chiefjason

I use a burnisher chucked into my floor drill press. Saved a ton of time and I get better edges. I still wax them and touch them up by hand, but just a few minutes to do that. You can make them, but if you are that busy just buy one from Pro edge burnishers and let it come to you. I have the hole master and can get into my belt slots to burnish the insides. I have not made anything that was too thick to burnish the edge with it, including belt sheaths that were 5 layers in spots.

The Springfield Operator blue guns are railed, but just the shorter back end. I see where the RIA is a full length rail. I just molded some kydex to fit there and give me enough space. Made a few that way that worked fine for the partial rails.

Seeing as you are in Utah, you might could get a couple.

Don't discount this completely. I'll not release the specifics, lol. But I have bought 5 guns specifically to make holsters with. I paid for 4 of them and sold the other. And between the few holsters and a near new price, I made money there too. It's a big gamble, but it can really pay off. I have been one of the only guys on eBay making holsters for a couple of guns. I paid for one in 10 days that way. My 2 biggest selling holsters are off of the real guns right now and at one point my 4 real guns were top 4 sellers. Some of those odd ball and non blue gun firearms have some devoted cult followings.

I'm here, plus some depending on the day. My "day off" has seen me put 8-10 hours in catching up if it gets really busy. Wife can do a few things to help, and has to regularly. Mostly shipping stuff. Shutting things down for the next week though. Charging more is one of those funny ways to drive down demand a bit, but make more per product. I was forced to recently with my leather price going up. I have not noticed a slow down though, lol.

Sandpaper. Get some of the good wet/dry stuff that comes in small 3x6" or so sheets. I use 800 grit a lot, but you can use whatever you want. I know a knife maker that goes up to 2000 grit when he's stropping. I also add white rouge to my rough side strop. I have a double sided strop, one side is rough out the other is grain leather. When it gets really bad I back up to my fine diamond stone.

OH, I understand. The ever present, "No one makes a holster for this, can you?" Or, "My gun looks like a..... can you do it." More often that not the answer is no. But I usually dig around and look anyway. One thing to do is google, will X fit holster for Y. Some of the answers are kind of crazy, but every now and then you find out one company is just cloning another.

Depends on the pattern but I cut on or outside the line. Sometimes I'll cut one piece the size I want and the other slightly larger. Then trim them when glued and sand the edge even. For straight lines with a round knife, I roll the knife along the line. Move the knife or leather and repeat for the length I want.

Sig P238 .445 thick 1.081 wide. 3.8 OAL 7 rd, pinky extension.

Width and barrel length are the big ones to pay attention too first. OAL takes in the grip and is less helpful, same for height. For the most part, .45's are thicker. There are some exceptions. I've had some success with compatibility and some flaming failures. You gotta do the research. I know that thickness does not look like much, but get the stitch line wrong and you won't be able to get the gun in there to mold it or out when it's finished. Tweak the stitch line and you can get it sloppy. I've taken to getting the blue gun or turning down the request. Considering what's going in it, and why; it seems like the best option to me. I've been the new guy looking for every break too. But sometimes, most times, it's best not to wing it.

Dye first then burnish. Stopped mine from rubbing off. Seems to get deeper in the raw leather than the burnished leather.

IIRC, G20 with CT Railmaster Pro. Looks to be really similar. Built the holster longer so I could run the stitch line under the laser for a shelf. Retention was better than expected. Could have done even better without the reinforcement and more molding if it was OWB.

i'll second JL. I like the line on the front. Doing two ostrich knee accents with similar lines right now for P238's. For the belt loop, I never have material in front of it. I cut the loop straight down. Hard to do with a full leather accent though. Easier with the ostrich, it's thinner and lays under the leather anyway. Use liquid saddle soap for burnishing. Rub a bit on the edge and go to town. A 50/50 mix of beeswax and paraffin wax help fill in any voids that are left. Rub on and burnish in. Buy better leather next time. Paying for a higher grade should result in a less fleshy back side. Fleshy usually equals belly. And belly usually equals softer leather. However, if you are buying by the foot instead of the side you may have to specify that you want a clean back. I've bought good leather by the foot and still gotten belly leather. As a bonus, better leather burnishes easier too. Fleshy leather does not want to burnish sometimes. Too soft. I carry a P238 in a similar avenger style and really like it. Good choice.

