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That's pretty sweet looking! Nicely done.

Thanks! I'll look them up.

I had a customer contact me this morning asking if I could add frog skin to my reinforcement piece on a holster. I tried searching for from skin over my lunch break, but can't find any prices listed and don't know which of the 'google' finds are a reputable source with a quality product. The customer is wanting a cognac colored skin.

Great question - I'd like to know this too...

WOW! Very cool stuff!! I'll start off by saying I know next to nothing about airbrushing scenes like you're doing, but have you tried any of the products designed for screen printing? A quick google search found this interesting thread. http://www.t-shirtforums.com/screen-printing/t85337.html

Hi Chris88 - I'm using the standard presser foot that came with the machine, and I added the stirrup plate attachment - it really helps when sewing avenger style holsters. I should probably take it off when I'm sewing belts and stuff, but I just leave it on all the time.

The beveled edge isn't really a necessity - it just helps protect your knuckles when you're stropping your blade. If you don't have an edge beveler, just wet the edge with a sponge and rub the corner down with a bone folder, stick, whatever you have access to.

(cough, cough)

Take a scrap piece of lumber, like a 1x4x12. Apply contact cement to the back of a piece of scrap leather that is larger than the lumber, and also apply the cement to one face of the lumber. Once the cement dries, stick the two together and trim the leather to the size of the lumber. Chamfer the edges of the leather with your edger. Using a non-softened, excessively hard chunk of white rouge...., briskly rub it across the surface of the leather. You'll begin to see the rouge transfer to the leather. You don't need much, as too much rubbing can create an uneven surface on your strop. Once this is done, you're good to go. Don't oil your leather - just apply the rouge.

Have you ever used a manual bench-mounted splitter? I've only used one - it's a little model I picked up from another forum member. I don't recall off-hand, but I think it only has about a 5" cutting surface. In my opinion, when it says it's a 5" cutter, that doesn't seem to really mean it can cut 5", because manually splitting that large of a surface area takes some serious strength and effort, with plenty of leather on the out-feed side to pull on. Or, maybe my blade just isn't quite sharp enough, which is probably partly my problem. So, to answer your question in my limited-experience, best guess, trying to be helpful attempt... You should be able to split your leather down just fine, provided it's narrow enough for you to physically pull it through the splitter, and long enough that you have something to get a good grip on as you pull it through the splitter.

I agree with the others that mention putting it on the back. By no means would I agree to leave it off completely.

Hello everyone - glad so many people have been able to watch the videos and found them useful! I believe the user/pass should still be active, so feel free to swing by to watch the vids if you haven't caught them yet. I'll be deactivating the account on Monday....

Thanks for the compliments everyone! Cattle Hide - I agree about the photos of the finished product. I plan on doing more of them, for different styles of holsters, and will make sure to include the step of dividing out that pattern into individual pieces. Steven - the bone folder in that video was an old one I bought back in the mid 90's when I was an Art major. As I mentioned in the video, it broke when I pulled too hard to shape a belt tunnel. I was in the middle of forming a batch of holsters and needed something quick, so I had my wife pick up a pack at Hobby Lobby to get by until I could buy a real bone replacement. They were cheap plastic junk that flexed way too much - couldn't do squat with them on leather. So, I ordered a bone folder from Springfield Leather. I believe it's made by Osborne.

Some of you may know that I've created a free tutorial video and made it available on my website and on YouTube. I've just recently added two new videos to my website, though this time they will not be made freely available (hey, bills to pay, and mouths to feed!). In an effort to help spread the word, and also to give back to the Leatherworker.net community, I'm temporarily making these two new videos available to the LW.net forum with the following login information. If you view the videos and find them useful, I'd much appreciate if you'd spread the word... The login information will expire around 9:35 PM Central time on 6/10/11, but I may extend it another 24 hours if enough people are interested in watching it and don't see this post before then. www.adamsleatherworks.com - login with the following information, then click the "How's it Made" link at the top to navigate to the videos. username: alwguest password: guest Take care, Eric

I tool quite a few of my holsters. Yes, some of the detail is lost when the holster is wet for forming, but not so much that I'd consider it a "no-go". You can check out my gallery for a few examples of holsters I've tooled. I wouldn't recommend tooling an entire holster, unless you are not planning on detail molding it to the firearm. I only tool the reinforcement piece, which leaves plenty of area remaining for detail forming. Generally speaking, I cut the pieces, then tool, then dye, then assemble. I try to tool pretty deeply - that way when the holster is wet, I usually retain more detail when the holster is dunked for forming. http://www.adamsleatherworks.com/index.php/ordering/gallery/

