Dwight

THAT experience is exactly why I do not use patterns from books . . . magazines . . . etc . . . except for the general pattern of the object. I ALWAYS cut my holsters a 1/4 inch of so bigger on that outside edge until I am absolutely certain of the fit . . . then I trim it back. My trimming pile never has stampings . . . etchings . . . painting . . . etc . . . And so far . . . knock on wood . . . I haven't had to toss a holster such as the OP's . Mom always did that with her patterns for the clothing she made us as kids . . . and I just picked up the habit from her. May God bless, Dwight

I always finish my holsters with at least one good coat of Resolene . . . cut 50/50 with water. And unless there is some special reason not to do so . . . I coat the inside of the holsters as well. It will take down some of the aggressive ness . . . AND . . . it will not allow as much oil to penetrate the holster from the gun . . . which in turn allows dust to accumulate on the oil inside . . . which becomes an abrasive . . . working on the gun's finish. May God bless, Dwight

I buy small disposable brushes . . . from Harbor freight . . . they have a metal handle . . . small bristle brush . . . I think they are called acid brushes. https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-horsehair-bristle-acid-shop-brushes-36-pc-61880.html At a dime apiece . . . they will last a couple to 5 days . . . then get tossed . . . used mainly for belts, holsters, and knife sheaths. Just won't mess with anything else . . . this works that good. May God bless, Dwight

I made one a few years back for a cousin . . . for his rolling block 45-70 . . . I would have used deer skin . . . but couldn't find any long enough . . . so I used suede. Stitched down the side . . . with a toe plug . . . fringe . . . and I did the USMC beading for it . . . The bottom closes with a small zipper that can be tied closed. May God bless, Dwight

This is the tool . . . May God bless, Dwight

That tool from Hobby Lobby will also cure this problem. I carry one length of snaps . . . have very little trouble with this tool. May God bless, Dwight

Go to Hobby Lobby . . . ask for their snap setting tool . . . It works really great on line 24 . . . and I would imagine on the line 20 as well. And it does not make any difference how long the post is . . . if it is long enough . . . they work great. They had a 1/2 price sale going the other day . . . bought me a new one then. May God bless, Dwight https://www.hobbylobby.com/Fabric-Sewing/Sewing-Quilting-Notions/Fasteners/Heavy-Duty-Snap-Pliers---5-8/p/109268

Just a quick comment here . . . I bought my Tippmann Boss about 20 years or so ago . . . and have had a few minor problems with it . . . all were resolved either by myself or by the Tippmann company folks. It will sew everything from 207 thread up to 415 . . . I almost exclusively use 346. AND . . . it will sew up to and including 3/4 inch of dry veg tanned leather. I never sew it that thick . . . but I do use it to make and space the holes for stuff 5/8 or thicker . . . then I come back and hand stitch that stuff. It looks better in my estimation. I sew belts, holsters, knife sheaths, rifle scabbards chaps, purses . . . and even tossed in a couple billfolds with it. One must have a good right arm . . . and be willing to pull the handle for each stitch . . . and you must be willing to mess with it a while when you change thread to get it to sew correctly. All in all . . . for the price I paid . . . I would do it again. AND . . . since Tippmann has some serious competition now in that machine . . . their price is now down to the $1000 range here in the states. Starting out now. . . it would be my choice . . . But today at 77 . . . I'm looking to go to a Cowboy 3200 simply because my arm is tired of pulling the handle. May God bless, Dwight

I learned a long time ago . . . a "light" coat of neatsfoot oil 24 hours BEFORE dying . . . makes EVERY dye job a lot better. That is especially on the lighter colored dyes. May God bless, Dwight

I've used a Tippmann Boss for the last 20 or so years . . . and at 77 . . . I'm looking to make it all a bit easier. Am very interested in the Cowboy 3200 machine . . . but wanted to know how others have done with it. I do belts, sheaths, holsters, suspenders . . . a billfold here and there . . . a purse here and there . . . and an occasional custom rig of one sort or another. Thanks, appreciate any feedback you may have . . . good or bad. May God bless, Dwight

The one I made is just one piece of leather . . . folded . . . sewn at the edges . . . and a top flap folding over . . . held by a magnetic catch. Keys . . . credit card . . . phone . . . ID . . . is about all that can go in it. The lady I gave it to for product testing really liked the concept . . . but she is one of those "down to earth" southern gals who doesn't fool with frills . . . and doesn't yet pack heat. I'll be setting still on this whole thing until I get a couple more out there for product testing. But it is encouraging so far. May God bless, Dwight

Actually Cattledude . . . that was the original intention. I just had a scrap of leather from some long ago project . . . nice and smooth on the hair side . . . this is the flesh side. It's a prototype . . . kinda playing with the design . . . actually did go back and pull that 207 thread . . . put 346 in its place . . . it looks a huge bunch better. I have some thinner leather I might do that with at least once . . . the original I saw was canvas . . . sewn and turned inside out. Just playin for now . . . see where it goes. Keep up the comments guys. May God bless, Dwight

