Boning Help

[JoelR]

Well, I've been slowly working on my skills now for about 6 months. I've built my skill level, with all the great help of the forum members, to the point that I am happy with my stitchiing, more confident in my designs, and accepting of my burnishing skills. The last area I am really struggling to be happy with is my boning. Some holsters have turned out really well. Others leave a lot to be tesired. My lines are not crisp and the overall result can look like trying to draw the boning lines with a dull crayon (week-hand-only). I understand that this can be an artform in-and-of-itself. So, anyone out there willing to share their approach to this peocess? Do you create a template to follow or is it a matter of patience and practice, knowing just where to add the line and how much working to do so that you are not overworking the leather?

Edited January 26, 2010 by JoelR

[JoelR]

As a side note, I do not currently have a press and am working on getting the finances together to obtain one. I'm sure this is not a silver bullet and am interested in how much this might actually help with seeing the details to be enhanced with the boning.

[Lobo]

Joel: Boning is indeed a skill that some acquire readily while others (like myself) continue to struggle with. My experience is that a couple of things require attention.

First, your holster needs to be at a point of moisture content that permits good modeling and accepts sharp tool impressions. The range of moisture content appears to be relatively narrow; too much moisture and the leather seems to "spring back", not enough moisture and the leather will not accept the modeling and tooling. Temperature of the piece also seems to have an effect. My attempts to overcome these tendencies is to keep a dish of cool water and a sponge at hand to apply additional moisture very lightly as the piece dries, permitting continuation of the boning process throughout the drying stage.

Second, selection of tools to be used for boning. Your boning tools need to provide you with a variety of shapes to model the leather into the various contours and recesses, and all need to be highly polished to avoid friction marks being transfered to the leather.

Third, it helps me to have the handgun on the workbench as I work. If the handgun is inside the holster as I work the details are hidden from view, so I keep a photo or scan of the handgun on the bench. This helps me to identify the major details and locate those as I model the leather and apply tool pressure.

Finally, I have found that it is better to concentrate on the major elements when boning (ejection port, trigger guard, revolver cylinder, semi-auto slide/frame lines). A few clearly defined areas, well done, look better to me than a lot of cluttered detail. And if the holster is properly fitted and closely boned in the major points of contact, retention is properly enhanced by the boning process.

Also, I don't try to carry the boning process all the way to the edges (mouth and toe openings) of the holster. The effect of the boning seems to be better when confined to the major points of contact within the holster.

It is very easy to "over-work" the boning process, so I spend only a few minutes on each side then set the piece aside, returning to it after it has had a chance to dry some more. Then I can continue to model and define those areas that require more attention. This works better for me than to try and do it all at once.

In each production run I have about 8 to 12 holsters in production. Those that require detail-boning (2 to 4 typically) are worked separately, requiring perhaps 10 or 15 minutes at each boning session. Three or four boning sessions are usually required over the span of 2 or 3 hours of drying time. The entire process can be interupted and resumed simply by using the sponge and water applications when the leather has dried past the point of accepting the modeling and tooling.

Best regards.

[JoelR]

Alway a wealth of knowledge and willing to help Lobo. Much appreciated. As part of the boning process, do you also compress the flat surfaces? Many of the boned surfaces I see shown off almost appear as if they were pressed (via a machine and formed plates) that way.

[BOOMSTICKHolsters]

A press is beneficial if you have arthritus (or some other physical inconvenience) or you are trying to save time. Otherwise, I wouldn't spend the money on one. If you use a press because you can't bone leather otherwise, then you are using a serious crutch, and that isn't what this is about.

When I hand bone holsters I start making impressions with the side of my thumbs and then my knuckles. When the general shape of the gun comes through, then you can decide where to use a tool to get sharper detail. There are all kinds of tools used to bone leather. I have used everything from pens, antlers, tool handles, spoons, and table knives to tools made specifically for boning and creasing. The tools that I use most often these days are a $10 bone folder from Springfield Leather and a 1/4" PTFE Book Binder's burnisher. Play with different tools to see what kind of impressions they make in the leather to see where to use them to get the results you want.

***TRADE SECRET***

One nice little trick is to chase the boning lines with a sharper tool once the holster is dry, but before the finish is applied. This gives the boning lines a crisp and clean look.

[LeatherCaptain]

Hi, I agree with a lot of what Boomstick said. I don't use a press and don't feel that one is necessary unless your physical capabilities prohibit you from doing it manually. Honestly, I think a lot of guys over do it with a press. If the leather is too tight on the gun and it's worked into the ejection port to hard you'll have serious issues trying to draw the gun and will just eventually wear out big chunks of the interior. Also, you should really be careful when molding around the trigger guard. I still have nightmares that I've molded to hard behind the trigger and it causes some poor souls gun to go off as he's reholstering his weapon. Keep that area behind the trigger untouched and open wide enough that the front of the trigger will not hit anything as the gun's being reholstered.

