Members Bruno Rock Posted January 12, 2015 Members Report Posted January 12, 2015 Hi guys! Just finished making this rig for myself, like the title topic says, California Slim Jim Holster that comes with 2 1/2 inch gun belt, tapered to fit a 1 3/4 inch center buckle.It's my first attempt in making a large portion of basketweave decoration, I've found a little bit difficult to angle the tool to leave just an half mark, advices for future improvements are appreciated.A special thank goes to Jim Simmons, for his great patterns and really detailed instructions, I can't thank him enough for all the patterns and tutorials kindly provided.So guys tell me what to you thinkCheers from Italy Quote Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Facebook Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Instagram
Members benlilly1 Posted January 12, 2015 Members Report Posted January 12, 2015 Looks great Bruno! Quote
Members camano ridge Posted January 12, 2015 Members Report Posted January 12, 2015 Bruno, looks great. When I do basket weave I usually use a little stteeper angle then you did. As I get near the border area I tilt the tool up so that the end near the border area is off the leather you will leave more or less a half impression. I use the border tool after I have done the basket weave. Quote https://www.facebook.com/CamanoRidgeCustomLeather?fref=ts
Contributing Member JLSleather Posted January 12, 2015 Contributing Member Report Posted January 12, 2015 Yep, me too. Overall, the rig DOES look good, and I certainly like the stitchin'. A bit steeper on the basket stamp on the belt, and on the holster, take it on around a bit further, and you wont have that 'fade' in the stamping at the front edge. Again, I still like the rig Quote "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Members dakotawolf Posted January 12, 2015 Members Report Posted January 12, 2015 I like the color and finish. What method did you use? I assume that is saddle tan? How did you apply it to get such a consistent finish? It is really a striking rig. Machine sewn? Quote "An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it."-Col. Jeff Cooper
Members snubbyfan Posted January 13, 2015 Members Report Posted January 13, 2015 Bruno, looks great. When I do basket weave I usually use a little stteeper angle then you did. As I get near the border area I tilt the tool up so that the end near the border area is off the leather you will leave more or less a half impression. I use the border tool after I have done the basket weave. That's pretty much the process I use. Quote Keep on Chooglin'Check out my YouTube Channel, comment and subscribe for updateshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOM3hbruUKHov9kquIxXKlA
Members Feraud Posted January 13, 2015 Members Report Posted January 13, 2015 The Slim Jim style is my favorite of the old west holsters. You did a great job on that rig! I'd like to know what dye and finish you used. Quote
Members Bruno Rock Posted January 13, 2015 Author Members Report Posted January 13, 2015 Thanks to all you guys, for the nice compliments, thanks to camano ridge, JLSleather and snubbyfan for the tips. I'll try soon on another project! To dakotawolf and Feraud, the leather I've used was already dyed, it was on special, and I decided to give a try, it's saddle tan but here in Italy it's called "Color Cognac", I've applyed some mink oil to finish it. Honestly I prefer to work with veg tan leather, instead of pre dyed. It's all hand-sewed! It took me to two afternoons to complete the stitching on the belt! Quote Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Facebook Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Instagram
Contributing Member JLSleather Posted January 13, 2015 Contributing Member Report Posted January 13, 2015 IF I do basket stamping, I like the stamp to run evenly down the strap. The stamp is angled, but the resulting "basketweave" runs down the length -- it does't 'wander' off the strap. Posted here, just so you can see it and decide if you like the look or not. Keep in mind, this belt is narrower than yours, so you'd have more "rows". Or, you may not use the same stamp. But, you can get different 'look' on the same width just by changing the stamp you're using but using the same technique. Well, technique may be too 'fancy' a term for this... anybody can do this. Quote "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Members LederRudi Posted January 14, 2015 Members Report Posted January 14, 2015 (edited) That's exactly what I'd like to build for my 1860 Army! I hope it will turn out as nice and clean as yours! If the leather's not veg tan, how did you convince it to take the impressions of your tools? Back when I worked on my very first