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Whoa!! What kind of gun is that....? Okay - first off - if the tape did it, that sucks. The finish sucks too, but it sucks that the tape was able to damage it. That being said, the top of the barrel is going to take some wear anyway with use. I had a Springfield XD and ended up polishing it to remove the black coating that was wearing away anyway with normal use. Do you have a black dry-erase marker? If so, color the affected area with the marker, then cycle the slide a few times to see if the movement wipes the marker off. If so, it's normal wear and you didn't do it. If it doesn't go away, just wipe it off - use a little windex if you have to. You might also call the manufacturer to find out what kind of finish it is and ask why it was so easily damaged (assuming the previous step proves it was the tape). It may be able to be repaired under warranty by the owner. He may be relieved to find out he has a faulty finish on his barrel that can be repaired under warranty.

Very nice! The black one likes nice, but I really like the brown one.

Can you post a picture? Have you tried oiling the gun? I use blue painters tape and have never had a problem. The tape usually leaves a dull finish because it grabs and removes the surface oils to some extent. Wipe it down with an oiled piece of cloth or a silicone cloth and see if that helps.

A lot of it will depend on which gun you want to promote the most. For example, I initially started with my personal 4.25" 1911. I posted progress work here, and also posted a lot on my state's concealed carry forum. And of course, I posted on the 1911 message board. Since then, I've added quite a few other makes and models to my dummy gun list, but I don't visit any of the related message boards - I'm not marketing to that sector of shooters. Thus, the overwhelming majority of my work is for the basic 1911's - 3", 4.25" and 5" non-railed models. Lately I've gotten a lot more requests for the EMP as well. So, my suggestion to you is this - If you're relatively new to making holsters, find a particular gun you really like and enjoy working with. Get used to the lines and details of that firearm, then focus on perfecting your skills at holster making with that one make/model of gun (for example, all the 1911's, or all the Glocks, etc.). Once you're comfortable with "how" to make a holster, diversify your model offering to other makes/models. If you're already comfortable with building holsters, then figure out which message boards you want to frequent and start posting photos of your work (don't immediately start pushing your products, just show off your stuff). If you have loads of money set aside, then by all means, start buying as many dummies as you can afford. But, be prepared to sit on them for a while until your name gets out there and people start promoting your product for you on the various message boards. Likewise, make a list of all the possible dummies out there. Look at the list and determine which guns you absolutely do not want to make/buy. Then, put the rest of the dummy list on your website. If someone buys a holster for "X" gun, order the dummy right then - just make sure the customer knows there is a basic turnaround time for new orders (like at least 2-3 weeks), since it will take a while to receive the new dummy and build the holster. That way, you're not out a lot of money for dummies up front, but it will take a while to turn a profit if you're always buying new dummies. But, if you're putting out a good product, your customers will hopefully show off their new holster on their favorite message board, and you'll likely get repeat orders for that dummy. Hope this helps...

Since I pulled that from my scrap bin, I can't say for sure. But, it was on the top of the pieces and my most recent hides have all come from Wicket & Craig. Their hides are 8-10 oz. It was a thicker piece than normal, so I'm going to say it leaned more towards the 10 oz thickness.

I think each cow hide, how it tanned, where the piece was cut from the hide, the density of the grain, thickness, age of the tanned hide, how it was stored, etc. all affect the way it reacts to the various things we subject it to. That's an interesting idea to combine the two presses. I'd be curious to see a kydex comparison between only the kydex press, only the vacuum press, and the combined method to see the difference in detail you can obtain. It seems like sticking the kydex in the vacuum bag, clamping it closed, then inserting it into the kydex press would give the kydex too much time to cool, making it more difficult to form? I haven't worked with Kydex yet, so I'm not sure how difficult it is to regulate that ideal working temperature.

Thanks - I gave them a call. A little peculiar... I called to ask if their entire color selection is available in 277 thread, but they're going to have to call back to let me know if "they" have it, referring to some outside source they get their thread from. I never imagined buying thread would be such an ordeal...

