Shorts

Umhm, precisely why I suggested what I did. Didn't mean to bend your bean.

Yeah, I originally though of using 1/2" but the guys on another forum convinced me the 1" would be the best bet to avoid much deflection. My drawing shows 1/2" because I did it prior to the build. I never edited the sketch. I am using 1" plates on my press.

No pics. But its fairly simple. You put the leather on the board there, put the die on top and pump the jack handle. I'll see if I can get a pic sometime today. Looks just like the first pic (put a piece of leather under the die):

I'd use 7/8oz. If you want it good and strong, use a piece of back instead of shoulder. Edit: I didn't mean to sound antagonistic. I suggested the back instead of shoulder as the back fibers are very tight. Shoulders are strong pieces too. But they do tend to have more stretch than backs due to the anatomical nature of the piece. What do you mean you only use a single piece? Is the belt slot tunnel the same piece of leather that wraps around the gun?

Love the color scheme on that Good work

Got a couple pounds worth of these ~35" long 7/8oz leather strings . These were the trimmings from making belts. These are ~1/8" wide. There's glue and dye on the flesh sides. Grain sides are good. I've used these for random ties and whatnot but they're piling up. I'm sure there are others more creative than I that can make these things into something cool. If you can use these let me know. The cost is shipping. The nylon shoe strings will be pulled out of the pile.

7/8oz Herman Oak belly $20 +shipping 74"long Majority of piece ~8" wide (2.75" narrowest and 15" widest) Sorry about the quality No idea on the price so hoping its inline. If not let me know. This is taking up space on my shelf.

Leftover straps from a 7/8oz Herman Oak side taking up space on my shelf. Figured someone can use them. $22 +shipping 1.75" straps, 8 total (267") - 24"-40" $55 +shipping 1.5" straps, 18 total (644") -24"-52" Edit: No idea on the price so if it's out of line let me know.

$39 shipped each - Ruger GP100 4" - Springfield XD40 Tactical 5"

Just updating the thread. The clicker works fine. Been goofing with it today getting the deck height where I like. What I am seeing is the dies don't like to cut leather when placed on the flesh side. I think that's just the nature of the blade and material. The blade needs to go on the grain side of the piece. Wouldn't be an issue except cutting holsters I'll need a front and back die per holster instead of one die.

What are you asking and who are you directing the question to?

Fair question. I think for myself, I don't want my product looking like a retail product. I want my product a specific, personal item. It is how I want my name displayed. Taking a lesson from Gene Simmons, it's a brand. Control your item so you can control the image it projects. "You will only get this item first hand from me". Or second hand from a customer who let it go with the gun he sold. The great part is the original customer comes back to get leather for the new gun he just bought. Maybe the above sounds a bit snobbish. Act like you want to be treated. Set up the environment to foster the result you want. I want my stuff to command a price that I choose when I choose it (of course taking into account the market forces). A price that reflects the quality, and reflects my time and skill that is in it. That just doesn't happen overnight. It takes cultivating to continue to keep moving items up. Anyway, I think it's just about the way you would like to conduct your business and how you prefer your items to be seen. Nothing wrong with how a person chooses, just know what you want to do, why you want to do it and go for it.

This was my thought as well. I've received a few emails for orders that gave me these gut feelings. I respectfully decline orders that don't smell right to me (no need to burn a bridge). They may be perfectly legit and if that's the case, well, I guess I lost out. But I look at it this way, if I'm always booked with orders anyway, did I really need that person's order? I won't have someone artificially driving up my price. If its worth that much then I'll move my price accordingly. My customers who come directly to me should get the benefit of order position and price over a retailer. If a retailer wants to stock my stuff, then he should come to me and we can come to a more formal contract. Might be interesting to find out if he's selling these as his own. It isn't unheard of for that to happen.

Re: High Ride OWB - generally speaking guys are more comfortable wearing this arrangement than women are. Guys have taller torsos and the ribs aren't as bothered by the butt of the gun like women usually are. Women are bothered by other kinds of butts too - horse's butts, donkey's butts, their own butts etc

A good rule of thumb is treat your leather like you would your skin. If it would burn you, it will burn your leather. 140* is about what it gets in a Texas attic in the summer, or in a vehicle with the windows rolled up. Gradual sustained heat is better than a big hot flash when your drying out the holsters. Even better is warmer dry airflow to keep the humidity out. Humidity can be hell on the dye finish. I have trouble with black dyes sometimes getting it where I need. It doesn't like a damp piece of leather. I use a little space heater (keeps the room warmer & dryer in the winter than the rest of the house) and a hair dryer for my drying needs. I found the oven/kitchen environment introduces surface contaminants and hazards that would not be present in my leather-only shop environment. I also found that the oven rack would leave a mark on the back of the holster where it made contact. I started laying down a scrap piece of leather so the holster would sit on it. I decided to quit the oven because it was getting complicated and convoluted for what I was needing to do. I just needed warmer moving air - duh - hair dryer and space heather. I'd suggest setting up a particular little corner in your work area for drying so you can keep an easy dedicated setup.

