chiefjason

I wear gloves while I'm dyeing and burnishing. After about 30 minutes it's good to go. I regularly work a holster up in the evening and stitch it that night. And that is edged and fully dyed just a hour or two before sitting down to stitch it. The main problem is when I want to burnish a natural edge. I have to clean the burnisher really well. I go back over my edges with a mix of paraffin and bees wax to fill in the small spots that don't get burnished too.

Time to edjumicate him on what you do and why. I don't buy the "customer is always right" when it comes to carrying a deadly weapon. There are simply things I will not do, you can't convince me to do, I can't do, or you can't pay me to do. Mainly because I'm the one handling guns and leather nearly every day. My best advice, take some time to explain the process. Pros and cons. Which works best for his needs. Most folks are pretty open to ideas coming from the "professional". My experience tells me the one's that are not open to hearing you out are not the ones you want to do business with. It rarely ends well with me at least. If you go for it, I would mold the front completely with no boning at all. Then find a way to tool the flat spots on the slide and trigger area and maybe connect them with some shading or less defined tooling. And instead of tooling inside the stitch line like above, I would tool outside it where it's flat. Good luck. This is one of the reasons I have not gotten into tooling.

Not at all, get a scrap piece and give it a shot. My pro edge burnisher is mounted on my drill press as well. The leather soaks both of them up, so nothing to really sling around. You could possibly wipe any extra off before burnishing. Don't dunk the dauber in the saddle soap, just kind of touch it to the surface until you get the hang of it. The thinner saddle soap is easier to work with. Tractor Supply carries some that works very well. Also try edging with the edges damp. It kind of pre burnishes the edges as it cuts. I rarely sand the edges anymore since I started burnishing wet. A lot of belt guys will hook the belt on a nail and pull it through denim or similar cotton to burnish the edges. Apparently it's pretty fast. I do know burnishing a belt on the drill press is time consuming. I've done a few that way.

I like liquid saddle soap. I apply it with a dauber. If I'm doing a black edge I just dye it with pro oil dye then straight to the burnisher. The oil dye works as well as anything else I have used. If I burnish with the oil dye I don't have to use the saddle soap. But for pre dyed stuff, or natural color edges it's hard to beat saddle soap.

I hand stitch with size 0 harness needles and 456 machine thread. 456 is smaller than the spooled wax thread but not as thin as most makers use. I like the size since I do a lot of contrast stitch and want it to stand out a bit. I get mine from Tippmann.

Got a DIY mold in the mail today from Rob. I've got about 3 of them now. I like them. Not quite as polished a product as Rings. And not the aluminum filled stuff that holster molds uses. I like to tinker with them and cut part of the sight rail off, route out the ejection port a bit, and routed off some of the things for channels that I didn't need. The DIY mold was much easier to work than the Holster Mold's. And a bit cheaper than the Ring's guns.

You should be. There are guys out there that want them and someone has to get them a nice rig. Like JLS, and most on here probably, I started out making what I liked and mostly still do. And I've drug a lot of people down that same path with me. And I'm not claiming to invent anything, that's for sure. Well, I may have come close a time or two. lol I do have an odd looking single clip IWB holster that I can't recall seeing anything similar. And then there is that S&W 500 Beast. Anywhoo. I got the idea for the flat back holsters from a conversation with Red Nichols on DC. After a couple replies back and forth I started tinkering with it. Once I got the idea right in my head and on the leather I ran with it. IMO, holsters are like shoes. Everyone wants something different, or for a different reason. I do hybrid and leather but HATE full kydex. Just can't stomach the idea of making one anymore, and I actually wear one daily that I made a long time ago. It fits a purpose for me so I use it. But I hate making them. I don't bash the material or usefulness, it's just personal. I have a list of makers in my head, when a customer asks for something I don't or won't do I send them to someone else. If they want what I'm making, great. If they don't, best to point them to someone that I consider good at doing what they want. Sent a returning customer a list of makers a few weeks ago when he wanted a full kydex IWB rig. I could lay out my case for why 1/8" difference in total outside dimension really will not make a difference, or help him find what he's looking for. My guess is he'll be back when he wants another OWB leather holster so it's all good.

I'm an absolute, dedicated, fanatical flat back guy. Period. I love them. Some of that is fit, some is the simplification of the pattern process. I have a gun mold coming for a holster. It's a CZ75d PCR. The guy has already paid. In my mind the clock starts when I get the mold. But we all know it started when I received the funds. I could spend hours tweaking a pattern "just for this gun". But instead I'll get a pattern that is close, usually a touch larger than necessary. Cut the pattern out. Mold the front. Glue it to the back. Then get to work finishing it up. I have had guys bring a gun in that I had never worked with and sent them out the door with it 2 hours later while I kept the glued roughed out holster to finish. For a small time, part time guy without a lot of extra tinker time it's a life saver for me. I wear one and love it. I built them and other folks love them. I've got a kind of cult following around here based on flat back OWB holsters. And I'll tell you for sure, I can make one too tight if I'm not careful. And that is before you put it on. But they seem to break in a lot faster than other holsters. Tutorial I did if anyone cares. Better explanation here. I mold in a sight channel for mine. But only 3/4. Plenty of room for the gun to be pulled up and start rotating it forward to draw. At that point any sight drag is on the top edge of the holster if you really rake it forward instead of up. A buddy just had me replaces a belt slide that I did for him, also flat backed. When he bought it he told me not to be offended but he would hit me up in about 3 years for another one. 5 years later he hits me up. Not because he needed one, plenty of life left in his words. But because it was time to get a new one in his mind. As to waist size, if they bring it up in the process I'll sometimes point them to trailing loop or avenger style holsters. They seem to work better than pancakes for really thin folks. They just take up less real estate.

