Shorts

You're right on about the area of pressure. I only use them for the small immediate areas. When I have to do big areas of flat, I use my old college textbooks

True straight clamps leave marks. But properly lined hinged clamps work wonders. I use these Craftsman brand ratcheting clamps, lined with a flat square of leather. They were $14 for a set of 4 (two different sizes): I wish I would have gotten a pic of my setup sooner. I just got done boxing my tools for shipping so I can't get to them to demonstrate

One of the tricks I've found that helps smooth my edges and rids the glue is using a Dremel sanding drum (for general edge evening) then several grits of paper for leveling and smoothing (120, 320, 400). I then dye, either by dauber or airbrush. I definitely understand what you mean about hard to reach places. I've found my way around it, and since I use waterbased dyes, I can only dye after molding. So, just been my experience with that. When I burnish the edges, I dab dye on the edge to dampen, then I burnish with my dowel. It gives a good dark, colored edge. What you can do on your edge there is dab some glue in it with a toothpick or something tiny and slim. Clamp it, let it dry. Then sand it up with the Dremel or paper like I noted above. Then redye the edge and burnish it. I've had to do a touch-up on an edge once and I did the above and it came out alright.

Having lived in Japan for the last three years, I have seen with my own eyes the drastic results of dietary behaviors between the Japanese and Americans. While genetic differences make up an appreciable amount of that difference, eating and activity habits do so as well. I don't intend my soapbox there as a hands-off message. I'm speaking to myself as well. In the last year I have been absolutely dreadful in my workout habits and it shows, both in my outward appearances and how my clothes and gear fit on me (gear as in ANY gear, sports equipment, motorcycle gear, holsters/belts/everything). It's a shock really how much of an impact I can feel just by jumping a notch in the belt loop either way. I'm just being forthcoming and honest in my observations. I've started my workouts back up again and have decided to keep myself in better shape, both exercise and what I eat. It's been a long time coming. I build my products around me, for comfort and function. There's only so much comfort I can build into an item (based on my experience, materials and designs). For the rest, folks need to do their part. Geez I got offcourse with this thread.

What you're doing there is pretty much what I do. If you really want to get a real good seal on the edge, cut it a hint longer than you need and then glue it down and clamp. Stitch it all up. Once that's done, cut the excess edge off and finish edges like you'd normally do.

Cool stuff Bree. Thanks for the experiment. I was brainstorming yesterday about patterns and such and this helps.

I suppose it will depend on what exactly you're building but, for holsters I cut, glue, even/sand edges, stitch, mold, dye, burnish edges, and topcoat. For belts, that depends on whether or not I want the inside layer dyed or natural.

Who's "Mr Fitness"? I am a Mrs. Its an anatomical fact ladies hips will be wider than their waist. There is this thing called hip-to-waist ratio and it is measurable. Mine is within "proper specs". My hips are wider than my waist. If I implied that the hips and waist should be the same size on a woman, then I said things incorrectly. Women will always have wider hips than waist. BUT, and a huge BUT (no pun intended), there is an acceptable measure of the difference (I am speaking as a Health Educator not as a fly by night personal trainer, which is a position I am overqualified for). What I am referring to about being in shape is body composition. People need to get down to normal/acceptable levels instead of overweight and obese. Just those small changes will be exceptionally beneficial. There is room for improvement

Good thoughts Mike, Tom and Kevin. Here's a bit of my own experience: I rolled my own first belt for trial a little bit ago and came out nice and stiff. I'm one of those gals where my belts will contour to my body and drastically through its lifetime (a lot depends on me, you'll see later). Wearing my new belt initially was stiff. I laughed a bit as it felt like I was wearing a hoola-hoop. Oddly enough, as drafty as it was on the backside when my shirt rode up, it was comforting that the belt was strong. It did stay put for the most part, no sliding up or down on my body. This also meant it stayed more or less on a hipbone. Towards the end of the day it hurt my left side, but not my right. Which is something regular I've experienced for years when carrying on my belt (right side is my strong/draw side). All my gear hurts my left hipbone and not my right due to my body structure. My belt is now a bit more broken in, a little more flexible and its subtly picking up my contour. Mind you, I don't wear the belt everyday as I am not carrying every day. I mainly wear it on testing days and days outside doing something active. It is unobtrusive. Its not anything I notice or devote attention to. And for a carry belt, I think 'no news is good news'. It keeps holsters in place and pretty stable. For comparison, I put on my old single layer (7/8oz-ish) Carhartt work belt with the same holster. While the belt was more comfortable on my contours, the holster moved and shifted. This was evident in that it kept getting my attention for adjustment. I feel the 'set and forget' philosophy of a holster and belt means its just right. Let me get preachy here... :soapbox: I will say this to the ladies, the better your body is in shape, the better the gear will fit! I have experienced this with my own body. My formal education and background is fitness/training. My body comp has fluctuated enough that I have felt the differences in gear when my body is at various stages. Stay in shape! A major reason this is the case is when ladies are out of shape, their hips get wide, wider than the waistline. This makes a taper that makes all your pants and belt slide up. A way to try to make up for this is by wearing belts tighter in an effort to force it to stay put down low. News flash - that makes your hips hurt, especially with a stiff belt. Aside from hurting your hips, anything extra you got going on around the waistline, you know, all that 'love' you got going on, that also puts a lot of pressure on the holster. It'll be real uncomfortable both on your side and on your hip. That "curve" is accentuated when you are out of shape. When you're in shape, the curve is not as drastic and will result in better fitting gear.