My .02. I have one offed several cross draw sheaths. I hand stitch, so this is easy for me. I build the sheath to about 90%, everything but belt loops. Then before doing stitch lines, I cut my belt loops a bit longer than necessary. Then I start playing around with the sheath on a belt. When I find an angle I like, I mark the leather. Cut the loops, and glue them on. Then I start working on my stitch lines. It's worked so far. Might want to dye between marking and glueing. It's tough to get under the loop to dye the sheath. I try to keep the dye off my glue area though. Also, burnish the loop edges before glueing. Easier to do that way.

You could also build leather loops with pull the dot snaps. Plenty secure and I actually prefer them to metal clips for my personal holster. FWIW, the molded nylon clips should be plenty strong too. Kydex, not so much. Kydex does not take to heavy flexing very well. Kydex clips are basically disposable. That said, metal on leather will scratch eventually. No way around it. They can be rough on leather seats too.

I've told folks I charge twice as much to "re work" as I do to build, if it's possible. And it's normally someone else's work they want fixed. Usually makes the point. Although I would get clear on his expectations before I got snarky about it. And be honest. If it's going to damage the final product, make that very clear. Custom means you get what you order, even if it's unusual. It does not mean we can re work it later depending on your whims.

Here is my recent experience FWIW. I just built an avenger for my Sig P238. Cute little gun needs a cute little holster, right? Well, there is precious little real estate to work with there. I use a gun belt that is one layer of 15 or 16 oz leather. Thick and pretty stiff. Talk about a pain to get that holster on! Mainly because the slot and belt loop are almost too close. Now, I could not have made them much further apart. But just adding an explanation to the above.

This pretty much applies to all my leather stuff, mainly holsters though. Dampen leather and dye color of choice. I find damp leather takes the dye better. YMMV Apply a 50/50 mix of beeswax and neatsfoot oil. The mix is created by heating equal parts of each until it's all liquid. Then I pour it in a plastic bowl. paste is then rubbed onto leather lightly and I use a heat gun to soak it in. 3 coats of this. I usually let it rest overnight here. Light coat of a 50/50 mix of Mop & Glo and water inside and out. Wipe off excess on the dyed outside. Let set several hours. Second coat to edges and interior only. Sit several hours again. Apply leather balm/atom wax. Let dry. Buff off.

I've bought a couple of these and they are great. I have the "hole master" for my drill press and the hand burnisher for burnishing and forming holsters. Great stuff, fast shipping too. http://proedgeburnishers.com

I've got several from this guy. Great stuff. http://proedgeburnishers.com

Sounds like one I did. I had the back piece. Then a 3/4 piece inside. Then the full size welt. Another 3/4 piece. Then the front of the sheath. 5 layers of 8-9 oz because he had a thick guard on it. Plus two loops on the front and back, so 7 layers in at least 2 places. The guard fit just inside the sheath. And the 3/4 pieces held the blade until the guard was fully in the sheath. Kind of hard to explain. But keep the blade from moving around in the sheath. Took me a while to realize I was going to need those 3/4 pieces to keep it stable.

Thanks guys. Fitch, got it from Tippmann. It's their Natural in size 346. Even though I hand stitch, I've been using the Tippmann thread and really like it. I can take off what I need and get less waste than with the smaller 25 yard cards I was using. http://www.tippmannindustrial.com/thread-size-z346-natural-p-165.html

Nice work. I've come close to that with thick blades or welting the sheath so the handle rides partly inside the sheath. You could beat somebody unconscious with a sheath like that in a pinch. lol

The back is the size and pattern of the holster. The front is oversized on the sides and bottom enough so that it can be molded and still cover the back piece. Use a regular dummy or the real gun to mold. Mold it all the way down to the table. it will be plenty tight. Like Dwight said, getting the gun out is a 2 handed operation sometimes. But they break in quick and carry very comfortably. Never tried a walking foot. Could not get the BOSS 1 I had on loan to ever work though. Part of that was the shorter throat. Still hand stitching mine. I adjust and glue the 2 pieces together after drying them.

Salt and borax will dry it and preserve it. I've done full hides that way after I fleshed them clean. Got a yote on the garage wall. It's not tanned, just preserved. Usually quite stiff too. If you want tanned you will need some form of tanning solution or brain tan it. Take all the bone, meat, and fat off you see. Tack the hide open. Cover in salt a borax and let it sit a while. It can not sit long enough, but rarely can you let it sit too long.