When building a high ride holster, be aware that actually drawing the gun may present a challenge. Depending on your torso length or shoulder problems/limitations a high ride can hurt that a lot. Also, the cant will play a huge role, not only in the draw stroke but also exactly how high you can get it to sit without flopping over, which now gets into what the other said about where to place the gun/holster on the belt. Anyway, it can be done but you might have to make some compromises on the design. As for the clothing, there's no problem wearing hoodies or a sweater. Just practice your draw when wearing all your types of clothing so you're certain you're able to get shirt tails out of the way. Since I've gone to an IWB I haven't really looked back. But when I did carry OWB it was in cooler climates and I could wear a big jacket a lot of the time.

The 3" Springfield from Rings will work for you.

Good deal. Now just so I understand, is the reason I need to go to this type of product instead of a penetrating dye is due to the leather on the jacket being...? (I'm not certain what kind of leather AlpineStars uses for their gear). But is it a chrome tanned leather? Looks like I can get the color I need, as well as the dye/leather preparer. Will I need a clear coat or top coat of some kind? Do I need to seal a color change like this? I'm also considering a first coat of white in order to brighten up the yellow I'd put down on top. Would that be necessary or not?

Thanks Luke. Is that product similar to what is used in the auto industry to change the interior colors on a vehicle? I have seen threads of guys changing the colors of door panels, dash boards etc.

On the execution of construction, you did a pretty good job! I think once you wear the holster and gun you might find a few details you'll probably tweak, but nothing that's out of the ordinary. I also echo changing the belt tunnel but just note it for the next time. Nice work!

I backstitch a couple holes and leave enough tail when I cut the threads from the machine that I can grab with my tweezers and pull the knot down into the leather. Tidies things up nicely and takes only a couple seconds to do. Don't pull too hard or you'll pull the knot out the other side. You'll get the feel of it to know what's just right.

A friend of mine is wanting to change the colors on his motorcycle jacket to match his bike. It is currently black and white. He would like black and yellow. I'm thinking it's a simple dye process but I've never run through it before. I've only applied dye to fresh veg tan. This is a little different for me. Soooo, what would I need to do to get it done? I was thinking I'd stick with Angelus dyes since I use it regularly so I'm familiar how it'll behave. I'm uncertain how I'd go about prepping the white sections. Also what I'll seal it with. I figured on masking off the black leather that sits against the white that is getting dyed to prevent a mess. This jacket gets worn daily. Here's what I'm working with:

Will do - thanks! I'm working on a cart for my little fluxcore machine. My biggest "oh my" moment was looking at the results & fit of my first angle iron coping attempt LOL The second pair of corners went just fine though. Best of all, my base is square! I've been thinking of taking some local classes. We'll see though, between work and life I'm wondering if it would get too hectic. But it certainly would be nice to have instruction and see what and how things are suppose to be done.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that next time I'm running the machine. I did weave a little bit (evidence by the undercutting I did on the sq tube). With the radius of the sq tube I was thinking I needed to get down in there on the plate then try to get the puddle up on the side. But when I did I undercut the sqtube.

Yep, this is exactly what happened on the sq. tubing-plate weld. I got a slight bow that I need to work out. You're right I could have run skip welds. I didn't because this was my first time running stick on anything that mattered and I was thinking since I can't glue very consistently or very well I'll just put a lot of glue on it Running too hot didn't help the cause either. I had some 7018 rod (AC machine only) but I couldn't get it dialed right so I stuck with the 6011. I should have clamped that top plate to the bottom plate to help hold her together while the workpiece cooled but I didn't think of it at the time. The deflection is one reason I went up from 1/2" to 1". I considered 1/2" with gussets but decided it would be less work and welding on top of a steel plate that would bow more easily, especially with my inexperienced welding. The 1" plate, in theory, would be a bit more forgiving of my skill. Having punched some smaller pieces with the unmodified shop press and 5/8" plate, the 1" is not going to be a concern with a 12T jack.