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Thanks LeatherCaptain! I'm actually in the middle of stitching one up right now that has a reinforced sweat shield. I'm not sure it's really necessary for OWB carry, but thought I'd give it a try. At some point I'd like to start lining my holsters, which is why this particular holster wasn't reinforced - the pattern would eventually be lined, effectively helping to reinforce the sweat shield. Regarding the belt loop, I simply designed the holster with a heavy sheet of paper, cut the pattern out, then folded it around my pistol. Then start sketching out the reinforcement piece and carry it along to the back of the holster and draw in the belt loop tunnel. Make sure the tunnel aligns with your belt slot. Once you've gotten your pattern pretty well defined, build it out of scrap leather. I've actually built this particular pattern 3 times now. The first time (Saddle Tan in a previous post of mine) exposed a few design flaws with my lines - stitches were exposed to excessive wear at the trigger guard area, the sweat guard was too high and wrapped around the front too far, and I didn't like the stitch line around the bottom of the slide (tried to mimic one of my favorite makers, but the stitch lines work better for his overall design than they did with mine). I revised my pattern to go around the trigger guard, shortened the sweat guard and shortened the area around the end of the barrel, then built this black one. Now I'm on my third (still under construction), where I've tweaked the stitch line around the bottom of the slide, added a reinforced sweat shield, and dyed it before assembly to keep the thread natural. My next holster will likely be tweaked again - I'll likely play around with the reinforcement piece a bit, but haven't really decided how yet.

Sorry I can't be more help, but when I first looked at the attached pic, I thought it looked like a Sig. I did a quick google, and I found this: "Their C45 looks a lot like a rebadged Pakistani-built Sig P220." If I were you, I'd start by looking for a pattern for the Sig P220, and bone it to fit your gun.

Money's tight, but I need an affordable machine. I'm about to order the Boss, but want to make sure I buy the correct accessories for making holsters and belts. Will the "Center" foot work for me? Or is the standard foot that it ships with fine? I'll probably get the material guide too. Is the lube box necessary? What size thread does it ship with?

Thanks! Don't have a press, but every time I start shaping a holster I sure wish I did!! I just start with the knuckles, then progress to a few wooden tools that I got years ago in a pottery/sculpture class I took in junior college. There is a bunch of tools available at the local Hobby store in the clay modeling section. You don't need anything fancy and/or pretty - just something smooth and durable. And I use the basic bone folder tool too. Thanks! Yes, it firmed up significantly!! I put the previous one back in the oven after a good soak to penetrate the finish, and it firmed up too. Thanks! My wife knew I was drooling for one, and she surprised me with it for Christmas a year ago with her bonus.

Thanks Denster! Once I get my workbench built in my garage (with storage space for hides below), I'll have to look at the drum dyed hides. Do they bone/tool as easily as a plain veg tan hide? Sounds like a good approach! I have the holster sitting in front of me - dye looks fine. I think what you're seeing is light reflections. The blue tint is sky light leaking in through my blinds, and the purplish light is from the compact fluorescent bulbs in my fan and desk lamps.

I'm still tweaking this pattern, but I think it's getting very close. This is the first time I've made a black holster. Never really thought I'd like black, but I sure do now. Next time, I'll be sure to wear gloves... Herman Oak 8/9oz, Fiebing's Professional Black, Acrylic Resolene airbrushed finish, wrapped around a Dan Wesson Commander Bobtail 1911. Please let me know if you see any room for improvement. Headed out to my garage to build another one!!

To me, it's the difference between a $70 holster and a $140+ holster. A $70 will probably serve the owner as well as a Timex watch, but some people would rather pay for a Rolex. I've seen some big name makers that charge mucho bucks, but their holsters look like they're burried under 12 months of orders... A quality holster should be built well with quality materials, and it should look like the maker wants the buyer to appreciate the skill that went into making it. Boning isn't a must - but it must retain the gun! Tucker is an example of this. His HF1 is one of my favorite designs. Brigade is me other favorite. To be fair and honest, I've never handled either.

