TwinOaks

Jack, Please keep in mind that this is an international forum, and that the leather workers on here serve an international customer base. There is also quite the market for WW2 items, regardless of which side, to collectors. Making leather goods to compliment historical items is just another one of our markets. Also please keep in mind that this forum is dedicated to the leather, and we (as a community) decided long ago that politics don't belong here because the topic(s) ruffle too many feathers. Arbalet, Absolutely BEAUTIFUL job matching the patina of the blade. Is the eagle as stamp or is that carved?

Many of the 'old masters' made most of their own tools, out of LOTS of different things, and many people still do today. That is why there is such an amazing assortment of tools. Remember....before the 1990's you didn't just hop on the internet and order something online. You had to know about a store that sold leather tools, call them on telephones that still had cords, or possibly even write a letter to them (on paper!!!) and request a catalog (that was also on paper).

Welcome aboard! When you have the opportunity, please post some of your work....as you know by now, we LOVE pics!

Extremely nice looking rig!! Did you also spray the inside of the holster with the airbrush to seal it? I ask because the sweat shield has a little glossy look to it, and it's something I do pretty often.

IIRC, the tools from Hidecrafter are a better quality than those from Tandy. If you can't spring for BK tools, don't overlook other good tool makers like Hackbarth, and Gomph.

For the overlay piece, work on eliminating the sharp points. Slightly round the corners, and you won't have to worry about them getting 'dog eared' or rough looking. From a concealment standpoint, that corner is more apt to hold a fold in your shirt than a curve would be. And like Katsass said, tighter stitch lines. Other than that....ya done good! You avoided a common mistake of making the sweat shield too large, so it shows you've been doing some reading....and paying attention.

One of the things I have noticed is (especially on the Tandy ones) that often the end of the tube is belled IN, much like you'd find on a piece of tubing cut with a tubing cutter. I solve this with a pair of needle nose pliers. Insert the tip into the tube and flare the mouth of the tube a little bit....at least to the point that the mouth is straight. That makes belling the tube SO much easier. When I need to cut down a rivet, I just use a cordless drill and a bit that's several sizes larger than the rivet. Run at fairly high speed to avoid the bit biting into the metal and spinning the tube. Looking at the idea of using a philips head screwdriver, I wonder if a countersink bit might work well? It has space between the 'teeth' to encourage the metal to split there, and they usually have a fairly wide angle....which should cause the split higher on the tube.

You can copyright designs and apply for international patents, but the sad truth of the matter is this: If you have a popular design that sells well, IT WILL BE COPIED. At first, there will be a few people like someone on here that wants to try the design from an educational sense - learning to make things. Then you'll see the knock off artists, and soon afterward you'll see your design, and perhaps even your logo on cheap knock offs in some store. A perfect example of this is a particular style of belt. Some member on here started working with the idea to make Pre-curved belts, because most belts develop a curve to them over time. By building the belt already curved, it cut down on the 'break in' period, and was expected to be somewhat more comfortable for women (due to the fact that most women have more "hip flare" than men). Less than 3 months after that discussion on this forum, I saw pre-curved belts made out of crap called 'leather' (and some vinyl) at the local Walmart....all made in China. So if you have a good idea, be in a position to mass produce and mass market the product to give you a jump on the knock off artists.

Given the listing of what you want to be making, I'd say avoid the antique singer 'saddle maker'. Of everything you listed, the sheaths are probably going to be the thickest, everything else is pretty thin. I'd say go with some version of a 277 machine (whether it's Consew, Cowboy, etc.). That's a medium duty, moderately high lift, triple feed machine.....and it's a cylinder arm which will come in handy for bags. OR if you definitely won't be doing anything with gussets, look at a flatbed like the 206RB, or Singer 111/112/211/212. The big machines may have the capacity for thicker leather, but may not be able to handle smaller thread. That becomes and issue when you want to sew belts with 138, or wallets with 92 (or even 69). I have a Champion Shoe machine (for now) and a problem I have with it is that it doesn't so so well with thread smaller than 207. Big thread is no problem, as it was designed to use it...just not small thread.

