Dwight

I've done holsters like that on and off for 20 years . . . all of the stitching except the 9 stitches which hold the holster together at the trigger guard and continuing down 9 stitches. All the rest is done with the double layer holster laying flat on my Cowboy table . . . the decoration on the front only goes thru the one outside layer In this order: outside decoration on first layer of the holster . . . wet form the holster parts . . . first the inside layer . . . then wrap the outside layer around the gun AND the first layer. Be sure to also fold over the belt loop while the leather is still dampened. Proceding on: allow all pieces to dry . . . use glue or contact cement to put the 2 pieces together . . . wrapping them first around the gun . . . then around each other . . . Trim as needed . . . then sew the whole holster other than the 9 stitches talked about earlier . . . last to sew is the loop on the backside. Starting out to "finish" the stitches . . . when you started sewing this holster . . . at the first stitch . . . the 10th one down from the trigger . . . you go completely around the edge of the holster. A cowboy 4500 laughs at how easy this is to do. The stitching you did here has 3 inch starter threads that you do not trim off. When you get to the area of the holster where the trigger guard is . . . you quit sewing halfway around . . . in the 9 stitch area on the backside of the holster . . . pull out 4 inches of thread and cut it . . . pull the thread out of the needle and sew the 9 stitches' holes . . . just punching holes in the leather. Apply contact cement to the inside of both edges where it is below the trigger guard for those 9 stitches. Starting on the back side . . . first stitch the top one of that 9 stitches below the trigger guard . . . making sure you have the outside leather facing up and the needle going down thru it . . . but all you will do is punch holes . . . when you get back up to the top where the leather is just below the trigger guard . . . pull out 3 or 4 inches . . . and sew the whole outside top of the holster. When you get around to the place where the top of the outside of the front of the holster is . . . pull out 8 or 9 inches of thread from needle and bobbin . . . cut it off. Sand the edges of the holster and bevel all except the area where the 9 stitches are. Wire brush both places on the backside where the belt loop is sewn down. Contact cement it . . . put it between two small wooden pieces and squeeze the bent over piece that when stitched out . . . it'll form the belt loop. HERE COMES THE TRICKY PART: if you did it right (and if I told you right) . . . you will have 4 corners on that holster that have thread protruding out of it. 3 will have 3 or 4 inches . . . one corner will have 8 or 9 inches. You should also have punched holes for the "9" stitches I talked about earlier . . . but no thread . . . and those will be located 180 degrees from each other . . . two sections of 9 stitches . . . but no thread. On the backside pull both threads thru so that the stitch threads will both come thru toward the welt. (forgot . . . sew 9 stitch holes in the welt too . . . but not with thread . . . you want holes only) Do the same for the back side of the holster beginning at that piece where it is below the welt . . . pull both threads in so they lay on the inside of the holster. Do the same for the front side of the holster . . . beginning at that piece where it is below the welt . . . pull both threads in so they lay on the inside of the holster. Apply a 1/2 inch wide strip of contact cement to the welt and to the inside edges of the holster where those 9 stitches will be finished up. On 3 out of the 4 corners you have at the 9 stitches . . . pull all 6 of the threads into the contact cement . . . and lay them 1/16th of an inch inside the punched holes for the 9 stitches. Let it all dry. With a hand needle that will adequately hold your thread . . . pull the bobbin thread of the front side of the holster up at top where the trigger guard is . . . pull it thru the welt then thru the back side. Get your needle pad and as you gently lay together the outside area where the welt is . . . fill each hole with another needle. When you have the holster fully together with the contact cement . . . use two small wooden pieces or two sections of 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/8 inch . . . CLEAN . . . steel angle iron . . . use a couple of C clamps . . . pull the wood or the angle iron up and almost touch the needles on the front and the back . . . and clamp them down . . . hard. Put your remaining one orphan string of thread thru another needle . . . and saddle stitch the top 8 of the 9 stitches on the welt . . . pulling out the 8 needles and going thru the hole each occupied . . . start at the top and stitch downward . . . remove the wood or the angle iron. For that last stitch . . . I personally would do it and double stitch back up toward the top of the welt . . . 3 or 4 stitches . . . cut and trim. This holster was probably done a different way here . . . bringing both threads thru their respective pieces of leather and a square knot finishing it all off . . . the knot residing between the welt and the back side piece of leather. Take those last two sewing threads and pull up on the inside of the holster next to the welt . . . after first coating the first inch with contact cement . . . force them into one of the valleys between the front and back and the welt . . . but do it on the inside. When the contact cement is dry . . . get a flashlight . . . check for any EXTRA thread that didn't get cut off inside . . . with barber scissors . . . reach in and trim off all you can. If there is any left over you cannot reach . . . dip a q tip in contact cement and force the EXTRA thread into the welt area. When that dries . . . you are ready for dying and edging the welt . . . and the final finishing touches. Hope you all were able to follow my directions. I've done several like this . . . works every time. May God bless, Dwight