Very nice! May I ask what tool or technique you use to tool the recess in the trigger guard? Love your maker stamp.

The thread was actually the same spool that came with my Speedy Stitcher Sewing Awl - it held its color very well after dying with the Pro dye. I just bought a larger spool of it because I really like the thickness and the color.

Thanks for the responses everyone - I did try heat, but perhaps I didn't do it long enough. My oven tends to run at about 140 on the warm setting, so I usually just let it hit that temp for a little while, then shut it off and let the holster sit in there as the oven cools. Last time, it worked great. With this current holster, it had no effect. I really think it was a bad section of leather, and was hoping that a chemical such as this might be added after the fact to solve such problems.

My latest attempt at a holster left me with some areas of the leather that didn't stiffen up after dying. Can anyone tell me what this solution might be? The image is from Brigade Holsters. The caption under the photo says "Dipped in a mix of solution for added strength and longevity." It looks like watered down Elmer's Glue, but I know it's probably not... They have many more photos at the bottom of the page via the following link: http://www.brigadegunleather.com/m-11.html

Steelhawk - only real trick is to sew on the reinforcement piece first, before you bend and sew the holster closed. Here are some pics with the gun in it. Don't have any with me wearing it. And here is a few of the gun... Here is the other side. This is actuallly my first CBOB - I sent it back for warranty repairs because the grip safety was inoperative. Turns out the frame was out of spec, so they gave me a brand new one (thus my actual serial number is now different than what is shown on the following pistol).

Thanks dickf! The color is Fiebing's Pro Saddle Tan. The method is to put the holster in a zip-top baggie, pour in the dye and slosh it around until all surfaces have dye on them (I don't buy my dye in large quantities yet, but will need to now as I'm out of Saddle Tan). Once covered, I pull the holster out and hit the puddles with a dauber to remove the excess. Then I cut a corner off the baggie and drain the excess back into the dye bottle. I let the holster air dry overnight in front of a small fan. It's amazing how well the Pro dye evens out on its own. The Herman Oak is 8/9 oz. I'm not sure about the section of hide I cut this holster from - some areas were very hard to cut, and others cut like butter. Also, some areas got very stiff (like I'm used to), and others seemed to barely stiffen at all. For example, the belt slot area is soft, but the reinforced area over the slide is very stiff. The belt loop is very stiff, but the sweat guard is a limp noodle. Not really concerned about it since this was my first attempt with a new pattern and I figured I'd screw it up some how. I'll choose a better portion of the hide with my next attempt. When I took the pics, the Resolene wasn't fully cured. I'll try to take some pics tonight and update the thread.

I think the book SunshineNative is referring to is "How To Make Holsters" by Al Stohlman. Basically, it tells you to take a piece of card stock or heavy paper, fold it in half, then lay the gun down (after the obvious safety check...) on its sights centered on the fold in the paper. Then lay it down on its side without moving the gun's location on the paper. Trace the outline of the gun, then remove the gun. I think he suggests at least 3/4" clear around the trigger guard and also at the barrel. Once you get the pattern drawn for the first half, cut around the pattern line for the first half, then fold it on the fold line you previously made, and trace the cut line to the other half of the pattern, add any belt loop folds if you are using that method, then cut the rest of the pattern. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/department/Books-Patterns/stohlman-leather-craft-books/6055-00.aspx?feature=Product_8

Thanks Lobo for the compliments. Do you find that the stitching looks as good as the front if you don't groove the back side first?

I work in the design department at a large architecture firm in north Dallas, doing architectural renderings, websites, marketing brochures, and CAD drafting. I also run my own little CAD drafting business from home that helps to supplement the income, though the income has really dropped off significantly since construction has slowed so much. Thus, I'm looking to get into holster making as another side business...

