Guy W

Very nice imo

Do you use the same screws/t-nuts to attach the male side and set the female side in the same fashion as these crappy line24 snaps I've been trying to use or is there a different/better method?

Hi can anyone advise me on the best snaps to use for belt loops for iwb and other leather holster applications? I've tried using some line 24 snaps and the snap setting kit, that I picked up from Tandy leather, and it doesn't work very good. I used screws and tnuts to mount one side of the snap and set the other half in the leather belt loop, but when snapped closed they pop open with the slightest nudge or bump. I would really appreciate some help solving this problem so that my belt loops on my IWB holsters stay snaped to securely. If you can shoot me a product and link on where I can find it for sale. Thank you in advance.

Well, I finished my 2nd holster, a Glock 19 IWB. I made plenty of mistakes on this one for sure, and was going to stop mid-way but I figured I'd finish it as a prototype and see how my design worked out. This is my first holster I designed. The first holster I made, for a 1911, was based on a template a member here was kind enough to share with me. That was a great help getting me started, but I wanted to try my hand at doing my own design from the ground up. So, here it is. I'll probably comment later about all the things I messed up and would change in the next version but for now I'll just show the picture. I'll post a picture of the 1911 holster I made as well.

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll order some better dye and not risk it with this stuff I've got. In other news I also tried the EcoWeld Water Based Contact Adhesive on this project, because I used Barges the first time I made a holster and again the fumes bothered me. I'm pretty happy with this EcoWeld. It doesn't bind quite as good as the Barges did but it's more than acceptable and I have no issues with the strong fumes bothering me.

I figured I wouldn't be able to find a way around stitching it up before dying it if I was going with black dye and a white thread. But thanks for the advice. With the Eco Flo Pro water stain, do you use a satin sheen or something to finish it? I used the fiebing's oil dye on my first holster project, and it worked really good but the smell was so strong it made me sick to my stomach and gave me a headache, so I'd prefer to not use that. I thought this Eco Flo would be worth trying as an alternative. I have no problems with the smell, but I'm worried about it running/rubbing off. Thanks

Hello, I've been working on my 2nd holster project and I've got a few questions about dying. I picked up this dye from Tandy, Eco-Flo All-In-One Stain & Finish Midnight Black, and put some on a leather scrap to test it. I really like it in some regards. It's easy to apply and gives a nice even coat. But, after letting the test piece dry for a few hours I got it damp and rubbed it with my finger to see if it would bleed off and it did. I live in florida and I'm worried about this dye coming off all over my cloths/body when it's hot and humid out and I'm sweating. Did I just not give the dye enough time before testing to see if it would bleed off when damp or is this going to be a long term issue? Is there a solution? My second question is about dyeing after stitching. For the project I'm working on, I'm dyeing the holster Black and using a white waxed thread for a nice contrast. I'd really like to glue and stitch the holster up first, then wet mold it, then dye it. On my test piece I put a dozen or so saddle stitches in the leather with my white thread and then put the coat of the Eco-Flo dye on to see if it my waxed thread would resist it. It did not. The thread turned black. Any advice here? I really would like to stitch up the piece before I wet mold it. My first holster I just wet molded after gluing and then dyed and stitched the piece and I think it would be much easier to stitch it up while the front/back of the holster are still flat and unmolded, and I think molding it would be easier when it's stitched up tight. Thanks everyone.

Hey I'm working on my 2nd holster and I messed it up, so back to the drawing board, but figured I'd ask some advice about doing an IWB holster with metal clips instead of leather loops. Here's a picture of what I put together today. It's just glued up and I noticed I didn't leave enough meat around the bottom left side for stitching, so back to the drawing board. So I cut slots in the front of the holster and after glueing it up I slide the clips into place. I plan on riveting it in on the final version. But, I'm just not crazy about it. The slots that the clips slide down into are really rough, I did 2 small punches and then cut the slot between the punches, and it's just not very clean. You can't really see it, but in the back of my mind I know. I also don't like how they line up. Because the leather is so much higher on the right side it just looks kind of off to me, but I also didn't want to have a boring boxy design. I'm not sure how to make it look better since I need to have the room for the clips back between the 2 layers of leather. My 1st holster was a 1911 holster with leather belt loops and I found that the line 24 snaps didn't stay closed securely, you can bump them and they would unsnap. If you look at this image, the way I did my loops was I didn't set the stud to the eyelet, since I had to mount the screw threw the stud to the t-nut behind the strap. Anyway if anyone has some suggestions on the G19 holster with the clips or setting snaps on holster loops or anything it's appreciated.

