Idea For Permanent, Accurate Holster Pattern

[Big O]

I've been having some trouble in positioning the stitch line closest to the pistol accurately. I have an idea, but I don't know if it'd work.

Here it is:

Heat up a sheet of kydex and mold it around the pistol.

Scratch the stitch line into the kydex. (as well as other features, including belt slots and the outline of the holster.

Reheat the kydex and lay it flat again.

Cut a narrow path along the scratched line. (as well as cutting out the outline and the other features)

Use the hardened kydex template to mark everything, INCLUDING the stitch line, on the leather.

Has anyone tried this, or something similar?

[gruntpain1775]

Kydex will shrink a little the more times you heat it up. Also, getting it to lay flat again will be a chore. Worth a shot though, if you do it, let me know how it turns out.

[olliesrevenge]

The kydex idea seems like an awful lot of work to achieve a solution that can be reached via easier methods. I do like the concept of having a pattern complete with stitch line & belt slot locations though, although I have yet to create one because I'm still trying new things all the time.

I just use the formula that I read on the forums here, add 1/2 the width of the gun + the thickness of the leather you're using. Practically speaking, the thickness difference between, say, 7 and 9 oz leather amounts to splitting hairs when positioning the stitch line (IMO). Using dial calipers I have found a pretty decent variance in thickness even across a single shoulder, so I usually just round up & add 1/8" to 3/16" & call it good. I realize that 3/16" equals 12 oz leather but I haven't found it makes a huge difference, of course I make mostly Glock holsters, & Glocks are thick and blocky.

I laid a Glock on a piece of poster board and drew the complete outline of the gun, then drew the stitch lines the desired distance away from the outline, then cut it out. The result is a stitch line template. The top of the standard Glock slide is 1" thick so the front stitch is 5/8" to 11/16" from the outline of the slide. On the trigger guard side I initially tried to get technical and bring the stitch line a bit closer in that area, since the Glock trigger guard is "only" 5/8" thick ( half would be 5/16th), but I found that even if I didn't do that it was nice to have a bit of extra material there anyway because I'd be depressing the leather into the trigger guard area when wet molding. I think my Glock stitch template is about 1/2" from the gun outline through the entire trigger guard / dust cover area. 1911's are a different story, as they have a relatively thin trigger guard, so I did bring it in a bit on the one 1911 holster I made.

After I get a holster stitched up, before wet molding & while it's still flat, I throw it into my scanner/printer and make a copy of it. The copy gives you a record of all the details so you can make small tweaks the next time you build that same holster.

[Shorts]

My stitch lines are drawn on my manila folder pattern. I lightly prick the lines with an awl, then lightly trace the lines.

Same pattern every time and gives you an accurate location to adjust from if the pattern is too tight or too loose.

[Tac]

I use the same method as Shorts and have never had a problem.

[Big O]

My stitch lines are drawn on my manila folder pattern. I lightly prick the lines with an awl, then lightly trace the lines.

Same pattern every time and gives you an accurate location to adjust from if the pattern is too tight or too loose.

Do you wrap the manila folder around the handgun to do this?

[RobDude30]

Do you wrap the manila folder around the handgun to do this?

I usually make my patterns first out of brown paper (which I do wrap around the gun), then once it is tweaked to my liking I will transfer it to a manila folder for a slightly more permanent pattern.

[Shorts]

Do you wrap the manila folder around the handgun to do this?

No.

Nice thing about patterns and guns is you can normally adapt one model for another by adjusting the mouth height and stitch lines. Usually one test build to work out the exact spacing on the lines and viola, pattern done.

[Rayban]

Big O....I've done the same process only with leather.....mold, then wet to lay flat.

[Deanimator]

I do my patterns in Corel Draw. I download a bitmap of the gun in profile from Google Images. I then take two selected height and length dimensions from a real gun (or have somebody measure theirs). I trace the bitmap to a vector object and drop it onto the same drawing as the holster pattern. I can then scale the holster to match the gun.

On my holsters, I keep very tight to the gun, so extra stitching around the gun hasn't been necessary. I first print the pattern for the holster body on paper and cut it out. I then fold it around the gun. If there's not enough distance between the stitch line and the gun, I stretch it a little in Corel Draw. I stretch and print until I get a pattern that's got enough room for the gun, but still as tight as possible. Once this is done, I then print the pattern onto card stock. I again fold the pattern over the gun as a final check. If it's right, I lay out the pattern on the leather. If not, I make final adjustments, and print the final pattern. I don't mark the actual stitch lines on the leather, just the start and end points. I then use my adjustable groover to make the stitch line between those points, followed up with the overstitcher to mark the stitch holes.

Right now I make nothing but tuckable IWBs and pocket holsters and this technique has worked out very well for me.

[Reaper]

Yes you can do a complete pattren set out of Kydex and it would last forever.

You can also get it to lay flat without issue once you re-heat it, as long as you lay it out on something flat and then place some totally flat larger than the Kydex pattern and put some weight on top of it and let it cool. I would probably only use .060. You can also use Kydex for a brace to keep the mouth of a holster open and then cover it with leather. I'd again use .060 or .030 ig you can find it. KnifeKits.com is a good starting place for various needs in Holster making.

One thing I was thinking about including what you were asking about, was with the stitch line. A Dremal could be used with a cut off blade to actually cut out the cut line. Then the stitch pattern could be drilled out along it. This way you mark it all out at one time.

With anything you do, if you shorten the process as much as possibly in the correct manner, you have just improved your ROI and Profit Margin.