Good evening everyone - I just finished my first Avenger style holster. Actually, there were several firsts with this holster for me. Obviously, I'd never done an Avenger style before, but I also am using my first piece of Herman Oak tooling side (much different than the Tandy hides...). I also completely hand stitched this one using an awl instead of a drill press. Overall, I am very pleased with this holster. I had to tweak the cut lines a bit after I'd already formed up the holster - the sweat shield was too tall, and wrapped around towards the front too much, so I cut some away (thus the vanishing groove line on the back side). I also trimmed some length from the barrel end. Lastly, I didn't get my stitch groove lined up on the back side, so my stitches are way outside of the groove. In comparison to my previous holster attempts, I lowered the top edge considerably to make sure CT Laser Grips would work without further modifications to the pattern, and I also left more room between the top of the holster and the front strap on the pistol - thanks dickf! I tried to mimic the stitching line around the belt slot that Tucker uses - I LOVE his holsters. But, I think on future attempts, I'll just sew closer to the barrel shroud unless someone can tell me a good reason why he does this. I probably should have punched holes at the ends of the cut at the back for the belt slot. Oh yeah - I should have kept it away from the kitchen sink... a couple drops of water spalshed on it by the trigger guard. Anyway, let me know what you think, and please let me know if you see room for improvement in my technique and/or pattern.

I've been using QuickBooks Simple Start Online Edition since January of 2006, and I really like it. It was, and continues to be free for me... My employer bought a new Dell computer at the beginning of 2006, and it included a free copy of the program. They had no use for the subscription, so I signed up under my name. Anyway, my free copy is limited to 50 clients, so it doesn't really work for large scale sales as each customer counts as (1) client. I have a small CAD drafting side job that I do from home, and this program works great for me.

Personally, the only backup method I use is to a portable hard drive (I also upload my photos to an online photo site - SmugMug). I use a free utility from Microsoft called SyncToy. You can create synchronization presets that, for example, automatically sync's your My Docs folder from your computer to the portable drive. You could create a preset for your fonts as well. From there, you can select the individual presets you wish to run, or you can run them all at once. You can make mirrored copies, or additive, etc. Very easy to use - I've used it for at least two years. Almost every time I leave the house, my portable drive goes with me because I almost always carry my Maxpedition Versipack with a ton of junk, like headphones, charging cables, multi-tool, etc., and of course my portable hard drive that's USB powered. If you're interested in the drive, it's a Western Digital Passport. My current drive is 320 gig, and it's not much larger than my iPhone.

Very nice cgleather - that's exactly what I'm looking for. Many thanks!

Rhona - those are beautiful sheaths! What I was actually looking for was something for the leather round knife, similar to the sheath shown at the very beginning of this video (linked below). But your sheaths definitely give me some ideas to 'kick it up a notch'! Thanks! Beautiful work.

I recently purchased my first round knife, and am looking for ideas for a sheath for it. Anyone care to post pics of their sheath? I have an idea how I want to make it, but would like to see what others have done.

Thanks for the offer Dan - I really appreciate it. I have already contacted the potential buyer and let him know I was not currently equipped to build his order. Thanks for the lead on Duncan though - I had not stumbled across their dummies yet.

Gentlemen, thank you all for your responses. I am going to turn down the job and tell him I am not currently equipped to make holsters for 3" guns. My initial goal was to make holsters specifically designed to fit my make/model gun. This way I didn't have to get into intricacies of different manufacturers and accessories. Perhaps when I get more experienced I can venture out into the blue-gun arena. I do thank everyone for their input - it is sincerely appreciated. dickf - I would be interested in hearing more about your comment about scalloping the trigger area. If you prefer to PM me, I understand. And for clarification, I am only making my holsters Cocked & Locked - never really even considered building one with the safety disengaged.

Thanks guys - I appreciate the info. I don't actually have a blue gun for a 1911 - I have an actual Dan Wesson Commander Bobtail (CBOB) with a 4.25" barrel. I'll have to look at some photos and compare the safeties of the Kimber with my DW. I thought that laser grips bulged out at the top, but I haven't researched that yet. Denter - that's good info with the measurements. For reference, he asked me to make a holster just like this one that I recently made, but for his 3" gun.