holster modification

[chuck123wapati]

i had a customer  that wanted a holster modified a while back, he liked it so here's number two . changing the loop makes the  holster ride higher, tighter to the body  and has a cant

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by chuck123wapati
more info

[Samalan]

Nice job on that Chuck looks like you walked off line there a bit.

[chuck123wapati]

46 minutes ago, Samalan said:

Nice job on that Chuck looks like you walked off line there a bit.

Thanks that is where i cut the holster down,, i had to add some holes where i cut off part of the old stitch holes

Edited June 1, 2022 by chuck123wapati

[Samalan]

I was wondering about that nice job cutting it down and all that

[dikman]

Modifying an existing "something" is often problematic. It looks better without that strap around it, much cleaner.

[chuck123wapati]

18 minutes ago, dikman said:

Modifying an existing "something" is often problematic. It looks better without that strap around it, much cleaner.

yes it takes some studying sometimes, i think it does too, early 1900s look.

[Lobo]

Back in the early 1970s the thumb-break holsters became very popular. Many of the cops I worked with wanted their strap-snap holsters modified to thumb-break so I worked out a few designs for several popular designs. Each one took about an hour to 1.5 hours, mostly small scraps of leather, and some reinforcement for the thumb-release (local lumber yard had sturdy steel straps used to secure pallets of lumber, easy enough to cut and fit for the purpose). I charged about $5 per, back in the day. Probably did a couple hundred over the course of a few years.

At the same time I was making basic pancake-style holsters for $6 each and thumb-break police duty holster for $15 each (steel shank, hand-sewn toe plug, lots of work!). Doesn't sound like very much today, but back then my take-home pay (after taxes, retirement fund, family health insurance) was $192 every two weeks, and my house payment was $182 per month. A dozen little side jobs per month made a big difference!

The leather work remained a little side gig through the 1970s working uniformed patrol, through the 1980s as a detective and supervisory investigator, and until my retirement in 1995 as a chief. Kept on pounding out a few here and there until about 2006 when I discovered the internet and website marketing, then it became full-time 7 days per week for about 9 years (no days off, no weekends, no vacations, no holidays).

Wore me out! Made me an old man! But it also allowed me to finally retire very comfortably, debt-free, new home, and a nice investment portfolio.

Plenty of opportunity out there for people willing to work for it. But we must be careful what we wish for because sometimes we get more of it than we can handle!

[chuck123wapati]

8 minutes ago, Lobo said:

 

Plenty of opportunity out there for people willing to work for it. But we must be careful what we wish for because sometimes we get more of it than we can handle!

great way to end a career IMO you are a lucky man wore out or not lol. 

Yes i live in a very touristy part of the world and am also retired. If i wanted i 'm sure i could become a 24/7 leather worker also. especially in the summer lol with Yellowstone folks, Sturgis folks and great divide walkers, bicyclers, and truckers all going through my town. If this inflation doesn't slow i may have to be going for it though.

I've been thinking about fixing up my old sheep wagon and using it as an eye catcher down at the local parking lot where all the food wagons set up. They pull in a bunch of folks all day long. and an old wagon would go right along with some leather, maybe even wear a cowboy hat lol. 

[Lobo]

1 minute ago, chuck123wapati said:

great way to end a career IMO you are a lucky man wore out or not lol. 

Yes i live in a very touristy part of the world and am also retired. If i wanted i 'm sure i could become a 24/7 leather worker also. especially in the summer lol with Yellowstone folks, Sturgis folks and great divide walkers, bicyclers, and truckers all going through my town. If this inflation doesn't slow i may have to be going for it though.

I've been thinking about fixing up my old sheep wagon and using it as an eye catcher down at the local parking lot where all the food wagons set up. They pull in a bunch of folks all day long. and an old wagon would go right along with some leather, maybe even wear a cowboy hat lol. 

I like the idea of using the old sheep wagon. Should be a good tool to draw folks in to see what's going on.

Nothing wrong with a good hat! Stetson 6X beaver felt in the winter, Resistol straw in the summer. Both are over 30 years old and still looking good!

Personally, I avoided walk-ins and looky-loos, took no customers in the shop, never published my phone number, did everything via website and email. Front door closed and locked. I averaged 35 inquiries per day, each one taking 5 to 10 minutes to deal with by email. If I had walk-ins and took phone calls there would never have been enough time to get any production work done. Had a part-time assistant coming and going on her own schedule (sometimes early mornings, sometimes late evenings) doing much of the lay-out, cutting, assembly, stitching, then once each week spending 4 or 5 hours doing all the finish work at one time. My time was spent doing holster forming, edge finish, hardware, managing the website, keeping up with inventory and supplies, dealing with the emails, packaging finished orders, mailing, and carrying the loot to the bank.

Couple of times each year I would have a brainstorm, spend a few hours each week for several months working on new product and design ideas. Always doing new patterns (there seems to be a new handgun on the market every other week and holster requests start to come in) which is very time-consuming, lots of changes as prototypes are made and tested. Many of my personal holsters came from product prototypes, not quite perfect but perfectly adequate for the purpose.

.

[dikman]

But...but....but....I thought everyone in Wyoming wore a cowboy hat, Chuck!!

[chuck123wapati]

8 hours ago, Lobo said:

I like the idea of using the old sheep wagon. Should be a good tool to draw folks in to see what's going on.

Nothing wrong with a good hat! Stetson 6X beaver felt in the winter, Resistol straw in the summer. Both are over 30 years old and still looking good!

Personally, I avoided walk-ins and looky-loos, took no customers in the shop, never published my phone number, did everything via website and email. Front door closed and locked. I averaged 35 inquiries per day, each one taking 5 to 10 minutes to deal with by email. If I had walk-ins and took phone calls there would never have been enough time to get any production work done. Had a part-time assistant coming and going on her own schedule (sometimes early mornings, sometimes late evenings) doing much of the lay-out, cutting, assembly, stitching, then once each week spending 4 or 5 hours doing all the finish work at one time. My time was spent doing holster forming, edge finish, hardware, managing the website, keeping up with inventory and supplies, dealing with the emails, packaging finished orders, mailing, and carrying the loot to the bank.

Couple of times each year I would have a brainstorm, spend a few hours each week for several months working on new product and design ideas. Always doing new patterns (there seems to be a new handgun on the market every other week and holster requests start to come in) which is very time-consuming, lots of changes as prototypes are made and tested. Many of my personal holsters came from product prototypes, not quite perfect but perfectly adequate for the purpose.

.

 

11 minutes ago, dikman said:

But...but....but....I thought everyone in Wyoming wore a cowboy hat, Chuck!!

lol i have one and wear it once in a while on very special occasions. My mom and dad both came from ranching families and dad wore one all his life, they were both tried and true cowboy and girl from Wyoming homesteads. I always figured a cowboy hat had to be earned somehow, riding for cattle with snow blowing down your back or at the least a few years of the work and a few broken bones , maybe a hitch in my giddy up  its a hard rough life. I never really felt i earned that right, i have rode a few horses bucked a few bales, fed a few winters. and bellied up to the bar many times. lol however so i do occasionally, my daily is an old dirty baseball style with the flag on it and i need a new one. Dad bought a new straw every spring and wore his old one for fishing, he usually tore the brim off fanning the fire at fish camp every summer on the fourth of July. I think i may buy a straw hat this spring.