Another rig done

Cliff Fendley

Cliff Fendley

Well-Known Member
I will have to try and get better pics of this one before it leaves. Everything is snow covered here and was getting terrible reflections and uneven tones.
DSCN2814.jpg

DSCN2815.jpg

DSCN2820.jpg
 
Cliff nice looking rig. Good job on the matching of the sheath skirt matching the holster skirt. Was there a special reason you did a closed toe? KT
 
Thanks guys,

KT, It's obvious your a leather expert to notice:biggrin: It's funny you noticed the skirt because I actually traced the lower skirt of that holster pattern when making the Mexican loop for the knife. I just thought it needed to be that way to pull it together.

As for the toe I do a closed toe on all of my Montana and Wyoming variant holsters because nearly every 19th century piece had a tear drop shaped toe plug. One of the trademarks of the saddlers of that area during the period. Just not right without it IMO.

The customer wanted to stick with the Montana 1880-1890 period. It's all stitched with linen thread, toe plugs, solid brass nickel plated buckle, #14 copper rivets were what was popularly used. The one stamp on the holster is not exact (but close) to what was available at the time and the star conchos wouldn't be correct but he liked them so that's what we did.

I've had to make some stamps in order to get as close as possible to the 19th century stampings.
 
Mr. Fendley, that is some top shelf period work! Toe plugs make me crazy. A question if I may, are the cartridge loops cut in or top stitched? They are so uniform I can't tell. "Why does my truck smell like a wet Labrador" We have two mastiffs in the house, I feel your pain..........Randy
 
Thanks fellas, those are woven loops. A good way to tell is the stitched loops will be almost touching one another even when the belt is rolled like in the pic. I've actually gotten where I don't mind toe plugs, just part of sewing up a holster.

Man I know what you mean about a Mastiff. My brother has one and so does a friend, they are the sweetest dogs but smell really bad. I feel for ya, my labs stink after hunting, getting wet or being out in the pond or something but at least a bath helps. My brother says you can't wash the stink off of his Mastiff. LOL:eek: He's a big ole Mastiff named Ralph that you could put a pony saddle on and ride. LOL
 
Thanks for the info on the loops, I'm working on my first money style belt, a lot more stitching than a sheath. Our Mastiffs are 325# between them, you have to love them to endure the Mastiff Fog which will peel paint (Do not feed them people food, you will leave the house). They are big and intimidating but a 3# Yorkshire Terrier named Miss Lily Langtree rules the roost. Thanks again.......Randy
 
Have fun stitching that money belt, that takes a while. When someone orders those I hope they are skinny. If you stitch the bullet loops between them the main seam and billets there are around 650-700 stitches in a money belt. Give or take depending on size.
 
Cliff - I've been re-miss about commenting on your work which IMO is some of the best period stuff out there these days - a big two thumbs up. AS KT noted it's the details that help set it apart.....

Have fun stitching that money belt, that takes a while. When someone orders those I hope they are skinny.
Click to expand...
Yep the skinny ones are the nice ones, but my average for belts is around 42-44" waist size so overall length is about 50-52" and 3.5-4" wide. At 6 SPI and not including the loops that's a bunch of hand stitching but, I've got it down to about an hour and a half including prep time - I just sit in the big easy chair and sew away while watching a movie.
"Worse" even is full lined belts since you have all four sides to sew up - the biggest full-lined belt I ever made was for a guy 6' 8" tall and 475 pounds - his belt was a measured 76" inches long, 4" wide, with 60 sewn loops - about 1,100 stitches altogether at 6 SPI.......I always get a real kick when I see some of the sheathmaker's "complaining" about stitching up maybe 8-12" on a sheath

Toe plugs make me crazy
Click to expand...
Randy - once you get that hang of it as Cliff noted they are not bad at all - I've gotten to where I prefer doing them over closed rounded toes and the only open toes I make are those that mimic originals that longer and later chopped off - despite John Bianchi's opinion on them open toes just were not used all that much pre-1900. If you want some "help" on doing toe plugs drop me a line or give me a call sometime......
 
Last edited:
I too have been quietly enjoying your seeing your work for awhile now Cliff, Please keep posting it up.

Your cleanliness and attension to detail are inspiring !

PS I LOVE me some 19th century guns knives and leather.

Take care- Josh
 
Thanks Cliff and Chuck for the advice. The first one is for me mainly 'cause I'm greedy and have a 33 " waist. The stitching I can handle but I will be hollering for advice on holster and bullet loops. I'm getting to old to lite out in so many directions........Randy
 
Last edited:
To add to what Chuck said about the closed toe on holsters. Regardless of what many will try and say I have never found an advantage an open toe has over a closed one. Many will say that dirt and water can drain but keep in mind that every bit of the dirt and water that gets in the toe of that holster had to get around and through your gun. If you get enough to get in the barrel of the gun (which it would have to defy the law of gravity) the action is probably already going to be a mess. There is a much larger chance of bumping the crown of your barrel and doing damage with an open toe. I actually sewed up the toe on some factory holsters I used for hunting long before I started making western holsters because I actually had some mud stuck on the end of one of my handgun barrels when I was deer hunting. That's when I realized what could happen if a stick or something actually plugged the barrel or even just bump the crown of the barrel on something that could cause damage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top