Dwight

Sometimes stuff just seems to fall into place as you need it. Been kicking around for a year or so about trying my hand on a pair of shoes, . . . then I want to do a pair of boots. I have a nerve condition that the local foot doctor wants to fix "her" way, . . . and that just ain't happening. Been experimenting for a little over a year with different sized & shaped inserts, . . . getting close, . . . but my shoe will have to be about an 11 EEEEE, . . . or something like that. Thanks for bringing this up, . . . maybe others will chime in, . . . and who knows, . . . more than one foot might be helped. May God bless, Dwight

My vacuum hose is 3/8 inch black rubber gasoline hose. One thing you can do, . . . use your fingers and thumbs to assist the vacuum in pulling it into the shape you want. Again, . . . I never tried the vacuum cleaner, . . . my experience came from owning a vacuum forming sign shop a couple of decades ago. It took power to make the signs, . . . so when I started thinking about this, . . . I added my HVAC experience where we also used a vacuum pump, . . . and I bypassed the rug cleaner, . . . in favor of equipment I was pretty sure would work. May God bless, Dwight

I would think that unless you had the grand daddy of all vacuum cleaners, . . . it probably doesn't pull enough a vacuum. BUT, . . . nothing ventured, . . . nothing gained. I do know that if I could hook up my bag to my old Mustang I used to have, . . . or my Olds 442, . . . those would have done the trick. Either one pulled a strong 25 inch vacuum. May God bless, Dwight

I don't. My pump goes directly to the bag, . . . no valve, . . . no filter, . . . just a 3 foot long section of black rubber gasoline hose. I keep my bag clean on the inside (as much as I can ), . . . always put the holster a ways away from the intake, . . . and I use a rod or something that channels the air from the holster area back to the pump intake. Turn on the pump, . . . form, . . . turn off. Maybe slightly re-position the bag or the gun or the holster. Turn on the pump, . . . form some more (detail type stuff), . . . turn off. (Repeat as many times as necessary for that particular piece of work) All has worked well so far. About 5 seconds after I turn the pump off, . . . the vacuum will break, . . . and air will start migrating back into the bag. May God bless, Dwight

I got mine from McMaster Carr, . . . Remember that name, . . . write it on a stickey note, . . . don't lose it. Other than groceries, . . . I don't think there is much they don't carry for the mechanical / working world. Sometimes they can be a bit on the pricey side, . . . but they have supplied stuff for me since somewhere back in the early 90's. AND, . . . if you order it before 4 in the evening, . . . you can look for it the next day. I used to marvel at that when their nearest location was Chicago, . . . I'm just north of Columbus, Ohio, . . . I had it at 10 the next morning when the big brown UPS van backed up to our door. May God bless, Dwight

Very good, . . . I have some deer skins that look very much like that leather. Almost too good looking to take out to the dirty old barn May God bless, Dwight

Particle, . . . did I read that correct and you are using 16 oz leather for the front piece? I had seen it earlier, . . . had not thought that the leather was that thick. BTW, . . . that is some excellent tooling from my perspective. Much as I would like to, . . . I just do not have the patience to do that level of artistry. May God bless, Dwight

No, . . . you would have to put a little reed valve or something in the line to get it to do that. When we used them in A/C, we used the valves on the pressure gauges to hold the vacuum in the system. I'm sure someone makes one that does have an internal valve, . . . but from what I can see, . . . our's does not. And for me, . . . that's OK, . . . as I don't need it to linger. I need that hoslter out of the bag and on to other things. May God bless, Dwight

Hands down on the vacuum forming for detail. First holster I did with it was a Rhodesian pattern for a 1911, . . . 7/8 oz leather if I remember correctly. Formed everything, . . . pulled it out of the bag, . . . gently slipped model out, . . . let it dry. Had to force the model in the next day, . . . then I thought I was going to have to get a scalpel to get my model out. Vacuum forming is seriously better in my estimation, . . . May God bless, Dwight

The nipple comes from http://www.veneersupplies.com/products/Valve-Stem-Assembly.html If I remember correctly, . . . about $15. You can see it in a couple of the pictures, . . . round, shiney thing, left side of the bag. May God bless, Dwight

Tippmann Boss, . . . 346 thread top and bottom. May God bless, Dwight

The two types I use, . . . manila file folders, . . . usually 100 of them at discount office supply stores for 5 bucks or so. Found box of legal size last year for I think 4 bucks, . . . still using them. My permanent, . . . "do not change this ever" patterns and templates are cut from Tandy's bag stiffener. Not that expensive, . . . and really wonderful medium to work with if you need some strength and durability. The material he used in the video would be similar to the bag stiffener. May God bless, Dwight

Next slip the gun & holster into the bag, . . . seal the bag, . . . turn on the pump. It only takes a few seconds usually. I'll also turn the pump on & off, . . . on & off, . . . carefully re-positioning anything that needs to be moved, . . . and allowing the bag to re-position itself. I usually hit it at least 3 times, . . . and sometimes even do a little thumb action to assist. If you look real close, you will see a small cutting board under the holster, . . . I use that if I want the back to be pretty flat. If you don't use it, . . . it'll form the back to the weapon real close too. The last picture is just to note that I was using 8 oz leather for this holster. And of course, vac 11 picture is of the finished product. My customer was very well pleased, . . . his wife was estatic. Anyway, . . . that's how I do it, . . . hope some of you can benefit from this. May God bless, Dwight

To use the vacuum bag, . . . cut out your pattern (vac 6 picture) Prepare your firearm properly, in this case I had to make sure the sight channel would be made, by taping a dowel onto the top of the revolver. Don't forget to do this !!! WET the leather, . . . like REALLY wet, . . . almost sopping, sloppy wet, . . . wrap it around the firearm in it's general final position. You do not have to be perfect with this part, . . . but the better you are, . . . the better the end product. I'll usually lay it down and thumb in a couple places to help keep it from moving.