All thread I've ever used will pick up the dye . . . cotton and linen are the worst culprits for this. If you want it to be pristine . . . as some of my orders are . . . put it together . . . dye it . . . rub it out real good . . . sew it . . . then wet mold it . . . works great. OR . . . dye your leather first . . . cut out the pieces . . . sew it . . . wet mold it . . . that's the simplest way to get light colored thread to be really nice . May God bless, Dwight

The S&W . . . I'm not familiar with it . . . doubt if I ever did one. BUT . . . it has been my experience that if you are "close" it will work . . . and if you are not . . . you wasted a pound of leather. Revolvers are finicky that way I have actually made my own S&W mod 29 . . . works really great . . . a little wood . . . some band saw and sanding work . . . and a dowel rod was all I needed. The buyer was very happy. Autos are easier to make . . . and a little more forgiving IMHO . . . than revolvers. But take an afternoon and make your own model . . . some day you will be really happy you did. May God bless, Dwight

I'd like to see the full pictures of the holster . . . not sure of all I'm seeing with the chopped up pieces. May God bless, Dwight

If you want a good solid leather sewing machine . . . and you want a manual one . . . get a Tippmann Boss . . . I've used one for 20+ Years . . . their service is excellent . . . and it will sew 3/4 of an inch leather . . . I've done it. It will also sew up to 415 thread . . . I use 346 almost exclusively. It is the original hand machine . . . all others are poor copies . . . and personally if you gave me an outlaw . . . I'd never get it out of the box . . . seen them at Tandy . . . about as impressed with them as I would be a left handed crescent wrench. May God bless, Dwight

Get hold of Bob at Toledo Industrial Sewing Machine Co I've had great service from him including the servo he sold me for an old singer machine Besides that . . . he's good people . . . https://www.tolindsewmach.com/ And yes . . . they're in Toledo Ohio May God bless, Dwight

Welcome back . . . Pastor Bob . . . from Pastor Dwight May God bless, Dwight

Good job on the holster . . . and like Beehive said . . . big chunk . . . like the early Ruger 9mm's . . . . could beat a gorilla to death with an empty one. May God bless, Dwight

No I didn't . . . but I learned early on that I needed two containers of Resolene. One for browns and one for the black. The brush I used on the black would pick up some of the loose pigment and drop it off in the resolene jar. Not really a super big deal . . . but I didn't need any extra color in my brown products. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Johanna . . . I looked for some "explanation" . . . didn't find one . . . so I did my usual . . . I mentioned it. Sorry if I sounded rough on you . . . didn't have a clue as to what you were dealing with . . . other than I couldn't get on the other night . . . must have been when you had it down and were working on it. Anyway . . . good job getting it back up . . . May God bless, Dwight

Just a quick note to say I don't like the new setup . . . 1. I enjoyed seeing several of our supporters/suppliers names up at the top each time I came in . . . now there is one. 2. I don't like the color arrangement . . . makes it look more like a tube of toothpaste or a cereal box. 3. Whoever took it upon themselves to do this . . . seems to have forgotten that a lot of us here are well past the 40 mark . . . do not always see too well . . . and the size of the text was diminished . . . or because of the color arrangement . . . it makes it much harder to see and to read. There is absolutely nothing wrong with larger type . . . in fact . . . lots of people enjoy it. 4. The perpetrator of this demolition of the site also took it upon themselves to diminish the upper right hand side where newer posts were posted. There used to be about 10 . . . it is now knocked down to 6 . . . fifteen would be better . . . 5. Perhaps whoever did this is patting themselves on the back for such a great job . . . personally . . . again . . . I think it stinks. It seems they have the mistaken idea that computer face space is costly . . . like space on a newspaper. If this site supplier is charging you that way . . . you really missed the boat . . . because few do so. 6. This needs to be fixed . . . period. May God bless, Dwight

