Jordan

if there is a tandy store close to you they have bags of scrap to sell but the pieces are not large enough to do much with. The store by me has a shelf under the cutting table that has larger pieces for sale at a decent price tandy leather is ok to practice on. hope this helped.

great info guys thanks, doing the holster molding as seperate pieces and sewing after as I did my 1st one seems prone to errors in fit, so I will be trying a method I have been working out in my head, 1st, using blueguns as a pattern (5 different models to start with) measure from centerline of the gun in both directions by rolling the gun from the slide/sight portion to the left then the right and add the thickness of the leather. Mark and cut my front and back pieces and an extra piece for trim that will also hold the mouth open, then sew the whole thing together on my neels machine. Place the bluegun in wet leather and place it in an antique cast iron bookpress between two pads of gum rubber and crank it down for awhile. Then take it out and finish boning the details by hand. Remove the bluegun let dry then finish, burnish etc. As you can see there are alot of things I will need to work out as far as wet mold time, measuring, fitting so as not to be too tight or loose, where to place the stiching in relation to the pistol etc,etc, anyway I appreciate any and all feedback. I have a line drawing of a sideview somewhere I downloaded in essence the holster will be molded on both sides with less detailed boning on the back so it will sit closer to the body. Found the photo thanks to whoever originally posted it.

Do you sew the body and trim if any, of the holster prior to, or after, moulding the leather? the 1st one I did was sewn after moulding because I could not figure out the space needed between the seam and the handgun that would allow for the space needed to do the moulding and end up not being to tight or to loose. My guess is the thickness of half the pistol plus the thickness of the leather? hope this question makes sense it's early and has been a very long night. Jordan

even with a press they will be crooked if the post is to long, I found that it works ok if the post is just proud of the leather maybe a 16th, nippers, dremel, file or jewelers saw, whatever works for you. On thicker stuff use a french skiver to countersink an area around the post. irritating isn't it!

Same problem with restoration compared to refurbishing old motorcycles, they both look real nice from 10 feet but a true restoration looks even better from inches away LOL

I took delivery of my new piece of equipment today. This is a main part in my quest to be self employed, the next is to finish my darn basement, Hah, so many projects and so little energy! It is wasted on the young, couldn't be bothered back then and now that I need it just ain't there. LOL. I bought the machine from Ed Santoro and I was very pleased with the transaction, in spite of my trepidation about UPS and shippers in general, all went well.(used to drive a big truck I have seen firsthand how freight is handled) Ed is a standup guy and a plus to this outstanding forum. I have included a few photos of as far as I got with setup before my blood sugars went south. Jordan

Yes I believe you can. Home Depot Lowes and Ace Hardware have almost all the attachments you can get and they had a free catolog by the company the last time I was at the depot.

Nice site, a little to dark for my taste, but if it brings in customers who cares. Spell check could be helpful,not sure if vinyl is spelt wright, it's one of those tricky ones. I like the two up seat, oh wait is that a spike high heel for a very large yeti.! LOL LOL great stuff!

Good to know,thanks

I also need to find out more on this subject specifically the hardware, I am having a devil of a time locating the small springclip buckles, the tandy and other buckles I have tried to use are just too darn big.

Newest Tandy Skiver Newsletter/sales flyer has a pic looks like tippmann boss with different color and slightly different shape also a new embosser. price looks to be the same

Foxvalleyleather.com in North Salt Lake. I have not dealt with them but it looks like the tann small quanities. When I get a chance I will make a visit.

Amazingly talented people, sigh, I've got a looooooooong way to go.

very nice tooling, welcome and enjoy

cool dremel set up, nice photos and easy to follow the process..Jordan

After moulding and drying completly, I dyed mine blue then black then applied acrylic clear, making sure leather was very dry in between coats so it sinks in real good, and the holster is very rigid stays open when wearing it in the waist band. I have read that the heavy application of dye tends to stiffen the leather and adding the clear acrylic stiffens it further. Maybe thats why some makers actually dip a holster in vats of dye and clear rather than painting it on? Hope this was a little helpful...Jordan

If anyone is interested the template I was using to write my plan is one I found on the microsoft word web site it was a free download in the template section of their site. It is pretty easy to use as it is already formatted, and full of suggestions, you just start writing and delete the information they have included in each section as you go.

I have seen handcrafted guitar straps on a few sites with a starting price $150.00 and up, depending on what the customer wants. If you figure that a player has spent well over $1000.00 for an instrument they certainly are not going to stick a crummy nylon strap on it. I made a strap for my gibson because I couldn't afford a good one and the stores carried crap. I ended up giving it away (strap) after nerve damage curtailed my gutair playing dream, can't bring myself to getting rid of the gibson it's just to nice of a guitar.

Fine woodworking magazine would be the best choice as they cater to the serious hobbyist and the professionals, when I was into woodworking that was pretty much the only magazine worth the cover price.

thanks for the info, still trying to setup my shop area and waiting on a sewing machine from Ed. but my back is not cooperating been out of action for over a week now. sorry to kinda hijak the thread, very nice job on the holsters guys. Jordan

Can you post some titles of books so I can look through them before I buy? Also, any books that cover modern holster making for autos. Thanks..Jordan

if memory serves steveb's web site mentioned he adds a lining to all his belts, I could be wrong. I use a rounded over peice of hardwood to burnish the backside.

Sorry had to remove the pdf someone used it to send me a bunch of crap. Apparently I forgot to edit it and it has personal contact info on it. Ah well livinlearn. Hopefully will end due to lack of response.

I suspected as much, and will not utilize any of their products. Although if true I wonder why the genuine authors have not taken legal action. AGI website makes a big deal out of bootleg copies even offers a reward so it seems strange that no mention is made of smartflix.

Not sure if this is the right spot to put this but anyway, I was bebopin around the web today and came across a site called SmartFlix they offer video's that you won't see at the regular rental stores, all are like training films, has anyone rented their leatherworking tapes? if so were they any good?