Hildebrand

As a current Boss users I definitely would not recommend spending what it would cost to get a new one, look for an older cast iron model. I bought mine well used for $700 bucks and after 2+ years of tinkering and reading I finally have it dialed in and sewing decent on a consistent basis. If I had known I could get a Cowboy 4500 with all the trimmings for less than $3000 I would have waited. I am getting by with the Boss at the hobby level but if I decide to take it up any further production wise I will be investing in a Cowboy 4500. If you definitely want to save the money then I would look at the new Cowboy hand machine, it has a deeper throat than the Boss and that really is a pain on some things getting them bent up so it will clear.

I read the patent has expired that’s why Cowboy pursued bringing this to market.

How much do you want for the tools then shipping would be on top of that?

Do you by chance have a rough weight and what is your zip code so shipping could be calculated. Is that 4 sets of 3/4" letters or just 4 3/4" letters? Thanks, Todd

Thanks Dwight. I think I am going to give this a go for my next project.

It will be interesting to see when this gets out into the hands of some users. If they have fixed the tension issues that plague the Boss then they will definitely have a winner esp at a price point at least a couple hundred lower than the Boss. For a hobby guy like me these hand stitchers are great, no guilt if your not using it on a frequent basis and when you need it, it is so much faster than hand sewing. Right now my Boss is point on, but I have only had this good of luck with white thread, both the black and brown that I tried did not function nearly as well. I have a couple holsters to finish then I am going to make another stab at the black and brown and see if I can make it work.

How do you guys lay out the 2 layers to apply the contact cement and then put them together? I am afraid the instant bond of contact cement will make my 2 pieces off if I am not perfect when I touch them together the first time. Thanks, Todd

I am far from a proficient as some of the folks who post here but I will take a stab at helping you. For the purple marks it looks like your pear shader is working fine and the leather is good, you just need to work on the placement and varying your striking intensity, you can kind of "walk" the shader around varying how hard you hit it to create the inside of the petals. The leather dragging on the cuts looks to me to be a water content of the leather issue, seems like when I try to carve with the leather to wet I get those marks. Also on your beveling I would slow down and be more precise with the placement of the tool, I tend to try to overlap some and that takes out the "chatter" look you are getting. Again I am no expert just passing on what I have learned, mostly the hard way. Todd

Just curious, did you use different thread to sew the holster, the thread looks different color and size from side to side? Todd

Dwight, This is off topic for this thread but do you have any hints for using colored thread in the Boss? I have tried black and brown and just don't get the nice stitches like the white does. I made sure it was the same size and type as the white but so far no luck. Honestly I am slightly afraid to experiment since right now everything is working well. I am currently using nylon thread I purchased from Weaver, the brown also came from them I think the black was from Sheridan Leather when they were still around. I am using 277 thread top and bottom. Thanks, Todd

The panel is a different piece of leather but the color difference has more to do with the dye job. It was supposed to be a 2 tone with the holster being fieblings saddle tan and the panel dark brown. But after the first coat of saddle tan the color was right but a little blotchy so I gave it a second coat and it darkened up a bunch. It is lined, 2 4-5 oz pieces glued together. The missed stitching on the top is just an oversight. I was concentrating on both bottoms and got them sewn up and jumped right to gluing together and then sewing the rest, I didn't notice the missing top stitches until I was wet molding it. The grip on the 1911 is probably a special edition, that is the NRA gun of the year and it comes as a package with a knife that has matching handle scales. Also the contrasting thread color is a little because I like the look but also I have not had good luck with black or brown in my Boss and neither color seems to have the body like the white does when you use it. This was sewn with possibly the oldest Tippman Boss still going, it is serial #130.

For some reason the front picture did not show up so here it is.

Here are some pictures of my first attempt at a pancake holster. Thank you Jeff at JLS for the patterns. I learn something new on every holster, on this one I learned not to finish the front piece before test fitting and making sure the top of it and the mouth of the holster are exactly even. I ended up with some stitches actually in the edge of the mouth of the holster. Comments and critique appreciated. Todd

Thanks for the replies. I figured I would sew all edges. I have been reading all of the holster threads, I am back to page 114. I have read a bunch of Katsass’s posts. There is a ton of great info in the forum.

For the first time I am using 2 4-5oz pieces glued together for a pancake holster. Do you sew the areas that are just the 2 layers to keep them from separating or is the contact cement sufficient for that? Thanks Todd

I have a very old one that I bought used, serial number 130. You will love it or hate it. When it works it is great and much faster than sewing by hand. I have spent countless hours getting mine tuned in, I think part of the problem is I knew so little about leather sewing machines I didn't ask the previous owner what size thread he was using and now I realize it was probably a size smaller than what I bought. All that said now that it is tuned in it has been sewing very consistently. I was even able to sew a cartridge holder without missing a stitch. Todd

This was about 35 years ago and thankfully no photo evidence exists from that time in my youth. One of the problems with the device is the instructions tell you to start in the middle of a piece of leather and essentially cut a spiral out. This leaves all the lace naturally laying in a circle.

The lace cutter you describe is OK but it probably will not cut consistent enough laces for the precision you are putting into that project. I have one somewhere that I used to cut lacing to lace together a set of buckskin cloths many moons and pants sizes ago.

I was asked to do a bible cover for my wife's coworker and she provided a piece of leather and the dye she picked. I am very much an amateur leather worker and had zero experience with dye. She had picked up the eco flo all in one. It worked fine on the bible cover and she let me keep the left over materials for doing the work. I thought cool something to experiment with. I made a pancake style knife and multi tool case and thought I would dye it. What a train wreck, it looked great after the dye job. Problem was when I ran it under the water to wet it to form I had dye everywhere. It definitely doesn't work if you are going to wet form the object after dying.

Could you email a catalog to thildebrand64@gmail.com? Thank you, Todd

Thank you both for the replies. I used the Hoover one on some table covers, it belonged to the upholstery business. I couldn't find it with google since I didn't know the name, I think thats the one I will shoot for. Todd

You have to have the little rod about 3” long that has a shoulder on it. You drive the punch out from the back. It’s a press fit. My dad has that exact tool.

I am looking for a different snap setter. I have the Tandy hammer type but I would like to find a pliers type. I mostly set #20 and 24 snaps. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks.

Another quick way to transfer patterns is to print them onto the clear overhead transparencies. This lets you see the leather underneath and mark you cutting and stitching lines with a molding tool and it re usable.

Tigdim, If you really want an education on holsters I suggest doing what I am in the process of. I am on page 82 of the 273 in this topic. I have read every thread on holsters and most of those on knife sheaths and other projects. The amount of information is amazing, some of the members no longer post or just sporadically but there are tons of holsters to look at and compare to the advice given. The only downer is the posts with photobucket pictures, the pictures are no longer available. I plan to read all 273 pages, I have learned a ton, I thought I had a basic understanding after making a few holsters based of the instructions in Al Stohlmams how to make holsters book. Man was I wrong, just what I have learned from this forum so far makes me realize I wasn't even up to Newbie status when I started reading. Todd