TwinOaks

Hey, welcome back! It was looking like you'd dropped off the planet ( or were doing a stretch ) For your buckle....do you have any metalworker friends? If so, you could get some heavy guage stainless wire, twist it into a 'knot work' buckle then have them heat and press it flat for you.

Folks, let's keep this leather related, and all the political opinions to ourselves. Otherwise we'll see yet another thread locked.

Well, anybody got her mailing addy? Maybe one of our UK members could look it up? There's several patterns for i-pods running around the board. Is the suggestion just for the i-pod case, or is it for more than just that? Personally, I'd like to see more than a case made if this is a legitimate intention. ....talk about a PIF item....

It really depends on how much time you want to learn doing it. Depending on the airbrush and set up, just about anything is possible. To give you an idea of how finely an AB can go...some $$$$types are used to add in hair strands on photos...or remove them. I've got a harbor freight "el cheapo" that I use for large areas b/c it isn't super adjustable. I dyed a clutch purse with two coats of two different dyes....in about 15 minutes (the one on my website). Another 10 minutes with the other AB, to do all the areas around the two horses. The 'other' AB is a Paashe VL. The kit comes with 3 needle/valve sets and can spray from about 4" diameter to less than a milimeter. After that.....well it's all in the user. Check out some AB sites to see the detail work that can be done. Scratch that....go get a decent quality AB (Paashe, Badger, things made of metal parts, not molded plastic and a nozzle) and you'll never look back. I still use dauber from time to time....but only when I'm trying to get the mottled look that Shorts does on some holsters.

That goof up with the finish has ruined the whole piece. You should definitely remake the whole thing - pay attention this time- and send all your scrap pieces like this one to me for disposal..... Fantastic artwork! (as usual)

Have you thought of block dying (or whatever it's called) to limit the amount of dye being applied? If 'block dying' isn't the right phrase, it's the one where you apply the dye with a towel/strip of cloth wrapped around a hard edge- as in piece of wooden block.

You can try wetting/dampening the piece before applying the dye. I've had limited success doing that. The absolute best results I've had so far is using an airbrush. If you're turning out work at anything resembling a good pace, it'll pay for itself quickly.

Kevin, as hard as you're trying to be funny...it isn't working.

Josh, you do us proud.....being able to spot a white hat hiding behind a moustache that large shows that you've got sharp eyes.

I think Admin is planting subliminal messages or something... I just finished mine for my rifle a week ago. I'll probably remake it since I goofed the lacing going around the toe, then botched the dye job to boot.

I think all of the above is great advice, and BOOMstick and Lobo hit on the critical issue: non-refundable downpayment. With that in pocket, you at least recover material costs. I'm working on a one-off design right now, and the customer keeps asking me if I can make it like "big name holster maker". I responded, in writing, that I won't copy their design, but could work up something. This guy is easy to work with- he sent me CAD drawings of what he wants and loaned me HIS blue gun. I thought it'd be simple at that, but he's called three times now to make adjustments to the design. I feel your pain.

Excellent news Tom! You are now "known". Maybe even "noted", and on the way to "famous". Just make sure that the day job has an opportunity for a 'leave of absence'.

This whole thing is starting to look like it's gonna bite Artisan in the backside pretty badly.

I used a food saver style to vacuum form a holster for a client last weekend. What I found worked well was to only form the outter side of the holster. It's a work in progress, to be sure, but it gave decent mold lines for retention. The biggest advantage is that it pulled the leather down well enough for me to mark my stitch lines and the major detail areas, and saved a good bit of time for that. Now, I'll finish the cut out ( I used a larger than needed piece) and move the stitch lines in a bit to make the leather stretch when I insert the pistol. Incidentally, I'm facing a pretty serious issue with this holster. The customer wants it to be suitable for two different pistols- HK compact and a P229. Both are similar in size/dimensions with the largest difference in the trigger guard. Any forseable critical issues with this project? Appologies for the minor hijak.

If your external drive is big enough, you might just want to copy the entire drive over to the external. The result would be a carbon copy of one disk on the other. You can even go so far as to run the computer from the external drive. That horrible sound may have very well been the read head on the hard drive crashing into the disk. If it sounds kinda like the old modem squelch when you used dial-up......Death is imminent. I had that happen on this laptop about six months ago. Data can be recovered from a crashed disk, and it ranges from costly to VERY expensive (like several grand). Usually, that type of recovery is reserved for large companies who have gobs of financial data on a disk that's GOT to be recovered. Regular back-ups are lots cheaper. If you aren't up to getting everything done, or are unsure of how to do everything, try some service like Geek Squad. Just take the computer and external drive to them and say put everything on here (old) on this (new).

