Yellowhousejake

Hmmm, all food for thought. I need to experiment on some scrap. DAve

No, I do not wet the leather before dying. How much do you wet the leather? Casing wet or just a quick wipe down and a minute to soak in? I do use NFO before dying a customer holster, but I let it dry/cure for 48 hours before dying. I left this holster in the dye for about 15 minutes, no idea if that is long enough. Or, clearly it was not ;^) I only tried dip dying because every other attempt on scrap leather from the same hide was mottled when spraying or using a dauber/sponge. I have watched Mike Dorsett's videos so many times I have them memorized. My dye never looks like his 100% of the time. DAve

I have had hit and miss luck with Dying Saddle Tan Fieblings. Sometimes it goes on even and looks great, other times it goes on blotchy and looks terrible. I have tried sponges, airbrush, dip dye, all with no luck. Oddly enough my best luck has been dying Springfield Leather craft squares. Every attempt on quality Herman Oak looks uneven. Here is a picture of my latest article holster. A copy of a late 1930s Berns Martin for a S&W N frame snub. This was dip dyed and still came out splotchy. I can't help but think I am doing something wrong here. Any thoughts? DAve

I will be there shooting my M1D and dragging along a new participant. I am thinking about making databook covers for the auction next year so I have been researching journal covers and the like. I also want to try my hand at tooling holsters as well. DAve

You know MBM? I bought a CO2 laser cutter just so I could make stamps. I burn them into acrylic and epoxy the stamp onto a piece of steel plate. So far, they are holding up very well with my arbor press. At $150 dollars for a custom brass stamp, I need make only one more acrylic stamp to break even. Thank you for the compliment. DAve

Avenger Style thumb break. S&W M&P 9/40. Black basketweave 8oz Herman Oak veg tan leather. 1mm Ritza raspberry and turquoise stitching. I'm getting better at this, I think. DAve

I think the thread is too large if you think it looks chunky. I use 4mm stitching irons, a bargin set of Aiskaer for diamond holes and a set of 4mm Sinabroks when I have room for a very obvious stitchline. I use 1 mm Ritza thread and it does not look that big. You could drop down to a .6 Maine thread and I think it would look less bulky and appear "tighter". DAve

Gotch ya. Thank you. DAve

Nicely done! I have some caiman but the holster design I was looking to use it on has proven to be difficult without very thin borders on the window (an avenger style). Did you back the caiman in the window of the outer later Or, did you use three layers. Outside, lining with Caiman, backside? DAve

It was, the revolver I made it for was not the revolver the sample holster was made for. I bought a well worn out holster for a S&W M36 to tear apart. I had to lengthen the body 1 1/4" to fit the H&R. The biggest problem I faced, three tries to get it sized right, was leather compression. I disassembled the old holster and laid it flat for a tracing and it came out too small, twice! Looking closely I could see the outside of the leather was wrinkling up. The inside was not stretching out (originally it compressed) and the outside was compressing. Once I realized what was going on, I added the thickness of the leather to each outside edge and then the holster came together. The next one I am going to try is a Berns Martin front opening belt holster for a N frame S&W. If they like the article and want me to continue writing them. DAve

The Detective Gatzette, a print publication for https://snubnoir.com. I offered to do a series on old holsters. I will make a classic holster and use it for a few weeks reporting on what we learned over the years as applied to modern holsters, or what we left behind and shouldn't have. Not sure if they will print it, we will see. DAve

I just finished this for an article on holsters. It is a copy of a Federal Man holster I made for a H&R 732 I did not have a holster for. 8oz Herman Oak, Ritza 1mm thread, Saddle Tan dye. The suicide strap was an interesting feature on the early versions of this holster. It "looked" like a suicide strap but the snap was a rivet and the inside end was a thumb break. Allegedly, the bad guy would try to take your weapon by pulling on the strap but it would never let go. I didn't have such a rivet so I installed a pull the dot snap 180 degrees out. An interesting Tom Threepersons design holster. DAve

I agree, it is likely Jay-Pee. They often had shops like Buckhiemer make holsters for them to sell under their brand name. I have a Buckhiemer Semi Shoulder belt holster that is marked Jay-Pee. I believe a shop called Arsenal (maybe?) did the same, selling to government agencies like the FBI. The spring clam shell shoulder holsters were popular from the 1930s forward. I have a very old ElPaso Saddlery for a Detective Special and an early 60s Brauer Brothers for a Police Positive Special that are identically made. Do you a picture of the holster? DAve

Beautiful work. From the finish, design, and craftsmanship it is first rate. DAve

But, did the gun fit or was it too thick when worn after the gun was in it? DAve