chiefjason

I dye all my edges black with Fiebings Pro oil dye. I dye the edge first. I found that the dye did not take as well trying to cover the other color. As a bonus, when you dye the rest if fills in any minor spots you missed. I square the edges, then bevel them, then dye them. I found dying before burnishing let the dye get in the leather better. It takes a steady hand. I like the contrast colors. Looks great on brown and oxblood. And honestly, I never got good coverage from colors on the edge. The black takes better than any of the colors ever did.

I made one a while back with 2 strips of pallet strapping. The leather panel ran down the sight channel about 3/4 of the way down the slide. then it wrapped around to the top and up to just above the trigger. I ran one strip across the top of the slide from the rear sight area towards the trigger and T'd one off of it down the slide. I think I could have stood on that holster. I don't make it a habit of pushing and bending holsters, but I could barely get the mouth to move. Customer requested it, I did it. I don't do reinforcements normally unless it's an Avenger or single clip IWB and then it is just part of my design. Or by request.

If you want absolute security go with pull the dot style snaps. They only release one way. It's what I use on belt loops I make for holsters. If you want to know if it would work, yes it would work. I need to make on for my iPhone and I'll either go with snaps or clips. Have not decided yet.

Yeah, I've got a box with a couple left handed holster backs waiting to be used. Got mad last week because I forgot to cut one left handed, then realized I HAD cut it left handed by accident. All's well that ends well. Made a holster for a Ruger Mk II and forgot to add a sight channel. Do you realize how big the sight is on a Mk II? Do your realize it's round on the front and sharp on the back? Went in just fine. Thought I was going to have to cut my gun out of that holster to get it back!

I groove the front stitch line. Punch my holes. And freehand groove the back along the line from the holes. Just another option. Dwight's got the rest covered.

I just re made one for a buddy. I could have sworn he said no cant instead of just a little cant. lol I have gotten pretty creative with fixing a few. I've had a few sit around until somebody that was here showed interest. I explain the problem and cut them a deal if they want it. And I have a number of them that are in no position to leave. My worst being an Avenger style cross draw for a S&W 500. I tried to do a traditional thumb break, but the snap ended up just at the top of the cylinder. DOH! That was probably my biggest bombed one to date. It's in a buddies safe because he wanted to test fit a pistol, but it did not work either. Finally went with the snap on the outside of the holster. I've sold 3 of them so far. You learn something from every one of them.

I don't make a lot of belts, but I have found pants size +2" for OWB and pants size +4" for IWB works out pretty well. That is to the center hole unless the customer asks for something different. Getting someone to measure themselves correctly is like pulling teeth. I've had guys swear they were X size and could not even hook the belt made to that size, lol. Uhm, somebody was WAY underestimating waist growth. Most folks can get you a pants size pretty quick.

If you want to try cleaning it use denatured alcohol. Similar to commercial de glazers. But yeah, sounds like you burnished it a bit. If that's the case it's now know professionally as "character". Leather has to have some character to it.

If you have any rubbing alcohol give it a try. Nothing to loose. I use denatured alcohol to clean stuff off, a bit stronger. Stronger still would be acetone, i.e. fingernail polish remover. I have a love hate relationship with acrylic finishes.

Sounds like the post is too long. You can cut it off if you have too. But better to get the right size to begin with. Also, try taking a couple lighter hits to the setter to get things started then increase the force.

FWIW, kydex reacts very poorly to flexing. I'd find something else. If it cracks it will eventually cut through the belt. You want something more flexible. I'm sure someone out there sells a stiffener. And if that is 2 layers of 8-9 oz, you don't need it anyway. The cracking might be from the small model being flexed too much. Or are you using an edge coat? I use Weaver's U-82 Top Grade Saddlers oil on everything. Light coats on holsters, heavier on belts.

Just a single clip IWB. Similar look though. Add a belt loop to the back and one to the ear and it would be a passable avenger. IIRC my first single clip started from an avenger pattern. I just reworked the reinforcement piece into a loop on the back and wrapped it around the throat on the front. That one is for a Kahr CM9, so not much to it. It's cute though. lol

What Dwight said.

Assuming you are left handed? If you must keep that style, you'll have to do some drastic changes. Like cut the flappy belt loop. Stitch on a reinforcement on that side with a clip in it. And make it a more standard single clip IWB. The shape has some promise, but the attachment point is a bad idea. And honestly, tooling is kind of lost on IWB. If someone paid you to, go for it. But nobody sees it.