A neat little thing about some of the linux o/s distributions is that they can run from a "live cd". That means that the whole operating system can run independently from the hard drive on the computer. My personal preference is PCLinux/OS. I have a live cd of it and have used it to fix some issues on my decrepit old desktop. Once running, you can use it to access the files on the hard drive (presuming that it isn't fried) and relocate them to the external drive. So, if it's the operating system that's having a problem, you can still recover files. Once you back up everything, you might try to do (or have done) a detailed "cleaning" of the old computer, including the registry.

Good timing on this thread Josh, it answers some questions I'm gonna have in the very near future. I've got a holster in the making for a customer, and he told me he also will want a shoulder rig for a new gun he's getting. Thanks to all who've responded to this one. Oh, and I'll also support "horse" over "scooter". They get a lot better mileage, have better traction, are more stable on slippery surfaces, and I've never seen a motorcylce happy to see me.

I also would omit one of the pics, but go farther than that and make the other a line drawing...and a little more stylized. Looking at it, my eye was drawn to the maker's mark and I was wondering "Joshua who?" You might consider putting all your contact info in one location and grouping it together. I realize it's a draft copy, but you need layout space designated for contact info, instead of spread out across the bottom of the card. Mainly, I use the business card to point folks towards the website. It allows me to make more economical business cards, and use the website for displaying multiple examples of work. Don't have a website yet? It's time to call Johanna.

Well, let's throw religion into the mix and see where it ends up (I'll get the fire extinguisher readyfor all the flame responses). Romans 14:1-3 There. Now according to that (applicable to those of the various Christian faiths), we can't criticize Noah's girlfriend's beliefs and she can't criticize ours. Let's move on with this thread, now that the insults, wry humor, and other comments and appologies have been made. Back on topic: Any alternative leather sources that Noah could use? There's been some good responses so far, let's keep them coming.

It's going to depend on the texture of the leather for the lace. Using old, dried up chrome tanned crap leather for the lace would make an uncomfortable edge. Using a good textured leather (Tandy's Superior Lace, or perhaps goatskin lace) won't be bad at all.

I thought it'd be easier to just start at the tip and stitch towards the buckle.

Ed, I can see this happening: ...MESSAGE INTERCEPT.... -FLASH PRIORITY- -TO DHS, CIA, NSA, FBI -ASTRONAUTS ABOARD ISS HAVE REPORTED STRANGE LUMINOCITY FROM UNEXPLAINED -SOURCE. DESCRIBED AS INCREDIBLY BRIGHT REGION AT GROUND LEVEL. -NORAD CONFIRMS: NO MISSLE LAUNCH BLOOM, NO RADAR TRACK -SCIENTISTS AT NASA AND JPL TO RETASK SATELLITES TO ASSIST IN IDENTIFYING SOURCE END MESSAGE When they knock on the door, just tell them you have no idea what they're talking about.

When I mentioned "rough out" holsters, I didn't mean a lined holster. I mean you build the holster with the grain side towards the weapon. The flesh side is what's visible when looking at the holster. There's a few advantages to this type of holster as an IWB. #1: It's pretty ugly. That's good because I'm more concerned about function in an IWB. For OWBs I'll do pretty. #2 Having the grain side in presents a smoother surface to the weapon. Smooth is good- less friction, better draw. And, since the grain is already "in" there's no need to line it to achieve the same thing. That cuts down on thickness, making the holster more comfortable.#3: With the flesh side out, there's more friction to help hold the holster IN the pants. Anybody ever try to draw and pull the holster up a bit too? Of course, proper attention should be paid to molding, and I like the idea of a thumb strap. I don't always use one, but I like the idea. Now that that's all out of the way.....Yes, rough out holsters can be molded, dyed, finished, et al. It's just like any other veg tan....just inside out.

I think it was Marlon (Rawhide) who said Peter Main burns the chrome off of his stamps. How he does it...

You can get a more refined polish by using a strop. I used similar tools to smooth and de-edge a bolt head, then a strop with the white rouge to polish it down to a mirror finish. It's a little tedious, but only took about 10 min. from 'pretty slick' to 'mirror'.