As for the process, I start by getting the leather wet, not too wet, just enough so that the leather is pliable. I'll insert the gun and take the heels of my hands and compress the holster from the front and back all the way around the gun. This compression process helps stiffen the leather as well as forming the leather around the gun. Then, I'll use my fingers to press the leather into all the key areas, under the trigger guard where it meets the frame, the ejection port, the trigger guard and all along the dust cover. Then I'll move onto cutting in the detail. I use a bone folder that I got from Tandy's and I just don't mark lines in the leather. I actually press the leather down along the outside edge of the gun and on the slide to create some relief. Like Lobo said, you've got to try and mimick what the gun actually looks like. It's rare that a gun has a square frame (glock) and most have rounded frames with increases/decreases in depth. Maybe that's confusing but, I just don't mark lines in the leather. I've found that using a round object (bottom of marker, brush handle) is good for pressing into the trigger guard to get a nice circular indentation. Then, just before it is set down to dry, I'll take a crochet needle (sp?) and follow into all of the boning detail to get a nice sharp edge. I also make sure I leave the gun in the holster until the leather has set up and the outside seems to be getting fairly dry. Then I'll draw the gun and let the inside dry. I don't see why you'd want to draw the gun any earlier because you'll loose a lot of the detail you just spent time cutting in.

I don't go over the lines too many times. Once or twice and keep the tool slow and steady. For straight lines (slide to frame), I'll use a straight edge to draw the tool against. Also, if you get the leather too wet, it'll deform you lines as it's drying. It seems that an overly soaked holster dries unevenly or something happens to the cells as it's soaking up water and you'll get a bumpy looking surface which will distort your boning details. The same holds true if you start cutting in the details too early when the leather is still at max moisture level. Give it a few minutes to dry a bit.

Good luck. Keep practicing and I'm sure you'll end up with a process that you like. Because, as I'm sure you've figured out, everyone has their own process that they've developed and seems to work for them. Just remember to keep the leather off the trigger

Edited January 27, 2010 by LeatherCaptain

[Shorts]

- use your hands, fingers and thumb to find the major lines

When you have enough moisture in the leather it will form around the gun easier, especially if you do not use a press.

- get the leather wet enough

Everyone says don't get it too wet but if you don't get it wet enough, you're essentially tooling. And unless you're good at tooling you're going to have problems. Wet enough leather will allow you to find all your lines. So find them with the leather wet. And don't go directly to the sharp edge either. Use a flat side of your boning tool to sort of press up against the line you need. This will give you the edge that you will later define with your sharp edge. And if you screw up you have enough moisture in the leather to work it out. The wet will dry. An hour or two later you'll use your sharp edge to draw your lines. They will set because some moisture has evaporated off. Let the holster dry to your next step. Right before you pull the gun out take your sharp edge again and trace your lines. This will more or less burnish your line and it gets a crisp definition. Viola. Boning.

- use a tool you're comfortable with

I only have one boning tool and made it specifically for boning the holster. Using one tool has allowed me to get skilled at using it to the point I can do several things with it. It doesn't matter what it is so long as you know how to use it and it does the job you need it to do.

Don't be afraid to experiment. You'll never learn if you don't. Do the things that everyone says not to do. See for yourself. Then you know how to get different effects and results.

Edited January 27, 2010 by Shorts

[Lobo]

Alway a wealth of knowledge and willing to help Lobo. Much appreciated. As part of the boning process, do you also compress the flat surfaces? Many of the boned surfaces I see shown off almost appear as if they were pressed (via a machine and formed plates) that way.

Yes, I work all of the flat surfaces using a round tool which I roll over each surface firmly. This compresses the leather and leaves a nice smooth surface. I do this on all holsters during the forming process, whether they are to be detail-boned or not. Most of my production is not detail-boned, but each one is fully fitted by hand. Detail-boning provides the best possible result, but a very good result can be had using nothing more than your hands and a few simple tools. This is why I offer detail-boning as an option for those who wish to have it, and are willing to pay for the additional time and effort required.

I am attaching a couple of photos showing the difference between my standard forming and a detail-boned piece. As will be obvious, I am not the master of this process as some others here are.

A mechanical press provides advantages for volume production, I am sure. But I have never used one and really don't feel the need

[JoelR]

Great info all around. Thank you everyone. I guess I was looking at the press to assist me and clean up my work to the same extent that the stitching pony did. I have been using all forms of instruments to try with boning. Spoons have worked faily well for me. I have not tried using my bone folder, but will give it a go tonight. Guess this is just something I will have to continue to work on. I'll scale back the detail I have been trying to add and focus on a more minimalistic approach until I feel adequately compentent at this and then advance from there.