chiefjason

I can't tell from the pic, but there are two things that can happen when you bend it. Cracking if the leather is old, dry, and stiff. More likely thought is "pull up" Where you see some of the base color through the dye. Some tanneries build pull up into leather. Sometimes you get it if the dye does not strike through or get deep into the leather. Occasionally, I'll get a crackling look if the acrylic finish does not take well or goes on too thick. If the leather gets bent a little too much the acrylic will turn a lighter color in the grain folds. That looks more like pull up to me.

I use a #3 edger on my holsters and it works well. I use 5 per inch on my stitch holes. The problem you are likely having with fit is the difference in thickness of the guns. I'm sure you notice where you could tighten up the stitch line around the trigger guard. If you also want to compensate for the thickness you could do that by moving the stitch line on the slide side in an appropriate amount. Then you will be started figuring out how to make your own patterns. Generally speaking you can trace the outline of the gun, measure the thickness, add half that measurement all the way around the gun, and that gets you pretty close to the stitch line you need. You could then transfer that stitch line onto that pattern and go for it to check.

I didn't hit that big but I picked up about $300 worth of stuff at a pawn shop for $65 OTD. I caught him before he took the time to price it and told him to make me a cash price on the bag. I got a bowling bag full of tools and other stuff. Good deal!

Rob does free shipping. Probably not going to beat that price. You could make your own. Then probably wish you would have spent a few bucks on them.

I use this adjustable one. http://springfieldleather.com/29076/Groover%2CStitching%2CAdjustable/ And this style free hand. http://springfieldleather.com/37729/Groover%2CStitching%2CFreehand/ I sharpen mine when needed by running them backwards on a piece of 800 grit sandpaper, leather strop, or cardboard with white jewelers rouge rubbed into it. Depending on what I want to do, or what's close. To take a step back. I glue and trim my edges. Then sand them square. Then groove. Then edge. If you edge first the groover had more of a tendency to move around. The straight edge after sanding give it something to ride on.

Be aware that the act of heating and bending the kydex will still try and force it into the rails. The best plan imo is mark out the offending shapes so they don't mold into the kydex or leather. Kind of like masking out ejection ports, safeties, or slide locks. The point is to build a channel for it to pass through easier, which means the least molding into the depressions as possible. In other words, you are probably trying to do the opposite of what you are used to doing in the rail area. I try to just "box" them off. I bone it enough to define it as a different part of the gun, but not enough to mold the leather into it.

On sharper corners I stop just short and finish free hand. Keep in mind, our thought about ruined and a customers ability to see minor stuff is not the same. I know every annoying detail of that "perfect holster" they sent me an email raving about. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. Just a thought. Even when I get a weird wiggle, after stitching and finishing it usually does not show up. It looks far worse on a bare item.

I use 8-9 oz. The stiffer sections near the spine I use for backs and cut the front out a little higher where the leather is a bit less stiff. Well, most of the time.

I also do kydex and I use cardboard to keep the rail from molding and catching. A thin plastic cover taped to it would work for leather. I usually just try and be careful when I'm molding around the rail so I don't mold into it much. Some of them do get a bit ridiculous. But working around a rail is easier than working around the junk that gets put on one.

I have one similar and don't use it. The taper leaves a hole that is narrower on the back and wider on the front. With the punch and skivving knife I get a slot that is more vertical front to back. Also found it hard to drive through the holster. I use one similar to this, might even be this one I just don't remember. http://springfieldleather.com/24870/Knife%2CLeather%2CCSO%2CSz-1/

To expand on this, I prep my edges, dye with Pro Oil Black, and go straight to the burnisher. I use a hole master burnisher in a drill press. Before I seal everything I run a 50/50 compound of beeswax/parafin wax over the edges with my fingers. Hit any tough spots with an old toothbrush. Then seal. Works quite well. If you want glassy smooth I would suggest going to higher grit sandpapers too. I quit doing it for a while but I'm going to get back to it.

Sam brown studs and an enclosed end for the buckle. I have a buddy that makes a living making them. Wearing one right now.

Same but I use a 1.5" skiving knife to cut between.

Index Fasteners now carries black and several colors of 8/32 screws. Saw machine screws for snaps and truss head screws. Going to figure some costs out and might start getting their black ones. Depends on the price difference. They mostly cater to kydex, but thought it might be a good source for colored screws since they can be hard to find. As a plus, these guys ship fast too. I had my order held up because of the recent weather and still got it in 4 business days from my order. Not much of a hold up but they emailed me to tell me it would take an extra day or so. http://www.ifithermoplastics.com/products/screws

There are better answers on here, but the wise guy in me would want to ask how enslaving another sentient being for your personal and emotional pleasure is ethical? But I'm getting cranky about this things. Which makes it easier to turn someones argument to me against them these days. Of course, that would also depend on the tone I was getting from the question. A legit question usually gets a legit answer. Try to cause problems and you just might get more than you asked for. BTW, yes I'm a dog owner. But I'm not asking a potentially loaded question. And according to my distributor, their truck loads of hides come straight from the meat packing/slaughter houses. It's not a very pretty sight though. They just kind of dump them in the parking lot. lol

For the most part I have stopped using finish washers and gone to truss head screws. The head is wider than standard and flat on the bottom. That said, it does not look as nice so if that is an issue it may not work. If the fit is off by too much I have had screws drive through finish washers. My local hardware store orders them for me at cost, IIRC from Midwest. Gotta love a mom and pops store. Last order he traded me the hardware for the holster I need to get started on for him.

Loose the sharp edge on the top of the trailing loop. The rest is practice mostly. Dying it would actually make it look better. Dye will hide some of the minor cosmetic issues. I like liquid saddle soap for burnishing. I you don't have an edge burnisher an old toothbrush that's smooth will work.

FWIW, my Cutco toothed shears made pretty short work of cutting mine. Best thing I found. EMT style shears might work too. The teeth helped it hold onto the stingray instead of slipping on the spines.

My CZ75b holster has a stingray panel inlaid under a leather panel so I didn't have to edge it or stitch it. Just glued it down. Would not work so well in your application. I can only imagine how tough that was to pull off.

Got a star brand on my last hide. What else would you do with it?

It was cloned off a Keltic P11 by a former employee. Probably don't have that one either. It's a short fat one. Not much out there similar.

Nice. It's on my list of personal projects I want to do, but keep getting pushed back behind customer projects I have to do. Not the worst problem to have. I like the distressed look. Depending on how much of an edge nerd they are, a welt might be a good idea. Even if it's just more mental then functional. Mine will have one, when I get there.

My problem with the K frame mold is that it's a 38 only. The .357 has a beefier under lug. So I went and wrapped my mold's underlug with copper tubing. It took forever but I finally found an N frame mold. So now I have the J, K, L, N, and X frames. I try very hard to mold from the actual frame style. Revolvers are one thing I end up turning down a lot of business for because I just don't feel comfortable getting "close". That said, some frames do well across several firearms. I just did one for a Taurus 85 which is pretty much a J frame, which is what I have.

That's a beauty!

Just in case you need it for something bigger. lol