RegasAZ

I too am a new Cobra 4P owner, took possession in mid January. Machine was easy to operate, as Steve and the folks had it all set for me to start in on my holsters. A couple of practice pieces and we were off and running. A double layered gun belt stitched in about 6 minutes, afraid to guess how many hand stitch hours that would be. My issue was learning to "stitch in the ditch" when following a pre-laid out pattern. I tend to want to run too fast and get off track, but I'm learning patience. Very pleased with my selection.

Thanks for viewing and the comments. My Cobra 4-P should be here Tuesday so I'm anxious to get it figured out. A whole new learning curve.

Outstanding work. I am just now getting up courage to attempt some exotic.

Outstanding leatherwork.

Very nice work and variety. Looks like you have the process under control. I hope to get into some exotics in the future.

Attached are photos of my last completions - in time to help Santa out. These are for an S&W J-Frame and a XD-S-45. These are probably my last hand stitched units as I ordered my sewing machine this week. My hands said "THANK YOU" very loudly.

Very nice set. Nice dye job and detail work on all pieces.

Thanks for the comments, now to get started on holsters for the home-front, need about 6 total. I decided to get back into leatherwork after a 45 year break just to build us a few holsters. Now it seems all our friends/relatives are asking. Told the Wife she is next, need to get busy and come up with a special design for her.

Just finished my first pancake style holster for my Buddies Taurus PT1922. Went with a modified inverted leather pattern as he didn't want floral or Sheridan type tooling. This is my 4th holster - 2nd carved holster - edges and hand stitching comes out better with each project. Now my Wife wants to know when her holsters will be started.

Rohn - Very nice work. I also picked up a set of the barbed wire stamps looking to work them into some type of border work. Tricky trying to get them lined up correctly - especially for my old tired eyes. I just today picked up an Optivisor with 1.75X magnification and was playing with the stamps on some scrap leather. Still going to take me some practice on getting acceptable alignment between stamps - but it is getting better.

Leatherquestions - Thanks for the kind words. It had probably been 35 - 40 years since I did any leather work and had never cut my own patterns and done any stitching. Now I am getting into the creative aspect and am afraid, as my Wife accuses me, of having too many projects going. Time will tell, in the meantime it is keeping me busy and out of trouble.

Thanks for the inputs. I used to do a lot of inlay and filigree, and inverted tooling work. May try to work that into some holster patterns, time will tell.

Hi there, I'm new to the forum, but not new to leather-crafting. After pricing leather holsters and the limited availability of left handed models I decided to attempt making my own. I had started doing leather-craft work some 55 years ago, but mainly it was belts purses and wallets, nothing that was made from scratch, never any stitching, always lacing in the past. So a few weeks ago I go stumbling through the attic and find my leather tools and a piece of leather that has been in the attic for the 30+ years we have lived in this house. A little neatsfoot oil and it became somewhat pliable, at least good enough for a 1st attempt project. A review of some videos online and a trip to the local Tandy store for thread and needles and we started cutting leather. The 1st project was coming along pretty well so while the Wife was at Hobby Lobby I bought a bag of leather scraps to attempt an IWB holster. This was not tooling quality leather and hence my excuse for the poor tooling impressions. Anyway the bug had bite me - I'm off to Tandy and buy a half shoulder of leather to make some holsters. ( I was amazed at todays prices on supplies and came to realize the high quality of my old stamps) My first tooled holster is now ready for forming, but I am holding off until I get my vacuum press completed, hopefully by the end of next week. In the meantime I am modifying, cutting, and tooling for additional holsters, I have 7 more to make for my use and 3 knife sheaths. Now my buddies are after me for custom tooled holsters. Who knows there may be a sewing machine somewhere in the future. Thanks for viewing.

Should you decide to sell any of these tool holders, I would be interested - they look great and very functional, much nicer than items seen in the stores.