Randy Cornelius

Someone asked about an ankle holster. I have one design that I have been making for several years that seems to go over very well in the Law Enforcement and Conceled Carry communities. So I thought I would try to show everyone how I make one. I used to make them out of neopreme but my supplier for the kind with a cloth front and back is not able to get that anymore so I have taken to using chap leather. So to get started here is a list of materials needed. 1 pc of 5 oz chap leather about 5- 1/2 X 15 inches 1 pc wool sheepskin scrap about 4-1/2 X 5-1/2 inches 2 pc of 2" x 4" Velcro Loop side 1 pc of 2" X 4" velcro hook side 1 holster designed to fit your weapon system of choise. The first 3 photos are of my old hoster that I carry amost every day. The other two is the pattern for the wrap around piece. I am not sure how to do this to get the words under the right picture as I go but I hope Johanna will see what I am trying to do and fix it. Next I lay out the chap leather after cutting and attach the 2 pieces of loop velcro on the top side at one end. Then attach the hook velcro on the botton side at the other end, this way when you wrap it around your ankle it will over lap and attach to each other. Sew the velcro and the sheepskin on. See photos Next lay your holster in the area of the sheepskin and adjust it to the proper draw angle and sew it in place laying open, Next , this is a good time to install one side of the snap. There is one other option I have done before that needs to be done now. If the customer wants a garder strap to go up over the calf of the leg to help hold the holster up higher on the ankle you can install a 3/4 square in the area of the snap to attach the garder system, I make those out of 2" wide elastic and velcro also. Then fold over and sew the holster and finish the retention flap and finish installing other half of the snap. This design has served me well over the last 2-3 years. It is very secure and you can wear it on your ankle or over a lace up boot. You may have to adjust the overall length of 15" one way or another. !5 inches works well on me but I have large ankles and wear it over a lace up roper boot while on duty. The last picture show it on my ankle with just a pair of shoes. I have pleanty of room to put it over my lace up boots tonight when I go on duty. Bad Guys Beware!! Hope this helps someone. Any questions let me know. Randy

I will post a picture of one and if it is something you want you can pm me with your address and I will send you a pattern for the rig. You will have to figure out the pattern for the holster for the gun that goes on the ankle part. Let me know. Randy

I took my dremel and ground a small groove in the needle guide and put a small dot of white paint. That way I watch that white dot and the stitch channel and it keeps everything linned up. Yes, I too manually turn the corners using the wheel and adjust the stitch length by hand at the ends and corners and tips of belts. Randy

Is it me or does it look just like an Artisen? Hope I did not start another sewing machine war? RC

Here is a video that I found on youtube that is good, I would not say it is great but it shows you the basics of how to sharpen a round knife and how to strop it. I do it a little different but then everyone you talk to will have thier own way. I use 3 different stones, course, fine and them I have an old razor hone that my grandfather used on razors. Then I use a power strop I made. I have a leather belt for my 4 x 36 inch belt sander that I have rouge on that works great for polishing a blade of any kind. I hope this helps. Randy

Yes, maybe someone can find them and post a link, not sure I can but I will look

I remember the days when I used a utility knife to cut leather, bought a round knife, learned to use it and keep it sharpe, never looked back, still have a utility knife, use it to open the boxes my leather and hardware come in.. I was looking at Utube videos the other day and some saddle maker was on this video and he was saying how a utility knife was the only way to cut leather, said some use a round knife but he did not like them. I think the only ones that do not like round knifes are the ones that are afraid to learn to use one and keep it sharpe, I think I have 5 or 6 now. Randy

Wish I was going but my youngest is graduating high school that weekend, bummer!!!!

I have one but I make my ankle holsters out of neopreme, velcro and then the leather holster sewn on along with a sheepskin liner. Is that something that you would be interested in? Randy

Any heavy paper will do. Poster board or some thing a little lighter, by using heavy paper the holes don't close up as bad as regular paper do. What I use is called chip board from the paper company I buy it from. It is what I use to make all my patterns from. Kinda like what is in the back of a note book pad for stiffner.

!). I really don't want to do repairs, but I feel bad turning friends down sometimes. I used to think that way also but now I look at repairs as a learning eperiance and an adventure, not knowing how it's going to turn out until it's done. I remember the first padded seat repair I did. I took my time and it came out fine and the customer, who was a friend was very satisfied. Those pesky mice keep us in business. I have seen your work, you have nothing to fear. Jump in with both feet, I have a saying, "ANYTHING FOR A BUCK". Putting in the new decorative stitching in the seat has not been coved so I will tell you guys how I do it. I take a piece of constuction paper and draw out the design on the paper, Then I take said paper to the sewing machine and remove the thread and sew out the design, punching all those littl holes. Then I lay the paper over the new seat leather and take baby powder and rub all over the paper, a small amount of the powder will transfer the pattern onto the leather thus giving me a powdered stitch line to follow on the machine, remember to put the thread back in! You can also glue foam on the backside of the leather before you sew to give it that puffy look. I had three of these came in all in the same week last year and have not had one since? Randy

