Dwight

If you take beeswax (the real stuff) and neatsfoot oil . . . NOT the compound . . . mix just a tad heavier than 1 to 1 . . . more oil . . . heat it in a jar until it melts . . . pour it into muffin pans . . . you get a soft paste that rubs in easily . . . hit it with a hair dryer or heat gun . . . melts the oil into the pores . . . wax stays on the surface . . . you get a really good piece of leather that with a little bending and flexing about 24 hours later . . . will become relatively soft . . . and the oil will not rub off on other clothing, furniture, etc. And you can add several treatments if the first does not do what you want. May God bless, Dwight

From the voice of experience . . . paddle holsters are good for S&W shields . . . but a paddle holster for a 1911 is not really a good idea. My first CCW holster was exactly that . . . from a respected holster maker . . . but just turned out to be not a good investment. The weight of that size pistol makes it flop around . . . it sits so far out you need a winter coat to disquise the fact that you are wearing it . . . and especially with the 1911, the mag release is prone to being pushed at the wrong time. Just a few notes from "been there . . . done that" May God bless, Dwight

Sure fooled me all to pieces . . . that being the case . . . the holes had to be cut first . . . at least that is how I would do it. That is one pretty holster . . . are you going to copy it or make one similar?? May God bless, Dwight

What you are missing here is that the front is not cut to make a loop. Another piece of leather is actually added on this holster to give the appearance of a Mexican loop holster . . . but it is of the John Bianchi style . . . two pieces of leather bonded (glued) together make the body of the holster . . . a third piece is used to go around the holster as a "loop". That is my favorite western holster to make . . . May God bless, Dwight

Rob . . . not sure what kind of attachment you made here . . . but they would not open . . . got some goofy "Want to add this to messenger" page from some google or MS page. Try putting a *.jpg or *.bmp so the rest of us can see them. But if I understand your question: yes glue it all together first . . . make the holster . . . then do the cutting. Otherwise you have to fiddle with the edges . . . never really getting them a good as if they are cut together at the same time . . . glued together. May God bless, Dwight

Ashley55, . . . quick . . . don't wait . . . don't slow down . . . go buy yourself some reducer. Mix that dye 50/50 with the reducer . . . and your buffing problems will take a serious nose dive. Yes, hard buffing even after reducing . . . will get "some" rub off . . . but not very much at all. When you see a good shine on your project . . . quit buffing and get to the Resolene . . . and . . . yes . . . reduce it the same way . . . 50/50 . . . but use water. You should really like the results better with two small caveats: Depending on how dark you want that saddle tan . . . you may have to dye it a second time. I only dip dye . . . no brushing or patches . . . and I get a nice saddle tan color. If you are using USMC black . . . find a hole to bury that stuff in . . . you can buff seriously with that . . . and it'll still kick out pigment. May God bless, Dwight

The only caveat with Weldwood . . . on the hair side (slick side) you need to wire brush it a bit to break up that slick layer. Once you have done that . . . if you put on the light first coat . . . let it COMPLETELY DRY then a follow up light coat . . . let it dry and then put the two together . . . then lay a small weight on your project for a couple hours . . . yeah . . . you'll cut it apart or you won't get it apart. I had a holster I was doing several years ago . . . piece got on wrong . . . pulled it apart with pliers and some hard grunts . . . literally pulled off the lowest layer of the leather fibers. BUT . . . I was able to salvage the project . . . just re-glued it. May God bless, Dwight

If you lived closer I'd drive over and make you a deal for them. Punch a hole the diameter of the shaft . . . and from that hole . . . go the width of the head with a slot. When you use these . . . one piece has the slot going to the left . . . the other to the right . . . and they'll work. I would use them on suspenders . . . military straps . . . etc. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Double Daddy . . . and it is comfortable . . . more so than any other one I've ever worn. I almost didn't do the serpentine . . . there is only one place in the whole movie that I could see that . . . and it was a fluke that I even found it. Then I pondered if they even used that kind of stamp . . . back in 1944 / 1945 . . . but went with "that was the original" so I did it. May God bless, Dwight

Sometimes making a leather project . . . can be tiring if not just plain aggravating. Got a request some time back for a shoulder holster like Brad Pitt wore in Fury. Had a time getting the pattern right . . . but finally did. Finished it yesterday . . . put it together today and put it on . . . dang I like this thing. But we all have to have something to keep us covid busy. May God bless, Dwight (pictures posted in the gallery)

