dbusarow

I had the same question, that center just jumps put at you. Dan

Wow. Thank you all. I really wasn't expecting so much praise. I'll take it though BruceGibson, I've had a picture of the G19 holster on your home page sitting on my desk for inspiration for a couple of weeks now. The color on that one is my current goal. Vinagaroon makes black easy, but tan/brown is eluding me. I'm practicing on scrap, I'll get it yet. I think I've gotten a bit of inspiration here and there from each of you looking at the work you've posted. LW is an amazing resource. Thanks, Dan

Thank you very much! I like it a lot. Except the smell I rinse it really well in luke warm water as soon as I take it out of the vinagaroon. Molding is the next step so getting it good and wet is the idea anyway. Right out of the stuff my wife complains about the smell but it seems to go away pretty quick. She sits a foot away from the G19 rig every night and hasn't said a word. Sounds like what I'm after, I'll give it a try. Thanks again. Dan

About 6 weeks ago I posted my first attempt at making a holster. Thanks to all for your comments, they help a beginner out more than you can know. Since then I've made a few more and I think my craftsmanship is coming along. I thought I'd show a series of pics in chronological order. First pic is my first and second holsters. Second one was intended for a 1911 but I really messed up the stitch lines. Luckily a Beretta 92G with Brigadier slide is big enough to take up most of the slop. Plus it's a range/competition gun so staying tight isn't all that important. After that debacle I went back and did a couple more western style holsters for my wife, the one for her Beretta 85 is her new favorite. She has a thing for butterflys. I just whacked them with a stamp. Then I tried another pancake for myself. This one for a G19 and it has replaced my old holster for EDC. Wearing it as I type. I messed up the finish by putting super sheen on it and I've been trying to mellow that out ever since. But it is a CCW holster so nobody but me sees it. And it works great, tucks in nice and tight. Next I thought I'd experiment with carving. I have a long ways to go here but it still came out pretty nice. I'm going to try to establish the Texas custom of BBQ guns up here. Oh, and I love the open trigger guard, can't wait to wear this one to a range! And finally the one I just finished a couple of days ago, a 1911 pancake. I still need to find something I like for a top coat, I'm looking to get a bit of a "glow" without the gloss. I have some Bag-Kote on order. Vinagaroon with one coat of oil and then saddle soap for now. I also did the last one with the flesh side out in back. I like the look, going to see how it works with tan next. Well, let me have it. All comments welcome! Thanks, Dan

Don, I'm amazed at how you can make such a simple design (both holster and belt) look so classy. Dan

Pictures, we need pictures! Dan

My question too. How do you get that beautiful rich brown? Dan

Just to close this topic here's a picture of the repair. Many thanks to pella for her suggestion on the patches. I think it came out rather well. 6/7 oz veg tan with vinagaroon and oil finish. Also thanks to rickybobby for the copies showing how to cover a swell. Next time! Dan

So drill all the holes and then go back like normal with sewing awl and needles. Only the awl only has to cut the sides a bit rather than punching the hole. Is that right? Still sounds like it could be a winner. I'll give it a try. Dan

Thanks for the photo Pella. That might work for the bit marks, and even for the gullet. rickybobby, here are the pictures you asked for. The swell shape The bite marks And the gullet Thanks for all your ideas guys. Dan

Lobo, you punch all of the holes and then go back and stitch afterwards? No problem with the holes sealing themselves? That sure sounds like it would be faster than punch one, stitch one like the book says to do. And Pete, good job on the first one! Thanks, Dan

Pella, you make it sound so easy I've never seen that. Could you point me somewhere that has pictures of this? Neatly done patches would work. Thanks, Dan

PM on the way. I'll do that later this morning. I should probably rephrase my question though. Does anyone have an out of the ordinary way to cover swells. For example one of the things I thought of was using mule hide wrap. Then I modified that to light weight latigo so the color and finish are nicer. Any comments on the wrap idea? Or a better one? Rick, I do want to see the material on how it should be done. And Randy, yes, I may just dive in and do it for the learing experience. But only if I have to Great quote Rick. Thanks, Dan

A friend of ours owns a stable that runs the local Special Riders club for handicapped kids. All of the tack is donated and most is pretty cheap. She just asked me to fix the swell covers on a cordura saddle, the "leather" got chewed on by another horse It's actually naugahyde, or maybe just black plastic sheet, and he ripped a couple of chunks off. The swells themselves are fine, although they do appear to be made from some pressed wood concoction. Now someday I will want to learn how to do this (and the rest of a saddle) correctly. But for now I'm looking for suggestions on some EASY method to recover the swells just to make them look nice. The only reason she wants to do this is that the saddle itself is in pretty good shape for what it is and she needs this saddle to look good so the kid who uses it will like it. Any suggestions? Thanks, Dan

