Randyc

Dusty, I'm not real familer with the 4600. I have the Toro 3000 and know that the Toro 4000 cylinder arm machine has a throat depth of 16.5" both the 3000 and 4000 are rated to stitch up to 3/4" thick leather. All three machines come standard with a servo motor and 2 speed controller, so that you can stitch very slowly. Perhaps, one of the Artisan guys will chime in with more info on the 4600 or you can give them a call at Toll Free: (888) 838-1408. www.artisansew.com They build great machines and have the best customer service in the business.

After making things for other people, I decided to make myself a knife sheath. I made this one out of 6/7 oz. Herman Oak leather. I did some border stamping and dyed the sheath with Fieblings dark brown dye. The brown dye gives the white thread a nice golden hue. I hand molded the sheath to fit my Buck Folding Hunter knife, that I've owned since the middle 1970's.

Luke, You certainly are correct. The first time I oiled my Toro 3000, I over did it. The same think happened to me.

I like it. Very cool carving and color. Randy

I just finished this holster for a customers S&W J-Frame revolver. The pistol is an airweight model so I used 6/7 Hermann Oak cowhide. I'm finally able to build holsters from a right handers prospective after building numerous left handed holsters for myself. Randy

I've had a subsciption for the past 3 years. No problems yet. Randy

Tony Welcome to the forum. Theres quite a few horse people and saddle makers on this forum. Everyones real friendly and most of your questions will be answered by very knowledgeable people. Randy

Welcome to the best place for leather workers on the internet. When you get a chance, pleast post some of your projects. Randy

Todd Welcome, you have arrived at the best place for a leatherworker on the internet. Enjoy your stay. Randy

Nice looking work. I wondered when some one would use an embroidery machine on small leather goods. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your leather embroidery work. Randy

Tac I think your holster looks real good. Did you also make the cuff case? I've also had problems with the consistancy of both Fieblings light and medium browns. I'm thinking of trying the air brush routine and have a few questions. Do you reduce the dye or use full strength? Do you use any type of spray booth ie. a cardboard box? Since you probably don't hold the holster while spraying, how do you hang the holster while spraying? Thanks Randy

Bootmaker Carl Chappell taught me if you mess someting up, make it look like you planned it. I think your holster looks good. Keep on keeping on. Randy

Welcome back Ken, Now get busy and pound out some more cool projects Randy

Dan Real nice work. Good solid design work. Keep it up. Randy

Mike Your making some very nice holsters. Very clean lines and great stitching. Now get busy and build some more ps I sent you a PM. Randy

Bruce Nice shop, very neat, clean, and well organized. Randy

Luke Nice job, I'm sure your customer will love it. Randy

Shorts I've been using the same methods as you. My spindle sander runs a heck of a lot slower then the dremel and is easier for me to control with less chance of burning the edge. The OEM spindles that came with the sander are 120 grip. I'm going to go ahead and experiment with some 220 grit on the sander then stay with the finer grits for my final sanding. I just wondered how fine of a grit is available for the spindle sander? Thanks Randy

I use 6/7 oz. vegatable tan leather for my pocket holsters and throat bands. I usually use 8/9 oz. for my fold over tunnel-loop belt holsters, but some times use the 6/7 oz. for my lighter weight pistols. I'm currently working up a design for a pancake belt slide holster. I will be trying a combination of th 6/7 and 8/9 oz. for that holster. I've never seen vegetable tanned leather in a print, so I'm assuming you used a chrome tanned leather for your 2nd holster? Please correct me if I'm wrong. A word of caution, the salts use in the chromium tanning process can harm a pistols finish, so use that holster for a learning experiance. Every holster I build is a learning experiance. The Artisan Toro 3000 and 4000 are both heavy duty stitchers rated to stitch up to 3/4 of an inch of vegtable tanned leather. I use 277 weight thread for my holsters. I believe you can use up to around 346 weight thread in the Toro's. Any more questions, just ask. We have a lot of really talented people on this forum who will answer your questions. Randy Here's a link to Artisan www.aritisansew.com

Very interesting first holsters. That's the first time I've seen a belt modified to fit the holster. Yankee ingenuity has triumphed again. What type of leather did you use for your belts and holsters? The belt slide kinds of resembles an ostrich print. Your stitching appears to be uniform and overall not bad at all. For stitching, I use an Artisan Toro 3000. It's a very nice saddle stitcher with probably the best customer service you will find. Keep building them holsters and don't forget to post more photos. Randy

Dick Nice job on your holster. Very clean lines and stitching. Keep those holsters coming. Randy

I just purchased an oscillating spindle sander for evening up my holster edges. I had been using a Dremel Tool which runs a little fast. I tried the sander with 120 grit sanding spindles. I'm getting a little feathering of the edges. I've found 220 grit spindles on line and wonder if they might work out better for me. Does anyone else use a spindle sander for leather edge sanding and what grit sanding spindle do you use? Randy

Happy Birthday Elton Hows it feel to be 16? Randy

Matt Real nice wristband. I'm sure your father-in-law will be happy. Randy

Like Randy and Tac I've carried as an LEO for the past 32 years. I've witnessed the evolution of handgun leather first hand. Being a southpaw, I sometimes had a hard time even finding duty leather. My first couple of weeks on the job, I carried in a right handed holster until the proper holster was shipped. At one time or another, I've had products from most of the big holster makers. Some were good, some were not so good. Like Randy said, the big production companies have got away from quality gun leather and now manufacture the man made stuff that they can turnover very quickly with repeat sales. I belong to several firearms forums and it never ceases to amaze me, why someone would park their $800.00 or more pistol in a $15.00 piece of garbage, then brag about the the great deal it was and how happy they are with their purchase. Different strokes I quess. I've been assigned to investigations for the past several years and can carry my weapons in my own holsters. No more of the mass produced junk for me. Randy