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That looks fantastic!

Great looking stuff Chris - can't wait to watch your video when I get home!

Thanks! It's a Cobra Class 4 from http://www.leathermachineco.com/. The thread is 277 Bonded Nylon.

Interesting - pretty simple modification! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Art - if/when you have time, would you mind posting a photo of your modified die? I can probably handle the task of modding the die, but want to make sure I know what you're talking about before I commit to the purchase. Car trouble popped up, so that might have just eaten all my play money so I'm in no rush to buy.

What is the difference between the line 24 and the directional snap dies? I'm looking at the Rochford site and am not sure which dies to order for the directional snaps. And to confirm - the dies it comes with are in fact for the line 24 snaps?

I staple mine, but only because the thread method failed once. It was sewn with nylon thread (the knot failed). Had I used something like linen thread, it probably wouldn't have come untied, but now that I have a stapler, I just do that because it's so much quicker. Mine are 8oz, which is what my belts are made from as well.

Thanks David - I spent several hours at the drawing board (lap desk in front of my TV....) drawing the design and refining the art. I started with pencil on paper, then erased and cleaned up the piece, then traced the design on vellum with a permanent marker. One of these days I may scan the individual pieces (flowers, leaves, etc.) and create template files in illustrator so I can generate the artwork a little faster, but I just hate sitting in front of the computer at night after sitting at a desk all day at work. You're right - I definitely wouldn't want to use something like the Tandy leather on one side, and the W&C leather on the other, but so long as the two pieces aren't immediately visible (without folding, contorting, etc.), I'd be okay with using two different hides on a project, so long as they generally look the same and are from the same tannery. For example, I just finished a lined western-style holster for a coworker. The exterior was 8oz Wickett & Craig, and the lining was some leftover Tandy (from the journal cover in this thread) - I can't remember off-hand if it was 3-4 or 4-5oz. The belt loop extends up from the back of the holster (the traditional way a western style holster is made), then folds down and is sewn onto the back of the holster so the lining layer is visible on the exterior of the holster (back side) at the belt tunnel. It's very obvious the hides were two different qualities. It was dyed black, so it wasn't a huge deal (and he got a monster discount because he's a coworker). If it wasn't lined, it would have just been the exposed flesh side of the leather, so it still was better than just seeing flesh. But it's definitely something to keep in mind as a general rule.

Yes, and no. On the red journal cover in this thread - that was resisted with 50/50 water & Fiebing's Resolene. When I initially tested the Tandy Pro Waterstain Red with a resist, it was on a scrap piece of leather with a drop of the leather balm. I got the idea to try that by looking at the photos on another leather worker's Facebook page photos - in one of the photos I could see what looked like a bottle of leather balm. He brushed it on his artwork, then dyed his piece. It seemed to work really well for him, but he's found a method I haven't quite figured out yet.

From the Aubrey area, welcome!

Looks great! Congrats on going all out and tooling it too! Focus on that one gun and each attempt at additional holsters will quickly refine your techniques without worrying about learning the details of new guns. Glad you found the videos helpful! I hope to make more, but never seem to scrape enough money up for a new computer and storage capacity. Videos take a ton of storage space!!

Thanks RosiArt!! Frisket is the word I was looking for. I tested the red waterstain a while back to see how well it would be resisted, but now that I think about it, the resist I tested it with was Fiebing's Leather Balm with Atom Wax. I threw the stuff away though - I was sick of it making all my colors bleed. What good is it if it lifts the underlying colors and bleeds all over my thread, etc!!?!

Thanks!! For some reason I was thinking it had a name like "mastik", but it's been nearly 20 years ago since I bought it. Liquid latex is probably exactly what I need to try. Hopefully it won't absorb too much into leather...

Thanks! All my dyes are applied with an airbrush, except for Red, which is Tandy's Pro Waterstain - it's applied with a sponge. The journal cover (not the red one) and laptop sleeve was a base color of Fiebing's Pro Oil - Saddle Tan with Dark Brown accents. I usually blot the darker accent color on with a t-shirt, but I'm pretty sure I didn't do that with this particular journal cover. The laptop sleeve's backgrounds was entirely airbrushed. The flowers are colored with artists markers I snagged from my 8-5 job. As you can see, the Tandy leather took the coloring MUCH differently than the Wickett & Craig leather. The Tandy leather is deceptive - it seems that as the dye dries and absorbs into the leather, the coloring continually gets darker so you have to make sure not to over apply the coloring and give it plenty of time to dry - build up your color in stages. Then, once it was oiled with neetsfoot, it got even darker... I oiled the laptop sleeve with Lexol so it wouldn't darken the leather.

