leatherjunkie

one thing that i do when doing this type of pouch that no one has mentioned yet(which surprises me). i will use the stitching groover on the flesh side of your gusset and groove a line down each long side 3/16" - 1/4" in from the edge. i will run the groover more than once down the lines untill i am almost half way through the leather. after this is done then i wet the gusset and bend the leather from the grooved line to the edge into a 90 degree angle. bend it so the grain side looks like u shape. then you just glue the gusset to the pocket, working around the pocket about 1" at a time. i also use barge cement for my glue. my pouch looks straight doing this method.

this pic is my version of the doc holiday rig. the basic pattern was purchased from hidecrafter. i changed the holster pattern to fit what i wanted to do. the holster is setup for a left handed person. the strap above the hammer of the gun goes over the left shoulder. the strap by the trigger goes around the mid section of the body and attaches to the back of the holster. the shoulder strap attaches to the waist strap and slides so that you can adjust for comfort.

a few questions come to my mind on your questions. 1. what kind of handgun is the horse rider going to carry? 2. what area of the upper body does he want to draw the holster from? for example does he want to draw it from under the arm or chest area(like the doc holiday shoulder holster)? if he is going to carry a revolver then i would suggest the doc holiday shoulder holster. you can get the pattern for this style from hidecrafters on line. i would insure that the handgun does have a retention strap to keep it from bouncing out while riding. also the retention strap needs to be easy to undo with the drawing hand.

holsters look good. but i have one suggestion. on the non pancake style holster i suggest that you cover more of the trigger area with the leather. as you are looking at the holster, the left side of the open trigger area needs to overlap the trigger gaurd some. it appears that the gun is not secure with the trigger gaurd exposed so much. course this is just what i do on my holsters.

yes its kinda funny. but the problem is my stitching horse has been sitting for 2 years waiting to be finished also another building project that i have has been sitting at 50% finished for 1 year. i keep having to put projects on back burner. then forget to get back to finishing projects. but not this year. i want to finish my projects.

thanks for the info. also in the back of the hand sewing how to book by al stohlman is a good pattern on stitching horse. i have a stitching horse in the making stage from these plans. its about 80% done. need to get back to it this year

i use the nails to secure the leather down to a board while wet moulding. this is for when you are moulding leather around a folding knife or clip for a gun. soak leather in luke warm water for about 20 mins. pull out of water let sit for about 10 mins. place leather over the gun clip/mag and then start pushing the leather down to the board around the clip/mag, securing it to board with nails. i use shoe nails. rdb posted a pic of some leather wet formed / molded leather with nails here http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=15226

i use the 6 overstitch wheel for all my hand sewing jobs. works just fine for me. also gouge the stitch line 3/16" in from the edge when i handstitch my projects. but when you wetmould a project and use the nails to hold project while moulding i line my stitching line up with the nail holes so i wont have any extra holes

in a nut shell yep. for this style of holster i wet mold before sewing and coloring. but it may not be the way to form this style of holster, its just the way i do it. wet mold it let dry, then glue holster. then look at where you want the belt slot at. at this time punch the slot out. trim up the leather on the side of the slot that is excess if needed. now its time to sew. this is just my way of doing this style of holster. i know that others have been able to iron out the patterns to the point that they can sew it before wet molding. i have not figured out how to do that yet. therefore i just wet mold then sew. dont worry about making mistakes, each holster will bring you closer to perfection.

the pattern looks like a good starting point. to me the belt slot in the pattern appears to far away from the handgun. i would prefer the slot be 1/2" to 3/4" to the left of where it is now on the pattern i personaly would punch the belt slot in the leather after you wet mold the holster main body. this way you will be able to adjust the slot according to the holster when formed i always form the belt area after the holster has been wet molded. this helps me to see more clearly how the holster will hang on the belt. all the edges look to be well rounded which is good. be sure to post pic when finished.

i personally would use a swivel knife and a straight edge(basic ruler). draw out the lines where you want them with pencil lightly and while leather is dry. after the lines are where you want them case the leather and use the ruler as a guide and run the swivel knife alongside the ruler on the pencil lines. this way you can keep the lines straight. this is the way i would do it.