Thanks! Generally, I dunk about 5-7 seconds. The actual time might vary a little. Natural will take less, and something dyed completely black (inside and out) may take a little more. If you're boning the detail completely by hand, you might lean more towards a quicker dunk. If you use a vacuum press (like I do), you can get the leather a little more damp because the vacuum pump will help to remove the moisture from the leather. Note that there is a bit of a trade-off. Less damp will hold the detail better as you form it, but it will also be a little more difficult to initially shape the leather to your firearm. More damp will be easier to form, but it will 'bounce back' a bit - meaning you'll have to go back over your work several times (like I did in the video). If you're using a dummy, you might dunk it longer so it's easier to form, then once the dummy is inserted in the holster, set a fan next to your bench to help dry the leather as you work it. If you're using an actual firearm, it's probably best to not over-wet the leather. I have another video on my site that shows how I form an Avenger style holster to a 1911 if you're interested.

Thanks - I came across their site over the weekend, but at the time was looking for something with more "red". I see they have Chinese Rust, though only a small spool of Natural. Getting closer...

Okay - I spent most of my lunch break trying to track down the best place to buy my next 1 lb cones of thread. I originally ordered my thread from Tippmann (277 Anefil Bonded Nylon American Efird), but need to place a new order and would like the following 3 or 4 colors : White Natural Red (in two of the following American & Efird or similar manufacturer's colors) Light Copper Chinese Rust Fisherman Red http://www.amefird.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Americas_Color_Palette_Download_7-2011.pdf I'm thinking with my reds, I'd like to have a deeper/darker red (Chinese Rust or Fisherman Red), and perhaps an orange'ish red (Light Copper). I'm finding most of the sources that sell thread only carry one or two colors (black, white, brown). Weaver sells "Red" and "Henna" in 277, but only "Sand" instead of "Tan" (which graphically appears much closer to my current spool of "Natural" from Tippmann). Granted, I've always thought the "Natural" and "White" from Tippmann were very close once it's on the leather, so I wouldn't be opposed to buying "Sand" from Weaver. http://www.leathersupply.com/downloads/catalog/SewingMachines&Such.pdf (last page) Anyway, I'm looking for a "one stop shop". Any ideas? I'm open to another manufacturer if that will help. I admittedly know very little about thread - I will be using it strictly for holsters and belts in my Tippmann Boss. If there is another brand I should be looking at, I'm open to it. My Mini Cooper's owner's manual is stored in a black leather pouch. It has an orange'ish red thread - I love the color combination. Here is a crappy photo of one I found on the web. It looks much more red in this photo - in real life, it's more orange.

FYI - I still have this video available for free viewing for a little while longer. I added a little more length to the end (it's now 44 minutes long) so I could add the missing parks on my reinforcement piece, and also did a mock-up holster to test the pattern, and close with a brief discussion of what adjustments I'd make to the pattern to perfect it moving forward. I had quite a few technical difficulties with this one, as the raw video footage was almost 31 gigs (I'm doing all this editing on my laptop)... and my microphone accidentally came unplugged towards the end as I was moving my camera around to film different steps so I had to do a voice-over at the very end. Oh well - I'll get the bugs worked out one of these days!!

That looks great! I like how the stem curls around the snap.

For what it's worth, here's a shot of one of my holsters from the back using the method I described. But I agree with Dwight and TwinOaks - that might be a better idea if you have the time to do it.

Are you backstitching like is shown on the Tippmann video on their website? (Start sewing at the end of the line, stitch forward one stitch, pull it backwards and stitch the same hole again, stitch forward one more stitch, then reverse again and then proceed forward) If so, I agree that method looks like a turd, but it's probably a more durable lock stitch than what I am about to describe. Here is what I do - run a test stitch on the same thickness of leather, then get a pair of wing dividers and spread the dividers to the center of 4 or 5 stitches. Transfer that distance to your piece. Start sewing forward at that measurement, but you'll be sewing back towards the beginning of the line. Now, rotate the point around 180 degrees and proceed to stitch like normal. Once done, turn the piece around and sew back 4 or 5 stitches. If you're worried about it coming undone, put a dab of super glue on the ends of the thread and mash it down with a spoon. You can also dampen the stitch line with a sponge and hammer the holes closed with a smooth-faced hammer.

