Srigs

I agree completely Billsotx. The contact cement provides much more than stitching and more holes the weaker.

Very good looking rig and very well made. Keep up the good work.

Good looking rig Bruce. I sold 3 "Block" 30 holsters at the gun show over the weekend. They are a good seller and much better than G17 or 19 because every where has those.

I generally shoot for 3/16 but it can vary depending on the holster. :D

Good job Randy. I get the happy foot at times and have started a holster for a full size gun and turned into a compact holster . I do like the tan color you have done. Keep up the good work.

Here is the best place I have found for blue guns. Blue Guns I would recommend... J-frame Ruger SP101 and LCP Kahr Kel-tec PF9, P3xx Glock 26, 19, 17, 20/21, 30 and 36 XD 3 and 4" 1911 3, 4, 4.25, 5 M&P full size and compact Sigs 229, 239 and 230/2 Hope this helps.

Good collection. Wide variety of options.

Hi Rick, The rattler is lined with 5 oz and outside is 5 oz also good heavy duty holster. The Inlay does require you to do things completely different due to the pre-dying the leather,then assembly, hot wet form, touch up the color and finish... instead of assembly, how wet form, then dye and finish. Lots of practice and find out a way that works for you because we all do things slightly or very differently depending on our decisions and background. They were real fun to do but took more time.

So far so good. It shoots well but have to get use to DA/SA again.

Well, I have been having some fun with exotics for my holsters and wanted to show a couple off. I did one with alligator on the outside between the stitching lines of a normal The Slide for my PT140 Pro. The other was an insert with red dyed rattle snake The Slide for my 66-1 2.5". Let me know how you like them.

Fantastic first holster.

Very cool holster for your Bersa Thunder 380. Love the look of it.

Great overview. Thanks for posting the overview.

I use Resolene also cut about 50/50 with water to lower the sheen to a nice look and reduce the tackiness you can get with full strength. I have never had a holster bleed through using it.

I also use a small dowel rod to wet form a site track. I don't use head knifes. I use shears and good quality snap off knife blades to do my cutting. For slots, I have a half moon chizel that is ~1/4" wide for top and bottom and use the knife and straight edge. Use a press to do the heavy forming but hand boning is the way to go. I use deer antlers for boning and works great for burnishing also. I made my own drill press burnisher with 1/2" oak dowel and use a round file and cut in different size groves to handle different thicknesses. This saves time and I have made one for each color.

Welcome to the forum. Start by reading all the posts in this section and asking a bunch of questions. Suggestions... 1. Don't stitch to close to the gun/form because we have all thrown out holsters that were too tight. 2. Start with a half a shoulder and determine what types of holsters your interested in making. 3. Hand stitching is much harder than rectangle 1 and 3 tang punches for making stitching holes and getting straight stitching lines with a plastic mallet/hammer. The all in one stitching awls are not a good solution IMHO. 4. Dyeing and top coats use scrap leather to try different things. 5. Hot wet forming is what stiffens up the leather. 6. Use contact cement not rubber cement 7. I like using thicker stitching thread for my hand stitching and synthetic pre waxed works great. 8. Go to a Tandy leather store and see if they will do a class (many people started that way including me) Hope this helps.

Good second holsters. The trigger needs more leather coverage like you said. Interesting way to make the slots but looks like it works. Keep up the good work.

Good looking rig. The cartridge loops look great.

I may have a line on an Adler 30-50 available at an actution near me but need to know what it might be worth. It is well used but seams to be a very functional machine but have not tried it out and won't be able to before I bid on it. I will be using it for up to 3 pieces of 8 oz leather at the most. So... 1. What is a good price range on a well used Adler 30-50? 2. Does anyone use one and any pitfalls with the unit? Thanks in advance.

Good looking leather. I like the 1st and 3rd holsters. I would have gone for more trigger and hammer coverage on the second. Only potential issue with the 3rd maybe the grip interfering with the retention strap. Otherwise like like your solution for #3.

I switched from 346 T/277 B to 277 on top and bottom. Finding good bonded 346 is not working but 277 is working well and providing good clean stitching threading.

Very good looking and clean design for an IWB holster. It makes for a smooth leather towards the gun so you get a nice clean draw but looks good and stiff for one handed re-holstering. Keep up the good work.

Great job Jordan, Both look good and great job on the basket weaving and edging.

Like others have said, start of slow but one thing I would suggest is not worry about using a hand stitcher that you get in some of the kits unless you like to bleed What I like to do is use a 1 and 3 prong rectangle punches when I need to make holes for stitching. So a good mallet (go to harbor freight and get the hard plastic and rubber mallet) and the two punches will meet your hole making needs and will add constancy to your stitching lines. For a knife, I like the good quality (metal) snap off blade type (no plastic based because they don't hold up and provide a stable platform to control the knife edge) for a good sharp cutting edge. Head knifes can be dam dangerous for folks not use to them. Get a good set of pound punches not the crappy hand all-in-one puncher because they don't work. Lastly, buy thicker thread because it helps with the stitches lock (many people who start out use very thin thread instead of a good stitching thread. Get a good punch/rubber cutting board 12x12 to start. Hope this helps.

Glad we can help John. Keep asking questions and posting your work. I'm just a part timer and have a real job but business keeps moving up. So you never know where things will lead. :D