Members Haystacker Posted February 29, 2012 Members Report Posted February 29, 2012 Nice job. I like your work. Quote haysholsters@hotmail.com NRA Life Member
Members JRCHolsters Posted March 1, 2012 Author Members Report Posted March 1, 2012 On 2/29/2012 at 7:16 PM, Haystacker said: Nice job. I like your work. Thanks. I appreciate it. Glad you like it. Quote J.R. Customs Holsters
Members dickf Posted March 1, 2012 Members Report Posted March 1, 2012 I really like the color and texture of the belt, and the antiqued horse inside looks really great! I'd be concerned with the fact that it's not sewn, though. It will, inevitably, start to peel apart in certain areas. Quote US GUNLEATHER www.usgunleather.com twitter.com/usgunleather facebook.com/USGUNLEATHER
Members JRCHolsters Posted March 1, 2012 Author Members Report Posted March 1, 2012 On 3/1/2012 at 2:57 PM, dickf said: I really like the color and texture of the belt, and the antiqued horse inside looks really great! I'd be concerned with the fact that it's not sewn, though. It will, inevitably, start to peel apart in certain areas. Thanks. I did the antiquing by thinning out some cordovan dye till it was translucent. After it dried, I steel wooled it. I repeated that a few times. Almost looks like wood grain. I'm really not to worried about the belt coming apart. The construction is very similar to how Lucchese does it. Besides, I charged enough to cover eventually having to re-bond and edge it. The customer was comfortable with this. Quote J.R. Customs Holsters
Members Eaglestroker Posted March 2, 2012 Members Report Posted March 2, 2012 All looks excellent, the cognac elephant is my favorite however. Where do you get yours from? On a side note I had a fellow offer me a 6' 8" gator skin not to long ago that he killed last year (legally). When I saw how much the hides cost to get tanned I had to polite-fully decline! Quote
Members JRCHolsters Posted March 2, 2012 Author Members Report Posted March 2, 2012 On 3/2/2012 at 2:13 AM, Eaglestroker said: All looks excellent, the cognac elephant is my favorite however. Where do you get yours from? On a side note I had a fellow offer me a 6' 8" gator skin not to long ago that he killed last year (legally). When I saw how much the hides cost to get tanned I had to polite-fully decline! I actually got the elephant from Springfield. It was very nice quality. It's so soft, yet tough, I wish I had an easy chair upholstered in it. I bet the tanning would have been spendy. It may have been worth it depending on your customer base, you could get quite a few items out of one that big. It's a tough nut to swallow, though. Quote J.R. Customs Holsters
Members malabar Posted March 2, 2012 Members Report Posted March 2, 2012 That is gorgeous work. Thanks for sharing your techniques. I can see how sewing would not be a good option for that material and I'm not sure how else you could make that kind of belt. But I'd worry about how well it would stand up to the rigors of use as a gunbelt. Is this the first one you've made this way or do you have others in the field like this? I think it's both smart and ethical to discuss those issues with the customer as you did. tk Quote
Members Eaglestroker Posted March 2, 2012 Members Report Posted March 2, 2012 I have some undied elephant from Springfield and it is very nice. It and buffalo are my favorites! Regarding the gator it would be 6-800 for the hornback hide. I have yet to do exotics so that would be a great leap of faith! Quote
Members JRCHolsters Posted March 2, 2012 Author Members Report Posted March 2, 2012 On 3/2/2012 at 1:29 PM, malabar said: That is gorgeous work. Thanks for sharing your techniques. I can see how sewing would not be a good option for that material and I'm not sure how else you could make that kind of belt. But I'd worry about how well it would stand up to the rigors of use as a gunbelt. Is this the first one you've made this way or do you have others in the field like this? I think it's both smart and ethical to discuss those issues with the customer as you did. tk I have a few gunbelts I have done this way for myself and friends to test out. So far so good. One thing I have learned about using the Barge cement is, let it really dry for about 1-2 hours before joining the pieces and put the hammer to it. It makes a crazy strong bond. I have tried ripping apart test pieces and I will tell you, it is some work getting them apart. I do also cross hatch score the sides to be glued in the particular hide allows. Quote J.R. Customs Holsters
Members JRCHolsters Posted March 2, 2012 Author Members Report Posted March 2, 2012 On 3/2/2012 at 2:02 PM, Eaglestroker said: I have some undied elephant from Springfield and it is very nice. It and buffalo are my favorites! Regarding the gator it would be 6-800 for the hornback hide. I have yet to do exotics so that would be a great leap of faith! I haven't tried the buffalo. I'd like to see how that turns out. Maybe you should take the gator if it's still available and just hold of on having it tanned. The funny thing I have found about exotics is, you never really need them, but once you make that plunge, it can pay for itself pretty quickly. Quote J.R. Customs Holsters
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