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Looking forward to it Gary. I am working on another lady's type idea that I got from the belt buckle my wife uses on her snake gun rig at the ranch. Pics when I get it finished.

gwashorn wrote:I have been in contact with Cotton now for a while since this thread started. I already told him the first order is a full matching belt, holster, double mag and knife pouch set. I just about figured out the style and combination and now I see this! What I am suppose to do? This is really making me think of not just the first batch but the follow up. Really good lucking style and color combos. Boy we got it lucky in this group guys. Nice work Cotton.

Gary

Hey Gary,
Don't jump the gun on your design wants. T. just got my motor started with the purple/black. I'm seeing time as my enemy with all of the stuff you could do with custom designs and color you can do in holster leather.....only limited by money and imagination. I can't build holsters out of scrap pieces of leather fast enough to try out the stuff I want to. I really want to try out some abstract tooling designs....I like western floral, but........

The bad news is that I talked to Mr. Tucker at Tucker Gunleather today and he has the copyright on his HF1 holster design, and I won't be able to duplicate it and sell it. He was very gracious and made some suggestions as to changes so I wouldn't be in infrigement of his intellectual property and design rights . The bottom line is that I will have to make a new design of my own. I knew that one was on your list of wants. I'll give it some thought this week and see what I can come up with. In essence, I will have to vary the appearance without compromising the function. No hill for a stepper. It's a new year and I need a challenge.

TLynnHughes wrote:

CompVest wrote:When you are ready let me know and I will tell my students about your pink holsters.

I'm not a big pink fan, but if you decide to do black with purple trim, I'm your gal! Let me know...I just love customized gun accessories!

T.

Here you go, T. 3 trys purple...one plain purple....one purple with black.....one purple with white......no black with purple. The flash is doing funky things to the color, sorry. It seems to emphasis the blue and filter out the red in the purples. The purple slab of leather in the top is the bottom photo holster.






I think I can pull off black with purple trim now....black wicks and bleeds, but with TLC should be possible.
Cotton

I'm not touching this with thirty fooooooot pole. I spent all day chasing my tail, DBA, county court house, etc. I did get a start on a pink BBQ rig for the Mrs. for Christmas, but still several hours from finished.

EDIT: Got her done;



As far as shooting, Mrs. RiverRat can take me any day or night. She grew up on a West Texas cattle ranch. She learned watching her Dad and Granddad shoot grasshoppers of the hood of their pickups without hitting the truck with hand guns. They must have had a lot of time and a lot of ammo........and better trucks than I have. I'm not trying it with my truck!

Edit; her Dad was an Olympic competitor with hand guns in the fifties. He IS a good shot today in his high 70's today. (he carries a 1911 daily but prefers a long gun)

CompVest wrote:Ever consider or try a pink dye? No not for me I am NOT a pink lover, but there is a good market for pink in the firearm industry. A matching pink holster for all of those pink guns should do well.

CompVest....your idea has cost me a couple of hours today trying to make pink out of red dye (not paint....this is leather dye);



It's an XD45c....came out a little hot pinkish, but the Mrs. likes it. Next, one of the cool tooled ones in pink.

CompVest wrote:Ever consider or try a pink dye? No not for me I am NOT a pink lover, but there is a good market for pink in the firearm industry. A matching pink holster for all of those pink guns should do well.

I did make one with some sort of pink trim for stepdaughter's XD service last year, playing with tooling (sort of came out like fish scales) and four layers of leather......crude heavy weight pancake...... You can drive a truck over it without deforming it. Not sure that's normal ccw need in high demand.

Edit: Just remembered....it was an experiment to how well tooling would stay in a molded holster (tooling definition comes out of single layered molded)....that's why the double layers, so the tooling would not go away. Ah, the joys of old age.
I'll make a pink one. Great idea!

ghostrider wrote:very impressive work, RiverRat.

When I'm looking for a new holster, I'll let you know. You're in Austin, correct?

Sorry, i missed your question. I'm in Austin.

USA1 wrote:

RiverRat wrote: I bought a quart of black dye and haven't opened it yet....colors are too much fun.

Now you're talking my language. Most people here don't know this , but I own my business that specializes in
Leather repair and Leather dying. Been doing that for 23 years now , mostly in the automotive industry.

That's good info to know. I know where to go for advice. I used to build street rods and show cars as a hobby before kids absorbed (still in process after six years and counting) all my toy money by going to college.

I've been experimenting with colors, trying to get away from the black/brown thing. I realize black is always there if you want to cover your mistakes .

Here are some color experiments. I hope they show up some for you in these pics. I'm not the world's gift to photography. They look a lot different in the sunlight. I'll try again if the sun ever comes back out.

An XDsub holster I made for my stepdaughter with an oxblood dye. It is a #4 grade tool leather with grain and scars. Gives it character. The inside color is a wash of sealant and dye. Almost looks like its lined. She likes it because it's almost pinkish.


The inside shot.


My 4"XD45 compact holster using shades of dark brown for a wood grain effect with a #4 tool grade leather for grain and character. (#1 is the best for slick finish)


A funky back loop/belt loop holster idea that I can wear on either side that I built for my Ruger SP101 (my snake gun holster on the ranch) in oxblood...tried to make darker gradiants of the same color down in the stitching and stampings.



What do you think? Too racy? Over the top? Looks pretty conservative and unique to me for variant single color.

Excaliber wrote:River Rat, that is some really fine first class work.

I'm now jealous of LT and find myself hankering for one of these fine rigs.

My wife says I don't need another holster.

I think she may be wrong.

It's ok, my wife said YOU need one. Suspect your wife trumps mine at your house. Personally, I always wanted an Tucker HF1 with the full tooling ......so I made one for a little S&W wheel gun yesterday to see if could.



The problem is now MY wife wants me to make her a couple of them for her guns....I guess she's worth it...debating the profit for ME..

I'll get a price list together on a web site somewhere soon. Still discussing with the wife the business options/liabilities. Looks like designing and making holsters is only going to amount to 8 hours a day and 10% of the work.....

USA - I'm starting them at $60 for pancakes, $80 for the flatback moldeds like LT's above, since they are all custom, hand made, hand stained, no problem with cant angle changes, belt sizes/widths, colors, that kind of thing. Tooling and stitching are the most time consuming parts of the process and add costs. I like the ability to make every holster a little unique and personal. I bought a quart of black dye and haven't opened it yet....colors are too much fun.

Wow! Thanks for the kind review, Longtooth. Nice photos, too. I need to copy for my website that doesn't exist. Keith, this has been as much fun as it has been a challenge. Longtooth is well versed in understanding his requirements for a holster.