koreric75

site:leatherworker.net arbor press for snaps if you use this in google you'll get a ton of results, very effective search engine technique...I hope these help.... Many of the ones I read suggest 3/8" hole with a set screw vs threaded. My brass maker's mark has 1/4" 20 threads, but you can ask your vendor to change that or drill/tap yourself if you're comfortable with that. How wide is your stamp going to be? Mine is just about 1.5"x1.5", I used a wide flange nut and fender washer to but up against my stamp and a nylon lock nut above that on a threaded bolt. this seemed to help even out the stamp when using a mallet, not sure if it would help under a press.

I don't understand how both will get you to 3-1?... Unless you have different pulleys for the drive motor or machine.

I know a few guys I work with love collecting old patches, I'll see if this is something they'd be interested in, I know there are some more rare limited ones, it's almost like baseball card collecting for them lol...

Those look great, I had a rough time with the antique and top finish as well, o started doing the antiquing in the same manner as before, put it on and take off the raised areas with a stiff piece of leather with a paper towel wrapped around it (more like scraping it off the top), let it dry then spray my top finish on, let dry good then buff...I really like the way you got the spacing on the coaster where the corners end up leaving a spade shape.

Yeah, I spend allot of time sharpening and stropping the Tandy knife, when it's fresh it cuts but doesn't last as long as I'd like for sure, I usually use my rotary cutter for all but tight radius cuts then I use the round knife to get those... Unless I have a punch that matches and I'll use that before and smooth out the shape for edges with the Dremel......

I started down this path as well, but ended up getting a good deal on a Tandy pro splitter... Still have a set of planer blades in the drawer, may get them out one day when I feel like tinkering

Yep, figured that one out after one tiny bottle of deglazer, now I use the denatured alcohol, kleen strip as well, it also works for solution of dyes, no longer buy med and light brown, just dark brown and reduce it... No sense paying for a bottle with some dye and allot of reducer...

Do you have a before and after pic, sounds to me if this was indeed paint and not dye the leather may be very hard to get back...he sprayed with a spray gun, like an autobody spray gun or an air brush? You need to know what he was spraying, before trying to remove/recondition, once you have that then you may be able to use the proper solvent.

absolutely, been doing this for awhile for patterns that don't require full sheet of posterboard, when I'm done with them and they're good I also use a cheap pocket laminating machine to protect them...helps keep the edges from getting messed up from tracing and I can draw customizing marks with dry erase and wipe them off when done.

Thanks @dikman!, I was beginning to think it was just me, showed it to the feller I'm making it for, he said he couldn't see it, wife thinks i'm crazy...lol, I asked him if he wanted me to get the holster loop to match, he said no way...he likes the way it's offset from the holster, he also thought the hangman's noose hammer loop was a cool touch....I did get it to soften some after hitting with some more dark brown with the airbrush and then sealed with resolene and buffed the heck out of it... P.S. @nstarleatherI have put a piece of that hair on hide to good use...non-reflective backdrop...lol

Aha, I see now what you're saying... Yep, I'm tracking... I don't have the book, just a couple of pattern packs in e format, Allot of the info and tutilage I've had has been from YouTube videos and forums, a few discounted pattern packs etc, so if something is left out or missing I really can't get too upset, beggars and choosers and all, this makes me appreciate the folks that go out of their way to help out, any are precise and informative about it, so when I get to a point where I need to buy something, I'm going there first, and if someone asks for help, I'll do my best to offer it up if I feel I have enough valuable to give. It reminds me of fishing a little, starting out I would get pointers, maybe someone would tell me a good spot to try or a bait to use, but usually not their best spot or secret weapon baits lol... But enough to get started, some will wear that spot or bait out, others will see the patterns and look for changes and improvements or tweaks to the pattern and develop their own style.