There have been a few threads in the past little while about molding and forming. I started out doing the thumbs, fingers, dowels, etc, . . . made me tired. Went to a press, . . . worked great, . . . got scared that some day I would crunch someone's plastic fantastic shooter upper. Researched vacuum forming, . . . with a little help from a carpenter / cabinet / window / door maker buddy. This is the system I now use, . . . just thought I would share. It starts out with the 3 basic tools needed: a vacuum pump, . . . a bag, . . . and a way to seal the bag. The pump came from Harbor Freight, . . . $100 more or less, . . . it is the cheaper of the two they sell. The bag is a piece of clear vinyl from JoAnns, . . . doubled over, . . . 2 inches of the edges stuck together with Weldwood. The seal is two pieces of PVC plastic, . . . 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch, . . . cut the groove in the 3/4 with a table saw and a lot of care.

To use an old fashioned word, . . . gorgeous ! You have wayyyyyyyyy more patience than I have for such a detailed project, . . . but you did really well with it. May God bless, Dwight

You didn't say a thing about keeping that espresso hot by sitting it on the edge of the forge, . . . Welcome to the site. May God bless, Dwight

Tippmann Boss, . . . as I tell my students, . . . hands are for hamburgers, . . . machines are for stitching. BUT, . . . in the rare exceptions where I cannot complain, cry, bellyache, or grunt loud enough to get out of it, . . . awl, . . . (no pun intended) . . . always. May God bless, Dwight

If I can, . . . I make it "springy" enough that once it is released, . . . it scurries over out of the way. I've used steel, . . . kydex, . . . vinly, . . . never found the "perfect" springy material for every one. I just kinda go by the feel and what I have available. It is a hard thing to get, though, . . . too much scurry and it will come un-snapped all on its own, . . . not enough and you scrape the side of the weapon. May God bless, Dwight

Woo-hoo, . . . that's almost too pretty to use, . . . kinda like it should have it's own little shelf to sit on and be admired by passers by. Now make sure we all get a full in-depth report on it. May God bless, Dwight

The retail market is and always will be just like the Kentucky Derby. Some bet on sure things only. Some bet on long shots only. Some bet on stallions only. Some bet on "pretty horses" only. Personal choice makes a horse race, . . . and makes the retail market. Lobo for example, . . . seems to make a lot of pancakes, . . . I very seldom make one because my clients prefer IWB. The cowboy rigs I make are the holster and belt rigs where they are totally separate. I have not yet made a drop loop "fast draw" rig or a "bling, bling" Roy Rodgers, or Lone Ranger rig. Again, . . . the market determines what we make, . . . and if that 3% of the market is finnicky, . . . my personal approach is I will lean over to help them, . . . but I will not become a pretzel to their whims, . . . too many other makers out there who will. May God bless, Dwight

Not just for Ed in Tx, . . . and I know this is a leather forum, . . . but this is THE best cobbler recipe I ever had, . . . and it's "fallin' off the bridge" easy: 2 cups fruit (any kind you like, . . . in this case, 1 each of cut up strawberries, and cut up rhubarb 1/2 cup of sugar 1 cup of milk 1 cup self rising flour 1 cup of sugar 1 stick of butter (I've not tried it with margarine, . . . might work) 1 tablespoon of butter Preheat oven to 350 Melt stick of butter in 8 x 8 glass baking dish, a deep one Put fruit in small bowl, add the 1/2 cup of sugar and the 1 tablespoon of butter, heat in microwave for 1 full minute Mix together 1 cup self rising flour, 1 cup of sugar until blended Add to that mixture, 1 cup of milk and blend fairly smooth Take baking dish & butter (melted by now) out of the oven and pour the batter into the butter, . . . DO NOT STIR OR MIX Pour fruit into batter & butter in the baking dish, . . . DO NOT STIR OR MIX Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over the top, pop into the oven at 350 for 55 or so minutes, . . . or until golden. Cool, . . . add ice cream, . . . eat. ENJOY, .......... May God bless, Dwight

Yes, . . . a good alternative. Advantage: much quicker, and deeper detail, . . . disadvantage, you can ruin the gun if you get heavy with the press. Yes it works with flat backed holsters, . . . just put something solid under the back. And be careful of the medium you use. I tried some open cell foam, . . . wound up with a holster that looked like open cell foam instead of leather. The faces touching the holster need to be as smooth as the leather, no lines, no blemishes, etc. Lines, blemishes, marks, . . . they will all transfer. There is a learning curve in using a press. Bad decisions will gain you experience with a press, . . . experience you only learn from bad decisions. Good luck, . . . !!! May God bless, Dwight

After a lot of wasted time trying to produce a "line" I settled on one pattern, one mag, will work left or righty, pancake design. My customers love it, . . . that makes me happy. May God bless, Dwight

You will have to use some imagination with this drawing, . . . created with Windows paint, . . . BUT, . . . basically you create a standard pancake holster, . . . nothing extra on that. THEN, . . . you create a strap that would thread through the loops of the pancake, . . . and also hold on a swivel rivet, . . . a belt strap at each end, . . . converting it into an IWB holster with loops. That strap goes around back (looping around each end of the holster) and snapping on the back to keep it secure. Again, . . . crude drawing, . . . and it only shows one end. You do the drawing twice to get the full idea. May God bless, Dwight