Here's a few Christmas orders I recently finished up for family and customers. Feedback, good or bad, is always appreciated! This is a prayer journal I made for my daughter. It was supposed to have an orange flower, with the background being red. But the resist failed miserably so I just made the whole thing red. Honestly, it was probably my fault for not waiting long enough for the resist to fully cure (it was in the 40's or 50's in my shop that day). Oh well, she absolutely loves it. She's 6. This is a set of coasters I made for my aunt. All 4 coasters are subtly different - they have alternating raised/recessed lettering, and alternating swivel cut patterns. I really need a new swivel knife blade. Mine cuts like butter for about 2 inches, then starts dragging really badly. It's such a pain to have to strop between each and every cut! I'm pulling all these images from my website - I don't have non-branded versions of this particular graphic uploaded. This is another set of coasters I made for my sister-in-law to give to her husband's dad. He has a much more subdued personality of the recipient when compared to the previous red coasters so these are very simple by comparison. This is a sleeve for a 17" Macbook Pro laptop. It's my first attempt at a sleeve, but I think it came out pretty well. I love doing these hand-drawn graphics on leather, but need to find a way to protect the hand-colored areas better. When I was in college, we had a brush-on rubber cement like stuff. When you were done with the artwork, you just peeled off the resist. It did a great job protecting what's beneath. If anyone knows or remembers what this is called, please let me know! This was lined with pig skin suede - I really love the orange color (also the background in the previous photo above). Here is another hand-drawn journal cover. This leather was from Tandy. Notice how it took the dye when compared to the Wickett & Craig used on the laptop sleeve above. The Tandy leather has much more marbling in the coloring and the grain texture is much more splotchy and rough. I admit it has a certain charm to it - it lends a bit of a rustic touch to the leather. But, from now on I'll be keeping myself stocked with thin hides of W&C for holster lining and journal covers.

I got a request from a customer that lives in Carrollton. He's looking for a custom shoulder holster for a PT101 with 2 mag pouches that attaches to the belt on both sides. He's a big guy-64 inch waist and 5X shirt. I've never made a shoulder holster and wouldn't feel comfortable attempting this. If anyone would like to talk with this guy please contact me via private message and I can give him your info.

I came across some birthday and Christmas money and am debating buying a snap press for my holster business... Fortunately, Weaver was closed on Monday - I was trying to make a last minute business purchase on the 2012 calendar year to buy the "Master Tools Little Wonder" press and a set of dies for my directional snaps. I don't recall the prices off hand. I'm sure it's a perfectly good press, but I'm curious if anyone can persuade me to buy something else that might work just as well, but save some money. If the Weaver press is slightly more expensive than the Tandy press, I think I'd still rather buy the Weaver press because it seems like a higher quality tool. But I'd like some feedback from others before I take the plunge and blow my money on a silly snap press.

Trox - thanks for posting that video. I've never seen that before. I only have a little hand (not crank) splitter and this video helps explain why mine doesn't work very well. Turns out my blade is dull, crooked, not properly aligned, and my roller bar flexes too much...

Larry - Did you notice if the Sno-Seal left the leather being more flexible once applied?

JB Weld Putty Sticks. http://www.jbweld.com/products/product-family/epoxy-putty-sticks/

Use your fingers and rub it over the entire surface, then warm the leather with a blow drier or heat gun (don't hold it too close) until it soaks in. Buff liberally to remove the excess. You can probably even warm the mixture so it goes on more easily, then brush it on the interior surfaces so you can get in the crevices. And yes, the idea is this is the final finish - something that can be replenished as necessary. Compared to an acrylic sealer that's typically used, this should leave the holster feeling like leather, instead of plastic. I haven't tried this mixture yet, but I think I might still prefer acrylic sealers for holsters since it soaks in really well, and seems to help stiffen the holster considerably. This mixture may stiffen the leather too, but I'm not sure.

Bags, journal covers, linings (for non gun related items), bracelets, cuffs, cup wraps, napkin rings, coasters (if you laminate them to something like cork), drawstring pouches, case linings, wallets... Those are just some of the things that come to my mind. I'm sure others will have more ideas.

I'm making a sleeve (Christmas gift) for my sister-in-law's 15" Macbook Pro laptop , similar to this one: http://www.etsy.com/listing/89288680/monogram-napa-leather-case-for-macbook Would anyone out there have a be able to tell me how much of a stitch offset I should use so it slides in easily? I'll be using 4-5oz veg tan, and it will be lined with either pigskin suede or a nice fabric. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don't have access to the laptop, so I want to get it right the first time...

You can also try rubbing a little neutral shoe polish on the contact surfaces inside the holster to ease the friction a bit. Do it around the belt slot too just to make sure it's not part of the problem (despite the non-leather belt you're using). If that doesn't fix it, try rubbing wax over the exterior as well in case it's rubbing against your pants and squeaking. At the end of the day, once dead skin cells, dust, dirt, oil, etc. get on the holster, the problem should go away.

I have that problem too. Not usually a problem, unless you have to sand a LOT away - so much that it's not removed with the edger. In that case, it's better to trim the excess before hitting it with the sander - saves the life of your sanding drums too.