TwinOaks

Here's the forum for stamping: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showforum=17 There are several tutorials listed there (see 'pinned' topics).

The finishes are flexible, and after re-reading your post, the mink oil may do just what you want. It really depends on whether the mink oil is an actual oil, or whether it's a dressing/paste/get for application to boots- I've seen a liquid version in a bottle, and a paste/gel version in a tub. A lot of those have silicone(or some other water repellent in them). If it's a boot/shoe dressing, it will repel water pretty well. As for suggested reading.....you're already here. We have a forum devoted to the discussion of dyes, stains, antiques, glues, waxes, finishes and conditioners.....in fact, that's the name of the forum. If you'll look just above the 'fast reply' block, you'll see a little bar on the right side of the screen that says "how do I do that?". That is the forum jump bar. Click the down arrow, and scroll down until you see the forum mentioned, and click on it. You can then either read topics as you like, or do a search for specific terms. Going to the Advanced Search lets you specify that you want to look only in "dyes, stains........etc" There's pages and pages worth of reading there, along with several book references. I don't have any specific book reference to give you though.

gone in a ....ahem....snap.

For your slip on sling pad, I suggest foregoing any type of oil treatment if all you're going after is a pad. If you were to make one from tooling leather, it would require some type of weather resistant finish, to be sure. For the pad, I suggest using chap/upholstery leather. The tannage of chap/upholstery leather is better suited to that type of use, and for the padding, I suggest neoprene. That should provide you with a fairly weather resistant sling pad. Now, all that being said, Mink oil is a conditioner, not a finish. Most products that are oiled but not otherwise finished are done so with the intent of the leather picking up a natural patina over time and usage. For a 'finish', you'll want some form of top coat, be it, laquer (neat-lac, clear-lac), acrylic (Resolene, one of the ____-sheen products), or wax (carnuba cream, LeatherBalm).

Well put, Lobo. I'd like to add that besides the variances in finished dimensions, there's also quite a difference in actual finish that will play a role in retention and smoothness of draw. A stainless steel or blued finish will pull a bit differently than a parkerized or nitrided finish. Just one of the 'little things' that must be considered when designing and building holsters.

Nice edges.

I have a pre-owned Tippmann Boss, and the previous owner cautioned me to pull a little slack from the spool every 5-6 stitches to prevent that from happening. Sew a few stitches on scrap and watch the spool. It might be caused when the 'slack' off the cone get used up and the machine has to pull the thread off the backside of the cone. Once it gets some more slack, you're good to go. What could be happening is that the tension is too tight at the needle, preventing the thread from making a loop for the hook to pick up.

No, you should probably just get the real thing....that way you can make sure you have every detail just right.

Agreed. You can get the basic shape, but will lack the detail molding at the dust cover. You might get pretty close by molding the trigger guard area, then withdrawing the pistol and sort of molding the end. But the length of the relief in the slide is also different (almost non-existent on the UCii) , so.....it's 50/50 at best.

I think a lot extra fees fall into the "shipping and handling" category. With the economy the way it is, companies are forced to shave prices a bit to stay competitive so they may tack on a little extra fee to try and recoup the costs. I'm in the lighting maint. business, and a few years ago, when the fuel prices went up suddenly, we had to add in a fuel surcharge to our contracts. Most, if not all, of the shipping companies did the same. There's additional costs above and beyond the actual shipping that needs to be accounted for. For example: You send a package to a member on this forum. You calculate the shipping cost into the price to keep it fair and not have any 'hidden' fees. You and your customer are happy. But...did you calculate the fuel and maintenance cost for your vehicle to drop the box off at the shipping office? Did you calculate the cost to you in 'productivity time lost'? For small businesses, such costs can be overlooked for the most part because you can toss them into other activities like, "Hmm, I need to run to the store, the bank, and the post office....I think I'll drop off that box on the way,". Larger companies don't have the little luxuries we do. If employee #1 pulls the leather off a pallet and feeds it into the size calculator, then employee #2 takes it, rolls and ties it, then places it at the to-be-shipped counter, then employee #3 puts it in a box and sticks a shipping label on it, the company has to account for services on all three. Not quite as simple as that, but you get the idea. I agree with you that it does get a bit ridiculous at times, but sometimes it's worth the slight additional fee to have a knowledgeable person pick a hide for you.

If you can see it going on the applicator in different shades, that means the colors components are separating (probably crystallizing) in the bottle. Not much you can do for it AFAIK. Good luck with the Fiebings, and let us know how it works.

Copyright issues have been discussed in depth Here. To be on the safe side, get a 'permission slip' on school letterhead for your 'one off' item. If there is an interest in the item, or a sudden market for them, offer the school a royalty on realized sales for a limited license agreement ( 5% sound good?). You shouldn't be out any money up front, it keeps you legal, and you might even get orders from the school itself. Sure, you could make it, but will the one purse pay you enough to cover attorney's fees if you do have to go to court? If the school says 'No', then you have to explain to the customer that you can't ethically take the school's logo without permission.

