fishguy

poplar or basswood (what they call lime in the U.S.) are a good choice for the core

Just a thought, but if you threw in a drawstring bag, you could also market it as a dice cup for rolling

Some mink oil in there too

I was thinking of making a soft case, shaped more or less like a pool cue case, with two layers of leather. It occured to me to put a thin layer of foam rubber between the outer layer and the lining for added protection. How do you typically attach it? Glue? Stitiching at edges? some sort of cross-stitching?

If you search "welt" there was one thread where Chuck Burrows goes into detail about skiving welts, retention, etc. Too bad there is no leather group in the area, I am just across the river from you.

Everything you ever wanted to know about sheaths (mabye more) http://knifenetwork.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=16 welt depends on sheath design, you can have a full welt that totally surrounds the blade, or just along the edge on sheaths that are made from one folded piece of leather. The main point of the welt is to protect the stitching from being cut, though in full welt type sheaths it also makes room for the blade between the front and back of the sheath. There is a lot of discussion on the forum I linked to above about snaps and retention. If you are doing custom knives you will want to countersink the back of the snap and glue a little plug of leather over it to keep from scratching up the knife.

vinegar with steel wool or iron filings, let stand 24 hours, makes a nice black. brush on and let dry, then rinse with dilute baking soda solution and then water. This is an old fashioned dye known as "vinegaroon"

Being an unrepentant geek, I have to say a few words in favor of the book. While it does not have any patterns with dotted lines and "cut here", I found Bianchi's book to be very informative. It goes into great detail on the history of the holster, but also explains the reasons why there were changes. Understanding the evolution and changes in design in response to changing considerations helps explain the reasons for considering certain features when devolping a design (as well as providing examples of things that didn't work). It also adresses subjects such as concealment, retention vs. quick draw, etc. Good baseline knowledge for anyone making holsters.

You never know..................... Do you put money in the pictures of your wallets? I like to make complete rigs, sometimes I do just a holster, even rarer just a belt.

Well, I guess its time to throw up some pictures of my stuff. Here are some holsters that I have made (from my website-hence the cryptic captions)

Competition quick draw holsters often have a formed metal shell sandwiched between leather, or two layers of really thick leather. They are basically like a bucket that the gun sits in. If you read Bianchi's book he really brings out the antagonisim between retention and quick draw. If you can't get it out quick enough you're screwed, but if its laying in the mud a couple of miles back it dosen't matter how fast you can draw.

I hate sewing on loops myself. You can lace money belt bullet loops, but I put an addtional 4-5 oz backer on the section that the loops lace through. A lot of the originals are calfskin and look pretty thin and soft in the pictures. That sewing jig for bullet loops sounds pretty neat, now you have me thinking............ I would try to talk them into doing up a cartridge case for the .22's, it would be historically accurate too as they sometimes used old percussion cap cases for cartridge cases. You could also do up a pistol cartridge case with a block to hold the .22 rounds.

While we are on the topic of dummy guns, if you can only afford to order 2-3, which models would you reccomend?

Wow, that is really interesting, it would help to see the inside too. I have made a couple of small bags like that and usually the stitch goes in from the front at about a 45 degree angle and then emerges from the side. Kind of like a one sided butt stitch. Most Motorcyle tool bags seem to have some "ears" on the sides-i.e. an extension on the top of the side piece that folds over into the bag to help preven water from coming and and tools from getting out through the gap between the top and side of the bag.

Sounds like the kind of construction used in "quick draw" holsters. Not really good for retention, he might want to add a strap if he is going to be out hunting and climbing over stuff.

This probably sounds like a stupid question, but, what weight leather do you use for concealment holsters? I have made quite a few western and more conventional holsters out of 9-10 oz leather. Tried to do a inside the waistband holster last night out of the same stuff. It was too thick to get it to stretch right. Do you guys use 7-8 oz? Am I just not going about it in the right way?

If you included a small drawstring bag, he could also use it as a dice rolling cup. Stashing the spare dice in the bag while it was being used for that purpose, and carrying the bag in the cup when transporting it.

You can also use a sharp twist drill or Forstner bit to make the hole (stay away from spade bits)

You can make a bit neater slot by using a circular punch the width of the slot at each end of the place where you want the slot, then using a straight edge and craft knife (or other thin, sharp knife) cut lines between the holes to make the slots. Do not try to cut all the way to the far hole on the first cut as it is easy to over run the hole and end up with cut marks outside of the slot. Rather, cut almost all the way to the far hole and then start that hole and cut back to join up with the existing cut. Cut slowly and carefully and you can pull it off pretty easy.

You should make or buy a plain black belt and give it to him. When he asks where the fish are, tell him you can't see them because it is dyed black. Then show him the belt colored the way you like it (or not)

Actually, if you don't need really fancy, large letters you can do surprisingly well just embossing. Of course this also requires good penmanship too.

I am roughly in the same situation as you are and have struggled with the same questions. To start I would say that the minimum you should ask for the rig is $150. There are a number of weird factors at work here. American psychology seems to be to get something as cheap as you can, but if it is too cheap then it can't be any good. So by trying to appeal to the cheapskate side to drum up some sales you can fall prey to the idea that your work isn't any good. So you have to charge enough to command respect for your work, but not so much that it puts too many people out of your range. Add to this the plethora of really cheap holsters and gunrigs that show up on ebay. I have no idea where these come from, probably made by some poor bastard chained to a table somewhere getting $.05 and a bowl of stale rice per day. You can't compete with these guys (unless you want to end up chained to a table) so you need to emphasize the unique hand made character of your work, which also means it should cost more than the cookie cutter stuff. Of course this is all theory and I have a few gun rigs in my box that have been up on ebay a couple of times and have failed to sell. I always wonder if I have charged too much. However, I have also sold stuff to people who were thrilled with the product and the price. I suspect that I am guilty of underpricing quite a few times, mabye acceptable to get a start, but it shouldn't become a habit. Blacksmiths have a saying "the only way a blacksmith can go to hell is to hit black iron, or to undercharge for his work". Mabye we need a similar one.

I believe that is a giant house spider, they eat hobo spiders and don't do humans any harm. So don't squish, it is your little eight-legged watch dog http://www.srv.net/~dkv/hobospider/compred.html

Another possible (and maybe cheaper) solution is just to use a bandsaw to cut it out. I do this with Skirting leather all the time. You get pretty quick once you get the hang of it (especially if you are cutting many of the same thing).

I have made quite a few of these and generally attach them to the back, though I have also made and seen designs where they are attached to the gussets and even the top of the bag. Since this type of bag was typically home made, or by some local saddle or harness maker there was a wide range of variation and no really "right " historical solution. Looks like you have made accomodations for the straps on the gussets and from the design it looks like it would be the best place to attach them.