LRBespokeGoods

^^ This is exactly me, a lurker... I always template paper copy first but use leathercraftCAD to get them digitised and easily reprintable/distributable. Its very rare that I contribute to forums, i'd rather sit back and soak in the knowledge unless I have something meaningful to add (which is rare) but when it comes to this piece of software I have actually been blown away by its ease of use and the support offered by its developer. I've been using the software for about 3 years and it has had several significate changes along the way but I really cant express enough how valuable the software is to me after the initial learning curve dropped off.

Thanks for all the help folks, as it turns out I needed to get the leather what I would call "really wet" so it was almost "squishy" and then let it really dry out for almost 3 hours before getting a reasonable result. Seems rather strange given the last couple of tooled pieces wanted waaay less moisture. At least I'm learning, even if I have to go back to pulling my hair out from time to time!

@Beehive thanks for the recommendation, it looks great but seems to be the opposite of what I was expecting.

Thanks, I'll give it a go tomorrow. And I've just seen this is probably in the wrong place... Is it possible to move it?

I've been having a bit of an issue with my tooling but I've tried several things to sort it with no success. When I tool or stamp I'm not getting the satisfying burnish on each tool stroke consistently. Initially I thought it was my casing so I've tried several different moisture levels from a little damp to nearly dry, then I considered the amount of pressure on the tool and struck with a range of pressures on the varying moisture levels... Nothing was working so I bought different tooling leather and repeated the process.... Am I going totally quackers and missing something? I also won't be offended if the answer is simply I'm doing something fundamentally wrong. I'll drop a photo of the piece that started my conundrum in the comments when I work out how to reduce file size on my phone...

Thank you Dikman, I wasn't aware that was the correct name for the belt but is what we were thinking of. I can't wait to get something built to try out everyone's suggestions!

Thank you all for your help!

Thanks BlackDragon for the expansion. Just to double check my understanding then, majority of the retention is provided by the hammer thong or strap? and I have to get on to my friend for his exact thoughts on usage.

Many thanks Bland, not nearly that tight is the answer For one mock up I did follow a very in depth methodology from somewhere on this site (unfortunately I cant remember who to give credit) but it came out fairly tight just as the non LWN method did... so wanted to check if that was the norm, which I now understand is not the case... Maybe i'm doing something fundamentally wrong!

So... I'm hoping this isn't too much of a daft question after the lengthy back story... But... I've had a friend of mine ask me to push my still fairly limited skillset and build them a holster and drop gun belt for a replica Colt .45 SAA single action pistol (his description based on the replica he has provided me to work with, looks like a cowboy gun to me as i'm not a pistol person). I have followed a couple of very detailed descriptions on how to template and assemble the holster and have been somewhat successful... however, with both methods used after some gentle wet forming around the replica firearms the pistol is rather firm to both insert and remove from the holster unlike what I see in movie magic or the youtube gunslingers. I can hold the holster upside down and shake it quite vigorously without the pistol coming out. I will be remodelling the template anyway as it looks a little wobbly in places and I am planning on lining the holster for the final build so will require a touch more space. My question is this, how tight is too tight for a holster?