here is my version of a conceal carry holster for a ruger old model vaquero in 45 long colt

well you did a great job on the holster. one thing about the cowboy style holster you chose to do, no need to wet mold it till you see all of the gun outlined in the leather. cowboy style holsters were not molded that much. they were just molded enough to hold the handgun securely and be pleasing to the eye. as far as pricing it, i usually charge 60 bucks for a unlined holster. 85 for a lined holster because you have to sew more of the holster and use more leather for the lining. i dont charge for developing the pattern because sometimes it takes me a few days to get the pattern to look just right. and 95% of the holsters that i have sold did not leave my shop untoolled. i just see the holster laying on my workbench and i have to tool something on it. just doesnt seam right to not stamp at least a border on the the leather. to me its just wrong to not stamp/tool something on a holster, unless its a inside the waist holster where noone will see it

you did a great job on the wallet. your right the lace included with tandy kits is not good. you will kick yourself in the backside the moment you try the kangaroo lace you will want to bang your head against the wall in disbelief as to why you didnt use it sooner. i know this because i banged my head against the wall and tried to kick my backside when i tried kangaroo lace. now i use nothing else but kangaroo lace. if you take some of the lace found in kits and pull on it with both hands it will break. kangaroo will not break doing this. its so much better. as far as a diaper bag. let me suggest using veg tan leather for the front and back piece. use deer skin for the gusset(thats the piece that joins the front to the back). this does 2 things. one makes it lighter but is still just a stong and duerable. second thing is when its empty the bag will collapse and allow you to store it easier.

The seat looks great. However, when you dyed it back according to the picture the word "salies"(spelling bad) seams to be a little hard to read. but it may be the picture. someday i will have to bite the bullet and attempt to make one of these seats.

if i am using one color only on the holster i will dip dye the holster. i have a bucket setup to pour dye in and then just submerge the holster into the dye till its completly covered with dye. swiss it around for a few seconds then set holster out to dry. to me the holster looks unfinished when the inside is not dyed. after dye has dried just use some sheepskin and buff it out. after holster is formed to the handgun/firearm, and it is completly dry put on the final (sealer) coat.

been thinking about adding that video to my collection. instead of glueing the leather to cardboard, use painters masking tape. i get my tape at the local auto supply store, 1" wide blue painters tape. to me it works and helps keep the leather from stretching while toolling. be sure to post a picture when you are finished

the one belt that i made bout 6 years ago i lined after i weaved the loops through. the loops are still looking great no need for replacing as of yet. granted this belt does not see alot of heavy duty work. i designed it for cowboy action shooting. bullets stay in loops for show and thats all. you may try putting glue only on the area around the loops (not on bullet loop leather). this way if the need shows up you can spread the leather apart and weave it through again from the front of the belt.

Cedar Creek, great work and welcome to the forum. its great to see another western holster maker here. your belt appears to be lined. if it is lined i will suggest one thing to improve the look of the belt. when you line the belt weave the bullet loops before you put the lining in. if its not lined forgive my bad eyes.

Welcome to this fine website. one question i gotta ask.... are you sure your beginner????????????????? much better than what i had done when i first started..... one small sugestion i have for you on your next knife sheath is move your retaining strap to the backside of the belt loop before you sew it on. this way when you pull the knife out of the sheath the strap will move itself out of the way. therefore the knife will not accidently cut into the retaining strap. other than that great job on all of your projects

I would price them according to how long i toolled each piece. because you spent more time on the fish one then you did on the one with the pinecones tree branches. also how much lace and what type of lace did you use on each one? good lace runs 50 bucks for 25 yards at the local tandy store. when i started doing woodturning and selling the items i started with cost of materials and doubled it then added $15.00 per hour that i spent on the item. see the following for example: slim line pen kit 3.00 bloodwood pen blank 1.00 doubled cost 6.00 double the cost will cover the sandpaper, glue, polishing materials cost. 1.5 hours to make 20.00 price to charge customer $26.00 thats how i set up the price to charge on the basic items that i make on my lathe. for stuff that is more involved i will up my hourly rate.

My thoughts also. The knife sheath looks very good. in fact its better than my first sheath on your next one make the belt loop part of the back of the sheath leather. when you design the sheath on paper draw in about 1/8' to 3/16" on each side right where the handle would stop and the blade begins. then just draw a straight line to right where the top of the handle is(the non blade side of the knife). now allow lots of paper to fold this area over and end it on the sheath main body part 1" to 1 1/2" inches into the main body. i then draw a half moon here and thats my pattern. then i stitch the half moon area and the 2 sides connecting straight across the leather.

Wallet i have just completed. basketweave stamping with kangroo lace. feibings dark brown dye. this is the second time doing basketweave in this pattern.

your flowers look better than my first time doing one. i was taught that the seeder is to be closer together than what you did. my teacher instructed me to start in the center against the bottom line of the flower center. then stamp outwards to the outer edge of flower center. teacher said to do it this way so you dont paint yourself into a corner. your basket weave stamping looks great. to finish off the basket weave use a border tool against your bevelled line on the basket weave size. this will finish off your baskettweave. hope this helps you out.

first and sec pic is a holster i made for my ruger old army. sec pic is after wetforming it before adding finish coat and straps to secure holster to back flap. 3rd holster is a doc holiday style holster for the ruger old model vaquero sherriffs model 45 long colt 3 1/2" barrell. made this one for a friend.