Yep. Ranch rodeos are better than pro rodeos in my book. Lots more fun to watch. No tug of war or egg carries at our local events but we do have all the rest. Wild cow milking is my favorite. Dan

I just got a Wickett & Craig price sheet and it lists oiled latigo in black, dark brown, medium brown, chestnut and Tan! 1-800-826-6379 Dan

I like that buckle-less design. Might be a pain if they don't fit right but for custom made it's neat. Dan

Wow, with a tree that pretty I think I'd just want to hang some rigging off of it and call it good. Even more minimal than the ones in the minimalist thread. Dan

Thanks, I'm planning on a couple of Ranger styles soon. Like Boomstick said, if we all thought the same it would be a pretty boring world. In general I don't like retention straps at all. IMHO, with a pancake or IWB they just aren't needed. But I felt this one needed something, hence the hammer thong. This retro stuff may just turn into my style Thanks all. Dan

Nice! I like the simple border pattern. Waiting for my basic 7 to arrive so I can try stamping something and I think I'll use your's for inspiration if that's OK. Dan

Thanks! On the thong retention we'll probably have to agree to disagree. It isn't something I'd use on a concealed carry holster but this is an open carry, horse back rig. The loop keeps the gun in the holster while jumping creeks and logs, but it's weak enough that it will snap if you forgot to release it and just draw the gun. Ask me how I know Actually, for activity more sedate than riding really spirited horses I wouldn't bother with the retention strap at all, the molding is really holding the gun in well. However, next in the production line I'm doing one out of Stohlman's holster book with no molding and for that one I'm going to use a conventional strap and Sam Brown button for retention. Dan

Shorts, Thanks for the suggestion to wet the leather. I had done it dry. I just tried wetting before running both the groover and wheel and it worked great. Not as good as your example yet, but a lot closer to what I expected. Dan

Thanks. Wish my dad had been so thoughtful, I think all my holsters were made of something just a notch above cardboard when I was that age Dan

Well, here goes. Displaying my first attempt to the world. I made this holster for my wife's J frame. A special requirement here is that the only pants she ever wears are riding breeches, no belt loops. She has a shoulder holster and hates it. So I decided that the old cowboy style where the gun belt just goes around the outside of your clothes was the way to go. And it works, she loves it. Two questions. Marking the stitch points with an overstitch wheel. First I added a stitch groove and was surprised to find that the overstitch wheel was too wide for the groove, ran the groover around a couple more times. No joy. ended up just lightly running the overstitch wheel around and leaving light marks on the grain and missing a couple near the top of the trigger guard where I just guessed while sewing. So, how is this part of the process supposed to be done? I really expected the wheel to ride inside the groove where I could really bear down and leave good marks. Second, the color. I used Fiebings Pro Oil dye, light brown, dyed before sewing. The color looked great and really smooth when I was done. I was quite proud of that after reading so many posts about blotchy browns! So then I sew it up and go to mold it. The dark spots showed up as soon as the holster started to dry. No problem I think, those spots are just taking longer to dry. 24 hours later they were still there. So I decided to just go ahead and finish off. I hand rubbed olive oil in to finish. As expected everything darkened a little except a couple of areas, by the top cylinder flute and the front sight you can see where the oil didn't penetrate. So I don't know enough to even have a specific question on the dye/finish. Just looking for general advice. Oh, and in my excitement after dyeing I forgot to burnish the flesh side, oh well. Critiques welcome. I think I've learned more from your critiques on other folks attempts than from any howto's I've read. Thanks for all the help I got by reading the posts here before starting this. Dan

Since no one else more experienced has chimed in For your spur straps go to http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/Projects.asp Scroll down and find "Spur Strap Patterns". This is a PDF file with full size patterns you can print. It contains patterns for both the straps themselves and the tooling. Should give you an idea for translating your own design to paper also. For your headstall I'd measure the thickness of one you like. The utility knife (with a new blade!) should work fine for cutting it out. Unless you plan on getting fancy in the cheekpieces or something this should all be pretty much straight cuts. This advice is coming from someone who has only repaired, never built, a headstall! It's worth exactly what you paid for it. Dan