Charley1

All bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs...

Also can apply to entomologists...like me (retired!)

IIn order to sell, you have to look at your potential market. What it wants, what it needs, and so on. Price is always a factor as well. Basic and less expensive usually., in my experience, sells better than artsy and more expensive. Remember, Sam Walton became a multimillionaire (big money back then!) by selling stuff for 5 cents cheaper than the competition down the street. My sales are basically simple holsters, cartridge belt slides, and similar items. I net about $1200-$1500 per month. Not great, but decent for an old retired guy.

Almost all my sales are for concealed carry holsters. All are plain, smooth leather. Nobody is supposed to see them anyway. Why pay more for tooling that nobody will see? My customers pretty much agree.

Nice looking holster, nice, simple design. I make and sell a fair number of similar design. Folks seem to like keeping things simple.

I make molds for trigger guard mounted laser sights that same way, I just use tape to attach them. Works fine for me.

I make cartridge belt slides using the same basic technique. For small cartridges like the 22 LR and 22 Mag, I use lighter leather, about 3-4 ounce.

Long time handloader and bullet caster. Some good information, some not quite correct. Melting point of lead is just over 620 F, vaporization/volatilization temperature is over 1000 F. Don't overheat it, and very little potential hazard. If still concerned with inhalation, set up a fan behind you, with lead in front of you, blows anything coming off the melt away from you, reducing possible inhalation hazard considerably. One possibility for you is to mix small lead shot (#6 or smaller) with an epoxy that requires 30 minutes to an hour to cure. Plenty of time to work it, and will flow pretty much where you want it.

Hope the market works for the founders. Might sign up myself at some point.

Nice holster for a nice handgun. Good to see an IWB holster with no carving or stamping. It's concealed, nobody is supposed to see it!

I make and sell 35-45 cartridge belt slides a month, and use the same method shown...punch the oval holes, then thread the strap through the holes, using cartridges as the forms for the wet leather strap. As mentioned, fired brass can cause problems, unless resized to factory spec. Cowboy action shooters seem to like them..

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Was a bit careless with a bottle of Fiebing's dye, and managed to overturn it. One nasty mess! Saw the bottle stabilizer someone here made on a 3D printer. Don't have a 3D printer, but do have plenty of scrap red oak from woodworking projects. Put together a stabilizer block, Fiebing's 4 ounce bottles fit fairly snuggly inside. Keeps the bottle stable, and lessens the probability of spills. Wish I had made it before I spilled the dye!

Learned this before I started making holsters...Everybody is different. What works great for one person is a miserable, uncomfortable POS for another person. That's why most of us who carry regularly have a drawer full of holsters that didn't work for us.

Lucky enough to have 2 Tandys here. Closest (and smaller) is about 3 miles away, larger is about 10 miles. The lager store generally has a better selection of the leathers I use, the smaller store is handier when I run out of some hardware or die that I didn't order enough of online. Generally good people working at both locations.

Looking at Etsy's "our house rules" it says holsters are not prohibited.

I much prefer simple holsters similar to that. My customers seem to like them as well.

You can add the "rib" to the bluegun, not that hard. I've made dummy laser sights and other additions to my holster molds, some even held on with clear packing tape. Nice to be able to add and take away different features from the mold, saves money and usually time.

The Randall was simply a stainless 1911.They were produced in both full size (5 inch barrel) and Commander (4.25 inch barrel) size.

Been lurking off and on, decided joining in would be a better option. I'm a retired entomologist, been working with leather for almost seven years. I primarily make concealed carry holsters and cartridge belt slides .My early leatherwork was pretty awful, but I've gotten somewhat better at it. My stuff is pretty simple, no carving, no stamping, just dye and finish. Currently netting a decent amount of profit every month, can't complain. I appreciate the artisans and talent here, my work just flows in another direction. I hope to learn something from everyone here.