Half ton would likely do the job, but as Bill said above it's the throat size that's important. I've got a one ton and I don't think there is enough space to use this. If you go this route it might be best to order the chuck, then take it with you to buy the press. I mostly set rivets with mine, so I just have a large magnet on the ram and it holds the rivet setter just fine. Would love a chuck to use for punching holes. It's a real pain with just the magnet.

Nice job. Getting to the point of patterning your own is a step some folks can't quite cross. It certainly opens up a lot more possibilities.

Keep in mind that holsters tend to tighten up when worn. Either the belt pulling the ears of a pancake in, or the belt pushing on an IWB. Figure that in to your decision. I've developed a decent feel for it and do a couple test draws. I am finishing up a pair for someone, the Shield holster came out very nice but the G42 was too tight so I have the blue gun setting in it for a couple days to pre stretch it some. Odd for me to get the smaller gun the tightest.

Edges are hard to burnish on belly leather too. I use it in knife sheath welts sometimes. I got one that was too soft last week and the welt sanded away before the rest did. The welt ended up inset. I ended up ditching it for other reasons and remaking it anyway. I try to find uses for it, pocket mag holders or covers for clips. But some to it is just useless.

Yeah, it's one piece. Neat design. For ease of patterning thought I would go 2 pieces. Another bonus is you save material. Odd patterns like that just feel like they take up too much usable leather and the cuts left on the hide become unusable sometimes. You are probably going to have to get some card stock and work the pattern out there.

Since you are probably not concealing this, lol, what about a cross draw holster? All the one's I have done for S&W X frames have been cross draw and were very well received. While it's not western style exactly, although there are western cross draws out there, it fits the bill for being easy on the shoulder.

The last knife sheath I made I oversized the back and welt. Then cut the front the size I wanted. Trimmed the other 2 layers back to match the front and barely did any sanding on it. You get a little extra waste. But you don't get a sink in welt, unless you get a soft spot. Then it can still happen. I've found Mop & Glo mixed 50/50 with water to work better than the commercial stuff.

If it's just for rivets I've had a rivet setter attached to my arbor press for a couple years with just a rare earth magnet. I picked up a small metal plate at Tractor Supply to use for the base. I'd like to bore it out to accept some of my hole punches but never got around to it.

Pressed leather is referred to as "holstered" by my distributor. But it's mostly bridle leather, not natural. If you are careful with the pieces you use you will not need to do much finishing. I got a side of 14 0z saddle skirting once that did not need any burnishing on the back side. It was nice stuff.

If you applied finish to the outside before you wet it you may have effectively trapped some water in the leather. How long has it dried? I'll dye mine because I sometimes have to stitch something before I add the loop or so I don't have to fight with dyeing under the loop. But I never finish the leather until it has been formed and dried, usually overnight. Personally, I don't see a problem with it. I see the color differences in the light leather, I just don't mind that. I don't like leather to look perfect. It usually has some flaws or interesting grains to it. That's the character of leather.

Most of the very thin IWB or pocket holsters are made out of chrome tanned leather. And have been for years. It's stiffer for it's thickness than veg tanned. Meaning you can get away with thinner leather for the holster. I'm not talking small shops doing it, I'm talking the big guys, mass produced stuff. I had heard that and believed it. But like Dwight said, old wives tale. The Desantis Sof tuck holster is chrome tanned per their CS.

I don't care if someone wears one. I don't like making them. And I have the above conversation with them because folks like to place blame on others too much. I usually talk them into something else. A lot of time they are new carriers, not dedicated SOB wearers. But if they are set on it, I want them to know it comes with more serous possible risks than other methods. And I don't want to be responsible for the consequences if they don't know. If they know the problems, their decision. IWB, left hand, palm out.

If you leave the interior natural to start with it would take plenty of moisture to mold. When I do contrast stitching I have to dye, stitch, then mold. You can always go back after forming and dye the interior if you want.

I have a standing policy that I'll buy almost any mold gun for the guys on the gun forum I frequent. I have a lot of them. I have maybe 4 that have not paid for themselves in holsters. A couple more that have just paid for themselves. And I have bought multiple handguns that have paid for themselves in holsters. It's a bit of a gamble. If I have to order the mold I'm upfront about it possibly extending the lead time. I tell them my lead time starts when the mold is in my hands. I consider molds and guns part of the materials I need to do this.

Saddle soap? Why would he need to clean a new holster? FWIW, heat would help anything you put on the leather to soak in. But not exactly what I would recommend for a new holster. My guess is it screws up the finish and probably softens the leather.

Here is a pic of my preferred style for 2 clip/loop IWB holsters. It's cut to be more flexible on the side. I believe flexibility is important IWB, where stiffness is important OWB. One of the reasons I stay away from dual purpose IWB/OWB holsters. They do both OK but neither well IMO. One of the few IWB/OWB holsters I have tried. Luckily he loved it. But it's stiffer on the sides because it's nearly a solid 2 layer piece of leather. The belt slot really does not make it that flexible.

I find 6/32 machine head screws fit into the line 24 and pull the dot snap better. The trick is getting the screw to sink into the snap. If it does not, the snap does not want to close correctly. 8/32 just seemed to have more problems closing for me, the were flush but not countersunk. I started using screws because the dot snaps are taller than 24's and I just bought the snap parts, not the base with post.