Dwight

If you are using this just for a cuff, . . . punch the holes in the strap, . . . put it on your wrist, . . . mark the holes in the cuff through the strap, . . . set your rivets there, . . . and you should have no problem. If you are going to use this for a watch cuff, . . . your friend will probably be back in a couple of days with the pins broken that hold the strap to the watch. Those pins will almost never work this way. The pins for a watch cuff need their own loops. See the little diagram below for how to attatch straps for a watch cuff. May God bless, Dwight

If you go down to the holster forum, . . . the third one down on the pinned list is an excellent pattern for an ankle holster. I have used it to make one for a friend, and it is a very good pattern / idea. As far as material is concerned, . . . Tandy Leather Shop will have all you need. May God bless, Dwight

Welcome, . . . or should we say welcome back? This is a fun site, . . . lots of good people, . . . most are willing to share. May God bless, Dwight

In practice, . . . it is a hand stitch. Go down through the front, . . . come back under the previous stitch, . . . back up through the hole you came down from. You do not want to run out of thread with that type of stitch. Figure on measuring the full length of stitching you have to do, . . . cut a piece of string about 5 times that length. Oh, . . . and good luck. Personally, . . . I'd machine stitch it, . . . or his price would be significantly more. There are machines that produce a very similar stitch on bags of feed used for horses, cattle, etc. May God bless, Dwight

Admittedly, . . . I do very little hand sewing, . . . but when I do, . . . I take my 346 thread off my machine and use it. You can get it from a Tandy store, . . . it's really strong, . . . extremely versatile, . . . is coated with some kind of parrafin product which will keep the stitches tight. I use it for wallets, holsters, gun cases, belts, dog collars, . . . the whole 9 yards. May God bless, Dwight

You will have to either make the band bigger or the leather thinner. Lay a piece of carpenter's twine inside the band before you sew, . . . and be careful not to sew the twine. Also, . . . make the band several inches longer than the finished product, . . . and taper the leather down on one end to almost a point. Punch a hole in the tapered end, . . . tie the carpenter's twine to the hole, . . . and gently but firmly pull it back through. Oh, . . . and good luck, . . . it's easier said than done, . . . but it can be done. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, . . . you don't. I have contact cemented holsters together in the past, . . . wet formed them, . . . let them dry, . . . dip dyed the rascals (touch up the forming and details while the dye is wet), . . . let it dry again, . . . sew it with that pretty "clean" white thread. I use only Weldwood contact cement, . . . it has never let me down yet. May God bless, Dwight

There is a product, . . . called Teslin, . . . I believe it was originated by PPG. It thicker versions, it resembles leather, . . . and can be dyed any color you want. You CANNOT tear it with your bare hands (as a joke, some guys get business cards made fromit, then dare you to tear them up). Anyway, . . . you could cut it with scissors, . . . sew it, . . . wash it, . . . the whole deal, . . . and a lot of folks would not know the difference. May God bless, Dwgiht

I don't know, . . . but I'm posting on this thread so I can get the answer too. I just invested in some of this product, . . . may have to re-consider it. May God bless, Dwight

Looking forward to seeing the finished product. May God bless, Dwight

If you make a wooden form the shape of the inside of the quiver, . . . vegetable tanned leather can be wetted, stretched, and formed to the shape of that form. Vegetable tanned leather can be shaped into some unbelievable shapes, . . . decorated, . . . and used for all sorts of things: bags, boxes, purses, holders, etc. Actually making the leather part of the quiver is probably one of the easier parts of replicating that rig. May God bless, Dwight

In picture 9130379, the one in the upper right hand corner, a billfold with flowers (top row, 2nd picture) Bottom row, right hand picture, the belt / key case. I would be interested in those two, . . . but not in the rest if you decide to break up the group. May God bless, Dwight

Electrathon is correct, . . . you will have color issues later on if there is any wear or flexing of the stitches. Belts for example, . . . will lose some of theirs, . . . but most holsters don't lose a lot of it. It depends on what you are using it for. May God bless, Dwight

Ahh, . . . yes, . . . welcome back kind sir. Doctors can be good, . . . really good, . . . or bad, . . . or really bad. I've had all four, . . . and like you related to the old ticker. Don't take no for an answer from them, . . . I did and it could have turned out really bad. Anyway, though, . . . welcome back, . . . keep grumpin and hand stitchin, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Having worked as an electrician for almost 50 years, . . . I can say with some experience that you need to get your friend involved. He will be the key to getting the right one done correctly. The reason I say that is that my tools, . . . another electrician's tools, . . . and your friend's tools will not be the same, . . . because of the type of electrical work each does. I was a maintenance electrician for the most part, . . . and carried upward of 20 pounds on my right hip in my prime days. That included at least 4 screwdrivers, lineman pliers, dikes, BX stripper, needle nose, wire stripper, screw starters (2), open / box end wrenches (1/4 through 5/8), roll of 3M black tape, roll of rubber tape, hammer, spike, wiggy, flashlight, and some few things I cannot think of right now. Generally, . . . the pouches I found at places like Walmart, Graingers, ABC Electric, were all designed by some jaybird accountant who worked in a leather company, . . . and was trying to sqeeze every bit of profit out of each pouch. Enclosed is a little sketch of my favorite pouch I ever had. Bought it at an air conditioning part supplier in about 1970 (?) and if I remember correctly, . . . paid $18 for it. That was expensive then, . . . as I was making just over $3 an hour, . . . about $2.40 take home pay. Anyway, . . . good luck, . . . have fun. May God bless, Dwight

