Dwight

Pinto . . . just a suggestion . . . 24 years ago . . . I bought a Tippmann Boss . . . used it for holsters, knife sheaths, belts, wallets . . . and whatever until 4 years ago . . . replaced it with a cowboy 4500. The Boss is a good place to start . . . find out what you really want to do . . . and will get you going. Good used ones can be had for 800 or so . . . May God bless, Dwight

Let me suggest to you that you spend just a medium amount of money . . . buy yourself a small laser engraver. I cannot vouch for the machine I'm picturing as mine are both different brands . . . but this 30 machine should cut your leather very easily . . . set it up so it does it in 2 passes . . . you will want a air blast kit with it . . . you can put the designs on it first . . . then let it cut it out . . . Cutting leather stinks . . . need to do it in a well ventilated area . . . or fix up one like I did . . . but the end results are fabulous . . . May God bless, Dwight

Look for the spools that kind of stand upright . . . maybe 5 or 6 inches tall . . . on a black (all I ever used were black) plastic spools designed only to sit on one end. Tip them over and look for a size number . . . sometimes it will say "Size XXX" and sometimes it will be just XXX. The ones you are looking for are "138, 207, 277, 346, 415" For most holster, belt, knife sheath work. . . 138 is too small . . . 415 is a bit large. Most use 207, 277, and 346. I almost use 346 exclusively. Hope this helps May God bless, Dwight

"Fixing" that dye job unfortunately would be best done re dying it in a darker color or black. What you need to do to prevent such occurances in the future . . . is first apply a light coat of neatsfoot oil . . . and then give it about 24 hours to disperse itself eavenly thoughout the leather piece, Only apply it to the hair side (slick outside side of the leather) Lighter tans are especially vulnerable to that splotchy look without the oiling. May God bless, Dwight

Welcome from Marion Ohio May God bless. Dwight

What he ^^^^ said

Two thicknesses . . . identical thickness of each . . . will do a lot better than one piece of the same total overall thickness. THAT is why most good CCW belts are double layer . . . stitched and glued . . . and for NO change . . . add a stainless steel liner. May God bless, Dwight

In 20+ years . . . I have had one similar problem. I could not find the exact shade of grey I wanted for "MY" holster . . . so I invented it. I kept playing with black, saddle tan, and british tan until it did what I wanted . . . and I was some kind of seriously glad. I wanted almost a battleship grey for it . . . Dyed the holster and belt . . . all was good . . . about a year later I noticed the black seemed to be leaving . . . giving me a brownish red holster . . . with a mostly grey belt. Holster keeps losing the black . . . belt I think has stabilized . . . Not big deal . . . i'ts my personal holster . . . and I can live with it. Just glad it was not a customer . . . May God bless, Dwight

I can name a half dozen I've known of my my lifetime . . . once were great . . . good food . . . good service . . . good price . . . friendly people A piece at a time . . . it all went to hell in a broken bucket . . . and it was usually the quality of the food that went south first. May God bless, Dwight

What he ^^^^^^ said . . . looks good. My only comment is I kind of envy you . . . my very first CCW holster was a paddle . . . and my son carries a Glock 19 . . . most of the time in a paddle. Much as I tried . . . I just could not get comfy with it . . . It was in my way driving . . . no matter where I put the thing . . . the weight of it hanging on my belt wanted to pull my britches down . . . and I finally just gave up . . . went to an IWB . . . pretty much stayed there ever since. I do a shoulder holster occasionally . . . and a slide cake OWB . . . also occasionally. But I'm glad you found your system. May God bless, Dwight

Actually,Sheilajeanne . . . you and I are in similar canoes . . . my closest Tandy is basically an hour's drive away . . . and like you . . . I want to see what I'm getting on the leather. I'll call Scott and have them send me conchos . . . tools . . . dye . . . etc . . . but for the skins, I want to see that dude. I also long ago developed the habit of taking a micrometer with me and buying the thickness of leather I want. The range of thickness for any skin is pretty broad . . . and I have certain thicknesses I want for the work I do. Makes life a whole lot easier when I don't have to stuff it thru that little machine that works on the thickness . . . May God bless, Dwight

Bean counters are the absolute worst possible candidates for anything but bean counting . . . most of em I've met were just above sub-human . . . May God bless, Dwight

Sheilajeanne . . . I use the one in Columbus, Ohio . . . and know the manager for being a really good guy. They have put stuff in the mail for me in the past . . . I don't have their mailing address . . . but I'll get it for you if you want . . . and their phone number. I'm sure Scott would do whatever he could to help you out . . . Let me know if you want to try that. May God bless, Dwight

Count the number of farriers in town in 1890 . . . then again in 1930 . . . Same idea . . . same results May God bless, Dwight