That is caused by incomplete absorption of the dye by the leather, which can be caused by a few things - first is the leather itself. Fat marks, stretch marks, and sometimes just the quality of the leather can cause that. Second is any 'contaminates' on the surface of the leather such as oils, dirt, and grease which act like a resist. As to how to do it intentionally, and in such a naturally random pattern......I'd say just repeat the process with leather cut from the same hide, using the same method. You can also try daubing on 'spots' of the darker then applying the lighter color over it.

You are most welcome. I've rented 'man cave' space at the local range/shop, and the owner is a very good friend. We see all kinds of issues come up, and this one has been addressed several times. He also declines people leaving guns for modification/repair, requiring them to be present until the work is complete. I didn't want to state it as Fact, since I've never done the homework on it. When I need the actual gun, I usually arrange to meet the person at the shop and take it to "the back room" and do the down and dirty molding....which I don't want the customer to see (can't give away all the trade secrets).

You'll need a degree in decoding cyphers to read my chicken scratch, but I posted a very basic "hipster" wallet on here. You're welcome to use the design and/or modify as you want. Post #8, c'mon, click it. You know you want to.

Ditto the advice to let it go. However, there's another side to turning down a job/order - Last weekend I had potential customer contact me about a holster. He's going to take a borrowed S&W mod. 60 (snubbie .357) to Alaska as a bear gun, and wear it ON HIS WADERS while fly fishing. It's currently carried in a nylon one-size-fits-most holster with the little nylon strap. I told him that sure I could make a holster, but he'd be better off modifying the one he has, then told him how to do it. There's nothing difficult about making a suitable holster for a mod. 60.....but it would be an unnecessary cost for a gun he wouldn't be keeping. A couple of things occurred to me as problems with the job - liability for a lost gun if the holster got drenched and lost all retention ability, and liability for making the holster so secure he couldn't get to it IF he needed to. Of course, I didn't say all of that to the customer. I just plain out did not want the job, but I gave the customer a really good reason for HIM to decide not to get it. We talked fly fishing a few minutes and he stated that he'd just use what he has (with modifications), and use the money he would have spent on holster for more fly gear. In the end, we were both happy, and I have no doubt that he'll be back in touch to get a holster when he buys his own gun. I guess the moral is to tactfully turn down jobs (if at all possible) without turning down the customer.

Welcome back to the craft, and welcome to Leatherworker.net! We're looking forward to seeing some of your work, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Walmart sells a pack of needles in the craft dept. for around 2 bucks. The second smallest size (two of each) works fine for 277, and the smallest works as well, but has a smaller eye, so threading is a bit more challenging.

I'll take them. I have a couple of students that can use them for their "homework" instead of having to wait until our meetings. PM me your details on how you want payment.

Generally, when a holster is made, the leather is formed, set with heat, and sealed. You might be able to get some re-forming done, or perhaps a bit of stretching, but you will have more time and energy expended trying to "fix" the holster you have, than you would if you bought or made the correct holster for your gun. If it's a commercially made holster, then it is probably press formed. That involves sewing the basic holster, inserting a model of a gun, and pressing it in a multi-ton pneumatic or hydraulic press with rubber pads which compress the leather to get the details instead of hand molding and boning. Then the leather is 'set' using heat, which activates and sticks the collagen in the leather (basically the cellular "glue") in place. Final step is application of a very durable finish to resist moisture...they don't want their formed holsters getting "un-formed". To specifically answer your questions: 1. Casing/molding/boning could damage the finish. If it is a lacquer finish, you'll see cracking where you change curves or angles. If the holster is kind of hard, then you'll end up with places that won't change shape, resulting in odd lumps here and there. 2. Yes, if you do all this to the holster, you'll certainly have to re-seal the leather...preferably with a finish that matches what's already on it so you avoid flaking and cracking. 3. Leather will shrink a small amount as it dries....depending on how wet it is, how conditioned it is, how fast it is dried, and HOW it is dried (direct/indirect/convection heating) I address the issue on my holsters by stretching the leather a few thousandths larger than the size of the gun, then rapidly heat setting the leather, and letting it air dry overnight...but I'm often molding to the actual firearm. If you use something like a Ring's bluegun, or a Duncan's aluminum gun, then the model is already a slightly different size. If you don't mind, what model gun do you want to put in which model holster?

