Shorts

At this rate I won't need charcoal or firewood for the grill

In today's mail was my new business cards (excellent!), a letter from the state comptroller informing me about my liability for unemployment taxes if I employ folks and a solicitation from a local CPA. <sigh> Someone always wants something

One of these days I'll upgrade my press, but it'll be a new setup. I'm not interested in upgrading by putting this press into a higher weight class

I did not know that about the link to PayPal. But I do have concern about being fully supported them. While I've never experienced a problem with PayPal either for personal use or business, I am leery of their policies and philosophies towards certain types of businesses. I'm not quite sure what I want to do about it. While I know the answer, I'm not 100% ready to take the step, I don't think, but I'd like to...etc

Nice work. I enjoy seeing tools folks have made. I'm of that persuasion myself. Building what you need. There's a satisfaction in seeing what your hands produce. Like holsters themselves.

I just use as is. A little blue rub off never hurt nobody The dye covered/removed it sono worries. When they were new they'd scuff a little but that has long stopped. I also don't holster blue guns after the molding process. I send my holsters out as tight as possible so once the gun is out, its out. Don't worry, the blue will wear.

Thanks Carl. From Hobby Lobby; the Resin casting kit ($19) and the Mold Putty kit ($15). I essentially bought a blue gun capability, without the gun. If I were making a habit of using a resin kit in larger portions I'd actually order the Alumilite brand.

Very interesting! I've yet to try a paddle holster. Mainly cause my brain cannot take the storming to think it up Nice work

Thanks troop. I still get squirrely with the machine. Usually when my eyes go cross-eyed and I have to stop for a sec to catch myself. Getting a good feel for the go pedal as well as dropped the stitch length a hint. It's helped a bit to get better stitch line intersections and curves.

I believe the material would be sturdy enough with a careful hand. I'm not certain of the hardness measure but the instructions state the piece can be stained, painted, dyed, drilled, tapped and machined. I think the challenge for the piece would be due to its size. Here's the finished holster: Sorry about the lighting. Its overcast and I didn't run through the full spectrum of settings on the camera when out there. I hear you on the rain. We'd been dry. I think I'm ok with a good rain once a week. It would certainly help the water bill and the yard. I'm still contemplating putting together a water collection system that could supplement our faucet.

Thanks Jeff. I'll have pics of the holster today. Fingers crossed it stops raining, I like taking photos outside. I wouldn't mind casting a few. Now I don't think I'll file them down or whittle them though. Not passing the buck rather, for a custom fit piece, it's probably better for each person to finalize that fit to their blue gun.

Thanks Lobo. That's a great rig you have. I had been thinking of getting some suede. I think your suggestion is the little push I needed to go ahead and get some. I think it'll be more comfortable in the long run. I've never worked with suede before. Is there anything particular I should know about? It comes dyed already, but do I need to use any kind of top coat? Or is it just use as is?

Hadn't thought of that. I press mold and bone holsters for retention. I like form fitting.

Yup, I thought about drilling through. My only concern, while probably not too risky, was cracking the piece. Instead of trying to out think it, I just taped the piece over the seam and then taped the dowel secure. With a fairly pliable wet piece of leather I was able to get the gun in there without dislodging the extension. I also did not press the end of the slide/muzzle like I normally would have to not put pressure on the joints, 1. so it doesn't show the seams and 2. so not to dislodge the extension. I just finger pressed where the leather needed it and boned like normal Holster is molding now and I think it may come out ok

Size 46 Regular

Ok, grabbed a casting kit from Hobby Lobby and got to it. I made the mold with the rubber first, then cast the resin piece after that. From there I filed to level and length, then whittled the area out for the bushing and plug so that the cast piece sits flat on the end of the blue gun. All in all came out pretty close and I may do touch up. But I think it'll work as is. Not sure how I'll secure secure it to the blue gun but that's just details. The hard part is done. 2 part putty made for super easy rubber mold Resin cast piece molded to dowel to keep straight Sorry for the crooked picture. This measures on the dot to 6" from the 5" measure Pretty close

I burnish also right before topcoat....(dye, burnish, topcoat). I use a well worn wooden dowel.

I think I'm going to have to go custom here. I'm going to make my way to a hobby shop this weekend and get a resin casting kit if I can find them on the shelf. I've been wanting to do that for other projects in general so not a bad time to go ahead and try it. I'll let yall know how it goes

Alright! I sent my first box using Click 'n Ship. Not without its initial inconveniences though, but nothing terrible. Just had to run to the store to get self-adhesives labels. Came back, printed it out in 2 minutes and I drove this box to the PO. I wanted to confirm my scale was close and ask a couple questions about door pick up. Looks to be a go! I'm just going to poke around for a good deal on labels. Office Max was higher than the Post Office site . Thanks for the input

I haven't grabbed gum pads yet and still molding by hand. Because if I do buy gum pads I'll need to buy a new hydraulic press setup. And you know, buying toys, I mean tools gets out of hand, spending money left and right It's on my list though. Good news is my garage is almost close to "unpacked" from the move so I can start getting it setup like I want it. I'll toy with the saturation a bit more. The dye almost acts like a moisture repellent so I may need to let the water do its magic for a little longer than I have been. On a non-dyed piece of HO, it gets pliable very quick when wet and molds superbly. I guess that's why I've noticed the change. Very interesting, a glue-ish behavior.

What do you think of the' Shipping Assistant' feature? I like the practical part about printing only one side of an adhesive 8x11 sheet.

Anyone use it? I'm poking around the site now. I'm currently working out my new method of shipping (new location brings changes!) It looks simple enough, easy really. I'm tempted.

To make the dye step easier on myself I've been dyeing the inside of the holster before I stitch it up. Sometimes I dye the entire thing if I want white stitching. I've noticed that the Angelus dye likes to make the leather stiff which makes the wet molding process a bit more difficult. I would suppose its due to the alcohol base of the dye. Anyone else noticed this? I don't like not getting crisp clean easy boning lines but I like the firm leather. Sure I could easily go back to dyeing entirely after molding. I was just curious if anyone's noticed differences in how their leather acts to different dyes.

Just curious if anyone has a mold of a 1911 longslide. Doing a holster here for one and hoping to find a mold instead of going with an improv form for the last inch. Needed on the asap so I'd owe you big time!