If you look at the little center piece of the middle one . . . it shows you how to lace the back to make the cylinder. Personally I would not opt for the zippered case . . . zippers and leather generally are a pain to get lined up and working. I would do the bottom style . . . two different sizes of cylinders . . . undoubtedly veggie tan . . . molded over wooden or metal cylinders . . . hand stitched on the edges. Have fun . . . looks like a challenging project. May God bless, Dwight

Honestly, Bill . . . I really don't use "patterns" per se . . . I have a handful of "outlines" that I use to start a holster . . . but all of mine are pretty much one of a kind . . . each one slightly different. If you can make a pancake holster . . . you can make this. it is essentially a pancake . . . with the wings that normally are two pieces glued and sewn together . . . they are left open out at the end . . . and the belt slips between the two pieces of leather. Plus those wings are a bit wider than a normal pancake would be. The machine was a Tippmann Boss . . . 24 yr old aluminum job . . . It is 6 oz Tandy veg tan leather . . . but I don't mess with oz . . . I use a dial measuring tool . . . this one measured out at .107 is some places and .095 in a couple others. That is basically 6 oz . . . but again . . . I take my dial indicator to Tandy's and buy the leather I want . . . according to the thickness I need for forseeable jobs. Dye is Feibings pro oil . . . cut 50/50 with feibings reducer. Now don't laugh . . . the picture below is the back of the pretty black holster you've already seen. This is several years later . . . and several modifications later. I've used it as a catch bin for ideas and practice stuff . . . hence all the rivets . . . the snap . . . the hole . . . but it still fits my little 1911 very nicely and I sometimes carry it. It is THE most comfortable OWB I have. You can see the stitch pattern on the back of it. Pretty simple. The stitches look white and ugly . . . it is from a white dust I get in my shop . . . I gave it a quick wipe down for the picture . . . but some is still in the stitches. May God bless, Dwight

My Boss is over 24 years old . . . and it has been back to Ft Wayne a couple times . . . nothing serious either time . . . From some rough handling . . . I did have to replace one of the gears in the back . . . It has sewn virtually everything I asked it to in those years . . . some nylon stuff . . . vinyl . . . and of course, leather. I've seen both of the others . . . and they don't impress me . . . If you get a boss and their narrow foot . . . you should be happy. A guide is for people who cannot follow a line . . . have one for my cowboy . .. it's gathering dust . . . (it was free). Backstitching is best done like Bruce said . . . May God bless, Dwight

Cdk . . . I am intrigued by this design trying to figure out how the back looks for the belt to go through. Can you maybe share pictures or an explanation? Cranky . . . .Dwight, would you be so kind as to inform me on how to get a copy of your 1911 pattern? Here is another makers version of my slide cake . . . Mine is a bit different . . . but this gives you the general idea. For all practicality . . . it is pancake . . . .and the ears are widened . . . and not glued together. May God bless, Dwight

I'll get that later on . . . but there is a guy about a 100 miles from you . . . carries a SA XD with double stack .45ACP . . . on horseback . . . loves it. I'd tell you to go see it there . . . but he is so far out in the sticks . . . they won't even deliver his mail . . . May God bless, Dwight

Badhatter . . . this is one of the single most comfortable OWB I have ever made. Your belt slips thru a slide before the holster . . . behind it . . . and then thru another one. If you are interested . . . I can fix you up . . . just let me know. The one you see there . . . is an officer's model SA 1911 . . . with thumb break May God bless, Dwight

At 79 yrs . . . I have always despised trying to make two things exactly alike by using templates and / or patterns. I like them similar . . . but still unique and "one of a kind". My leather work is the same. I use manila file folders to make "sort of" patterns . . . they get me to be where I can cut a piece of leather . . . and know it will fit a 1911 . . . a Ruger Vaquero . . . or a double barreled derringer. I then wet mold the weapon . . . let it dry . . . and complete the project from there. Each holster will fit the intended weapon or any just like it . . . but laid side by side . . . one may be a tad longer . . . one may be a tad wider . . . one may have double stitching on the outside . . . one may have a thick welt VS thin welt. Just how I do it . . . but again . . . common ol' manila folders and a razor knife have always done well by me . . . get that "sort of" pattern out . . . outline it with a ball point pen . . . go to cutting and I'm good. May God bless, Dwight

Call Bob . . . tell him what you want . . . 3 bucks each . . . I got my dozen May God bless, Dwight

I've got two of em . . . a 3000mw and a 10 watt . . . they sit side by side in a box I built on a door . . . (10$ slab door from a used fixit shop) . . . have a 7 inch fan blowing thru a round hole in the side of my shop . . . works great. I have used Lightburn . . . found LaserGRBL (free software) . . . works real well . . . only have to remember when printing anything . . . it prints in a mirror image . . . have to change it before printing . . . otherwise works real good. May God bless, Dwight