markush

Congratulations on the new baby! Thank you for sharing all the details on the holster! I was just hoping for a description of the hardware used...all those photos was a huge and very helpful bonus! Thank you again!

Since it was sewn on I had to attach it even before the front and back pieces of the holster were joined. Then I vinegarooned and molded it. It is already sewn on here.

Thanks, I figured that might be the case. Never having used it before I decided I'd err on the side of too much reinforcement rather then not enough and attached it to the veg-tan.

I too think that is very nice work! Look at all those little stitches in that belt...please tell me you didn't do that by hand!?

That is really, really nice! I absolutely love the style. I have to say that is the style that seriously got me thinking about making my own holsters. Since I couldn't afford very many custom rigs, I'd either have to go without or make them myself. The Tucker HF1 Is one of only two custom made rigs I have ever bought. He's actually using my photo of the Black Cherry HF1 rig he built for my LB 1911 on his home page. Did you hand stitch that belt? What is that, 8-9 SPI? If so that must have taken you forever! All around that is some beautiful work!

Keep in mind that I am as green as they come to all of this and what I am telling you, be it right or wrong, is just my own limited experiences and thoughts. There are much more knowledgeable people on here that could give you better answers, but I'm happy to give you my 2 cents worth, plus a little extra thrown in for free. I didn't think it was worth mentioning before but I do one other thing after I'm done stitching. I've read where people recommend running the over-stitch wheel over the threads when done. Well I don't do that...instead I take a rubber mallet and go around the entire stitch line front and back to flatten everything out some. I don't know if this will help to close up your holes that little bit extra or not, but it may be worth a try. Yeah, the Elephant is simply glued on top of a thin (3-4oz in my case) piece of veg-tan then stitched after that. Or in the case of the reinforcement peice...glued to a layer of veg-tan, glued to the holster, and then stitched. I've seen where makers simply attached the exotic reinforcement piece to the holster without using the extra layer in-between. This looks great but I don't think it actually does much to reinforce the mouth of the holster, at least not with Elephant. Elephant is tough as nails but is quite "floppy" and I can't see it adding any rigidity without putting it on top of veg-tan. I've got some Ostrich scraps that I used to sandwich a piece of veg-tan and tried to burnish the edge...I could not get it to burnish and blend with the veg-tan! Elephant on the other hand takes a little more work to burnish and blend, but it does get there. Good luck with that Ostrich, if you can get the edges to look good you'll have to share your method with me! Mark

Thanks, yeah I hand stitch. I drill also but with a drill press and a 1/16 bit. I go over the marks left by the over-stitch wheel with a scratch awl/center punch. This creates a larger, perfectly round impression that helps me guide the drill bit into the mark. That step goes a long way in helping me to keep the stitches evenly spaced and centered down the middle of the groove. So I groove, run the over-stitch wheel, mark the holes with the awl, drill, and then stitch. While I am happy with how my stitching comes out, It is labor intensive for sure and something I'd like to change. I really need to find a good stitching awl and give that a shot. Mark

This is the second go at this IWB pattern and my third holster overall. I reduced the cant from the first one, which was about 40 degrees to 30 degrees for this one. I know it's still pretty extreme but it really helps to conceal the full-size grips of the pistols I have. I may eventually make one with a more "normal" 15-20 degrees but I want to try an OWB next. I Incorporated a couple of your guys suggestions from the first one, like running a groove along the entire edge front and back...I like it. I also tried to do the sharp detail lines in the boning...I need work with that for sure. I put the T-nuts between the layers, which adds a nice touch, but I'm not so sure it's necessary...? I keep thinking, what if one gets stripped out? The whole holster is then garbage! I tried to get a little fancy with the Elephant trim...I'm really happy with it and it's my favorite part of the holster. I could never understand why holster makers charged so much to add exotic trim...I get it now! It took me and extra 45 minus each just to stitch the belt loops. Then you have the extra time of gluing, burnishing, ETC. The one thing that bothers me about this holster is the sharp line boning...I really need to improve that! I would greatly appreciate suggestions on how to improve there! And of course feel free to let me know of anything else that should or could be better or different...critique away. Sweat-shield Some of my edge burnishing

I've been trying to figure out the fastening system on the axiom myself...I'll start another thread with my thoughts on that. But I was also hoping redhat4201 would share his method in this thread.

Uh-Oh, it's time to recalibrate my monitor! I thought I was looking at the most gorgeous dark cherry color I had ever seen on a piece of leather and it turns out it's really brown! HaHa Thanks!

I really like the looks of that knife/light sheath! What color is that and how did you finish it?

The screws also let you change out the buckle. Your vinegaroon will darked as it sits, one dip was most likely enough. I let it sit until it darkens to the black I want, usually 2-4 minutes, before I give it the baking soda bath which will neutralize the vinegaroon. And keep in mind that the light rub with the neatsfoot oil is going to give it that little bit of extra darkness also. It looks like a good sturdy belt for sure!

I probably should be the last one to offer advice as I am just working on my third holster, but it does happen to be a full-size M&P if that counts for anything. I notice that the mag release button may be covered by leather. I personally would be sure that there was no leather covering the mag release.There is the possibility to activate that release upon re-holstering. Even if you molded the leather out away from the safety, over time it could soften enough to contact the release. The last thing I'd want was to have to draw the weapon for self defense and have the magazine hit the floor or to be carrying concealed and have a magazine hit the floor in front of a bunch of onlookers. Cutting the holster lower in that area would also go along with what others are saying about leaving more room to grip the pistol.