Funky tanned leather . . . cut it even is best anyone can do . . . May God bless, Dwight

A friend's girlfriend has a similar purse . . . it is where I got the idea. This is basically 6 inches by 8 inches . . . Built to hold a cell phone, keys, driver's license, and a credit card . . . Perfect to go shopping at Wally World. Seriously . . . what do you think of the concept? My buddy's girlfriend loves her little bag . . . it's made of canvas with a zipper on top . . . I had trouble with the zipper . . . so I sliced it off and put on a flap with a magnetic catch. Gonna give it to a friend's wife . . . let her put it thru it's paces . . . get some feedback from another user. Also had some issues with the sewing machine . . . looking to replace that thing fairly soon. Anyway . . . send me your comments . . . good, bad, or ugly . . . May God bless, Dwight

I looked at all those things you mentioned . . . and quite honestly . . . you and I are the only ones looking at them. As long as it is not blatantly obvious . . . John Q public puts it on and wears it . . . and goes on down the road. My Boss will make a very consistent stitch . . . for belts . . . holsters . . . and some billfolds. It can be a bit finnicky when it comes to some other stuff . . . but one thing I do love about it . . . the hole punching is the next thing to el perfecto. For certain holsters here and there . . . I have hole punched them and then hand stitched them . . . and I dare anyone to find fault with that arrangement. Hand stitching a belt is something I don't do . . . although I have on occasion done the tongue end for one reason or another. Again . . . Boss punches the holes . . . ol Dwight hand stitches them . . . and it does not take long. I'm looking at adding a Cowboy 3200 . . . the dealer is only 100 miles from my door . . . with a great warranty . . . I'll use it for some more delicate things I want to add to my leather offerings. May God bless, Dwight

If you buy a Tippmann Boss . . . you can use two C clamps and clamp it to that black table there . . . put a chair out from it . . . and you're in business for some $1400 or so. Oh . . . and yes . . . it is a good machine . . . mine is in the 20 yr old range . . . and still works fine. May God bless, Dwight

My brother in law found this one laying in a drawer in a piece of used furniture he was refinishing. He told me to take it home . . . been using it for close to 20 years . . . was at least that old when I got it from the looks of it. I would not buy a wooden one when I can have a metal one that will never warp, crack, bust down the middle . . . etc. And it is every bit as accurate as any strap cutter could be. I break utility knife blades in half and use them. May God bless, Dwight PS: This is just an image . . . not mine . . . but mine looks like it other than being several decades old

Honestly . . . I got lost in the description . . . and after seeing yours . . . it makes my arm and head hurt to think some day I'll take a whack at one similar . . . but I keep trying to talk myself into it . . . for my Marlin lever action .44 mag rifle. Any help is always appreciated . . . and I am definitely a newer novice when it comes to basket weave stamping. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Bruce, . . . knowledge is one of those fun things you can give and give and give . . . and still have your tank full. Looks like a link I may spend some time with........... May God bless, Dwight

Just wanted to drop a "Thank You" to all who encouraged me to not give up on basket weaving . . . I bought a couple of stamps . . . been messing with it . . . and had a lady come in looking for a belt for her hubby for anniversary. She gave me full reign to do it "my" way . . . just so it was the right color, size, and had his name on it. Well . . . it will never win a show prize . . . but she got his belt . . . or at least will get it when she picks it up. Thanks again . . . have a Happy Thanksgiving . . . may God bless, Dwight

Really nice . . . but my arm hurts thinking of that basket weave . . . May God bless, Dwight

Hey, . . . Handy Dave . . . Go out on Google or someplace like that and tell them you want to download a copy of Adobe photoshop elements . . . the version I have is 2.0. When you get it down loaded . . . File / Open will open any picture on your computer all you have to do is point it there. Once the photo is open . . . go to Image up on the top level there . . . click it . . . and the choice you want is "Resize". Clicking it will give you a couple of options and the one you want is "Image Size". When it opens up you will be able to choose either th e height of the image or the width of the image. I pretty much always choose the width and go with 1000 pixels. Put in the number and tell it OK. Next hit the red "X" in the top right corner of the picture . . . it will ask you if you want to save it . . . and there is a slider bar there that you decide how good a picture you want. Down at the bottom it will tell you how many "K" it is using . . . 250 K to 350 K is almost always good enough. Move the slider until you hit where you want it . . . click OK . . . That picture will load then. This is one I took today . . . and it started out at around a 5 meg picture . . . until I "Photo Shopped" it. I actually have to do that with any picture I want to put on the internet . . . my phone will not take small pictures . . . they are all at least 3.5 megs . . . so I just fix em. May God bless, Dwight

Here is the picture of my personal chaps and the pattern I use for me. The table is laid out in 1 inch squares . . . so you can work out the pattern from there. This is the right let of the chaps. And yes . . . they wrap like the diagram on the right side of your post. Each of the conchos has a ring behind it that the hooks snap in to . . . that's how they work. May God bless, Dwight

Mmmm . . . I really like the looks of this one . . . nothing against the original post . . . just not my style . . . but quite well executed for sure. May God bless, Dwight