renegadelizard

do you have a website or facebook page? How do we order?

it was originally antique hippo but the finish really darkens up the light spots

Thanks Dwight!

After a 4 year Hiatus, I decided to start making holsters again. I closed and sold my shop after taking a new job that required me to travel constantly. I miss my old Cobra, but i think i still got the knack for hand stitching.

Its 420 steel, so its not gonna hold an edge for long

i would change it up just a wee bit...before you glue, burnish the edges that don't follow a stitch line...ie..holster mouth and toe...you can also stain the leather before you start working on it..before cutting out the pattern...black will make it a bit stiffer..you can also buy drum dyed leather for anything other than "normal" colors...its a huge time saver....I also burnish my edges bore i wet mold...wet molding is a violent process and the hardened edges hold up better..thants my $.02.....

retention is a function of your stitch lines, and to some degree, the trigger guard, but i don't think i would rely on the ejection port to set retention...especially on guns with sharp edges...they will erode the leather and eventually give out...

I agree, its just bling...one of the worst hosters i have ever been forced to use, had those slots in it...it was done to acommodate a third slot and to get it all to fit, the slots were so close to the stitch line and crammed together, that it was impossible to reholster the gun without it going out of battery...

I typically mold ejection ports, but i dont do a whole lot of boning per se, i dont want the holster to look like the gun, i want to look like a holster...so i usually give it enough thumb and bone folder to sink it in and thats about it...

when i make one, i do it like malabar does, modular design so i can make different holsters, mag pouches/speed loaders, etc to be able to swap it out...for the harness, i use a butterfly design and leave the straps extra long until i can fit it to my customer...only then will i shorten the straps, but i still leave plenty of room for adjustability.

I had the same issue with W&C..i ordered from them several times, the first time the leather was incredible, the second time, it was okay...the last two times there was a lot of wrinkles and waste..and it was so dry my cobra class 4 had a hard time punching throught it...cutting was a nightmare...i called and complained about the last order and i was told that "sometimes leather is dry and try wetting it before you cut it, but be careful because it might discolor it"....that was the last time i talked to anyone at W&C...Roger Jolly now gets all my orders...

and how does he make a holster with say a dark finish and white thread if he dyes so late in the process?.. I really like the way he cuts his leather, it looks a lot quicker than the way i do it with my pattern knife, but im not sure i could change...i sort of like my knife..lol.. he makes some very definitive statemants about how some patterns will behave, ie collapse, pinch the gun, etc.., i havent found this to be quite so cut and dry as he put it..

ive run into some caimen and ostrich legs that were glazed with some type of finish, and when wet it just sort of washed off..and got sucked up by the rest of the holster...always test your exotic to see what its going to do...did you air dry or oven dry?..i seem to have less color changes when i oven dry...

i though it was for a glock?..lol...nice inlay work..

I dont do any boning on an IWB holster...retention should be set with the wearers belt...i know some disagree, but whe i first started making holsters, i boned in an IWB and when i put it on, i couldnt draw the gun out...due to the retention set by boning and my belt i had achieved a mechanical lock...after that, i just lightly block the holster and give it a good stretch after drying..even on my OBW's, i usually only bone the area on the front of the trigger guard...i guess i jst like the holster to look more like leather and less like kydex...just my 2 cents...