Another New Plain Jane

[Dwight]

Mike finished his new plain jane holster probably a day ahead of my latest plain jane.

It is my ver first 4 ply holster, made of 4 layers of leather as Mike does his, and I am very surprized at it.

I could lose my gun, . . . and as long as I have this holster and a piece of string, . . . I've got a weapon It is much stiffer than I had anticipated.

It will be very much used, however, as I needed a good "mowing" holster, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

And this is the back side,.............

[katsass]

Mike finished his new plain jane holster probably a day ahead of my latest plain jane.

It is my ver first 4 ply holster, made of 4 layers of leather as Mike does his, and I am very surprized at it.

I could lose my gun, . . . and as long as I have this holster and a piece of string, . . . I've got a weapon It is much stiffer than I had anticipated.

It will be very much used, however, as I needed a good "mowing" holster, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

And this is the back side,.............

Good morning Dwight, Good looking holster, and ideal for carrying a 1911 style shooter. Folks just don't seem to understand that when I say that my type of construction will produce a much firmer holster --- I mean it. You would have difficulty in obtaining the detail of a boned rig, but properly molded, the retention is there, and stays there. Mike

P.S. As soon as photobucket decides to come back up for me, I'll provide a backside pic of my last holster.

[D Fingers]

I did the same thing recently. Making my first 4-ply also for 1911,it looks very similar to yours all though it is 4 layers of horse hide and I just did an oil/beeswax finish on it. It is my favorite holster so far I really like the simple style much more than the fancy boning which I'm not very good at yet.

[SooperJake]

Dwight, is that vinegaroon for the dye?

Also, I thought Mike made his out of 2 layers flesh to flesh? How are you gluing up 4 layers? Or is it two and two to make the two layers for the pancake, resulting in a smooth inside...?

Thanks,

Jake

[Sylvia]

I could lose my gun, . . . and as long as I have this holster and a piece of string, . . . I've got a weapon It is much stiffer than I had anticipated.

OMG That's Funny! LOL!

The holster looks awesome Dwight.

[katsass]

Dwight, is that vinegaroon for the dye?

Also, I thought Mike made his out of 2 layers flesh to flesh? How are you gluing up 4 layers? Or is it two and two to make the two layers for the pancake, resulting in a smooth inside...?

Thanks,

Jake

Speaking for Dwight (not that he can't,or won't, I'm just butting in, trying to put off having to go out in the heat) His is made from two pieces of double thick (two pieces, glued flesh to flesh) leather. These are each handled as if a single thickness of heavier hide. When stitching up, you are going through four layers of dead cow skin. Clear as mud? Most of my stuff is made that way, for final firmness and the fact that you have a smooth interior. Mike

Edited July 1, 2012 by katsass

[SooperJake]

Clear as mud.

Hot here, too.

Vinegaroon you think, Mike ? Looks to be....that finish always seems a little flatter than commercial dye to me. Probably because it is actually black. To my understanding, black aniline dye is really a kind of super dark blue, as it is made, chemically. At least that is what a dye manufacturer told me once.

In the woodworking field we call it "ebonizing", and it works best on woods with high tannin content. A tip to anyone making it with steel wool. wash the oil off the wool with some mineral spirits first, and let that dry. Then proceed with water rusting. Or, buy steel wool listed as "oil free". You get better rust that way.

Jake

[katsass]

Clear as mud.

Hot here, too.

Vinegaroon you think, Mike ? Looks to be....that finish always seems a little flatter than commercial dye to me. Probably because it is actually black. To my understanding, black aniline dye is really a kind of super dark blue, as it is made, chemically. At least that is what a dye manufacturer told me once.

In the woodworking field we call it "ebonizing", and it works best on woods with high tannin content. A tip to anyone making it with steel wool. wash the oil off the wool with some mineral spirits first, and let that dry. Then proceed with water rusting. Or, buy steel wool listed as "oil free". You get better rust that way.

Jake

Yes, I'd say the shell was viegarooned. As to dyes, black dye is not always black, as you point out. I suspect that Fiebing's USMC Black has a good brown content, although I have never used it. I surmise this from the fact that back in the day, when recruits for the Marine Corp. were being 'indoctrinated' to Marine ways, they were issued a pair of brown dress shoes -- then told to "make them black and shiny" with a tin of Lincoln black shoe polish. Marine's shoes always had a very unique brown tint to them -- until they were finally issued black shoes -- sometime after I needed to give a damn. Mike

P.S. I just hit the steel wool with a torch -- takes care of the whole thing in one fel swoop.

Edited July 1, 2012 by katsass

[Dwight]

Dwight, is that vinegaroon for the dye?

Also, I thought Mike made his out of 2 layers flesh to flesh? How are you gluing up 4 layers? Or is it two and two to make the two layers for the pancake, resulting in a smooth inside...?

Thanks,

Jake

Uhhh, . . . no, . . . I have never done vinegaroon, . . . talked to Will Ghormley about it, . . . after all the info was digested, . . . said to heck with it, . . . bought another bottle of Feibings black oil dye, . . . that is what I use 99% of the time.

Still have a bottle of USMC black I'm trying to use up, . . . just hate the buffing it requires.

Katsass gave you the skinny on the construction method, . . . 2 layers made each one out of 2 pieces of thinner leather, . . . cemented flesh to flesh, . . . makes one super hard holster. The outside pieces were dip dyed, . . . dried, . . . then cemented to the inside pieces.

And yes, . . . inside is very smooth, . . . although it didn't quite "form" as tight as I really wanted it to be. BUT, . . . it is a really good knock around holster, . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited July 9, 2012 by Dwight

[SooperJake]

I don't think USMC black ever stops rubbing off. My first ( and probably last sing USMC dye) black dyed holster was done with it and it rubbed off readily two weeks later. Not until I applied a top coat did it stop.

Thanks for the reply, Dwight.

Jake