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alpha2

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  5. Posted · Report reply

    I've made two for my wife, at her request. (Actually, she requested one, then she said, "you know what you can change?")

    She loves them for when we're traveling and she just needs her ID, maybe keys a few bucks and credit card, and her LCP and spare mag. I made an insert for the back pocket to keep the cash and cards contained.

    I can send you some pics of what I did if you're interested.

    Jeff

     

  12. Posted · Report reply

    Mine is the Weaver one, without the name. Probably got it from brand T.

    Be careful of those L-shaped pieces with the screws. Mine were just a hair long, and before I figured that out, left full length marks on the leather being cut from. I ground them down so they didn't protrude from the wood, and beveled the wood a bit too. If you angle the tool at all, that edge rides on the leather.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    16 hours ago, cardinal leather said:

    I have a number of old metal drills. They all function, but look at the size of the handle on the one above, those old ones are wrist breakers for sure, i do use them but wont sell them as most folks wouldn't recognize the danger until it slipped out of their hand and had the cord wrapped around their wrist I have experience with that issue. 

    You aren't kidding! I have a later version of Milwaukee's hole shooter, still called that. The trigger is almost the entire length of the grip, you CAN'T LET GO! I finally just stopped using it, one experience on a ladder did the trick. 

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Those are excellent holsters. A lot of good info above. I'd guess the "FBI" cant is the most popular. They supposedly use 15 degrees. If you make a high-rise holster, the cant can make it easier to draw. (Keeps from having to pull the gun into your armpit to clear the holster.)The cant also keeps the base of the magazine from protruding out behind you and keeps from printing. 

    I did make a holster, once, that I overdid the ejection port. Essentially locked the pistol into the holster. (Revolver holster with the outer panel up over the cylinder can do the same thing.) JLS has great info on making handgun holster patterns and templates. 

    The "stiffener" added to the top of the outer panel isn't required, especially with with the weight leather normally used with holsters. It does add a nice opportunity to spice up the aesthetics, though. Personally I like to go for less bulk, but I've made some with, just 'cause I could. I've seen pics of IWB holsters with the stiffeners, nobody will see it, and it adds thickness, but if it keeps the holster from smashing closed when you draw, it would make the re-holster easier.

    I agree slot angle is personal preference. I've made them both ways, didn't find a difference in usage. You'll see some with the arced slots, I don't see an advantage with those, YMMV.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Here's my take on leather hats. They're heavy. They're hot. They're hot. Some people don't even seem to notice, but I'm averse to hot hats, of any kind. If I wasn't bald, I'd never wear a hat. As to location, location, location, I tend to live where it's hot, or humid, or hot and humid. And now, I live where it's almost always sunny, and at over 5000' elevation. So not only is the Sun hot, it's not having to cut through a lot of atmosphere. Stand outside talking to a neighbor for 15 minutes in the middle of the day can show up on your head bone. If I go up in the mountains, it's worse. 

    I say again, though, a lot of people seem to love them. I can see where the northern coast of the USA they might be alright. Phoenix, Denver, hot and humid Michigan, another story. Now, all of those places in the mid-winter, maybe okay. 

  17. Posted · Report reply

    I punch over a plastic cutting board. Since the punch is still cutting when it goes through the leather, the blow out is negligible. It will still "LOOK" different, as the punch is tapered. The higher on the taper the leather is when you finish the punch, the more beveled in appearance the hole will be.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    On 2/19/2021 at 7:39 PM, Wizcrafts said:

    Thanks for posting this information. There are so many different things that can cause skipped stitches. I've had trouble with coily top thread, but never suspected the bobbin thread before reading your analysis. It makes sense though that is one winds their bobbins from the same spool, or thread batch that is coily on the top, it will also be coily in the bobbin. I have found that Weaver's lubricated black bonded thread tends to be really coily/springy. I have to route the thread counterclockwise through the top post to counteract that coiliness.

    Interesting point about the top post. Thanks for that.

    On 2/19/2021 at 7:46 PM, Wizcrafts said:

    Bob Kovar advised me to back off the shuttle screws so that the coil springs let the shuttle assembly move in and out with thick thread. Tightening the screws all the way fully compresses my springs and the shuttle pinches thick thread as it goes around the shuttle. This throws off the tension settings. Backing off at least 1/2 to 1 turn lets the assembly float with the thread, as necessary. I don't back off 1.5 turns, just 1.

    I'll back it off a bit then. I had always done that previous to this issue, and it always worked fine.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Skipped stitches, shredded thread, complete re-timing of machine, every imaginable tension adjustments. Numerous needle changes to no effect. Same machine, needles, thread, leather that have always worked before. (You MUST see a pattern there!) After reading through all the threads on this forum, watching videos, talking to Cowboy Bob, I decided to just strip the thread off the bobbin and reload with fresh thread. Voila! The bobbin thread had developed a curly-q nature. What gave me the idea that might be the issue, was a video on missing stitches in reverse. (Wiz, Uwe? Sorry, don't remember. But if those clear plastic needle plates are for sale...call me! Best troubleshooting device...ever!) Not my issue, but watching that little loop formed when the needle started back up, so the hook could catch it, and just how important that loop was, suggested that any coiling of the thread from that bobbin, (only a third full of thread) that had been sitting on it for SOME TIME, got me thinking. I also found that I had put the conical spring in the bobbin carrier upside down. I reversed, (corrected) it, but it didn't do any good. I could tell that when it was in backwards, there was no bounce back when you pushed on the bobbin, like you usually see.

    Another thing, I remember seeing somewhere to tighten the bobbin carrier race screws, then back off one and a half turns. I tried to find that again, in case that was an issue, but couldn't. I did find two locations where it showed, but didn't explain, tightening them and leaving it at that. If anyone has any thoughts on that, feel free to post something. I had always backed off 1.5 turns, but now have them tightened. My thought is that if you have a screw with a spring, the spring is there to assure the appropriate tension when the screw is tightened. The very idea of tightening a screw, then back off an ambiguous amount, to achieve the proper tension, ignores the concept of a proper tension spring.  

    When testing all the available avenues of repair, I used a considerable amount of the same weight and type of leather. It would sew just fine for from 3 inches to as much as 12 or more before the skipped stitches started and the thread shredded. You can imagine how I felt when I put the actual work piece in and started stitching. Cold sweat, pounding heart, promises to higher powers. I did sew three feet of successful stitching before I attempted it for the money.

    Finally, when I figured it out, I put in a call to Bob in Toledo with what I found. If we call these distributors with problems and questions, if we discover the issue, we really need to let them know for the next person with the issue. It's hard to believe, but they haven't seen everything. When I was working, I thought for sure that I'd finally seen everything, then reality bit me on the...arm.

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