I am new to all of this so take my experiences for what they are worth. I left it "unfinished" which means i did a quick evening out on a belt sander at 320 grit. But like I said, I'll try it again with a better finish on my edge...but if I have to finish my edges to the Nth degree I will end up using Edge Kote instead.

The bag I received was mostly made up of scraps with usable areas in the range of 2"x3" - 2"x4". There was also a handful, 4 or 5 pieces, with a usable area of about 4"x6" . Every piece was Cognac in color except for one piece that was brown. Oddly, that one brown piece had the largest usable area of about 6"x8". The rest of the bag was made up of the edge of the hide garbage. Hope this helps. I did get some of the Dura Edge to try on this...I only used it on one piece and am going to give it another try before tossing it. I purposely didn't finish the edge as smoothly as I could have because it states that 'no burnishing, buffing, or other labor intensive process are needed with this' . Well it looks like an unfinished edge with a sticky tar like edge coating on it. If I have to finish the edge to the degree I think I do, I'll just end up using Edge Kote.

That powder will run you about $30.00 for 5 grams. I have no idea how much vinegaroon solution that 5 grams would make but I'm thinking not all that much. A gallon of vinegar is under $2.00 and a package of steel wool is $3-4, I believe. I personally could make a lifetime supply of vinegaroon with $30.00 worth of vinegar and steel wool

Yeah crossdraw. It's as much cant as I could do and not run into the belt loop with my knuckles on the draw. The gun was supposed to sit down into the holster another 1/4", improper stitch spacing stopped it from going any farther. It was my very first holster guys, I'm still learning. It actually conceals fairly well with my extra large gut. As to not making a fold over...I figure if i'm making it for myself I may as well try to make something I like the looks of and I wanted an easy on and off, not something I had to weave onto a belt. And besides, I've never been one to go along with the crowd...it doesn't matter that it may be eaiser or more "acceptable"...I try to do my own thing. But then of course I run into problems like with this holster...but hey, at least I can say I tried to be creative!

I did draw it a little overboard to illustrate. But it actually did angle up more then you can see. I was able to straighten the angle of the tab somewhat after molding by trimming it a bit. But thank you! I will drop that tab and give it a slight angle and see what happens.

HaHa you know, that was actually the first thing I thought of...and if it moved straight up a 1/2" I'd just redraw it and be happy. But, it angled itself skyward all goofy and I was hoping there would be a less...mcgyverish way to fix it. Looking at my quick rendition of the "corrected" pattern you'll understand why I was hoping there would be a better way. I'd have to start with something like this...and surely the professionals don't do it this way do they?

It's an OWB for a J-Frame. Aside from not knowing how to space the stitch lines (thanks to katsass for clearing that part up) I also had major movement of the right side belt loop tab when I wet molded. In the second pic you can see it moved or angled up about a half inch! How can I insure that the tabs are perpendicular after molding?

That's pretty cool! The blue does add that little something extra doesn't it? If I was ordering one I'd probably ask for black straps to match the black zippers. Or black straps to contrast with the blue zippers...hmm let me think about it....

I just got some double cap rivets from Springfield leather and I cannot set them without deforming one or both of the caps. BUT I have some single caps that I bought from Tandy about 10 years ago and I have absolutely no problem setting them without deforming the cap...they are noticeably thicker material though. Are rivets just being made cheaper these days or Is there a better quality double cap rivet out there?

Spacers that fit between the belt loop and holster body on IWB's...I didn't use them and see no adverse effects. Are they just one of those little extras that some makers do?

That's actually some pretty clear mud there katass! Is it ok to assume that same measurement, half the cylinder width plus leather, will work when the stitching continues around the entire gun as in a pancake holster?

First, here is the mag carrier I just finished to match my first IWB. The belt loops are really ugly this time and I will remake them. This shows a bit of my edges, I'm pretty happy with them but someone mentioned they couldn't see them when I asked for a critique of the holster. Now some of my questions. My very first holster was a Cross Draw OWB for a J-Frame revolver and I'm showing a pic of it to help illustrate my questions...I know it's garbage so there's no need to point out all the bad. First question is...how do you determine the stitch line spacing on a revolver? I just picked 3/8" distance around the gun out of the blue and you can see it wasn't enough to allow the gun to seat that last 1/4" into the holster. My second question has to do with the holster and my mag carrier changing shape during wet molding. In these photos my patterns are shown under the finished items to show you how much they changed shape. Do I just redraw my patterns to compensate for the movement? Third question is about spacers to fit between the belt loop and holster on IWB's. I didn't use them because I don't see them on very many other IWB holsters, and not having them doesn't seem to cause problems on the two pieces I've made. Are they just one of those little extras that some makers do? And lastly, is there rule of thumb about distance of the snaps from the top of the belt on IWB stuff? I've got about a 1/4" . They work but it takes a little effort to snap them around the belt. I'm wondering if 1/2" would allow the holster to flop around on the belt? Oh one more! What size edge beveler should I use for 7/8 and 8/9oz leather? I've just been hitting the edges with a belt sander before burnishing.