very nice tutorial thanks!

as normal, really fantastic work.

isn't the Sig P229 and a few other Sig models common conceal carry pistols?

nice, those look amazing.

thanks for the reply mark. i also used a 1/16" drill bit, but with a dremel not a press. i didn't do the scratch awl idea. The problem i am having with my stitches is the holes that the dremel makes seem a little too big and the thread doesn't fill it so you still see the holes. it just isn't all really tight like yours appears. I did try a smaller drill bit but then I couldn't get my needle through the hole. not sure what I should try. I also had a question about your elephant hide. Do you just glue that on top of the normal leather then stitch around it? it looks really nice. I was thinking of trying to do something with ostritch leg but I was going to maybe inlay into in between 2 thinner pieces of leather but putting it right on top like you have done looks pretty nice. if you don't mind i'd like to hear about your process for doing that as well. thanks and good job again I like it.

wow that looks great. i really like it. you hand stitched this if I understand right? what's your process? it looks really clean. on my first holster i dremel drilled out the holes then did the stitching and it wasn't terrible but the holes don't look as clean as yours.

So I am thinking about ordering a round strap end punch so I can get nice perfect round cuts. The thing is, they seem to be a little expensive. 43.99 for the one on SLC website. http://springfieldle...Round%2C5-8%22/ If I buy the one that is 1.5" would it be reasonable to also use it on smaller straps? Or do I need the exact sizes for each size strap? What I am thinking is if I get the 1.5" I could use it for belts of that size but hopefully use it for small things like 1" straps for belt loop straps on IWB holsters and things like that as well. So if I have a 1" belt loop strap on a holster could I just stamp out the end with this 1.5" tool (having the tool extend over the sides of the strap) or will it be too hard to get a clean even cut? Anyone doing this? Thanks.

i like that idea with the belt slots. thanks for the idea, i'll try something like that.

Thanks Nick. I'm not sure about being a natural, haha, but I appreciate the compliment. Honestly I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without the help of the community here and especially shooter mcgavins help, advice, and excellent pattern to start from. Next on my todo list is a matching magazine pouch but I'm not sure how I'm going to put that together. I think I want it to be worn outside the belt kinda like a knife pouch but not sure how to assemble it to fit on the belt and still be fairly snug/close to the body.

thanks for the praise. i'll keep learning and trying new things and hopefully improve over time.

Well I wasn't sure if I was going to post the picture of my first holster. I made plenty of mistakes on it, but I guess since it's my first attempt at ever doing anything with leather hopefully you guys will go easy on me. This is based on a pattern that shooter mcgavin was kind enough to share with me. I can't thank him enough for the help he has given me. And thanks to everyone else that took the time to answer all the questions I've posted in the past couple weeks. If it wasn't for the community I'd probably still be sitting here with a pile of materials and a bunch of ??? floating over my head. Thanks again.

what type of leather would you buy for a multi-purpose lining for things like belts, insides of holsters, guitar straps. something that could be used on multiple applications if i ever decide I want to try something with a lining? thanks appreciate the input.

thanks for the replies. i probably should have dyed the inside before i glued it together but i thought i was just going to leave the inside natrual color with some gum trag and seal, but i didn't anticipate how hard it was going to be to dye the edges and not get any bleeding into the inside. i tried to throw a coat of dye inside the holster, which was hard since it's already stitched up, but i guess that's part of the learning process. next time i'll take the advice you guys have given.

I'm just about done with my first holster project. I wasn't going to dye the inside, and just leave it the natural leather, but ofcourse I get some dye bleed over the edges a little on the inside so now I guess I am going to have to otherwise it will look terrible. do people normally dye the insides of their holsters? also, is there anything I could/should put on the inside of the leather to get some of the roughness to smooth out? I'm a little concerned I will get a lot of wear on my pistol because the backside of the leather I have is pretty rough. Thanks

thanks for the info on the chicago screws. if you do it again what are you plans for the holes based on what you learned from the first try?

looks nice. i have a question about building belts. those 2 spots behind the buckle. are those snaps or rivets or some other hardware i'm not aware of? I'd like to try and make one at some point but dunno exactly what to use. good job on it.

fantastic. love the ostrich.