How Do I Get My Holster To 125 Deg To Harden It

[mlapaglia]

I have been told that to properly harden the leather in a holster after the molding/boning I should bake it at 125 degs. My main oven only goes down to 170. My toaster oven is small and I am concerned that the leather would be too close to the elements. It also only goes down to 175.

How do you people get the holster dry in an oven and still keep it from getting too hot?

Michael

[Art]

Hi Michael,

If you are serious about it, build yourself a drying cabinet. Exterior plywood will work or most things wood. If you are worried about the heat, then line it with sheetrock and/or tin foil. Two incandescent lightbulbs of 100 watts or so will do as a heat source. You have to rig a thermostat for it to turn the lightbulbs on and off, but that ain't rocket science. A circulating fan is optional.

Art

I have been told that to properly harden the leather in a holster after the molding/boning I should bake it at 125 degs. My main oven only goes down to 170. My toaster oven is small and I am concerned that the leather would be too close to the elements. It also only goes down to 175.

How do you people get the holster dry in an oven and still keep it from getting too hot?

Michael

[KAYAK45]

I do not know anything about hardening at "125 degrees", but if that's what you want catch you oven on the heat side going up and shut it off as say 130 degrees and let it cool.

Kevin

[Art]

If you are on a budget, set it outside in a box on a sunny day, if up North it will have to be in the summer. The box (and the holster) will get to 125 pretty easily.

Art

[mlapaglia]

I do not know anything about hardening at "125 degrees", but if that's what you want catch you oven on the heat side going up and shut it off as say 130 degrees and let it cool.

Kevin

Kevin,

This is what I was told, and judging from the quality of this persons work I have every reason to believe them. This is a response to a question I had about making holsters.

Are you including heat setting the leather in your process? Literally baking the molded holster at ~125F for 10-15 minutes (depending on moisture content)?

That's a pretty important step as it helps to 'set' the leather. I try to wait until the leather is on the dry side of "cased" (where the leather looks dry, but still feels cool), then bake it in the toaster oven. It's important to get the leather to about 120 degrees for the cellular 'glue' to set. Don't use a microwave.....trust me. Once it's reached the right temperature (I can hold it for a few seconds before it gets too hot), take it out and set it somewhere with moving air- in front of a fan is good. If you take something like a kitchen knife, or a metal handled tool, and insert it into the molded cavity, you can see moisture condensing on it. That's why you need moving air; to blow the moisture out. Once it' cooled down to room temperature, I think you'll find the holster a good bit stiffer than just drying overnight.

I've have to try it at least once. I have read this other places also and the "Science" of the process makes sense.

[evandailey]

Close the door of the oven on a wooden spoon leaving it open a crack and set it as low as it will go. That's what I do and it works splendidly. That also helps get rid of the moisture faster.

Edited August 26, 2011 by evandailey

[mlapaglia]

Hi Michael,

If you are serious about it, build yourself a drying cabinet. Exterior plywood will work or most things wood. If you are worried about the heat, then line it with sheetrock and/or tin foil. Two incandescent lightbulbs of 100 watts or so will do as a heat source. You have to rig a thermostat for it to turn the lightbulbs on and off, but that ain't rocket science. A circulating fan is optional.

Art

Art,

Whats the rough size of a cabinet that is heated by 2 100W light bulbs? Im thinking a 2 foot cube?

Michael

[electrathon]

Close the door of the oven on a wooden spoon leaving it open a crack and set it as low as it will go. That's what I do and it works splendidly. That also helps get rid of the moisture faster.

I can't believe it took so many replies to get to this answer. Leaving to door open a couple inches works great. I have done it a number of times, always with great results.

Aaron

[Big O]

I just hang the holster inside a cardboard box and prop up a handheld hair dryer about three feet away, pointed into the box below where the holster is.

[Shooter McGavin]

I have a cardboard box with a small electric space heater blowing into it.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

My American Harvest food dehydrator has an adjustable heat knob that will go down to what you want.

The hair dryer is another good option.

Right now down here if it was left in a car it would get hotter than you need. With the windows up interiors can hit 160 easily when it is 110-115 outside.

A hot plate with a container on top to hold the holster.

A space heater with a fan.

Lots of options.

[Art]

I use a Cabinet that was used to take food trays around in a hospital, it's about 5' x 3' x 3'.

It is of course better if it is insulated.

Art

Art,

Whats the rough size of a cabinet that is heated by 2 100W light bulbs? Im thinking a 2 foot cube?

Michael

[katsass]

My American Harvest food dehydrator has an adjustable heat knob that will go down to what you want.

The hair dryer is another good option.

Right now down here if it was left in a car it would get hotter than you need. With the windows up interiors can hit 160 easily when it is 110-115 outside.

A hot plate with a container on top to hold the holster.

A space heater with a fan.

Lots of options.

The BIGGUNDOCTOR and I are about in the same kind of territory, he's about 300 miles north and east of me but we both are in the desert southwest. It's a little after 6:00am here and running at about 76 degrees right now, on its way to 105 or so. By mid day it'll be at least 150 on the surface of the sand. I will generally just sit my holster on a cardboard box a foot or so off the ground and let 'er go for a little ...... turn it over once and within an hour or so it's done. Winter time I use the box and small space heater. Mike

Edited August 27, 2011 by katsass

[Denster]

If you are only going to do one or two holsters you can use denatured alcohol instead of water for forming and it will have the same effect when left to dry naturally. You do have to work quickly to have the forming done before the alcohol evaporates.

As to heating I use a cheap convection oven from Wally World. I have a thermometer inside so I can monitor the temperature as you can't trust the dial.