Actually before the aluminum sleeve . . . I did things like that . . . never found the one I really liked other than the duct tape . . . or rubber hose. The rubber hose though became a pain in itself . . . never figured out why . . . just did. I like the aluminum by far the best (especially better than the duct tape . . . lol ) May God bless, Dwight

Here you are guys . . . google "etsy edge glider" May God bless, Dwight

Actually . . . it does look easy to make . . . and the part(s) you see in the pictures . . . they are not "that" hard. But as Beehive mentioned . . . there are a whole batch of different shank sizes . . . combating that with just one tool is in itself a trick. We're working on that trick . . . there are several different approaches . . . just trying to determine which will hold up the longest. May God bless, Dwight

You all have read where I do not do a lot of stamping . . . not very good at it . . . plus my arthritis gives me the fits when I try it. I came across something though . . . that fixes that. Holding the stamping tool for more than a few minutes and I have serious cramps and pains. This aluminum sleeve that goes over the stamp takes that away as it is appreciably bigger . . . easier to hold on to . . . and makes turning it to "just the right angle" a whole lot easier. Just wanted to pass on the good info for others who may suffer with cramping fingers or thumb. May God bless, Dwight

As a young teenager . . . my boy scout leader . . . Ellsworth Lynn Beach . . . taught us to do the same thing. He made his own leather stamps out of I believe 20 penny nails . . . they were big ones for sure. May God bless, Dwight

For my revolver holster customers . . . a dump pouh is the one extra I suggest So much easier and quicker than an ammo belt or loops. But all the pouches on here today are really good looking. May God bless, Dwight

All in all it looks like a quite useable rig. . . but I'd like to critique a couple of points . . . Your back piece of the belt . . . should come within 1/2 inch of the tip of the tongue . . . and . . . you need to put a loop going behind the buckle end . . . into which that back part of the belt goes into. Doing that . . . the belt will always ride straighter . . . if you look at yours in a mirror . . . the front two pieces coming together . . . form a sloppy V . . . which would not happen with the longer back piece and the loop into which it goes. Another quick note . . . next time you make one . . . try 2 layers of 5/6 oz for the holster and for the back belt piece. The holster is much firmer . . . and the belt is also. If you can find a DVD by John Bianchi . . . or VHS tapes . . . he shows exactly how to do that . . . May God bless, Dwight

Leather is measured in ounces thick . . . one ounce equals 1/64 of an inch. 8 ounce therefore is 1/8 of an inch . . . 16 ounce is 1/4 of an inch. Google Tandy Leather . . . and if there is a Tandy store nearby . . . go there . . . they'll show you the differences. May God bless, Dwight

The same problem is "not a problem" in most holsters . . . as it is in the front sight area of the holster. But it looks ugly . . . To cure it . . . I fold the lining after wetting it . . . allowing it to dry . . . and stay curved . . . I also fold the outer layer . . . I then position them together before any glue is applied . . . and when I have them in my hand EXACTLY the way I want them . . . I make a ball point pen mark on the edge top and the edge bottom . . . both near the center of the fold. I then apply the glue . . . line up the marks . . . and put them together . . . usually with a board or something between them so I can roll the pieces and make sure they are stuck good. Works well that way . . . no wrinkles. May God bless, Dwight

Not understanding the purpose . . . but the work is excellent May God bless, Dwight

That is the culprit . . . I take my 346 thread thru the other side of the post . . . wrap once around it . . . and come thru it again starting on the same side as the first thread. It was a guess . . . first time I threaded my 4500 . . . and has worked perfectly for the last 3 years or so. Try it . . . I think you'll like it. May God bless, Dwight

That's three "leave it" votes . . . May God bless, Dwight

You want to call Bob . . . Toledo Industrial Sewing Machines Ltd. Sewing machine repair service 3631 Marine Rd · (419) 380-8540 He'll give you the straight info . . . he is one of the advertisers here in the top banner . . . May God bless, Dwight

Get the case you want . . . most competent leather workers can do that . . . Have someone with a laser engraver put the artistry on it that you want . . . Not all leather workers can do both . . . some can . . . you may have to find two suppliers . . . but it is not anything outside the realm of possibility. What personalization were you intending to have put on it?? May God bless, Dwight