katsass

I do very little (if any) tooling anymore, however you would do all tooling prior to dying your project. If doing as I do, where all embellishment is done with the dye or by inlay, I prefer to dye first and allow to dry prior to assembly. When using a solvent based or oil based dyes, the leather should be totally dry prior to application. I personally use only Fiebing's Pro Oil Dye. As you seem to have found out, the water based dyes don't seem to work as well as one would like them to. The only time I color my project after construction is when using 'vinegaroon' as it seems to make the leather a little more difficult to work with. Mike

Looks good Fredo...would lke to see the shooter in though. Mike:thumbsup:

sniper, Thanks for the kind words re; the leather work. Found that tittle skinner more than 30 years ago and it has been with me ever since.......a friend found his about about 15 years ago a Wally World. I made him a similar sheath back then. It's a great little skinner. Mike

I simply meant that I would use shoulder leather, it's just my preference. Others like to use back leather. Either way is up to you. Mike

ShortBBL:Iinexpensive, (relatively..at around $70) is this rig from Harbor Freight. That's for the little compressor and a set of their 'quick change' airbrush. A little practice and you will do well with it, until you want a more adjustable brush. Mike

Yes, I personally would go with a piece of 8/9 oz shoulder. Mike

ShortBBL, It looks to me that you may be trying to put too much on, AND, too quickly, and as Lobo says, you may not be allowing the neatsfoot to settle in for long enough. I personally do not care to apply a finish with wool, sponge, or cloth....it's too easy to get too much on. I shoot my finishes on with the airbrush...and just 'mist' it on as you would do with lacquer on a fine cabinet. I'm not familiar with WYO SHEEN, but all of the 'sheen' products that I know of are acrylic based products........they will penetrate the leather well. When I shoot any 'Sheen' product, if I can see ANY of the milky white on my leather.......I'm too close and getting too much on. I don't know exactly what appearance you prefer, but to me, too much shine detracts from the appearance of the leather. Just a couple of shots....with drying time between ..... and I get a nice satin finish. I follow with just a little neutral wax.....applied with my fingers and then buffed. It looks more natural to me. JMHO. Here is a holster for a Charter Arms Bulldog that I did about a year ago...and a sheath for a Schrade skinner that I did the same way about 30 years ago. It works for me. Mike

FWIW and IMHO it sort of depends on the size and weight of the gun you are making the holster for. A sub-compact auto holster can be well made from 7/8 oz veg tanned, when molded firmly. Larger weapons would be more suited to using heavier leather. That said, I seldom use a single layer of leather. Most of my holsters are made from two layers of 4/5 oz stuff, glued up flesh sides together. For historically accurate holsters I most often use a single piece of 9/10 oz. This would be for something like an 1851 Colt or similar sized shooter. For a large framed auto pistol, I make my Avenger style from a layer of 4/5 oz (inside) and an outer layer of 5/6 oz. A pic of a typical avenger style of mine. Mike

I agree with Lobo. I've had good results with regular rubbing alcohol when needing to finish a project in a hurry, or in the winter. I don't force dry per se, (because I'm old and lazy and haven't made a proper drying cabinet) and in the winter I normally use the wood burner I use to heat the house to dry my stuff. I hang it from a beam up high above the stove. Up high it gets pretty warm. The 'magic' temp for drying a very firm holster is around 130 .... much over that and you'll toast your leather. Summertime I use old Ma Nature....here in the desert the ground temp will reach 140+ with no humidity. Holsters dry well a little off the ground with a desert 'therapeutic breeze' blowing. Mike

I usually use Fiebing's Leather Sheen.....mist it on with an airbrush. A couple of shots, let it dry thoroughly then a bit of neutral shoe polish rubbed in with my fingers and buffed with an old, soft washcloth. Mike

Thanks, It was pretty strong in the odor dept. The finished holster wasn't too bad after I rinsed it in soda water then clear water and forced dryied it. When dry I oiled it and shot it with a couple of shots of Fiebing's Leather sheen. Doesn't have much odor now. The leather variations show more than I realized that they would show though. I don't do much work in black. Mike

Fantastic workmanship on both!!!! I like 'em!!! Mike

During the summer I mixed up a batch of vinegaroon. When done, I tried it out on a number of pieces of scrap and it worked well. It's getting a bit cooler now and things have slowed down so I dug this old Beretta 'Brigadier' out of the safe and quickly tossed together this holster just to see how the stuff worked on a complete project. Seems to have come out OK. Mike

FWIW from a grumpy old man.....Believe it or don't......... I found out many years ago (when I ran out of NeatSheen one time) that 'Mop and Glo' (yep, the stuff for the floor) when cut 50/50 with clear water, will do just as well as the old Neat Sheen or Fiebing's Leather Sheen. It's a bunch cheaper and readily available. I lay on just a fine mist with my airbrush...allow to dry (it does quickly) and follow with a second misting. The stuff is an acrylic....just like all of the 'Sheen' products. Mike

My guess is that he has some kind of outlet for them and is making some money off of your product. Of course I'm a rather cynical old guy........(some may use another term). JMHO Mike

BigO: a comment, if you don't mind, from a grumpy old man. On your wheelgun holster you might like the result a little better if you narrow that puppy down some. There seems to be quite a bit of leather between the trigger guard and the stitching. This can lead to the holster loosening up over time. I generally try to keep the welt as close to the trigger guard as possible, basically just enough room for the stitching.......and the fold should be tight around the the top strap of the gun. You'll end up with a more sleek line to the finished holster...be it wheelgun or auto. The resulting belt loop will not show much either, but will still do the job quite well. Just a suggestion. A couple of pics of each type (wheelgun & auto) as examples. Mike