I'll second the Avenger take on the cross draw. Just finished my 3rd one for the S&W 500. That's a huge gun and the avenger anchors it solid to the belt.

There are some more complicated ways to figure the mouth of the mag holder, but here is mine. I measure the width of the mag, then measure the depth on the flat side. Add those two together, and that gives me the width of the mouth. For double stack mag I also flare out the top stitch line slightly. Otherwise you will pull the top at a funny angle. Lay out that stitch line, stitch it up. Then wet and case the leather. Shove the mag in, might be tough at first. Then mold around it. I prefer my stitch lines in tight. Tight will get loose and loose will get sloppy. 2/3 should be fine. Looking at mine, I'm probably a shade under 1/2" from the edge on the slots. It's close and too late to dig for a ruler.

Longview, technically. Mail says Hickory though. Shoot me a PM.

Well, if you are looking for shortcuts you can chuck an awl in a drill press and pre punch the holes. That's about it. The rest is hand work.

If I had the time, materials, and initiative to get crazy with belts I would probably work on cutting them something other than straight. The thing with curving them is it's still a straight line. Old belts are not straight. I've seen a couple pre formed and it's a neat idea. And one I don't have time to deal with. lol Good luck with it, from just west of you.

Very nice as usual. I'm currently working out a chest harness for an Avenger I made for a S&W 500 6.5" barrel. This one is working the old brain a lot more than usual. That always makes it more interesting. Pics when I'm done if it's worth showing off.

FWIW, when I get a machine I'm adopting Dwight's way. For me, it's easier to hand stitch it all once it's glued and trimmed to size. The up side to these is that you only have a rough pattern and that pattern can fit multiple guns with some minor tweaking and trimming after glueing. A buddy brought me a Ruger Super Red Hawk .44 3" barrel to make a holster. I had the back design I wanted from a 686 holster. I took a chance and pre cut the front. Got it wrong. Redesigned the front, cased, molded, dried, glued, and trimmed in about 3 hours which include a lot of talking and catching up with him. Then I sent him on his way with his gun. Finished the holster and shipped it to him. He is thrilled with it. So a one off, custom holster and only needed to have the gun for 3 hours. Faster if I had gotten luck on the first front piece.

Yes, it works. Decide on the back piece and design it, that is the outline for your final holster. Then I try to cut the leather 1-2" larger than the corresponding point to the back. Don't be too conservative here. Too short on the front and you have to start cutting down the back too. Decide where the gun will "ride" in the holster and mark your front and back accordingly, that gives you a starting point to molding. Wet and case the leather. I wet and case both pieces so I can put my makers mark on the back. I case mine for about 18 minutes in a gallon ziploc bag. Place the gun on the outline you drew on the front, flip it over, and start working the leather. I start on the top of the slide and work my way across. Be careful you don't push the gun out when working under the trigger guard. When finished molding I put both pieces on the shoe rack in the dryer for 40 minutes. Then place the gun on the mark you made on the back, then place the front over it. Turn it over and trace the outline of the back onto the back of the front piece. Once that's done, remove the gun. Place the two pieces together based on your previous outline. Then mark the inside where the pieces meet. This gives you the areas you need to glue. Glue and press. Trim, edge, groove, and stitch. Keep in mind, there is more than one way to do this. This is just my way. This is what the back looks like.

I've got a hole burnisher from Pro Edge Burnishers that has a fine point to it. If that does not work I use a modeling spoon I keep around for detailing my holsters. Like Bill said, you have to do front then back. And if you can't get the edge you want with liquid, try rubbing some wax on the edge or on the tool.

The vagaries of this make the arguments/discussions endless. I bet you could ask 10 lawyers and get 11 different answers. Copyright law is vague and messy in the details. These arguments last a while even when it's about art, and I mean true artwork as opposed to crafts or trades. My best plan is when in doubt, stay away.

The simplest way I understand this issue is that I can make myself a holster with the Harley Davidson logo on it, for example. But I can't make you one and sell it to you. I have a friend in the sewing machine business. The folks that have the rights to Barney come very close to suing and bankrupting one of their clients for copyright infringement. That lady was selling stuff she made at a local flea market. Not exactly the big time. Some of these companies can, and will pursue you for it. She was warned not to do it and she nearly lost everything ignoring that. Artwork does fall into a bit of a grey area. If the guy is kind of famous for it, they may be ignoring him and taking it as free marketing. But that's an expensive game to play if you are wrong.