Because it’s not a popular handgun, it has been very hard to find a holster for it.  I wanted an IWB holster.  I contacted 2 companies that seems to be recommended a lot but neither of them have a holster for my gun.  I did find 2 other companies that can custom make it, but their lead times were 5 weeks and 18 weeks respectively.

In doing some research, I found that there are actually a lot of people that make their own holsters, either out of leather, Kydex, or a combination of both.  After reading how they do it, I figured the process seemed simple enough and I could definitely make one…with some help from my wife!

Of all the holsters I found, the CrossBreed SuperTuck seemed like the one I really wanted.  All I needed was some leather, Kydex, and some screws or rivets….and a little time and patience.

I priced out all the components I needed from KnifeKits.com and found that I can get all the supplies for around $25 including the shipping charges and that would actually be enough to make 2 holsters so basically, the single holster cost would be around $13.  Here is what I ordered with links to the specific products:

• 12×12″ piece of leather
• 12×12″ sheet of Kydex, 0.06 thickness
• 12×12″ sheet of Kydex, 0.093 thickness - For the clips
• Pack of Chicago Screws

While waiting for my order to arrive, I decided to make a template for the leather portion. After doing some Google image searching, I found a nice “full-on” photo of the Supertuck.  I don’t own a Supertuck so I don’t know their actual dimensions, but I figured I can make it any size I wanted so I decided to size it exactly for my gun.  I brought the photo into Photoshop and resized it to the size I wanted and printed it out. Here is the life-sized photo and another with my gun showing that it’s just the right size.  I had quickly remove a lot of the extraneous photo around the holster thus the jagged appearance below.

This is the same printout with my gun placed on it, verifying that it’s the correct size:

I then taped this to a piece of cardboard and cut it out with an Exacto knife.  Here is the template I made and second photo showing my gun positioned on it:

The supplies came about 3 days after I ordered them and my wife and I set about making the holster.  We started by first cutting out the leather.  We were able to cut 2 holster backs from the 12×12″ leather.  This was done by first scoring the leather using the cardboard template as the guide, followed by multiple passes with an Exacto knife.  This photo shows the initial scoring:

Here you can see the first one cut out and the second out partially done:

Here is the fully cutout leather back:

The next task was to work on the Kydex form around the gun itself.  Based on the life sized photo, we cut a 4″x12″ piece of Kydex. To cut the Kydex, we scored it with an Exacto knife and then simply bent it along the score.  It snapped off cleanly.

To help for the Kydex, we needed some kindof press, but we weren’t prepared to buy one.  I bought a sleeping bag mat from Walmart for just under $6.  This is a stiff foam that is 1/2″ think.  Since I wanted about 1″ of foam,  I cut out two 12″ squares.  I also got 2 pieces of plywood, each approximately 12×12″ to serve as the bottom and top of my press.  I didn’t need to make anything permanent as I planned to simply stand on the whole thing.  I placed one sheet on the floor and prepared to make the Kydex form.

I taped a pencil to the top of the gun to ensure that I had a channel for the front sight.

I heated the Kydex in a toaster oven at 400F.  Using some cheap white cotton gloves I had, I took it out once I noticed the edges start to get a little wavy.  This only took about 1-2 minutes. At this point, the Kydex is very soft.    Working quickly, I placed the Kydex over my gun, positioning the top just where I wanted it, followed by 2 layers of the foam and the top piece of plywood and stood on it for a few minutes.  This create some great definition at the top of the gun, but it didn’t mold itself around the sides of the gun.  For this, I used a cheap heat gun my wife had and manually molded the sides.  I also spot heated the trigger area and made a indentation that would hold the gun in place by the trigger guard.

Here is the form that was produced along with pencil marks indicating where I wanted to cut:

Here is the Kydex over my gun.

A scroll saw was used to cut the Kydex.  It also turns out that the 4″ wide Kydex was a bit too wide, so I also cut about 1/2″ off the top.  Some sand paper was then used to sand the edges of the Kydex.

After carefully positioning the Kydex on the leather back, we drilled 6 holes with a 1/4″ bit through both the Kydex and the leather.  The Chicago screws from KnifeKits were 1/4″ screws which turned out to be too long for the Kydex/leather layer.  We got some neoprene washers from Home Depot ($0.83 for 4)  that we used at the back of the leather and that gave it just enough thickness so the screws could be tightened.

We also drilled 3 holes on each side for the belt clips.  This will allow for the adjustment of the cant and how high or low the holster will sit:

Here are two photos showing the gun sitting in the holster:

The guns fits snugly with a definite “snap” as it is placed in the holster.  We can hold it upside down and the gun stays put.  As a test, we also held it upside down and shook it quite vigorously and it did eventually fall out, but we’re happy that it took quite a bit for that to happen.

The next step was to make the clips.  Using the life-sized photos, we calculated how long the Kydex for the clip needed to be.  It need to be about 6″.  We cut 1″ wide strips from the 0.093 Kydex and then cut it down to 6″ each.

A small pice of wood 1 1/2″ wide and 1/4″ thick was used as a mold for the belt.

The first task, and the most difficult, was to make the small tab used for remove the clip from a belt.  Here is a photo showing that stage.  We had actually clapmed the rule to the wood below and then bent it against the table until we got the angle we were satisfied with:

The next step was to shap the Kydex around our mold:

The end of the clip where it would be attached to the leather was then cut and shaped to make it rounded.  The end is an’t rounded as I would like, but it’s the best we could have done with the tools we had.   Two holes were then drilled in each.  Between the 2 holes in the clip and the 3 in the leather, there is a lot of flexibility to adjust the cant and height.

