DaltonMasterson

I also use drafting mylar. It is pricey, but if you check around online, I have found it very reasonable. I am fortunate enough in my real job to have access to the city engineers. They use computers now, so they have rolls of the stuff they dont use, and they let me have a roll. It is nice stuff. Use your pencil on the rough side, then when your pattern is done, give it a quick spray of clear spray paint to keep it permanent. This has worked for me for several years now, and I havent worn out a pattern yet. DM

I have a Baron stamp that is eerily similar to the H-D trademark. It says Live to Ride Ride to Live I believe. I have used it once for a guys key fob. I wonder if its close enough to get me in trouble? I also have a Colt one made by Baron, that I know can get me a cease and desist letter. Colt is very fond of sending letters to a gunsmith friend of mine. DM

Howdy. I have had an Adler 30-15 for awhile, and have played with it about 10 min. total. I was wondering what this machine is good for? Is it mainly one for garment leather, or is it capable of sewing some heavier (8-10 oz) leathers together? Good for bullet loops using 4-5 oz sewed to a 9-10oz? There is no motor, or treadle, only the handcrank. It is in working condition, and the lady was using it until I bought it, so it is very functional. I have never machine sewed before, so its all a little foreign to me. I had a lady at Landis send me a pdf file of the manual, and she said it was a very old machine. I also got a Landis 12 from her, but am scared to try it. It looks very very very wicked to get a finger caught in. DM

As far as selling on Ebay, I do. It is a lot like fishing. Sometimes you catch something, and sometimes you dont. What I did start doing is adding a link to my site, which allows the people browsing to see my other work, and then hopefully order something else. I have had a lot of hits on my site, but the actual Ebay sale is a crapshoot. DM

Tina, the color is Tandy ProDye Red, immediately covered with mahogany. Then I lightly sand the high points with 400 grit sandpaper, then immediately redye with mahogany. That leaves the sanded spots lighter, highlighting some of the detail. DM

Thanks for the nice comments folks. I have Packing Iron sitting open on my bench most of the time, and use it for ideas very often. Heres another one I did from PI for my Starrs. I did goof and put the pattern on the wrong holsters, so the left pattern is on the right and vice versa. Oh well. DM

I dont really make the belts match. They are close, but not quite. I figure back in the day a cowboy probably bought a piece here and another piece there, so nothing will quite match perfectly. I made my wife another set, and it does match, but she likes these much better. The welt was a fix for the holster being waaaay too tight. I normally dont add welts to any of them. Just a fix is all that is. Thanks. DM

Hey Don, its good to see you here too! DM

I took some spare strap leather I had, and put a full impression of every stamp I had on it, and wrote the number on it in marker next to the stamp. Now when I go to the "toy store", I have all the stamps I own right there with me. I can check sizes by poking the new stamps into the impressions, or can make sure not to get duplicates. I have since had to rivet another strap to the first one, and am going to make notebook pages from leather, to match the Tandy catalog pages. That way it will be more easy to keep in a sensible order, rather than random as I get new tools. It is quite amazing how much the same number tool will differ from another one, and this is a way to keep track of that. DM

Howdy. I am living in central Nebraska, and am an avid Cowboy Action Shooter. I make all of our own gear, and am branching out and making gear for others now. I have been building nicer holsters for probably 4 years now, (made very poor ones before that) and am finally learning myself how to carve. I frequent the Leather Shop at www.cascity.com, quite often, and show a lot of my work there. I use the name Plum Creek Leather Works for my leather business (if you can call it that), because the town I live in used to be called Plum Creek in the 1870s. I enjoy making vintage frontier style holsters, but do make other things on occasion. I do have a website, which is mainly my cowboy action shooting stuff, but also has a small page with a few of my holsters on it. http://www.freewebs.com/daltonmasterson/index.htm DM

Howdy. Heres a few of my holsters. The first pic is the set I made for my wife and her 1872 Opentop Colts. The second pic is for my 1860 and 1851 Colts, and the final is for 58 Remingtons.