Frank

I have one person that is going to chip in for an order. I will take orders on this stuff until Thursday and place a large order next week if anyone wants in. The price is: $55.00 for 25 yards (being sold in 25-50 yard increments) and $10.00 shipping to your address if you want more than 25 yards then I will have to use a large flat rate box and I believe the shipping is right around $13.00 ***NOTE*** I talked to the supplier and they are sold only in rolls of 50 yards. If you want only 25 yards, I have to have an even number of guys ordering in order to make this work. So far there are 2 of us ordering 50 yards. Frank

After a lot of searching, calling, and asking for samples, I found a supplier for 3" wide natural color cotton webbing for gun belts and Mills style belts. The Minimum order is $120.00. If anyone wants to go in it with me and split and order, I would greatly appreciate it as I do not know how much of this stuff I can actually use or how well it would sell. PM me if interested. Frank

Hey all, Any help on this one would be greatly appreciated. I have made a lot of western style holsters but I had a customer ask for a two-tone black holster with a tan bound edge all the way around. Has anyone else ever done something like this before? If so, could you PM me and give me some pointers? I appreciate it much. Frank

You're not the only one that likes them Bud. There are a couple of guys on here that build saddles from that time period and I for one have built a couple. There is just something about them that makes you go...WOW!

I haven't been down the Olive Oil road yet but I have found that Weavers U-82 Saddlers oil is very thin and disperses very evenly. It also penetrates very quickly without any residue left on the surface. It darkens for about a day and then comes back to natural color. I really like this stuff a lot. The only downfall to it is that is smells a little like diesel fuel but once you add a finish afterward, the smell is gone.

The material guide has been sold but I still have not figured out how to close out threads yet.

Thanks for the info Clay. I do have some of his holster and carving patterns. I was just hoping to gain some more. Frank

Chuck, Thanks very much for the assistance. I do have the packing iron book here and have utilized it like no other. I wasn't sure if the scanning would actually work. I'm not much of a computer guy here so just walking me through it helped a bit. I will make sure to do that tomorrow. I have friends that are pretty good with that stuff. I'm a big fan of the 1800's style carvings. To me they are very ornate and yet very simple. I really think simplicity is the best. Not that Sheridan style carving isn't nice, but it's definitely not me or what I would add to a holster personally. There are a lot of people out there that are very good at it, but I'm not one of them but I think that's because I never cared for the style enough to attempt it. Thanks again, I do appreciate it. Frank

I have been to her site before and she makes some very nice gear. I just feel like a total ass trying to copy someone's tooling style off of their website, this is the reason for me asking for any patterns. I feel better when people give me patterns to use, that way it is insinuated that I am allowed to reproduce said pattern. Plus my re-creation of patterns for the visual aspect does not work so well, again this is why I asked for a PDF or paper pattern of this style tooling.

Actually a great number of the 1800's style holsters were carved with simple floral patterns and leaves. Those specifically are the style patterns I am looking for. There generally wasn't much beveling or backgrounding done, if at all. I just don't have the knack to draw my own from looking at photos, or being able to carve them from memory. The Packing Iron book does have a lot of good examples, but nothing that I can work with on my own. I have 3-4 general floral patterns I use and the rest are all border tooled. I was just searching for some more patterns to throw in the mix.

Hey All, I am getting ready for a show in April. I just finished 32 different single action holsters for this one. The problem I am running in to, is coming up with different period correct 1800's style carvings for them. As far as drawing my own, I'm pretty handicapped in that area. If anyone can help me out, I'd greatly appreciate it. Feel free to PM me if you have a PDF format and I'll get you my email address otherwise if you have a hard copy (paper) pattern, I'll pay for postage and give you my address. Thanks in advance. Frank

One of the reasons you cannot re-apply the dye after using leather balm is because of the wax. Wax will not take any type of leather dye. The dye will just bead up on the surface. Frank

Not a problem at all. Everyone is here to become better at what they do, usually by the grace of others. Bob Parks has a post on here about the way that he finishes edges. I believe it is also listed on the home page under tutorials. I could be wrong though. No one really uses the exact same methods as another. They tend to use bits from one person and bits from another to come up with something that suits them personally. I have been doing my edges on the same line as Bob's because that is what I was taught to do, but I still don't do them exactly as he does, but bits and pieces here and there really help. Look up that tutorial when you get the time if you haven't already. It will help quite a bit. Frank

Howdy, I don't deal with too many concealed carry style holsters at all but the thing that jumped out at me (it could be from the closeness of the pics) was that your stitches seem very far apart. I'm not sure what size stitching marker/wheel you use, but I use a #6 stitching wheel for the holsters that I make. That should dress your holsters up a little bit more. The other thing that you might want to work on are smoothing and evening the edges of the holster. These really are the two things that jump out at most people when they look at the work. Frank

Barry King has a tool and size list on the website for different sizes of Sheridan carving. It might make things a little easier on you. Here is the link: Barry King

The video has been sold!

Hey all, I have a copy of Chuck's video, Frontier Holster making. I am looking to either sell it or swap it for another video along the same lines, either a holster or saddle video. If selling outright, I am asking $30 plus shipping, but would rather trade given the option. PM me if interested. Thanks much.

I've used the deglazer a couple of times before. Use a clean cloth and rub gently back and forth until all areas are covered. This stuff actually evaporates very quickly. A word of caution: do this outside if possible. The fumes are very strong and hazardous. Also, wear 2 pair of nitrile gloves when you do this as the deglazer will eat through at least the first pair!! You should be able to dye the leather within an hour since the stuff evaporates more than it is absorbed.

I'd also get the stirrup plate attachment as well. It brings the holster up off the plate, giving the holster a bit more clearance from the machine when stitching the holster together.

No problem at all. Thank Bob Stelmack for doing the tutorial. I'm just a pack rat for info so I had to save it even though I have no intentions of making conchos. I figured somewhere down the line someone could use it.

Talk to Gary about any old craftools. He is on this site but his screen name escapes me at the moment. Here is his website: Gary By the way, his user name is leatherman1457

Someone posted this on here a while back, not too sure who but thank him. I downloaded it when I saw it.index.pdf index.pdf

Yes, neatsfoot oil will work. I personally use the U-82 Saddlers oil from Weaveror a mix of the U-82 and NF oil. It is a lot thinner and evens out very quickly, without leaving a lot of the darkened areas like NF does.

I've never had any problems with the oil dye streaking at all, and I use it on a daily basis. That being said, this is the method in which I use it: I oil the entire project and let it set for 24 hrs to let the oil penetrate and even itself out. Next I use the oil dye and a shearling scrap and dip it into the dye so it is thoroughly wet. I then work it in a circular motion around the entire project. So far, using this technique, I haven't had anything streak. I hope this helps out a bit.

Sorry about that. I went back and checked, it is a Blanchard, not a Buchman but here is the link: Blanchard Frank