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Thank you for the nice words. @triage, the weight on the carrier is 7/8 oz and the pancake is a very firm heavy 8oz from the shoulder (it's probably closer to 8.5 or 9, actually). I love that style of mag carrier - very easy to access and has the smallest footprint possible.

Nothing really out of the ordinary, just posting some recent things that have gone out the door. Single 1911 mag carrier (fold over design) Custom 1911 mag and Surefire light carrier. Customer mailed the light so the rig was molded to the specific model. Rides really tight! The only thing I wish I would have done different is gone 1 more stitch up the inside of the mag to make a 90 on the groove line toward the light. Oh well, next time. 1911 pancake rig. Really feel like my stitch line is getting closer and closer with every 1911 holster I sew. Or maybe I'm just getting more and more comfortable with the machine? Here's a nice shot of how pretty the leather is (Hermann Oak). I never think to take pictures of the back side of holsters, but for some reason, did of this one. So, here it is. Matching set for a Polish P64. Not sure what happened to the stitch line around the TG on this one - I think I need to revamp my pattern. This holster rides very close and the gun easily disappears even with a properly fitting polo shirt. Great summer setup. Prototype holster for the same gun. I like the minimalist and almost retro style on this one. It rides easy and kind of moves with you. It does not, however, shift on it's own. I was surprised. The outer stitch line got too close at the front of the dust cover for consistency's sake, but hey - it was a prototype. That's it for now! As always, comments/critiques are welcome.

Good idea - just set up a wiki. Easy.

It would be sweet if you did create a database, so it could be searched. Setting up the fields would help tell you what info you need to collect on each holster. A database would also allow other users to contribute, where a document would be impossible to manage via community (versioning, etc).

The ones I've seen are hit and miss. I have an HK P2000 that is on the money, but I've handles a few different models that were clearly off. I would use the Ring's version if at all possible.

I really like the color and texture of the belt, and the antiqued horse inside looks really great! I'd be concerned with the fact that it's not sewn, though. It will, inevitably, start to peel apart in certain areas.

I remember when I first got my machine, I felt like I just blew more than a grand on something that was going to be responsible for making me quit producing holsters! My wonderful wife showed me some techniques used on a traditional sewing machine, and emphasized that I need to use some patience. She was right. What helped me the most was slowing everything down and taking it one step at a time. I made several holsters out of scrap belly just to stitch on them. Take the turns nice and slow, pivot when necessary, and don't be in any type of a rush. Practice, practice, practice...you'll get it.

Looks great, Josh! Love the color choice for the inlay.

With all due respect, having made some holsters and sometimes wearing a gun isn't enough qualification to criticize a professional holstermaker with any degree of accuracy. I'm sure the gear you make is nice, and I'm sure you put a lot of thought into it's design. Don't you think that someone that sells gunleather for a living does the same thing? Lou Alessi made a few pancakes the same way, with an angled rear slot. So does my buddy, Particle. No worries, I don't take any of this personally. I, as you saw, don't care for angled slots. By your drawing, which is fine, you would never be able to thread the holster on the belt because of the position of the front and rear loops. The front is right on the stitch line of the slide and wouldn't bend, and the rear is too close to the stitch line at the muzzle and also wouldn't bend. Abram, I think the best way to evaluate the pattern is to make it, and go from there. We can speculate all we want, and to a degree, will be beneficial, but real-world experience is what will dicate the changes that should be made. Good luck!

Where's the logic in this? Angled slots are used all the time, and if you have ever made or used a holster with them, you'd know that they are not a disadvantage. In fact, Gary Brommeland makes a rig where his rear slot at an angle is a feature of the holster. http://brommelandgunleather.com/Products/def-con.htm As I previously stated, the degree of muzzle rake you have going on in this holster is extreme, but for some folks, is required because they wear the gun back around 5:00. Try drawing from a straight-drop or one with 10 degrees when it's back there - not happening. I also think that the front slot was better where it was, because if you bring it in too far, you're not going to get a bend in the front of the holster for the belt to thread through and the holster won't want to contour against the body. It looks like your revised pattern has the gun low enough to get away with it, but keep in mind, it's not going to work without a gun belt. Just my opinion.