project which was a cowboy rig for my little son, I tried to hammer some impressions into what had to be black dyed chrome tan...I have seen drum dyed tooling leather advertised on the net (Zack White leather). Maybe that's the kind of stuff you made your rig of?But even if so, the dying process seems to affect the tooling qualities of the leather since you mentioned that you prefer natural cowhide. I like the idea of working with pre dyed leather and avoiding the risk of getting a blotchy coloring.In Terms of angled basketweave: I've only recently made my first steps on that field after an extensive research on LW-net which yielded valuable Information. The method I prefer now is the following:- Measure the length of the "feet" of your basketweave stamp. Let*s say that's four millimeters each.- Draw a line two millimeters (about half of the measured length) north of the middle of your belt strap.- Put the lower left and the upper right foot directly below the line and make tthe Impression.One could simply draw a middle line and put the lower left foot below it and the upper right foot above it, but I found that difficult to control visually.(All that nitpicking might not make a hell of a difference since the groove the dividers leaves in the moist leather is easily one millilmeter wide. So this procedure is as much about the peace of the craftsman's mind as about precision.)- Complete the row putting the lower left foot of the tool into the already made impression of the upper right foot.- add further rows. Edited January 14, 2015 by LederRudi Quote "If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?" Tuco Ramírez
Members Bruno Rock Posted January 14, 2015 Author Members Report Posted January 14, 2015 LederRudi, I've wet the leather with a sponge and I've just stamped on it, and the stamping was coming out all right, I didn't purchase that hide from Zack White leather, I've bought it from and old man near my town. You have to ask those questions about dying and tooling, to other guys from this forum with more experience than me, I'm sure they will give you, the right answer and advise about it. Nice avatar! I use the same one on another forum! Quote Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Facebook Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Instagram
Members Shooter McGavin Posted January 14, 2015 Members Report Posted January 14, 2015 Nice work! Quote Zlogonje Gunleathers
Members bagga Posted January 15, 2015 Members Report Posted January 15, 2015 the first thing i thought was "i like the angle of the basket weave" it's something like i never saw before. that's what art is all about, doing something different. Quote
Members Bruno Rock Posted January 15, 2015 Author Members Report Posted January 15, 2015 Thank you Shooter McGavin and bagga! Quote Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Facebook Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Instagram
Contributing Member Samalan Posted January 16, 2015 Contributing Member Report Posted January 16, 2015 First off nice job ! is their s toe plug and did you hand stitch it in would like to see it if you did thanks nice job! Quote
Members Bruno Rock Posted January 17, 2015 Author Members Report Posted January 17, 2015 thanks Samalan for your nice comment, There's no toe plug, I've skipped that part, I'm about to complete this toe plug tester, as Jim Simmons suggested, as soon I'll be happy on my toe plug tester, I'll starting making holsters with it! Quote Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Facebook Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Instagram
Members Jim Posted January 18, 2015 Members Report Posted January 18, 2015 WOW! Just . . . . WOW! By golly this has inspired me to hand out the Tooling Patterns I created for this holster. These are based on designs used in the 1800s for holsters in photos that I have seen in Packing Iron and other sources. Good work Bruno! Jim California Floral Patterns.pdf Quote Never forget where you are, so you will always remember where you've been.
Members Bruno Rock Posted January 18, 2015 Author Members Report Posted January 18, 2015 Thank you Jim! I'm very happy to see your nice comment! Those tooling patterns you've just uploaded are really beautiful! Quote Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Facebook Bruno Migliorini's Leather Works on Instagram
Contributing Member Samalan Posted January 19, 2015 Contributing Member Report Posted January 19, 2015 Bruno i find gluing the plug in first works well also dbl thickness of 8oz for the plug with a very lite stitch grove, just what i do don't mean its right by your work i know yours will come out very nice cant wait to see. Quote
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