Chris . . . I've personally never seen that book . . . but there are a lot of things I've never seen . . . and won't at age 76. But that is not the point I want to make. THE MOST IMPORTANT piece of information you need to know about a swivel knife is simply this . . . KEEP IT SHARP. A dull swivel knife is about as useful as a teaspoon with a hole in it. Personally . . . I hate using the darned thing . . . but there are times it has to be done . . . so I bite the bullet . . . sharpen it up and go at it. I also have two styles of knife, . . . a straight one . . . and one cut at a 45 or so degree angle . . . Learn the process of sharpening them to the point they will cut you badly if you slip . . . and you will find the whole process is tolerable . . . if not enjoyable. May God bless, Dwight

Do your gun a favor . . . put the holster in a pretty box . . . up on the shelf in a closet . . . inscribed with "My first holster". Then go make one right . . . you are fretting over a few bucks worth of leather and a bit of thread . . . not worth it when you scratch the bluing off your gun . . . gouge the metal past "polishing out" . . . and seriously devalue that weapon. Not worth it. May God bless, Dwight

I'll go the other route on that advice . . . leather has a natural oil to it . . . that is mostly worked out of it in the tanning process. Applying a THIN coat on the hair side only of the leather approximately 24 hours BEFORE YOU DYE IT . . . will almost always give you a much better dye job. That is especially if you are doing anything in the light tan spectrum . . . with saddle tan being an example. The leather retains pockets of oil . . . which will change the color of the dye . . . and can give you some really nasty . . . spotty . . . ugly dye jobs. When I first encountered it . . . I thought it was a bad hide . . . then I ran across it other times . . . now . . . I do the oil trick every time before I dye . . . and allowing it to sit for 24 hours will allow it to soak in pretty much equally everywhere. AND . . . now I don't have those dye problems I used to hit from time to time. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Hasbeencowboy . . . what you said makes a lot of sense . . . As a younster . . . I watched Rin Tin Tin and other such shows . . . thought being a soldier back then would have been great. About 14 yrs old . . . maybe 16 . . . got to ride one of them old "soldier" saddles. Cured me of ever wanting to get in a time machine and go back. May God bless, Dwight

I guess I never really paid any attention to other saddle styles . . . The only saddle styles we ever had around here were English . . . military (old left over stuff from back WW1 ways) . . . and "cowboy" . . . But all the cowboy saddles I saw or rode growing up . . . had pretty good swells coming out on each side of the horn. Is this a new "style" that has done away with that? Just nosey I guess. May God bless, Dwight

Just remember, Forester, sometimes it ain't all on you. I made a single gun rig for a guy a number of years back . . . similar to yours . . . just not as much bling . . . it was a 53 inch belt I made for him . . . he picked it up 6 weeks after ordering it . . . by then he needed a 56. Thankfully . . . there was enough wiggle room . . . with a new belt tongue . . . May God bless, Dwight

Just a note . . . suggestion . . . Mold your holsters tight enough that they do not need the retention screw . . . if you do a good job . . . it'll be a long time before it is needed . . . and they can be added afterwards. I don't use em because I know people . . . and some would tighten it down the first time they put a gun in the holster . . . and it would not be long until you would have to put a lariat on the gun to keep it in the holster as they ruined the molding. At least that is my way of doing things . . . YMMV. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Lobo, . . . I had thought the N frame was awful close . . . but never had a chance to compare as I have no source here for the 1917. He's got the picture I sent him . . . he's doing a "measuring" of the different points of the weapon . . . and what I'll do is just make a wooden model . . . which will do for what we need done. I had to do that a few years back for a model 29 . . . it was a "trial run" so to speak . . . worked out like a champ . . . the customer was thoroughly pleased . . . and I still have my pine wood "Dirty Harry" revolver in case I ever need to make another model 29 holster. May God bless, Dwight

I do not do a lot of carving and stamping . . . but I have learned this . . . Tandy's shoulders . . . the closer you get to the neck . . . the "harder" it is . . . Try . . . just for kicks and giggles . . . some of Tandy's belly leather . . . it is some of the softest leather they have . . . see if you have the same results. My wager will be "NO" May God bless, Dwight

Toss that garbage glue . . . go to Weldwood contact cement It is great stuff. May God bless, Dwight

Were there any gun models to look at? May God bless, Dwight

I see a lot of patterns . . . some things I don't recognize . . . and a few things that look like wooden gun models. Is there by any chance a version of a 1917 .45 Army revolver? May God bless, Dwight

Thanks . . . I'm sorry it happened to you . . . too . . . I think we've all done something similar if we've been whacking leather for any amount of time. May God bless, Dwight

Yessir . . . my "customer" and I have been "talking about" this holster he wants . . . for over a year now. He finally figured out after getting Covid . . . losing his job . . . and assorted other things in his life . . . that there is never a better time than the "el presidente" . . . Anyway . . . I'll need the mold . . . so please send the pics to ciminod@midohio.net Thank you very much . . . looking fwd to seeing them. May God bless, Dwight