can't find a program I like better. Keep up the good work and let's see some more dog collars!

Give a look at Irfanview - I have used it for years. It is free and totally simple. You can resize by percentage with just a click and you can do easy color corrections and sharpening, too. Crop a pic by just dragging the frame - that can make a picture smaller by eliminating unwanted background. It's got a ton of other picture tweaks I never use. I have used Paint, PhotoShop and others, but IView is my go to for posting pictures. http://www.irfanview.com/

I like leatherworker.net. Really like that I can find all the truly extraordinary talent and willingness to share and help at every level right here.

Welcome from Manchester. There is an active guild that meets monthly in the Hermitage area. I went a couple of times, but it's a 3 hour round-trip for me and so I can't regularly attend. Their website is http://www.sclcg.net/joomla/ If you want to PM me, I will send you the direct e-mail for the current president. Cheers, Mike

beautiful crisp and deep impressions! I wish mine would look that clean.

Absolutely gorgeous! As Tugadude said above, heirloom quality. Or, as Darth Vader would say, "Impressive." Thanks for showing it.