Drac

Turkshead! I'll let you decide what kind you want to use. Mine are always this one (the only one I figured out) and are made using 3/16" beveled lacing and the end is super glued when finished and tucked. Now cut your tail blank. (W = tail width, X = number of tails, plus ½". My usual is 25 tails that are ½" wide, so I have ½" x 25 + ½" = 13". (WxX+½"=T)). for length whatever length you want plus 1". my tails are 20" long so my blank is 21" on the long side and 13" on the short. Take a scratch awl or pen and mark a line 1" from one of the short edges. For darker leathers I use the silver ink pen, for lighter leathers the black ink pen, and for suedes the scratch awl. You can see the line I made on this piece.

I use more super glue to stick the end in place until it's stapled down. Now use the pneumatic stapler to attach the leather. 2 at the end, then 3 more around the handle at 3, 6, and 9 (think of a clock with the first 2 being 12 when looking at the handle from the end). Now glue a piece of scrap of the same leather as the tails to the end. I use Leather Weld for this bit. When the glue's dry trim it down with either the leather shears (easier for us lefties) or the exacto knife

When you get to the end nail 'em down with the ½" x 19 nails, trim the excess, and finish setting the nails at the other end so both ends look like this. Now take a bit of the leather you're using for your tails and cut a strip that's as long as your tail section will be wide and 1" or 1 1/8" wide. Use 1' for thicker, heavier leather and 1 1/8" for lighter leather (suede, deer tanned, deer, etc). use this chart for figuring your tail section. W = tail width, X = number of tails, plus ½".My usual is 25 tails that are ½" wide, so I have ½" x 25 + ½" = 13". (WxX+½"=T) Now attach the strip to one end of the handle (I use gel super glue) and wrap it around making sure it's lined up with the end.

Cut the end of the top strips at an angle. About 30 degrees. Now start wrapping the lower strips around the handle with them lined up right next to each other. Try to keep them a little snug, but too snug. It'll take some practice to find the right bit of snugness. When you get to the end use tacks to tack the ends of the strips to the dowel. Make sure you push the tacks in really well. Now take the curved forceps and go under a wrapped strip, grab the end of a top strip and pull it through. Keep going all the way down the handle making sure your braid lines are running straight.

Now take a tack and put a hole at one end of each handle braid strip. Now put a ½" x 19 nail through 2 strips according to what pattern you picked. Use the needle nose pliers to hold the nail in the starter hole you made in the dowel and hammer it in with the small hammer. Make sure you don't set the nail completely yet since it needs to rotate some. The end should like about like this.

Pick your handle braid style. Cut your handle braid leather (½ " x 13" or 14" for most handle braids) Take the 2x4 corner angle tool and use it to draw a line on the end of the dowel after cutting it to the length you want. I use 7". Turn the dowel 90 degrees and do the same thing again so you have an "X". Take the pencil, set it on top of one of the straight edges, place the end of the dowel you made the "X" mark on against the edge and the pencil and spin it so you have a line all the way around it about 1/8" from the end. Line a tack up with the lines and make a hole with it at all 4 points.

TOOL LIST Template 24" straight edge Small hammer Kite string (yes. Kite string) Scratch awl Pneumatic stapler (with 18 ga. x 1" staples) or you can use 1 1/4" x 16 nails 65mm rolling cutter Leather shears Exacto knife 6" metal molded ruler 45 degree corner line placer for 2x4s Small curved forceps Needle nose pliers Pencil, pen, silver ink pen 13" straight edge Lacing needle (not pictured) Small fib (not pictured) Something to cut the dowel (I use a miter saw) (not pictured) Pick what leather you want to use for your tails, your handle braid, your Turks heads, the handle base (1" OAK dowel), leather glue (not pictured), gel super glue (not pictured), ½" x 19 nails, and some tacks.

sweet! thanks! I'm sure everyone else will appreciate the tutorial too.

no! this is a terrible place to hang out! too many new ideas for making things! too many new things to learn! it will end up taking over your life! ack! *L* actually this is a great place. seems everyone's friendly and willing to share ideas, tips, techniques etc. so welcome! but fair warning, you WILL end up with too many new ideas and not enough time!

molding press? do tell! and nice work on your holsters, btw.

thanks for the heads up about the ASP ones. had been comparing prices between the 3 to decide if I wanted to use one or not and now those are out of the running.