And here are photos of the final result:

The edges of the leather needs a little attention, but in all, I am very happy with how my very first homemade holster turned out!!

I have a SVA HD4208TIII-PDP plasma TV that was bought about 4 years ago.  All of sudden last week it refuses to switch on.  When you try to turn it on with the remote, the red power light would go off, as normal, and then you would hear a bunch of clicking sounds, but nothing after that.  To try again, I would have to switch off the TV using the power button on the right side of the TV, but regardless of the number of times I try, I just wouldn’t come on.

After some research, this seems to be a common problem with this model.  Some people claim to be able to get it to work after several attempts, but the next time they switch off it wouldn’t come on again.  Some also claim to get it work if they unplug the TV for several hours or days, but I tried that it still wouldn’t work.

I did some more research and found it that it is a problem with the power board.  You can buy a replacement for $350, but seeing that a new plasma TV can be had for about $700, it doesn’t seem worth it.  Also, I would hate to buy a new power borad and find that the problem is something else.  I saw one post where some did buy the power borad and the TV worked for a few months and then stopped working again.  If anyone is interested, you can buy the power boards here: http://www.shopsva.com/hdpobo.html

I found a post where some identified three components that can be replaced to solve the issue:

• 2 Relays
• 1 Transistor

I figured that this would be a cheap way to try and fix the TV and if it doesn’t work, I wouldn’t have wasted too much money.  The rest of the article describes the process of replacing these components.

Please note that this involves desoldering and resolding the components.  If you attempt this, you do so at your own risk!!!

My first task was to open up the TV and get the part numbers.  Be careful when you do this as the screws that are on the back actually hold the front screen in place.  I laid the TV flat on a bed with the face down.  After opening up the back and removing the brace that holds the stand, you need to identify the power board.  Here is a picture showing the power board:

When you remove the board, take note of all connectors.  I used the above picture to help me reattache the cables.  Here is a view of the borad showing the location of the relays and the transistor.  The transistor is attached to a heatsink so that is all you can actually see in this view:

Here is a closer view of the components and you can actually see the tarnsistor:

The part numbers are as follows:

- Relays: JW1AFSN-DC5V
- Transistor: TOP224Y

The next challenge was to find the parts to buy. A lot of places wanted you to buy them in quantities of 100. I eventually managed to find the relays from a company called DigiKey.  Each relay was $2.11.  If you need it, their part number is 255-1725-ND.  Here is a direct link to the part

The transistor was harder to find, but I managed to find a seller on Ebay selling 4 for $10.75 including shipping.

The relays came first so I decided to try them and see if that solved the problem. I unsoldered the original relays and soldered in the new ones.  I then tried the TV and lo and behond, it started to work again.

The transistors will come later this week, but I wouldn’t bother to replace it unless the TV stops working again.  I also plan to buy a few spare relays so I can do the same repair in the future if necessary.

I hope this information is useful to others in the same situation.  It feels great fxing a 42″ plasma TV for just $5.00 is parts, especially when you consider the alternative was to buy a whole new poer board for $350.00

I actually did buy a replacement 42″ plasma for the family room, but now that this one is repaired, my wife and I now and a plasma in our bedroom

—————————————–

Photo showing capacitors C8007, C8008, C8016, and C8017

I then went and checked some of my other sites and lo and behold, they were also tagged as malware sites.

It took some effort, but I eventually found the cause of the problem.  I host all my domains at Dreamhost and in the home directory of my account, someone had installed a .htaccess file.  It was actually a bit deceptive as they had about 80 blank lines and then the malware stuff so if you first bring it up in an editor, it looks empty.  I deleted the file and all seems well.  Before deleting it, I could see my browser grabbing “stuff” from some strange sites.  Also, when I clicked on various links, I got strange browser window popups asking to install a virus checker.  Once I remvoed the .htaccess file, that all went away.

Google has a process where I can submit my sites for review and I’ve done that so hopefully it’ll get cleared up in the next few days.

Congratulations to Usain Bolt and I’m looking forward to seeing him run in the future as I know his current 100m world record will continue to drop!!

We then had to do another stress test before starting week 6. Kim and both did it. I did the minimum of 61 needed to continue on level 3 and Kim did 65 pushups.

I think is was by far the toughest week so far.  On the second day I was just barely able to complete the 25 minimum pushups in the last set.  Coincidentally, that was also the first day we crossed 100 push-ups for the day, albeit over 5 sets with rest periods.

The situation is the same for cycling where a single cyclist can bring down the destruction of an entire team.

The week felt pretty good and I was able to complete all the requirements without much difficulty.

At the end of the week we are required to perform a second stress test. This is to determine where what level we start week 3. I was able to perform 35 pushups and will thus continue following the 3rd column. This stress test was a vast improvement over my initial one where I was only able to do 15 pushups. I have more than doubled the number of pushups and I’m now 1/3 of the way to being able to do 100 pushups!

My right heel has been holding up great and I have just some very minor soreness in my left heel, but even then, it’s only periodic.  I think my worse pain or soreness was actually yesterday.  For some reason my hips and inner thighs were extremely sore.  I don’t know why as I can’t recall doing anything out of the ordinary.  I also tried to go for a run yesterday and I just couldn’t do it.  My whole body felt tired.  I ran 0.25 miles before deciding I probably needed to rest.  I ran this morning instead and I felt fine.  Very odd!

The plan for now is to continue running 3-4 miles.  I can feel my fitness slowly coming back, but it’s now where near what I’d like it to be in order to start ramping up my mileage.