The pictures in Barrys catalong are very accurate. In a basic set you will need some of the following, Set of checkered bevellers, I have 4 but rarely use more than the #1 . Under shot bevellers or lifter I think is how they are in the cataloge. I have several but a #1 will get you buy. The bigger the flower and leaves the bigger the lifter needed. Flower Center Flower center beveller Thumbprint, suggest a small # mediun small seeder Mule foot, small & Mediun Bar grounder or round grounder Smooth viener (I use it as a stop) Scalloped viener I know I have missed something but I am not in front of my tooling bench right now. One thing about Barrys tools they are very nice and leave very crisp lines. I usally buy a few each time I see him at the shows. I think they are the best buy out there as far as the custom tools makers go. Randy

I have used all three that are mentioned. My choise is the metal strap cutter from Tandy. The only draw back is that the blades you get for them these days are not as good as they used to be. My experiance is they seem to break more offen. Also if you hit a hard place in skirting the blade will break. Some Herman Oak leather will have hard spots in it from time to time, then I used the old Osborne strap cutter. But you have to keep the blade sharp, again the new blades you buy for them are not the quality they used to be. On that note does anyone know where they can get good blades for the Tandy strap cutter, I ordered some from Weaver and they sent me Tandy! Whats up with that? I could have gotten them cheeper direct from Tandy.

Okay, I stand corrected, it's a smooth piece of rock. I did not take that rock class in 4-H. LOL Randy

For Sale I have 2 marble slabs that I would like to sell. Both are the same, measure approx. 40" X 35" X 1-1/2 " thick. One side is polished smooth and the other side is rough cut. corners are 90 degrees but some have compound angles along the side and there is an off set along one side where a piece of wood is attached. That is not included in the measurements I took as it could not be used for tooling. These would make a great tooling slab for anyones workshop. I got these along with a package deal. I kept the 3" slab for my work bench. These weigh approx 150 pounds a piece so there is no shipping you will have to come pick them up from my house. I live approx 50 miles south of Kansas City just off US 69 highway near the town of LaCygne, Ks. Your choise 150.00 a piece OBO PM me if interested. Randy

I have seen them on ebay for the last year or so, wandered the same thing.

very nice work, but.... get rid of the matting tool for the background and get you some bar grounder or round grounders for the sheridan work. Just a suggestion to make a great piece of work better. Randy

Hi Kevin, about time you got on board here. But the request was not by me. I need to get down and see you. What you got a bunch of that you need to get rid of? lol

http://www.cemp.com/chains.htm This link is to a guy that makes all kinds of watch chains but I could see them used for wallets. He has made me several watch chains as I still carry a pocket watch. They are very good quality and very reasonable in price. Might contact him to see what he could do for you . His Bulley chain is the biggest link he has and I would think it would make a very good wallet chain. Randy

I just wanted to vent. I was cleaning out some old tools when I moved from my old shop to my new one so I decided to list a bunch of tools on ebay that I no longer used. I did not over charge shipping and did not tack on additional fees that some do but I may change that thinking after what I cleared. All the tools that I sold brought 237.70 on ebay. The ebay fees were 23.35 the paypal fees were 10.85 shipping cost me 50.40 Which left me with a profit of 139.28 If my math is right they took 62% and I got to keep 38%. Does anyone see why I should not be upset. I always pass up autions that have a higher rate than I think normal on Shipping or ones that charge a handling fee or processing fee but maybe I need to rethink what I am doing, if I decide to use ebay ever again to sell anything. But you get to reach so many potential buyer. Thanks for letting me vent..... Randy

I don't know about Ohio but here in Kansas you should be able to call the state dept that is responsible for drivers license and check the status of his license. In Ks that is the dept of revenue. You may be able to walk in to the local law enforcement and have his drivers license ran like you would for getting new insurance or for a job. I know we do that all the time but there is a fee involved. We call it an MVR. He would have to do this, make him do it before you give him the keys to one of your vehicles. Good luck with this one. Randy

I have an almost complete roll of Blue 1" Nylon webbing that I would like to sell. The roll was 100 foot roll and I have only used approx. 20 feet or so. I bought this from Weaver a couple years ago for a special order and well you know how those goes they did not order as much as I thought and I was stuck with blue nylon. I am cleaning out my shop getting rid of what I don't need, this has to go. I would like to have 15.00, that is half price of what a full roll costs today. You will have to pay shipping. The roll of nylon in the box weights approx 3 pounds. The shipping cost will be from 66040. Please ask for a shipping quote and I will tell you the total. Any form of payment. Would prefer postal money order or paypal. Thanks for looking Randy

Ohio Travel Bag has what you want. but as a cop for 28 years I use the ones with the hole for the rivit. Randy

Thought I would let everyone know that I have listed several lots of Craft Tool USA stamping tools, Hide Crafter Pro Series Sheridan Style Bevellers and some edgers and a Draw Knife.They are on Ebay. Here are the item numbers. You can also search them by using my sellers account Southwind-Farm. I really don't know what some of these are worth so I thought an auction type format would be better for everyone. These are from my personal collection, I have been collecting them for years and most of these are ones that I more than one of. All are good tools. 170316931559 170316937382 170316941515 170316943040 170316943890 170316948861 170316958185 170316958185 170316962313

I will second that on Wickett & Craig. It is wonderful leather to work with and you can call direct to the Tannary and order 1 side at a time. Talk to Glenn at extention 222. The backs are worth it as there is very little waist. Also If doing black belts they have a black bridle in a double shoulder that is very good also. Randy