Trailblazer87

Well, then you have guys like me that just enjoy working with their hands. I picked up the hobby accidentally while I was on a forced 2 week vacation due to a certain virus. I was only sick for 24 hours and slept for most of it. After that I was bored so I fired up the forge and made knives for my nieces and nephews and needed to make sheath for them. A few youtube videos later and some Amazon stuff ordered and I am making things because I enjoy the hobby, not for profit, dog collars with the dogs name, address, and phone numbers, a belt i wear daily, a few holsters, learning to carve and stamp and ended up making some craters with carved flowers for my mom's birthday. Yeah the OP could have checked back in but with each post the experienced people are adding to the knowledge base ys new guys rely on to learn from.

Good stuff, thank you for sharing

All good stuff so far, thanks.

That makes sense, I guess my main concern is the light is wider than the trigger guard out of necessity to be able to get a finger on the switch, normally retention is made by molding to the trigger guard and ejection port. I'm not too keen on using the light as the point of friction for retention, I guess a retention strap will be in order.

I've tried searching but couldn't find a good thread on this, even though I know I have come across a couple in my reading here. So with that said, how would you experts suggest i mold a holster for a pistol with a light mounted? I just recently purchased a Sig P320 and want to mount a light to it since we go riding in less that stellar areas, sometimes at night, and need a way to carry it. I've made a few 1911 holsters with no problems, one for my 686 Smith was fun, but this darn light has me scratching my head. Thank you in advance.

Nowandagain, Would you have access to Henna? That has been used to dye leather.

I haven't used it on leather intentionally, but I do know it stains. Experimentation is probably in order, the grape must (the solids left over from wine making) will possibly make for a good base, though it has a strong odor. Take those solids and make a strong tea from it. If I were to use wine, I would probably want to reduce it down to remove the alcohol and some water, might darken it up as well. As someone else mentioned above, a wood stain may be the most consistent way to get the color you want. Most hardware stores carry it.

OK, something i might be able to help ( California pistachio grower here) with, do you have access to pistachio hulls? They should be coming available this time of year, just let them age a bit to darken up and let the tannins release. Do you have access to oak trees? The acorns are loaded with tannins, grind them up then soak them to make a very bitter tea. The other thing to try might be a dark red wine, or even Balsamic vinegar, just be sure to neutralize the acid with baking soda and a good rinse.

I had a feeling it would work like that. I will definitely try different finishes on bits of scrap. Thanks!

Hello all, new here, but have been lurking for a few months, learning from the vast repository of knowledge here. One thing I haven't been able to find is how you get the natural pattern the shows up in some horse hides. I ordered a few Horween Russet straps and when I opened the package one of them has a very nice fine zebra pattern that I'm tempted to make into a belt. So how do I get that to show without covering it up with dye or having it change with light exposure? I have enough to just make a belt and holster for my S&W 686, so I don't want to ruin any. Thanks in advance.