This thread began by asking for advice on stitch size and spacing, and I believe that has been answered. At this point it's turning into an argument, so stick a fork in it......it's done.

A lock-stitch (which is what the Boss does) has 4 threads in each hole. Both the top and bottom threads go into the hole....and come out on the same side. They just happen to be wrapped around each other in the middle. Saddle stitching only has two threads in each hole because each thread enters on one side but exits on the opposite side.

I go two and a half, or three and a half, depending on how much stress I think it will get. The "and a half" means I saddle stitch and then pull the top thread back onto the previous hole, instead of the next hole. That puts the 4 threads from the lock stitch, two from the saddle stitch, plus the final 'tail', leaving 7 threads in a hole sized for four. At that point, it's in there really tight....don't be surprised if you need pliers to pull the needle through. Then once all the threads are pulled through to the back side, I trim them and give the area a light spraying of water right on the holes to help swell the leather, and roll the seam with a hand roller (you could also tap them down if you have a flat faced hammer).

I think you need to be looking at Harness Leather.

I've always had trouble getting soft garment leather to 'feed' correctly into the lace maker, so that could be part of the issue. It's completely different with vegtan, which works like a charm. +1 about checking the blade...they're assembled rapidly and it's very likely the person assembling it holds the blade with a pair of pliers for safety. When 'new', mine had a nick in the blade where it was held. After replacing the blade (or even flipping it) it works like it should. You might also find this helpful: Lacing Calculator

under "other tips"..... http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=4416 and the first three topics in this sub-forum (stamping). Bruce does it about as well as it can be done, and has generously shown how to do it in these three threads.

Somewhere floating around the internet is a nice little video showing a couple of elderly ladies hand stitching English bridles. Sure they've got experience, and the way they do it is punch two holes feed both needles, repeat. The speed at which they do this is very fast, covering about a linear foot of stitching in just a few minutes (under 5 minutes) and they're working in the 6-8 spi range. Stick, stick, stitch..... As far as not glueing....well, whatever brand you used wasn't suitable for leather, and if it's glued (bonded) and stitched, it's less likely to come apart....so you won't have to do so much in customer repairs. I use contact cement which is both flexible and waterproof when dry....and it's one of the ones I mentioned as being stronger than the leather fibers. I guess I view it as "Make it so it doesn't come apart" instead of "make it easy to repair when it DOES come apart". That whole 'prevent the problem in the first place' thing. Gluing the the seams also means it isn't going to move while you're stitching it. Depending on the source of the linen thread, I've had it test anywhere from 15 - 30lbs tensile strength for ~138 sized thread. Nylon is higher. And if you're expecting anyone to be putting that much force on your stitches, you should be using latigo not designer leather. If you're using an analine tanned leather - bag/chap/garment - you aren't going to get fingernail marks in it anyway. I'd REALLY like to know what kind of leather you're using so I can know what can be considered "delicate" at 9/10oz.....then avoid it. And one last thing....Katsass, I believe, was offering his opinion (IMO means "In My Opinion), which is based on over 30 years of experience working with leather. To me it wasn't assuming you don't know how to stitch, it was telling you that an awl and saddle stitching is superior to using a chisel. But, you have your way, he has his. Let us know how your way is working out after 30 years.

Look in the Pinned topics and there should be a thread that tells you how to make your own pattern. Aside from that, asking for a "revolver pattern" is kinda of like saying you need a set of tires for your car.. it's too ambiguous. While there may be some 'generic' patterns, it works best to have a pattern for each of the different types - 5 shot, 6 shot, exposed vs. hammerless, snubby, mid size barrel, long barrel...etc. Then, you need to develop patterns based on the two primary types of holster - clam shell or pancake....broken down into with or without carry strap.....and OWB vs IWB.