To all: Thanks for the kind words.........If anyone has a suggestion or has cast a critical eye on my work, please speak up. Anything that makes my work better, or opens my old eyes to a new ideas is something I'm up for, Thanks again. BogO: The studs I used here came from Springfield Leather. They come in two-piece sets and are very similar to those used on older military equipment and LEO Sam Browne belts. Mike

Well Fredo, I'll probably keep the old thing........it's been heavily modified.........with a Volquartsen extractor. Mike

RWP, I didn't use the shells at all.........I think that I'll have to though. What I used was the outer 'husk' of the not-quite-ripe walnuts. I peeled off this green husk, (from maybe 5 or 6 pounds of green walnuts) chopped that up pretty well, dumped it in a stock pot and added about a gallon and a half of water. I put it on the stove to simmer......and simmer ......and ....simmmmmer. (it actually has a very fruity odor...my wife thought I was starting to make some kind of jam...a little early this year.) I got it down to a nasty, almost black, quart or so of liquid. I let it sit and then filtered it thru a couple of layers of cheesecloth....three times. Ended up with about a quart of stuff. I'm going to take about 5 pounds of ground walnut shell, put it in an old milk jug, add water to fill and let it sit behind the wood-pellet stove most of the winter to steep, like sun-tea.........then I'll mix the two and see what happens. Mike

Actually it's a 'two-fer' experiment. I make a few 'range' holsters every so often , you know, ones that you just use to get your shooter(s) to and from the range...not to wear....no belt loop. Well, I had a little time available and decided that I 'needed' one for an old Ruger .22 auto "Standard Model" (the first one, prior to the Mk I... I bought it NIB for $48.50.....back then...inflation sucks) The first of the experiments was an idea I've had for some time about doing an inlay of snake skin on a holster that appears to be a snake winding around the body of the holster.... diving under the welt area...... coming out the opposite side, then up over the top. After doing a bit of holster design, I went to town on the inlay pattern and came up with (what I thought was) a fairly good inlay design. It looked good on paper. My second experiment was that I would use some home made stain (that I had cooked up from green walnut hulls) for the color on the outer shell of the holster. Well in execution, I find that I like the color of the stain, but think I must intensify it a bit more. It does contrast nicely however, with the dark brown Fiebing's oil dye on the inner shell and welts. As to the inlay....I think I got it bassakwards (but it did look good on paper). I think (now) that the pattern should have been reversed so as to make the 'snake' appear to dive into the fold of the holster....not the welt. That way, with a little judicious 'tooling', I believe that the effect I want would be more pronounced That, along with maybe the padding a bit more firm in the 'snake'. All said and done.....I kind of like it.......but the next one will be better. Mike

ShortBBL, you need to go about 3/4" longer to sew her shut. Personally, I'd also round the toe a bit if you are going to do it. Also (another a personal preference) I prefer to make the belt loop integral with the holster, rather than an add on. It seems stronger to me and less susceptible to stretching and getting loose on the belt. I also am a great fan of the .44 Special. My carry gun in winter is a 3" S&W Model 24 round butt, .44 Special only. Summer time here in the desert it's usually a smaller gun, now a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 that I can carry in shorts and a tank top. My son had two and I swapped him out of one. Mike.

FWIW: Years ago (1960?) there was a two piece rig called (I believe) a 'semi-shoulder' rig. A few officers I worked with tried them. In actuality it needed three pieces. The first piece was a belt slider, quite wide and reinforced, that came up about 2 to 3 inches above the belt. On it were the female sides of a pair of "pull the dot" snaps. The second piece was the holster, a break-back cross draw with matching "pull-the-dot" snaps on a reinforced backing attached to it. In actuality you also needed a very supporting belt (sold separately). You could get them for almost any S&W wheelgun. In initial wear the were OK, but soon started to pull out from the body. They went off the market. Too high for too much weight above the belt. Mike

I agree with JLSleather; AND I stay away from Tandy as much as possible. However,quite a few early holsters were laced similarly, but with rawhide lace...as can be seen in Rattebury's book "Packing Iron", but Stohlman's book is a 'must' for those making holsters for the first time...and as continuing reference. I bought mine in the '60s, and still refer to it at times. Most of the holsters I've done with lace were for 'show' and not true working pieces. They were glued up with contact cement.... back then it was stuff called "GRIP", ....can't get it anymore.....then laced. I have never done both on a holster..stitch and lace. It's been so long since I've had a call for a laced holster that I don't remember where my nipper is! The man to get hold of on here is Dave Cole (DCKnives).He does fantastic inlay work and much of it is beautifully laced. He'll have definitive answers to your questions. Mike

FWIW: The first thing that strikes me is that you are trying to make a rig that is concealable in your 'normal' attire. One of the first things you learn when you get serious about concealed carry is that you "dress to conceal"....not the other way around. A sweater or 'hoody' most likely won't fit the bill for a Model 29. It's large, and not too easily concealed with a belt holster....unless you make some adjustment to your attire. I personally carry a 3" Model 24 (the 24 and 29 are both 'N' framed) in a leather 'carry' vest with an inside pocket holster, this during the wet and cold weather. In warm weather it's a different (smaller) gun......if carrying concealed. Mike