Thanks @dikman, I have noticed that the way the light hits, and the type of light it's under (natural sunlight, lamps, different bulbs etc do affect the color quite a bit)...I couldn't stand that lighter reddish color and dark spots around the border so decided to "fix it"...but It seemed like what i was doing was only making it more red and the spots even darker...so I thought, what offsets red in a brown??? I think green was the answer, so added a little, not sure that was the right way to go....It is a deeper color, but from some angles i swear it looks green to me...lol, reminds me of the old tv when you'd mess with the color controls, once you did it you could never really get it the way you wanted... here's the color i see when i look at it, and the color i hope it is when someone else looks at it, you can tell on the white area of the pattern and cutting mat the difference a little shadow makes. @JLSleather I think i understand, adding a strip of leather in just because didn't make much sense to me either, a lot of tutorials leave out the why. I found this earlier on from a pattern pack from Tandy that gave some explanation. I don't know if it's an "answer" but at least it gives a theory behind the why? I think I still have a strong urge to have a holster fit like a well formed boot, and anyone that were to try and wear my boot, same size or not wouldn't find it quite as comfortable or fitted, same for the holster...it's for that specific pistol or revolver. When reading below it would seem to me that the holster is truly just a big ol pocket you can flop any six shooter of similar size in and have wiggle room, a safety strap keeps it in place for retention...easy draw/fit and protection of the bluing seem to be the answer to why a filler. The problem for me is, if I make the holster "fit" the gun when making the template, adding in a 1/2" or 3/8" of leather strip at the trigger or down the length etc, the gun wouldn't fit any more, unless I factor that width in while making the template. I could see how you could use this to get away with making a little narrower pocket width wise, but it makes more sense to me that my trigger guard doesn't taper down to nothing, it sits center line of the width of the gun so if my holster tapers down to 0 at the trigger guard one of three things i can think to do, 1. I made the holster wide enough to afford room for the trigger guard + extra space for the seam to taper down at an angle past the trigger guard or 2. I mold the trigger guard into the leather and the seam is close fit to it...or 3. make the holster with the trigger guard exposed. Looking at the difference in the one I made and the one on the cover of Jim's tutorial, I covered way more trigger guard and only stitched the main seam to the hole before the curve back over the trigger guard starts. In Jims his leather cuts low across the trigger guard and the trigger is exposed (blue line below) and on the tandy pattern the trigger guard has the leather kinda follow the contour of the trigger guard and the trigger exposed (green line). The other thing i was worried about was the sights on this one, the front is tall dual ramp and rear a blade type with a v, i wanted to leave room inside the toe end for the tall sight and not cover the rear at all as it looks like it'd just cut into the liner. Sorry for yet another novel, I appreciate all who take the time to read through and offer advice, and honestly taking the time to write these helps me both gain insight from the long time craftsmen here and makes me slow down and work through a thought process and be able to refer back and not have to decipher my chicken scratch...lol. ref page excerpts from:6031-00 Holster and Gun Belt Patter Pack & Making the Cowboy Holster by Jim Simmons.

@Rockoboy & @bikermutt07 thanks fellas, it wasn't the worst first in my books, and the instructions helped allot. We'll see how the snub nose works out lol.

Dang it, I could use the center bar ones lol

Very nice

So I've almost finished one up and let me tell you, it was a bear...I went back and did some searching on welts and what not as by the time I got er together that thing barely fit under the cb3200! Now I am usually pretty good at following instructions, 20+ years of military starting out in the missile maintenance career field, so a Technical Order (T.O.) and numerous Haynes & Chilton manuals....I believe there was a recent topic titled "am I the only one"...lol, so on this one i had a break in construction after pattern making and before cutting and sure as sh#t I come back slap that pattern down and cut 'er out for a righty again instead of a lefty so instead of recutting, I decided if i lined it I could still be ok, the first piece was 8/9 oz so a 4/5 oz liner and bammo left handed holster problem solved...right? Not exactly, when I made the pattern I didn't account for an extra 4/5oz, so then I thought, no biggie, I can just add a little welt for the trigger loop area and that should do er up good, well, it worked out, even though I didn't plan on using welts as I didn't want it to be that thick. now to my next brainfart, also referenced another post about this, sewing uphill/downhill, I had already set my stitch length longer from when I sewed the liner on, tested with some scraps to get the width of two layers of 8/9 & 4/5 oz and set to stitching, but...yep, forgot about that hill for the welt!!!! dammit...to top it all off, I got a little shaky while edging the side with a dauber and got a little on the top...this left a light area and spot on the front so i figured, shoot, i'll just follow the contour of the stitch line and darken the whole thing up, didn't work out, ended up making it butt ugly, I'm hoping after work today I can use a little darker and airbrush a little sunburst around the edge if not, i guess I'll have a nice looking and perfect fitting left handed holster for a 357, a black one...lol. Good news is, i learned alot, and will be adding about 3/16-1/4" to my patterns near the trigger guard and try it without welts. references...and pic from my attempt below... @JLSleather @bushpilotmexico Mine ended up like this with the welts, after I skived the 2d one down alot.... Before and after pics of the dye fiasco... Where I shoulda stopped and thought about things...before messing it up...actually looking at it, I had already boogered the stitch line area from trying to get the cb3200 pucker marks and track marks to lay down a little, used a modeling tool and wooden handle to try and blend...lol added pic of pattern...

i was in Sierra Vista, now back in Shreveport/Bossier, LA...it's I never understood how much humidity really affects things...yep, wet molding would be dry in no time, dye sets quick, but don't leave the lid off of anything, cause it'll be dust in no time...lol

If it weren't for shipping i'd be tempted to take a few off your hands...dang ocean

perhaps, from what I understood..he is sewing two 4oz pieces together, and wants a vintage machine...I just wrote a novel to go about my thought process when I started, never meant to imply he should start sewing holsters or go get a 3200...I just offered up some advice over all, and pretty sure I referred to a great little vintage machine that I started with, which was IIRC in the original post, he also alluded to hand bags in his original...I've been getting alot of orders for those little leather dopp kits, and some of those seams can get beefy real quick, so I use the 15-91 to sew in the liner and the zipper, then I need something bigger to handle the corners....yep, it's all in there, just have to filter through 3 or 10 paragraphs of idle ramblings as my train of thought derails now and again. P.S. I miss the AZ weather, especially when dyeing my stuff...my poor little airbrush drier never filled up like it does here...oopps there it goes again, choo choo

I can't tell if it's pull up or suede/nubuck...is it soft and "furry" on top? or is it kinda waxy feeling, does it change color when you bend it as well? If it's a little waxy/oily feeling and changes when you bend it too and probably a pullup, if it's furry, probably some sort of nubuck...I'm interested either way on how to protect these as i've been recently making stuff out of both types.

it almost looks like that knife is in there permanently...without seeing the blade/hilt setup, that looks to me like you would have to cut through the stitches on the left side of knife/right side of belt hole to get the blade out...probably just my eyes/brain playing tricks on me...lol.

excellent...perfectly explains the "why" behind the size hole needed for the lock stitch to accommodate bigger thread!!