You don't have to thin it. I dip dye mine at full strength, unless I'm looking for a shade of brown that I can't get easily straight from the bottle, or if I want a custom color. If I do thin it, I use denatured alcohol. A word of caution, if you decide to use dye that's been heavily diluted, as stated above, you're going to dry out the leather quickly. Dipping it and waiting till dry and then possibly dipping again and again will lead to brittle leather.

High ride with an extreme forward cant. The weight of the gun is above the belt, and there's no meat left underneath to counter the roll you're going to get. IMO, you won't be happy with how it rides, and even with a gun belt, the holster is going to want to roll away from your body. The rear slot is also too far away from the gun, so even if it doesn't roll, the butt will tip out. This is all even more prominent the further back toward 5:00 you wear this holster, which is required to draw the gun with the amount of muzzle rake you have going on there. Finally, the leather at the muzzle will pucker once you insert the gun, which might expose it. It's a good start, but I think if you're looking for a high-ride extreme cant holster, you need to lower it, and give the holster some more meat under the belt to counter the roll.

Thanks, fellas!

Did this green gun ever work out? How detailed is it compared the Blue Guns?

They told me that it's split after being holstered, so it shouldn't affect it's weight at all. But they also told me that mine was split from 10oz and my 8oz had loads of flesh on the belly and bottom shoulder area. When I inquired about this, I was informed that it must not have been split from the heavier leather and that it must have been a mistake.

It was new to me, too. They put it through giant rollers that exert several tons of pressure on the leather making it firmer and stiffer when dried. It's awesome, really, and it does work. It also costs nothing extra. Yes, in fact, there's an entire sub-forum dedicated to suppliers: http://leatherworker...hp?showforum=21

I don't mind to wait at all. I mind when I'm told one thing and something different is actually happening. If it is going to take 2-3 weeks, then tell me that. Don't tell me it will ship in 1 week, and then 3 weeks later that it's still somewhere in the splitting department. You know? I also didn't order after I ran out - I ordered in anticipation of running out soon. If they would have given a more accurate timeline, I would have ordered from Springfield AND Wickett and Craig...and this thread wouldn't exist! With that said, it's pretty amazing the differences between the two leathers and I can see why using 1 for different types of holsters is beneficial. They're both great.

Great looking rig, Eric! Man, I love white thread on gunleather! I use hard-action Line 24 snaps for the straps of my IWB holsters and have had ZERO problems or issues with them. They are mighty strong and in my opinion, if it takes enough force to draw the gun that you may risk one of these snaps coming undone, you better check your holster retention first. I've had zero complaints in the 3 years I'v ebeen using them,. The snaps on the holster I use for my 1911 are as secure and tight as the day they were set. With that, I do believe that there are appropriate uses for the PTD snaps, and if they weren't so expensive, I'd order a 100 and see. Truth is, I've just never needed them.

Again, I also love the leather. Their leather would be my first choice and I made some incredible holsters with it. Under the bus? No, that was my experience, and the title of this thread. I waited 3 weeks to get something I was told would take 1, and I still never got it. Do you do business like that? If you did, could you fault anyone for telling others? Like I said, maybe I'm a small fish in a big pond and my experience was an isolated incident amongst everyone else. That doesn't mean that it didn't happen and can't happen again. Perhaps I'll roll the dice again someday, as it was great material.

While your explanation could be the reason for my experience, I was told different things about when it would ship. I assumed that telling me that it would ship out the same day or within the next 2 days meant that they had information about where it was in the process. After all, they had 3 weeks to get an overstock side to me, and still couldn't ship it when they said they would. Like I said, I love the leather and everything about it. If I could actually get it, I'd still be using it. Too bad.