Gregintenn and Steelhawk, One little bit on the holster that I suggest looking at is the pointy parts of the holster. I realize those are probably to help grab the inside of the pants and assist in keeping the holster in the pocket, but smaller points of leather like that will most likely get folded/mashed/frayed/torn. Even with the addition of the stitching, there's not much body to support the little tab. In general, I try to keep a bit of a radius on all my corners to prolong the service life of the holster. I made a back pocket holster for a little 2 shot derringer with the sharper tabs like you have on that one. Within about 2 weeks, my customer (fortunately a nice fellow) brought it back with frayed and folded points. I remade the holster using a 1/2" radius on the tabs. I saw him today, and got a report on it. He wears it every day and it's held up just fine, still has the radius on the tabs, too. It's been 14 months since I made that one and while the leather is showing the results of being in a back pocket (rough-out is now a smooth-out) it's in good condition. I do endorse the idea of keeping one face of the holster fairly flat. It helps to break up the outline of the pistol better. Carving it makes it look better. But on the back side of it (what will be against the leg) I try to mold closely enough to read the serial #. I'd also like to suggest keeping a pic of the holster, along with comments about it for review after using it. You may not have access to the same data / resources of K-man, but just keeping some notes about it will help you with your future designs.

K-Man, I remember when we had this conversation about 2 years ago..... It's like a flashback.....I remember how I felt as I hammered away at the keyboard, telling you how wrong you were and how much I knew....ahhh, good times. Then, after about 20 failed holster attempts, I removed my foot from my mouth so I could see the leather, and started doing things the right way. One of the great things about this forum is the opportunity for new members to get advice first hand from folks who've been in the business a LONG time. Don't worry, K-man, your lessons haven't gone to waste. Rayban, I'm sure we all have different ideas about how a holster should function, but for pocket carry I don't know anyone personally that wouldn't be concerned with a pistol getting loose in their pocket. #1, the holster failed. #2, the pistol isn't where it should be, #3, even with the exceedingly long trigger pull of the LCP/P3AT/P32, et. al., it could be very dangerous, even potentially deadly (femoral artery's proximity). I argued holster design with K-man way back before the crash (otherwise I'd try to find my posts for reference) and as I progressed in holster building I found that just about everything he'd said was true. I have a hard time believing that he could be part of a rather successful holster company if his ideas on holster design weren't spot-on.

It might be noted that Lobo said 20 hrs, but with a tooler and an apprentice, plus the shop owner, it could have been as high as 60 man hours. Not that it necessarily was, but each person's contribution adds to the whole. Personally, I'd love to have the space to set up work stations like Lobo has, and perhaps will one day. For now, I'll just have to keep punching them out one and two at a time, and admiring the work and craftsmanship displayed here.

Probably the surest way to determine if someone is wearing leather or vinyl is to simply approach them with an open flame.

Good way to go after it, Fredo. Building your own pattern will teach you things that you can't learn unless you're involved in that crucial step. As you work on the pattern, you'll discover why things are done the way they are. When I first got into this addictionhobby I had a somewhat heated discussion w/ K-man about holster design....ME a total and complete NOOB, and I was arguing design theory w/ a holster maker!! Needless to say, after a bit of experience, I removed my foot from my mouth, ate my Crow like a good boy, and offered a sincere apology, which he graciously accepted. I had theory, not reality, and without the experience of making a few failed holsters, I never would have understood. By making your own, you'll have the Newbie experience to understand 'the little things', and not be tempted to take short cuts. As posted, ask questions, post pics, and we will assuredly do all we can to help you with the project.

A lot depends on the type dye you're using. If it's Eco-flow, that explains why it ran. It sounds like you had some dirt/oil/whatever on the leather. Since the dye ran you probably have two choices: Re-dye a darker color, or redo the piece. Can you post pics of it? That will give us a better idea of what we're dealing with.

The only downside the it being really strong is that under extreme conditions, it may tend to cut the leather at the stitch holes instead of breaking.

Great info!!! Now I know what type of needle I need to get. I'm checking to see if we can pin this.

It looks like a pretty good design and the color is really nice. Since this is in "show off" and not "critique my work", I'll hold my comments.....but I do have a few if you're interested. I agree that this would look much better modeled.

Hi and welcome to Leatherworker.net! Glad you found us; pull up a chair and tool a while. We have a forum dedicated to sewing leather, and another for sewing machines. You might do a little reading in those forums and discover what your machines are capable of. Ah....almost forgot...we LOVE pics, so as you progress in your hobby, post some pics.