I used a drill press early on. When I drilled my holes, I always made sure to have a scrap piece of wood behind the leather - this helps to produce a MUCH cleaner hole as the bit exits the leather. If you haven't tried that yet, give it a shot. Also, once you're done sewing, dampen the leather and run over the stitches with your overstitch wheel - this will help to even out the thread and push down the puckers. You can also run your bone folder over the thread to help push it into the leather right after you wet the holster for forming. Here's one of my early holsters where I used a drill press for the holes.

Thanks for the head's up! I take it they haven't incorporated the new models into their site? I looked up a few of them, and didn't see them listed yet.

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=28482&view=findpost&p=178649

Yes, but I dye very early in the process - way before gumming anything. My previous comment wasn't about dying - it was just about sealing with the finish coat. Thanks! I started using two brushed on coats of Satin Sheen. I would brush it on very heavy, then while it was still wet, I'd take a folded paper towel and (using the same spot on the paper towel) wipe away the excess. I did two coats this way. Then, I started airbrushing on a final coat (over the Satin Sheen) of Resolene. Then......, I switched to Angelus 600 and airbrushed it on. I wasn't really happy with how tacky it felt.... Lately, I've been watering the Angelus 600 down 50/50 with water and brushing it on. The tacky feeling seems to have gone away. I apply two coats this way. If there happens to be streaks, I will airbrush a light final coat. Hope this helps!

Thanks fellas! I appreciate the compliments.

Burnish the interior with Gum Trag, then airbrush the finish inside the holster, wait a moment for the finish to soak in, stick my fingers inside the holster to hold it, then continue with spraying the exterior. Let it dry in front of a fan, then repeat once it's dry. I usually spray a little heavier coat on the interior with the first application.

Thanks fellas - I admit, I was pretty pleased with the badge holder. With my first attempt, I was laying out the pieces by tracing paper (card stock) templates that were cut out by hand so the circles were less than perfect. Multiple pieces to the pattern = multiple chances for less than perfect circles. Glue them together, sand the edges flush, and you have a mess on your hands with an overall out-of-round piece. This time I used some old architectural dividers with very sharp points on them, adjusted them to size with my ruler, then scratched the patterns on the leather. I was able to cut almost perfect circles this way, and the little hole in the center is barely noticeable and is completely covered up once the badge is installed. I agree about the star - beautiful badges. I think this badge is his spare - never been used I guess, because it was perfectly polished with no signs of wear.

I asked them about it a while back, but opted not to get it that way. Since I offer tooling as an option, I'd rather stick with the normal, easier to tool stuff.

I haven't posted much of my work lately, but thought I'd throw these out there for comments & critiques. Kahr P9 - the customer requested I build this for his Kahr K9. He said the fit was perfect, so I guess I'll add the K9 to my gun list! The tooling got a little sloppy in places - for some reason, this hide doesn't seem to cut very smoothly with the swivel knife. I'm sure it's something I'm doing wrong, so if anyone has any suggestions on how to get my swivel knife to slide through the leather more smoothly, I'd like to hear it. For what it's worth, I sharpened, then stropped it till it had a nice polish on it and it didn't really help. I made this holster for my dad's Springfield XDm 3.8. Still working on my revolver holster skills.... This is a Ruger LCR. The dye on this one came out a little splotchy... The reinforcement came out a little too dark on this one. That's the problem with mixing leathers from different makers... The reinforcement on the mag pouch is Herman Oak - the rest of the leather is Wicket & Craig, which is much lighter in color than the H.O. I tried to compensate by applying less dye to the reinforcement, but I still put too much on. I attempted a badge holder for the first time a while back (without an actual badge), but wasn't at all happy with the direction the design was heading. After posting my struggles on the board, someone was kind enough to post their examples. To whomever you are (sorry I didn't look up the post before I started typing this one), thank you for your input! I obscured the badge information - not sure if it's okay to show the guy's name or not... Thanks for looking!

That looks great! Love the decorative stitches. If you're looking for feedback, the only thing I might suggest is that you try balancing the stitch on the right with the one on the left if you have the room. The one on the left looks great, but the one on the right almost looks incomplete to me. Dunno - maybe it's just me... Looks great though! How did you end those decorative stitches? Did you tie them off on the back?