Making a heat drying box is simple. A good size is an 18"cube. Use plywood for the base and furring strips for the uprights and the door. You can screw or glue blue insulating board to the sides, door and top. Screw a porcelain light fixture to the base and hook it up in line with a light dimmer switch. One 90 to 100 watt bulb is more than enough.. Shove dowels through the blue board to form a rack to lay the holsters on. Shove a meat thermometer through the blue board about 1/2 way to the top. Poke several 1/4" or so holes in the blue board just above the base and several in the blue board at the top. This will create a chimney effect that will carry the moisture away. Turn the dimmer switch on low and monitor the thermometer. Increase the setting until it holds between 120 and 130 degrees. Put your holsters in and dry away.

What you are doing is liquifying the collagens in the leather and allowing it to migrate and glue the fibers in place. The alcohol does it chemically the water does it by heat. Think liquid hide glue which is essentially the same thing. Hide glue liquifies at about 120 degrees and gells at around 80 degrees or so in the presence of moisture.

[David]

Unless you are very experienced with drying cabinets.....just leave it alone and let it dry! I dryed my first check book..... When dry it resembled a potato chip. I wouldn't advise it.

Dave

[Colt Hammerless]

Regarding using alcohol to form with. I believe the advice is to use isopropyl/rubbing alcohol and not denatured alcohol. I've never done this, but that's what I've read. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Colt Hammerless

[Denster]

Regarding using alcohol to form with. I believe the advice is to use isopropyl/rubbing alcohol and not denatured alcohol. I've never done this, but that's what I've read. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Colt Hammerless

Youre wrong. Actually you are right and wrong. It really doesn't make any difference which you use.

[Denster]

Unless you are very experienced with drying cabinets.....just leave it alone and let it dry! I dryed my first check book..... When dry it resembled a potato chip. I wouldn't advise it.

Dave

Actually as long as you keep the temperature under 150deg F you won't have any problems. It doesn't take any experience just some small attention to details. The detail in this case is keep the temp under 150.

Just letting it dry after using water will result in the holster only being a small amount firmer than when you started. That's probably OK for checkbooks. Not for holsters.

Edited August 27, 2011 by Denster

[Big O]

Regarding using alcohol to form with. I believe the advice is to use isopropyl/rubbing alcohol and not denatured alcohol. I've never done this, but that's what I've read. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Colt Hammerless

When I've been in a hurry (almost always a mistake), I've cut my dye with denatured alcohol and done the molding while the leather was still damp. Messy, but it works.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

The BIGGUNDOCTOR and I are about in the same kind of territory, he's about 300 miles north and east of me but we both are in the desert southwest. It's a little after 6:00am here and running at about 76 degrees right now, on its way to 105 or so. By mid day it'll be at least 150 on the surface of the sand. I will generally just sit my holster on a cardboard box a foot or so off the ground and let 'er go for a little ...... turn it over once and within an hour or so it's done. Winter time I use the box and small space heater. Mike

Yep, when you live where we do you learn to adapt. I can sun dry Roma tomatoes in one day outside, and cosmolene is easier to remove after setting the item outside in the sun for a bit. I am always looking for ways to use El Sol. the clothe s dryer doesn't get used in the summer, as it takes longer than outside-blue jeans are dry in about 10 mins on the line. It was 113 yesterday, and even after midnight it was still 99.

My question is what happens to a hardened item if it is exposed to high temps again,like being left in a car during summer?

[Colt Hammerless]

Thanks for the info on using denatured alcohol guys. Always good to know a different way to do things.

Colt Hammerless

[Denster]

Yep, when you live where we do you learn to adapt. I can sun dry Roma tomatoes in one day outside, and cosmolene is easier to remove after setting the item outside in the sun for a bit. I am always looking for ways to use El Sol. the clothe s dryer doesn't get used in the summer, as it takes longer than outside-blue jeans are dry in about 10 mins on the line. It was 113 yesterday, and even after midnight it was still 99.

My question is what happens to a hardened item if it is exposed to high temps again,like being left in a car during summer?

As long as it's not wet nothing happens to it except it gets hot.

[woodandsteel]

I live in the humid South, so air drying takes a looong time. I've had the best results with a countertop convection oven, set between 125 and 150 degrees for 30-45 minutes. It dries the holsters firm and hard for good retention. I tried using alcohol to mold one holster and it didn't end up as hard as I can get it using the convection oven. After the oven-drying, I give it a coat of neatsfoot oil to condition the leather and darken/even the color.

[Denster]

I live in the humid South, so air drying takes a looong time. I've had the best results with a countertop convection oven, set between 125 and 150 degrees for 30-45 minutes. It dries the holsters firm and hard for good retention. I tried using alcohol to mold one holster and it didn't end up as hard as I can get it using the convection oven. After the oven-drying, I give it a coat of neatsfoot oil to condition the leather and darken/even the color.

Agreed that is the best way and the small convection ovens are cheap. I paid less than $20 on sale at Wal-Mart. Just don't trust the temp dial. The oven will do the best job but alcohol works OK and if it's not as firm as you like after you form and bone it and it dries give it another good spray down inside and out and it will get fimer.

+1 on the coat of neatsfoot oil.

[katsass]

Yep, when you live where we do you learn to adapt. I can sun dry Roma tomatoes in one day outside, and cosmolene is easier to remove after setting the item outside in the sun for a bit. I am always looking for ways to use El Sol. the clothe s dryer doesn't get used in the summer, as it takes longer than outside-blue jeans are dry in about 10 mins on the line. It was 113 yesterday, and even after midnight it was still 99.

My question is what happens to a hardened item if it is exposed to high temps again,like being left in a car during summer?

Denster's right ....... nothing except that you got a holster that's hotter than a couple of squirrels trying to make whoopee in a wool sock. Mike

Edited August 28, 2011 by katsass