I know this conversation has come up in a thread before, but I saw a post in a forum today that sort of pushed my buttons: My first reaction was 'Have you ever tried to make a belt?' Anyway, so instead of getting irked, I decided to answer that question for myself. Why don't belt makers make them curved from the beginning? Well, off the top of my head, actually cutting a curved belt blank takes a little more planning and work than cutting a straight strap. How do maker's cut curved straps? What kind of template? Clicker die? How do they adjust for length? How do they know how much radius works? (Set degree?) Now the stitching part - would stitching be more difficult or different? Ok, I'm just up rambling, reading and thinkin'

Right now I've finished a few belts in Resolene (single layer and double layer). Makes for a slick looking belt. The finish is flexible so no cracks. The leather itself gets folded and wrinkled and impressed on due to actual use and movement. But the finish stays just fine. I'm considering trying other finishing products in order to compare but not quite sure what yet.

On the thumb break, did you use a piece of metal reinforcement where the snap sits?

Beautiful work Bruce. As already noted, the stitch around the trigger guard could be a hint more rounded to match the curves. Frankly, that's not much of a deal anyway! Its beautiful! What color are you using? That's very a smooth and warm color you went with.

Don't cook it. My rule of thumb on wet molding my leather, if its too hot for your hand, its too hot for the leather. Otherwise you run the risk of scalding it, making it a pork rind, and while it make be hard, once it does encounter a force enough to crush it, it will crack and tear like overdone jerky. <-- like all the food references? Assuming there is no seal on it and the dye is set (if not, you'll have to redye), as Mike said, wet it (warm water) and let it dry. If it were me, I'd wet it and insert the cylinder in it for the mold, then put the lid on (so they both dry to the same size). Set it in a ventilated area with moving air, preferably warm air.

Why not right? Everyone's doing it. Actually the program you should be shooting for like is pushed here at this base, is "volunteer opportunities"?

Smooth work brinyar

I admit that the business plan part of the business is one I'm not eager to spend time on, but I try. Intellectually I know it must be tended to. My formal education is training and fitness. Ben's last statement using SMART is a term that is especially related to training goals, and its an absolutely necessary tool I used to write programs for clients based on an up-to-date evaluation. And without setting goals from that evaluation point, then theclient has no direction and is just floundering around. Anyhow, I would imagine many folks fail to put energy into a business plan because they really have no idea what exactly should be measured and evaluated. No doubt everyone here is capable of collecting and analyzing data, but what data?

Interesting idea about side items. I imagine that the type of leather item would mostly dictate what type of side items to include. Up to this point I send a FAQ for each item on how to wear & care/maintenance. I suppose a disclaimer on marks/scars would be a good addition.

The entire belt should be the two layers glued & stitched together. On the bend end, makers often skive the leather so that the thickness is manageable enough to easily bend around for the buckle. Another option is to end the liner layer before the bend and only fold the outer layer over. I've done my carry belt this way and it works just fine. As for the opposite end, just run both layers and edge like normal. You can skive the 4oz to end it.

I echo Dwight's input about gluing the edge before you punch holes. I have several Craftsman brand spring loaded clamps (with pivoting heads to the clamp surface stays level) that I've lined with a piece of leather specifically for clamping glued pieces to set. I also cut those edges slightly larger than the stitching calls for so I have adequate room to glue and clamp. The extra I just cut off and then dress the edge like normal. It makes for a very tidy, secure stitch edge.

The warm water and a dash of soap is what I use as well. I don't really like disassembling the airbrush every time but if I don't, it will not get clean and cause me grief the next time I go to use it.

I currently used a groover on leather 7/8oz and 8/9oz. For thinner leather than this I'd go to a creaser in order to retain material for stitching. Reason being is that I groove both sides so that the threads sit low on the surface of the leather. By grooving both sides of a thin piece of leather, well, there's not a lot of thickness left to hold in the stitching. But as said, it'd be interesting to see a holster torn up at the perforated stitch line! As Jeff mentioned, try both and see which you prefer. You might find yourself using both depending on the kind of project you're working on.

Well, unless I'm totally missing the gag gift part, you better not go with a longhorn if he's a TTU guy.

With Resolene, you'll get the best results by dipping or spraying (spray gets a high gloss finish, fine tune it with the nozzle setting). It does specify use for a flexible water-repellent coat. I spray my regular items going out and dip smaller pieces. sprayed: I'm glad Kevin posted the pic of the Angelus finish. I'm eager to get some ordered as I've been wanting to try it for comparison

Nice holster. I like the stitching as well. As for the boiling water - don't do it At least not for holsters, I don't recommend it. (Looks like te link you provided would be used for armor maybe?) What happens is you get a holster that, as you experienced, cooks. The natural oils are removed and then you basically get a pork rind for a holster. It doesn't flex and it will crack and break if it is bent. Soooo, just my .02 cents. My rule of thumb is if its too hot for your hand, its too hot for the leather.