Ken, yep, was planning on cutting the pocket a little larger to accommodate the leather. just forgot to mention that in the idea post. thanks for the tip on the maple.

let's see if I can describe this correctly now. here's what I'm thinking and want to know if it would work. if I take a 1x6, trace around the pistol and cut that out and mount the pieces to another piece of would (doing it twice so the pistol would be in a pocket), then tack the leather to the wood (after wetting and some light stretching) across the pocket area, then place the pistol (that's been placed in a plastic bag) in the pocket area and clamp the whole thing together, would it work?

wolvie, nope. I cut towards the base instead of away from it and use a 65mm blade fiskars rolling cutter opened to the first cutting size. after getting close to the base line (a scratch line 1 inch from the edge) I stop. once I've cut all the strips, I go back with an exacto blade and finish the cut to the line. um... any of that make any sense? actually been thinking about posting a step-by-step for floggers in the adult section.

use a very fine toothed jeweler's saw. draw your belt slot shape, punch a hole, then run the blade through the hole and start cutting the shape. if you aren't gluing the leather together along with stitching, you may need to squeeze the area beside the blade with your fingers or with a clamp. I've never used this method, but I've known of others who did for cutting out internal shapes and it worked/looked great for them. and yes, a blue gun is great for molding from what I hear. blueguns.com for finding a nearby dealer. ASP and blackhawk are 2 other companies that make similar training weapons.

hate to hear it didn't really work for you, but glad you let us know since I'm sure most of us have thought about getting one of those (I know I have). I have a 2" by 72" yellow painted measuring stick I got at home depot for about 15 bucks for doing all me long cuts with. just scraped the the paint off along one edge so me rotary cutter wouldn't catch it and it would actually be straight since it was painted by dipping. I've got a low table for working on so I can put a foot on one end to hold it in place and a hand on the other and cut away! for measuring from the edge of the leather I use a 24" "easy rule" in the middle, then check the ends while I hold the long one in place to make sure.

started life in Lousyana (yes, LOUSY-ana) and even ended up stationed there when I was AF. done every type of security work there is except police (bouncer *about 7 different clubs/bars*, bands, personal/private, uniform, government). moved to austin, tx and was stuck there for about 10 years. best things about being there was starting me leather biz (out of necissity) and working at then co-owning a comic book shop. now live in atlanta, ga and have been here for almost 3 years and still like it. been doing BDSM leatherwork professionally for about 13 years and have set up at private parties, club nights, vendor markets and Dragoncon. and here's pics of me shop

I've been using my tippman for about a year and a half and here's my take on it. tension adjustments are a real pain, but once set it seems to work well for a variety of thicknesses (I stitch sheep to 7-8 oz for padded restraints, 2-3 oz suede to 7-8 oz for lined ones, double layed 7-8 oz for paddles and rabbit to 7-8 oz for paddles without changing tension). I use one thread size so I don't have to worry about changing it for that. it will occasionally drop a stitch when turning a tight corner, but when it does I just realign the hole with the needle and do the stitch again with no problem. I recommend getting the roller guide for it though. if you're going to be sewing lightweight leather like garment leather though, just get a really good "home" sewing maching. that's what I use when sewing rabbit to garment leather and mine will do a double layer of garment and rabbit or a triple layer of garment with no problem.

I printed out the image, cut it out of paper with an exacto, traced it onto the leather with a mechanical pencil, then went over it with what I think is an engraving tip for a dremel fairly lightly held at an angle so it just removed the top layer or so of the pre-dyed leather. had to make sure I had me worklight at the right angle so I could see the pencil marks since I did the tracing faily lightly so I could erase it easily since I only went right up to it and not past it.

very topnotch and impressive! makes me want to take up pool again just so I can have an excuse to try to make a case! *L* hmmm... I DO still have me darts though...

I really like the way the coloring came out and the nice clean simple look of it. I'd add a snap at each corner too though so they don't start lifting up.

I only keep my pistols in a holster when I'm at work. otherwise they're either in a case or beside the bed. ('tis better to be 2 noids than one! *I'd rather be paranoid than annoyed* L) these were more of an exercise of seeing if I could do one well or not before getting heavily into it since I tend to be very critical of me own work. but this is why I'm glad I found this site. lots of good critiquing and helpful hints, tips and ideas! like I actually need more ideas of things to make! *L*

so here's the new holster I did the next morning. used the same materials since that's what I had on hand and it's going to get used only occasionally. quite happy with this one. John thanks for the site. I'll be sure to check it out.

copycat! *L* I used the comic book icon though instead of the movie version. really like the work on the backside too.

trying the wetting and stretching WILL screw up the tooling, so that method's out. starting over from scratch and adding about 1/2" to the overall size on every piece is really your only way to go unless you use the "X" stitching. although fair warning, your rider will still feel that digging in too, just not as much. and the "X" stitching has the possiblity of small gaps which would suck if riding in the rain.