Your period perfect holster is found on page 31 of a Tandy Leather book about making holsters, . . . book # 40. The pattern is on page 31. Keep in mind that period perfect for 1912 would have been a revolver, . . . and it would have been carried with the muzzle pointing down. The Jackass rig carries the weapon with the muzzle pointing directly behind the carrier, . . . and is not really a "novice friendly" design. That design didn't make it's debut until 1970 or somewhere thereabouts. In fact, . . . shoulder holsters in general are not novice friendly. Getting one done and done right takes experience, but this particular pattern will be a real good one to learn on. Let me also suggest you use some of the heavy duty naugahyde from some one like JoAnn fabric (about 18 bucks a yard, . . . 45 inches wide, . . . 1/2 yard will give you plenty to play with) as it will simulate what you need, . . . you can make minor changes to match your model, . . . and you won't be butchering up a bunch of leather at $6 a sq foot. May God bless, Dwight

Looks to me like you are doing it right. That is more or less my process, . . . 24 hours. You also mention an oven/dry box, . . . and there was a thread on here a few months back, . . . I glanced at it, . . . but didn't get involved because I don't use anything but a fan and the sun (wood stove in the winter). One of the things I hope you don't find out the hard way, . . . but dyeing a holster while there is still excess moisture is a recipe for spotty, . . . blanched, . . . ugly junk that goes into the "I should have known better" bin and the profit takes a serious hit. Same for the oil, has been my experience. May God bless, Dwight

That is very similar to a Galco Jackass rig, . . . you can google the two words with shoulder holster, . . . should get you some pretty good pics. Most important thing needed, . . . what kind of weapon? And will this be a prop type holster for a costume, . . . or the real deal where someone's life might depend on it being done right??? All of this makes all the difference in the world for the pattern. May God bless, Dwight

I have to admit to having never seen that problem with my Tippmann Boss. But, . . . there is help for you. Get on line, go to the Tippmann website, get their phone number. When you get them on the line, explain to them you have a question for Ben. If anyone on the face of the earth can walk you through it, . . . he should be the guy. But, . . . first let me tell you how I backstitch with no problems: 1. First I make the stitch I am going to backstitch over, . . . and completely raise the needle up out of the leather to the top of the stroke. 2. Gently squeeze the handle, releasing the foot just enough to be able to pull my work back to me the length of the stitch. 3. When it is approximately in position, . . . ease the needle down into the stitch hole. 4. As the needle begins going through, . . . release the handle, . . . allowing the foot to go down flat. 5. Continue with the stroke completing the "backstitch". 6. I then will backstitch two more holes, . . . giving a total of 3 backstitched holes to prevent the thread from coming undone. Again, this is my proceedure and I do not have any problems with it. May God bless, Dwight

Not meaning to slam anyone, . . . but Law Enforcement Targets have always done well for me, . . . went out of their way a time or two, . . . and their phone reps are knowledgeable, friendly people. Plus, . . . I've found no one, . . . zero, . . . who beats their prices. May God bless, Dwight

Good job, Lobo, . . . that's the way I do mine, . . . like you said, . . . a little practice and it doesn't take long to do one. May God bless, Dwight

Since you are treading in uncharted waters, . . . if I were you, . . . I'd look at one of the super special undershirts sold to the military in the sandbox. Most military suppliers (such as Quartermaster.com) would have them. You should have enough material there to make several, . . . couple for practice, . . . couple for production. Might even give someone like JoAn Fabric a shout, . . . if you get a knowledgeable sales person, you would probably make out. If not, . . . wellllll................. May God bless, Dwight

I suppose you could, . . . I've never done it, . . . But you cannot mold most of the harness type leather I've seen the way you can veg tan, . . . nor stamp it as well, . . . nor edge it as well, . . . nor burnish it as well. Plus, . . . if it is properly done in veg tan, . . . there is a better than even chance you will "outgrow" it one way or another, . . . long before you wear it out. Post pics of your rig if you decide to do it, . . . I'd be curious to see one. May God bless, Dwight

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If you are going to do a 2 layer holster, . . . why not leave the inside natural? Dip dye the outside pieces, . . . but leave the liner natural. I occasionally do a black cherry holster, . . . . and I think that would really look awesome. Leaving the inside natural, . . . with only a coat of neatsfoot oil, . . . there should be nothing to harm those grips. And if I may, . . . I'm a Vietnam vet, . . . and if I owned that handgun, . . . you can bet your last bippy that I would be darn seriously unhappy if anything happened to it that could have been avoided by someone taking a little extra care. May God bless, Dwight