Warren

Very nice Luke! It looks very good and I think the red makes it stand out and look old at the same time. Hope the one I have cut out on my bench turns out half as good! Warren

Wow nice set Grunt! I keep trying to find the time to work on a tomahawk sheath for my Trailhawk, but I'm sure it won't compare to yours! I'm sure he will be very happy with both of them. Warren

Greg, thats a good looking holster! As for it slanting away from your body, that has to do with your design. If you look here on the forum at what most of the guys do when they make a holster, you will see that they usually make the back of the holster or at least the belt loops pretty flat to keep the gun close to the body. Looking at your picture of the back of the holster it looks like your tunnel loop angles in from the top to the bottom, thus causing it to slant out from the body. I may be wrong, but thats what I think happened from looking at the pictures. I don't have a set answer to give you about the extra leather as I just eyeball mine. Someone else may have a formula they can post. As far as how many stitches per inch, I just use the stitching wheel that came with my hand sewing kit from TLF and yes I use needles and a stitching awl, not one of the sewing awls with the thread inside it. I try to keep my stitching about a 1/4 inch from the edge, though sometimes it may be less depending on how my edges line up when I glue the holster together. I end up sanding off more when this happens than I originally intended. Dyeing leather in my opinion is an art form in itself, but I have found that using several thin coats works better than one thick one. It tends to smooth out the overall color of the piece and make the color deeper and richer looking. There are several books on making holsters out there depending on what kind of holsters your interested in making. Some of the other guys can probably make better recommendations than I can as the only book I've bought about holsters is "Packing Iron" which is the authority on historically correct old west holsters. Don't worry about asking questions here, thats part of what this forums about and no one will think your being a pest. Gald to have you here, keep up the good work and don't forget to post! Warren

Amen to all of the above! Warren

Drof, I have to agree with Randy, that's a pretty nice holster for a first time. Shoot I've seen some second and third tries that didn't look that good. The only thing I see is you might get some round hole punches and punch the ends of your belt slots. This will keep them from tearing as easily. Other than that Twinoaks covered it all about as good as it gets. After you have all the steps down the only thing that makes your holsters (or anything else) better is practice, so keep at it! Warren

RBD, it is just a belt but it's a damn good belt that should last someone a lifetime. When you say that, in my opinion it says something about the person who made it. It says they are a craftsman or artisan at the very least and a master of their chosen medium at their best. So you should be proud of your work, because the other members of this forum (your peers) sees something there to compliment you on. So don't downplay what it is, a simple utilitarian item, but be proud of what you made it which is more than the sum of it's parts and your work! Warren

Gary, I agree with CollinsMS on the holster and belt. They are fantastic!! Your braiding looks first rate to me, but I'm no judge as I can't do it myself. Would love to see more of your work anytime! Warren

Looks very good Randy! I got to try to make one of these someday. Warren

Very nice! I have one going now that I'll post when it's finished. Warren

Looks very good! I looked at my copy of the movie and I think your spot on! Warren

ChaChi, as a fellow firefighter I commend you on your work and your concern for your brothers. I am in the process of making a pair of suspenders for myself at the moment and hope to be able to make some for my brother firefighters here in Lubbock. I also want to make a radio strap for me and see if anyone else will want one as they are not in use on my department right now. I've always wondered why we don't use them as they make perfect sense to me, as do the leather suspenders. We are currently issued the clothe suspenders and belt clips for our radios. I don't like either one and hope to help change our ways,LOL. Nice to see a fellow firefighter making a go of leather work. I hope to be able to do the same someday. I've also done most of the side jobs you talk about on your website and currently have a very successful mowing business. Hope to see some morwe posts of your work soon. Keep up the good work and stay safe! Warren

Bruce, you might try www.cowboyculturalsociety.com and www.cowboypoetry.com/radio if you like western music and poetry. I listen to both fairly regularly. Warren

Steveb, I didn't put a welt in it since the cutter is always closed when it's in the sheath. The sheath is tight enough that putting it in closes retracts the blade into the handle, so a welt wasn't needed. I put welts in my fixed blade knife sheaths and in my gun holsters that need room for the trigger guard though. It isn't one of my favorite things to do if you know what I mean! Thanks for the compliments guys, they're always appreciated! Warren

Well even if I didn't like the sheath (which I do!) I love the knife! That is so cool! What did you make the handle out of? I've never seen a flipper like that either. Is that something you came up with? The whole thing looks great and I would be very happy to carry it! Warren

Luke, I patterned it after Will Ghormley's West Texas holster pattern and another holster pictured on his site called an Adobe. I just can't get enough of Will's stuff! I guess you could call it a high ride single loop if it were a holster. It's hard to see in the photo but it actually has a little bit of a cant to it that should make it usable as a cross-draw using holster speak. If he carries it strong-side he can carry it towards the front instead of on his hip. I'm glad they don't use pricing guns anymore or he'd be wanting one of those too,LOL! Warren

Randyc, I hope your right. He's at work right now and hasn't seen it yet, so I hope he likes it. Drac, your probably right, but I just couldn't make it totally utilitarian you know? It's not fancy, but I think it's pretty good looking myself. Thanks for the nice words guys, I really appreciate it! Warren

Knifenut, there's nothing wrong with that sheath that I can see. I can guarantee that the more you do the better you will get at it and the easier it will be. As for the pattern I'm with Randyc and TwinOaks that the best thing is try to make your own pattern. Some of the books will give you some ideas an show you how to construct the holster, so they may be worth getting. There are quite a few posts her about holsters here that should help you figure it out. I seem to remember Jordan posting a tutorial on how he does it. He makes holsters for small semi-autos, so it should be something you can adapt. Hope this helps! Warren

My son works as a stocker at one of our local grocery stores. He asked me to make him a sheath for the boxcutters that they give them to use. The pictures don't show it very well, but I'm no photographer,LOL. Anyway here it is, I think it turned out pretty well for a couple of hours work. Warren

Luke as usual you produced some top notch work there! Those turned out very well. As for cheating, I would hardly call it that! Smart maybe but not cheating. I've used some of it myself and really like it. I over-dyed some on my last project and it turned out great. Keep the faith. Warren

Wow Buff that is very nice! I'm sure he will be proud of it. Warren

As a firefighter myself I have to say that is the coolest saddle I have ever seen! Warren

Looks good to me! Did you put a welt in it? Warren

Very nice! I'm with Jordan, a review of the class would be great! Warren

Welcome Fowlball and if that is your first holster all I can say is WOW! Much better than my first try. Keep it up! Warren

Don, as usual you did an excellent job. Very historically correct interpretation. Always a pleasure to see what you do. Warren