I think the bottom line here is...there is a compromise to every thing. I love the look of a hand stitch with heavy thready, nothing comes close which is why items crafted this way can get $$$$$, the time and care spent to achieve this look. I also like the speed and no hassle of the machine, most sewing machines with the right sized thread for the material and paired with the right size & TYPE of needle will leave a very professional and clean looking stitch across the top and bottom. It might not look like the stitch you form with an awl and hand stitching, but it's still aesthetically pleasing, and the time saved returns a professional, still hand crafted leather item, at a reasonable cost. Now to talk function...stitching together a couple of 4/5oz for a hand bag or wallet or knife sheath...whatever, you can hand stitch or even braid/lace these together for looks, but time increases, to stitch these together with a good leather needle and thread sewing machine you could get by with a size 16 needle and #69 thread, maybe double stitch it if you think it's needed, all depends on what this is holding together. My little vintage Singer 15-91 home sewer has been doing this for me for a few months now, and doing it well for what i ask of it. I paid $50 for the machine in pristine condition in a cabinet with a ton of accessories and presser feet. Then I decided I want to be able to stitch a holster...whoa!, you can't go around sewing something designed to secure a firearm to your hip with #69 thread, let alone skimp by on 4/5oz of leather, even then that would equal ~8/10oz since you need to double it over or pancake it, and my trusty singer would piss itself if i sat down and tried to stuff that under the presser (it wouldn't fit anyway...)so I saved up, begged the wife, and sprung for the CB3200. Perfect, now I can sew anything for 4/5oz up to a large stack of heavy leather with no problems....lol, yeah, I think you know where I'm going with this...the CB3200 is a rockstar in it's own realm and when used as intended, I know a few of the SME's (subject matter experts) have and will attest to this. Getting the CB3200 to come down and sew #92 or #138 thread with a size 18 or 20 needle is well, insulting, not to mention a task i haven't even fathomed to undertake and hope i never get the cajones to try. So for now, i'll stick to my holsters belts and a few other items where the leather is thick and or heavy on my 3200, the light stuff like maybe a wallet liner/pocket, stitching liners into garment leather, etc goes to the singer 15-91, and I'll again save and one day get a mid range walking foot like a 206rb or such for that middle ground, or I'll just hand stitch those, mostly the heavier wallet assemblies (which aren't a ton of stitches anyway) and the like. I'd like to throw a P.S. in here about the JoAnne's comment, I have the "heavy duty" singer model 4423, and It just sits while my 15-91 get's regular use...my wife is a master seamstress, and she uses the 4423 occasionally, she's sewn some patches on leather vests and a few other things like that with it, don't get me wrong, it's a smooth machine and for denim or heavy material, works great, and it has zig-zag and other features, just not something I use frequently. Even my cb3200, as much as i love it, pisses me off at times, I don't like the look of the impressions it leaves on veg-tan, and the bottom stitches aren't "pretty", but I know whatever I sew with it, is going to stay together, holsters for instance, I'm not as concerned with the back side stitch appearance, would it be nice if it looked hand stitched, sure, but @Wizcrafts has already covered the $$$$$ and such on what it takes to achieve. Below is some stitching with different tensions and stitch length top/bottom from the 3200..this is a size 25 needle with 270 poly thread. and one more of a holster stitched up with same setup...I literally just finished this stitching and decided to sit a bit before deciding what to do next... You can see the little "pucker" marks from the hole in the needle foot, and the track marks from the left toe presser foot, i beat 'em down with a hammer and tried a modeling spoon to get them less prominent, previous holsters have normalized over time and while working with them...I still have to even the edges and burnish then see how it's looking... If you're still reading, i apologize, I was just going to post a quick note about the machines, but ended up writing a novel...either way, do what you love and it'll come out fine.

I could use the thread and glue pot, I'm in, sending a pm

I had the same issue for my little bro's S&W sd9ve, couldn't find a mold gun anywhere, but he said a fold over would be fine for him...i just used the glock19 mold gun (similar length and width) to make sure the pistol fit well when making the cutout, i think i added a little for the fold area since the s&w is a little wider, left about an extra inch for the bottom just in case, always easier to take more off than put it back on. He got it monday and said it fit like a glove...lol. I told him it may fit like a mitten, but if he wants it to fit like a glove i'll need to get a mold of it when i visit later this summer so i can make casting. He cracked up at the mitten/glove analogy. P.S. I spent way more time than needed on that sunburst...lol, had I only seen that video a week earlier. It was my first attempt at it, and only 2nd attempt using the air brush...