Thanks! FYI - because of the way I have the videos are setup with a 24 hour rental policy, the username automatically stopped working after 24 hours. If someone tried to view it within the last couple/few hours and it didn't show up for you, it should work now.

Good catch - thanks for pointing that out!! If you notice in the video, I hesitated a few times at random points - I was trying to think ahead and think of the best way to communicate things (but didn't want to edit the pauses out of the video if at all possible), which marks to transfer, etc. - I placed the overlay on top and was about to mark those two points but talked myself out of it. In my mind, I was thinking "I don't need to mark that any more, because I now bevel the entire front and back of the reinforcement (except for the top edge at the opening)" - I forgot to tell myself "hey dummy, you still need to mark it because that's your stitch start/stop points". I would have caught that the first time I actually made a holster from the pattern. Now that I know I need to add that to the video, what I may do is go back and record myself adding those dots, then make a holster from the pattern and show the resulting holster on video and make any adjustments to the pattern on video. Probably a good idea to do that anyway on future videos. Thanks again for pointing that out, and glad others are finding it helpful.

Any d-SLR will be perfectly fine for product photos. Get a body with the basic features you want, then spend the rest on good glass. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50/

I didn't say it made sense - but you don't see men getting made fun of for sitting on a floral saddle (I assume - I'm not really in the equestrian circles of friends), but you do see them getting made fun of for carrying man-bags. The more manly, the better. Perhaps it's just the execution of the floral pattern on the bag.

Someone posted a photo of a black holster a while back - they had rubbed silver paint over the tooling, then wiped it off - very cool effect! Is this something along the lines of what you're looking for?

Edvin - I sorta agree with Art, and I agree with your comments about cultural differences in the design appeal. The bag looks great, but I was initially wondering where the "frilly" (some might say girly, or feminine) design came from on the front flap. Obviously, it came from the shoe designs. For some reason, the design works on the shoes, but in a society (maybe just an American society) where men often get harassed by their coworkers for carrying a murse (male purse, man bag, etc.), anything that can make a bag more masculine, the better. You mention the result came from your "audience and market analysis". I'm sure you hit the nail on the head with your local audience and market. All that being said, I think you could simply remove the decorative "shoe" pattern completely, and widen the buckle straps to double what they are now, perhaps triple the width of the carry strap and pick a more rustic/masculine color and you'd be good to go for the American market (in my humble opinion). I think subtle changes like this are exactly what you attempted to achieve in your endeavor - to come up with a product that's easy to produce, and easy to adapt to a given market base to fine-tune the product quickly and easily.

I've only worked with Vinegaroon twice. The most recent one came out fine (for a revolver, and had very little forming), but the first one was a lesson in workflow... I don't know exactly what/how it works, but it's my understanding that Vinegaroon makes the leather almost water resistant because the properties of the leather have been altered. You will definitely have to soak it a very long time for the water to penetrate, but even then, I'd worry that you won't be able to effectively mold the holster. In my opinion, your best bet might be to start over, and apply the vinegaroon (instead of water) when you wet the leather for forming, or wait until after it's been formed (with water), and completely dried and hardened.

Thanks for the kind words Nooj - I appreciate it, and am glad you found the videos helpful!

Hello all - I just posted another video to my website showing how I make an avenger style holster pattern. I'm making it free to Leatherworker.net for a limited time. If you like the video, I'd appreciate it if you'd spread the word, though I'd like to keep the "Free" access to just the Leatherworker.net community please... As always, if you see something in the video you don't agree with, please let me know and I'll do what I can to correct anything that needs correct'n. http://www.adamsleat.../how-s-it-made/ user: alwguest pass: alwguest

That looks fantastic!

Thanks! I responded to your PM Denster. Good idea Troop - I forgot to try that. I looked at Photos on Google, and it looked like the Colt had a slightly wider rail (or the Operator had a slightly thicker frame).