CodeJockey

Thanks for the advice guys! I really appreciate it, and that tutorial is great. I'm definitely going to get started this weekend! Worse that can happen is that I waste some leather but gain some experience / knowledge.

I'm new to leatherworking but have been practicing my stitching and such, and I think I have that down pretty well. I'd like to try my hand at a holster, but the issue I'm unsure of is how to know how big a pocket to make before wet forming. I'm unsure of how to design a pattern for my gun that I can stitch up, and then wet form. If I make it too big, the gun will not be properly retained, but if I make it too small, it won't work. Any advice on how to do this? If it matters, the first gun I'm trying to do this for is a Ruger SP101 .357 Magnum with 2" Barrel

I'm a software developer.

You can download a program called WinRar that will open that file. It's an archive file similar to a .zip file. Download here.

Very nice work! I need some of those for my bike!

One last question? Where would I find the Peter Main awl? I've tried googling it and searching here but can't find anything.

Thank you very much! That is exactly the information I was looking for. Using the tandy awl blades some would look kind of like the smaller ones you had, but alot of the times I would end up with big holes like you had for Tandy in your picture. I guess the next step is to order one of those other stitching awls! I really appreciate the pic, as that made it much more clear as to what I need to do.

I bought a kit from Tandy Leather. It included wax, thread, needles, a stitching awl with 4 awl blades, and a book by Al Stohlman on how to hand-stitch. I was following his instructions. Only thing is, I'm having a very hard time getting consistently sized holes. I'm assuming this will get better with more practice; however, it seems very inconsistent to me.

I tried to find an example of that. I looked at Tandy Leather Factory online and at the CSOsborne site. All I could find still showed that the awl was tapered. But I'm sure I'm just not looking at the right thing. Here is the link at CS Osborne's site: CS Osborne Site Here's the link to the only Osborne stitching awl I could find at Tandy: Osborne Stitching Awl

I'm completely new to leather working, so I apologize up front for the beginner questions. I've been wanting to get into it for some time, and so I asked for the tools to get me started for Christmas. Anyway, yesterday I took two pieces of leather (4-5oz) veg tanned leather. I cut and then glued them together, and then stitched them. My stitches came out very well, but the problem I ran into was trying to get my stitch holes consistent. Spacing wasn't as much the issue (I used one of those stitch wheels) as depth of the awl when punching the holes. Since the awl blade tapers, some were way too big while others weren't big enough. Can' y'all provide some insight into how best to accomplish this?

I really like your work. I do have a question pertaining to the holster tensioner screw. How do you keep it from coming lose? do you have a thick rubber washer or spring in there, to add resistance? I've really been wanting to put one of these on one of my holsters, so that as time wears on and the leather stretches I can tension it back to a more snug fit, but I can't think of a way to add sufficient resistance to the screw. TIA!

FWIW, I carry IWB every single day, and I have absolutely no discomfort from my grip. I have a sweat guard that protects agains the slide (to keep moisture off the metal). I literally cannot even tell it's there, and mine is a fairly large gun for IWB carry. I have a Glock 30.

I agree. I would make the sweatshield only cover the slide but leave the grip w/out one. It will make drawing it significantly easier in my opinion.

Do you think the 6/7 oz leather will be as comfortable as the 8/9 oz leather? I'm about to attempt my first holster, and I can't decide what weight to go with.

I normally will be the first one to say, in tools, you get what you pay for. That said, I was in a bit of a bind one day, because my very expensive Angle grinder died, and I was half-way through a project that I needed to finish that day on my Jeep. I tried Home Depot, Lowes, and Sears, but they were all very expensive, and I was tight on funds at the time, so I went to Harbor Freight. Sure enough, they had one for under $20.00. I knew the likely hood of it lasting for very long was almost negligible but I figured it'd be worth it just to finish the job I was on (which was very demanding on that tool). Anyway, 2 years later, I am still use my HF angle grinder and it works perfectly. Maybe I just got lucky, but heck, I can't really knock the quality of that little device, and I've abused the heck out of it. Now I treat it as a challenge to see how much abuse I can throw at it before it dies.

Thanks for the advice all! My wife and i went down and picked out a bunch of tools and a few books from the research I've been doing. She is making me wait for Christmas and my birthday though. The anticipation is killing me!

I too am interested in this. I tried searching Tandy's site for the egg eye harness needles, but I couldn't find that. I have the rest of the components I think I need to get started. Can you provide a link or description as to what these needles are?

Thanks for the warm welcome all. I'm really looking forward to getting started with this. I plan to center my work around things such as holsters, gun slings, motorcycle gear, etc. I will ultimately hope to branch out in the future, but those are the areas I'm mostly interested in. I can't wait to get started. Also, I have a question. Are there any power tools that y'all recommend? I was thinking of getting a burnishing wheel (power), sewing machine, and perhaps a drill press. Any other thoughts w/ questions are greatly appreciated.

Hello all! I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm completely new to leather working, and i'm interested in learning. I just hope it's not too late as I'm 36 (hard to teach an old dog new tricks) but I'm going to try.