Let me start by saying that I don't do a large amount of holsters and gear per month. I'm not a big-time holstermaker, and I definitely don't measure my success by quantity. I don't buy 10+ sides at a time - I buy 1 at a time. With that, I've been using Springfield Leather for my source fo Hermann Oak leather for a while now. Kevin always seems to know what I'm looking for, and the leather I get is top-notch. Plus, Springfield has other things to play with like shark, horse, etc. A few months ago I decided to give Wickett and Craig (WC) a try - you know, just to see how they compare. The allure of using WC was that I was buying direct from the tanner, and they would split it to 8oz even for no charge - plus, they 'holster' the leather for free. My first side took 2 weeks to come in. When it did, it was as limp as a wet noodle. It was absolutely good for nothing to me, albeit very pretty leather. Evidently, it was split too thin and wasn't holstered. It went back. After 2 more weeks of waiting, I got what I ordered the first time (I had to be refunded, then charged again, it it matters). Man, this leather was gorgeous and firm. I made several holsters from this side and they all turned out great. On Dec 21 I ordered again from Glenn and was advised that it might take them some time to get it to me because they were busy. He quoted me a week to ship it out. Fine with me. A week and a day later, I hadn't been charged yet, so I called. I was told it was going out this week. I called again on Jan 9th and was informed that it would be going out that day or at the latest, Wednesday. I cancelled my order yesterday because ti was still somewhere in the tannery. At no point were any of the sales staff really concerned, and the only time they did anything fast was when I wanted to cancel my order. Wickett and Craig has amazing leather, but their customer service is piss poor. I guess I'm just a small fish in a big pond to them. Right after I got off the phone with WC, I called Springfield, placed an order, and a few hours later got the tracking number via email. <-- This is service. Springfield has always made me feel like they want my business, and actually care about the customer. Thanks, Kevin!

His domain points here: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/knife_store/index.php?store_id=799&display_home_page=y I understand wanting to go with a cms - most of the popular ones are mature enough to handle most people's needs, anyway. They're also dead-easy to set up. The only real conflict with them is when you want to start incorporating truly custom content/code, and have to start altering system templates. Even then, it's still not a big deal. Enjoy!

Thanks, I didn't think anyone noticed. RMB, is this your site? http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com If so, add a domain to your hosting package that's already set up. FWIW, I've used 1and1.com for years with no issues or surprises.

PM Johanna - she can change it for you. http://leatherworker....php?showuser=5

I'm in a giving mood! The html for your page &lt;form action="make-order.php" method="post" id="order-frm" name="order-frm"&gt; Your name &lt;input type="text" name="user-name" id="user-name" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Your email address &lt;input type="text" name="email" id="email" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Thread color: &lt;select name="thread-color"&gt; &lt;option value="white"&gt;White&lt;/option&gt; &lt;option value="brown"&gt;Brown&lt;/option&gt; &lt;option value="black"&gt;Black&lt;/option&gt; &lt;/select&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Leather color: &lt;select name="leather-color"&gt; &lt;option value="natural"&gt;Natural&lt;/option&gt; &lt;option value="brown"&gt;Brown&lt;/option&gt; &lt;option value="black"&gt;Black&lt;/option&gt; &lt;/select&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Left/Right hand &lt;select name="hand"&gt; &lt;option value="right"&gt;Right&lt;/option&gt; &lt;option value="left"&gt;Left&lt;/option&gt; &lt;/select&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;input type="submit" name="sub-bttn" id="sub-bttn" value="Send order" /&gt; &lt;/form&gt; The php to process the data and send an email (save this code as make-order.php). &lt;?php // Script to accept form values and mail to yourself. // By US GUNLEATHER - 01.09.2012 // Site vars (edit these to suit your needs) $site_url = "Your site url"; // no www's or http's (ex. mycoolsite.com) // Where should this order be sent to? $recipient = "youremail@soemthing.com"; // Subject for the mail $mailsubject = "An order has been placed!"; // This is the page you'll send users to after the form is submitted $success = "thankyou.htm"; // Form vars $user_name = $_POST['user-name']; $email = $_POST['email']; $thread = $_POST['thread-color']; $leather = $_POST['leather-color']; $hand = $_POST['hand']; $today = date('l dS \of F Y h:i:s A'); // Mail headers $headers = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . "\r\n"; $headers .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . "\r\n"; $headers. = "From: ".$email." \r\n"; $headers .= "Reply-To: " . $email . "\r\n"; $headers .= "X-Mailer: PHP/" . phpversion(); // Build mail message $mail_body = "Order from: " . $user_name . " (". $email .") \r\n". "Leather: " . $leather . "&lt;br /&gt;" . "Thread: " . $thread . "&lt;br /&gt;" . "Hand: " . $hand . "&lt;br /&gt; \r\n" . "********************************* \r\n" . "Order placed on " . $today; // fire mail function and redirect on success if(mail($recipient, $mailsubject, $mail_body, $headers) or die("Couldn't mail it out")){ header("location: ". $success); } ?&gt; I can't test this at the moment, but I think it should work. Let me know if it needs tweaking.