Leathersmiths.....show us yer stuff, (#1) THIS THREAD IS NOW CLOSED

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

                         DM you're getting better and better every minute, nice job pard, is that a S&W 5 shot hammerless  I see tuck in that new holster ?


                                                       tEN wOLVES 

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Nice work, Dalton. I should make a pocket holster one of these days. That one sure looks good.

[Dalton Masterson]

Thank you for the compliments. That is actually a 1895 or thereabouts Hopkins and Allen hammerless .32 5 shot. Only has a little nick in the nickel, other than that is in great shape. Had the grips cast off of the originals, which are put away. Good little shooter, but only likes black. Smokeless factory loads make it want to come apart. DM

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

          Neat little gun DM, and it looks like it's in real good shape, I have a S&W 5 shot 38 hammerless, that an old friend gave over 40 years ago, it's in very good condition , except for some of the nickle has come off , I've never shot it , but I've been told that it's perfectly safe to shot, so maybe I'll do that one of these days , it came with a little Mexican one loop holster, carved and laced, and it to is in like new condition , I'll have to post a picture of them together one of these days.

                                                    Take care Dalton , and thanks for sharing 


                                                                      tEN wOLVES

[Johnny McCrae]

Howdy Dalton,

Neat design and beautiful workmanship on your Pocket Holster!

I'll have to make one like that for my wife's S&W Model 65.

Appreciate your sharing this with us.

[santee]

Hey all. Just completed my first holster.    I learned a lot and look forward to making more.
I didn't want to tackle tooling on the first one. Just wanted to get the basics down and see the project through to get an idea of the process. It's Will Ghormley's West Texas pattern with a squared off bottom dyed with Fiebling's medium brown.

I gave up on the awl after the second hole and went for the 1/16" drill bit. By the way, you don't want to see the back of the holster (the stitching line looks like it belongs on Frankenstein). Guess I have to master that. Any tips?

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

    Howdy Santee,


        You did good Pard , I bet you feel good , after making your first holster , I know I did , and your right you probably learned a hole lot by doing it , now that you got your feet wet , I bet you can't wait to get going on something else, so have fun pard , YOU'RE HOOKED NOW 



                                                                    tEN wOLVES 

[santee]

Thanks, Ten Wolves. I'm now inspired to make another. Maybe the same pattern with some nice tooling.

[outrider]

Geez..looks like I have somecatching up to do here.

Dalton...excellant job on those holsters...like Ten Wolves I also have a S&W Safety hammerless

Santee...That is quite impressive for your first holster.. I have a feeling you will be a regular on this thread...

[Marshal Will Wingam]

All right, Santee. Nice going. That's great. I remember how my first one felt good to get finished. What it did was to get me going on more of 'em. Nice job. Good color for it. Looking forward to your next one with some design on it.

On the stitch line, cut a stitch groove first and then punch your holes in the groove. When you stitch it, the thread will lie down below the surface and line up with the groove.

[santee]

All right, Santee. Nice going. That's great. I remember how my first one felt good to get finished. What it did was to get me going on more of 'em. Nice job. Good color for it. Looking forward to your next one with some design on it.

On the stitch line, cut a stitch groove first and then punch your holes in the groove. When you stitch it, the thread will lie down below the surface and line up with the groove.

Thanks, Outrider and Marshal! Good tip on the sewing.

[Ace Lungger]

 My wife is going to the city today shopping, she ask me if i needed anything  I replied that I didn't realy needed anything but  I would like to have the book Packing Iron  , to my suprise she said she would get it for me   
So you guys know that i am a happy camper!
  I have not ever see the inside of the book, and I know I will enjoy it. But I can say this, With this THREAD and I have went threw all 74 pages, I have saw the most AWESOME WORK EVER 
I would like congrad EVERYONE THAT POSTED THERE STUFF, and also I would LIKE TO THANK ALL THE VETERAN LEATHER WORKERS WHO HAVE HELPED many people like me, MY HAT IS OFF TO ALL OF YOU

ACE

[outrider]

Ace:

Another good reference book is "Cowboys & The Trappings of the Old West"  Lot's of good photos of all kinds of gear

[Johnny McCrae]

Howdy Santee,

Congratulations on completing your first holster. Its a great feeling of accomplishment. You did a nice job!

Please keep us posted on your future projects.

[santee]

Thanks, Johnny. Much like Ace, I must have gone through this string gandering at everyone's work 10 times. You all do such fine work.

[Dalton Masterson]

Very good work there Santee. Looks good especially for a first time holster.
Heres a pic of the ones I did for my Starrs. Started them late friday after figuring out what went wrong with a pattern I had made previously. Took the carving out of Packing Iron and applied it to these.
I dont have any top finish on them other than some Lexol. I wanted to antique them, but dont want to fill in the carving, so.... will antique them naturally. You know, wear them out and shoot the holy black with them till they look good.
DM

[Dalton Masterson]

And heres a few I did in the last few weeks of officesitting at work.
The Cheyenne is for a Schofield, and the other is for a S&W K frame, right out of the How to Make Holsters book.
Had a nasty cut in the leather but used it anyway on the Schofield. Its got a slight antique look to it.
The Model K was the first time using that basketweave stamp, and wasnt too impressed with it. My other basketweaves seem to line up better by dropping a corner in the hole left by the previous stamp. This one didnt. Oh well.
BTW, I dont have guns for either of these, so they arent fitted at all. That is usually my reason for more guns according to my wife. (She knows the truth tho).
DM

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Hello Dalton

           Nice work Pard, they both look good , I really like the Cheyenne holster , and the cut in the leather just gives it character,  and I really like the double lines around the border and on the the inside this really sets it off giving it a classy look. I bet you wish you could have more of that office detail, Wow Dalton, I had to modify my reply, I totally missed your rig for your Srars, these are totally Awsome, and so is the look of the picture, kinda Chuck Burrows style , you really out did yourself on these, to get this look , do you dye your leather first and then do your knife work, to get it to show lighter where cut? this really looks like it came right out of Packing Iron. This is a job really well done. 



                                                                    tEN wOLVES 

[Dalton Masterson]

Ten Wolves, yes I did my stitch groove, then dyed the leather. Then while it was still damp I carved it. Took a lot of stropping, that dye really hardens the leather a bunch.
Look at pg 85 in the PI book. That one is the pattern. It looks to me like it was done after the holster was made, and I tried to copy that as much as possible.
DM

[HorsePen Henry]

Here are a couple of pictures of a belt I made here while back. Getting ready to start some holsters for my pistoles.

X Horse Pen