chiefjason

Good stuff. I need to get a Mak, I get requests occasionally.

I use liquid, daubered on. Goes on faster, burnishes very nicely. I just ordered a bar. Going to make my own liquid saddle soap with it. We make our own laundry detergent, might as well.

Modeling spoons tend to be small. I use them to remove stray marks from detailing or setting my lines around the edges of the gun mold. An old toothbrush with a smooth round handle would work too. I still use one to mold my holsters. Or a rub stick.

I finally broke down and bought a 1.5" French skiver. It's got a mostly straight edge that rounds up on the ends. I punch two holes and cut them out with the skiver with just hand pressure. I keep it as sharp as my round knife. Best thing I've found. I have one of the oblong punches, far to thin a hole for a good belt.

Liquid saddle soap does well for me. Dauber it on and burnish.

Depends on what look I want, and what the customer wants. I have a couple styles that are always natural. I have a couple that might be dyed a contrasting color. Oxblood exterior and black interior with black stitching is a pretty good look. Then there is black, it's, well, all black.

If you already have a floor drill press or dremel, look into Pro Edge Burnishers. I have the "slot master" for my drill press and a "Rub stick" for molding my holsters. Fantastic stuff. Just one more, of a million possible ways to do it.

On the sweat shield, you might want to come up with a standard rounded or slightly squared off look. Not sure how that will wear with the different angles on it. Might be a non issue. Time will tell. I prefer a rounded guard, except for 1911 thumb breaks where I use a narrow more rectangular shaped guard. Whichever, just avoid sharp edges. On that occlusion, low spot, on the edge. You can't prevent all of them. But I go over the edge with a 50-50 mix of parrafin and bees wax. It helps fill them in and slick up the edge. Sanding the edge before hand helps too. But like I said, they happen. Just part of working leather. Speaking of wax. I use an oil and wax mix on my holsters as part of the finish. it's 50-50 neatsfoot and beeswax. I've started using it to burnish the flesh side that shows and as far as I can reach into the holster. As an added benefit it evens out the color on the flesh dyed black. I always find that the flesh side does not dye even and the wax rubbed in and heated helps to even the color and smooth the leather. I don't dip dye my holsters. But I dye the entire inside of the pocket even if it means getting out a brush to reach into those narrow spot. It drive ME nuts. Your holster, your call. Stitch lines look nice and close. Belt slots look pretty clean. Overall, nice job. How does it wear?

I give it a few lighter taps then finish with firm hits. Maybe 10 of each. I have found that it's best to start the bending process slowly and they don't fold over to one side as much. Similar for rivets. But I use a arbor press for rivets now.

Most of my problem stuff is. Which I know now. But back when I started and bought leather by the foot, maybe 8 foot at a time, I had no idea where the cut was. Now that I buy it by the sides it's clear. Since he mentions being a noob I'm assuming it's not a side and hard to tell what part goes where. But your most likely right. Occasionally I'll get a side with some odd flesh parts up farther than normal. But the closer to the belly cut the worse things get. The problem with buying small pieces is you don't know what your are getting. What they don't tell the new guys is you might get a cut on the back that is 100% useful or you might get a cut from spine to belly that's 50-60% useful. BTDT, got the scraps.

Holster for a G19. I'm cheap and have a strong tinker gene. I love DIY stuff. That was about 2 years ago. It's turned into a decent little side gig.

Depends on what you are using it for. Most of it I toss in the scrap pile. If it's not too bad I can occasionally find a use for it. You can skive off some of the flesh stuff to make it better. Also thins it some. Sanding can help occasionally. Best bet is getting good leather, but sometimes it does not work out as well. I have also found that a rough looking flesh side usually is an indicator of flaws on the grain side. Wrinkles, odd grain issues, and weak spots mostly. Overall, it's a lot of trouble to work with and poor quality if it's really nappy.

Keep in mind that some guys on here are pressing their holsters not hand forming them. You get a bit of a different result from a press than from doing it by hand. BTW, my holsters don't have details show through as much as I draw them on the leather with a bone folder or some other tool. If I want a specific thing molded I'll single that spot out and work on it. For example, the bump on the 1911 frame, Glock takedown lever, or the divot on the frame of the PT111 G2. That stuff never comes through just pressing out the main shape with your thumbs or some other tool. And the lines are more drawn on the outside of the leather with tools than pressed in. Hope that makes sense. Or maybe you already know all that and we are just talking around the problem.

Funny story. I had a guy message me asking if my holster would fit his Kimber. I messaged him back and told him that as long as his gun was a standard 1911 frame it would work. I should probably track down the exact odd framed 1911's out there, Sig for sure, seems like a kimber or two are 1911 style, and some of the micro 1911 style pistols are non standard. Anyway, I try to put the expectation back on the customer to know what their gun is and make the decision. The guy messaged me back and told me that if I did not know enough about my product to answer his question then he would go somewhere else. I got a bit peeved, then decided I probably did not want a customer like that anyway. I know my product will fit a standard 1911 frame, apparently he did not know if his frame was standard or not. And the guy that ordered one and then complained that the fit was sloppy. Sent it back, fit just fine. Apparently they were carrying one of the micro 1911 styled guns. Oh, the joys.......

I only use 8-9 oz on my holsters. You may be getting it too wet. You don't need to wet it much, just a couple seconds dunk or under running water. I have started casing mine for 20 minutes in a plastic ziplock. It really changes the texture of the leather and seems to work faster for me. It kills me to let it sit though. If leather is too wet it will sometimes release the details. They just don't stay as sharp as they should. Most initial molding mistake seem to start with getting the leather too wet.

If you have a drill press, get a drum sander for it. Helps square the edges. And it's hard to tell if you got the leather too wet, or it's cheaper leather. After I mold my holsters I put them in the clothes dryer on a shoe rack for 30 minutes to dry and set the leather. If you get it too wet, then mold it too wet; it will sometimes release and not take any details. The rest of your ideas are on the money as well.

I hand stitch my holsters. I cut the stitch grooves and pre punch my holes. Dye the holster. Stitch. When I apply my wax finish I use a heat gun and the wax from the thread just mixes with the wax finish and soaks in.

My Osbourne round knife gets scary sharp in a hurry. I don't have any problems sharpening it. Actually, I rarely sharpen it on a stone. I mostly just strop it really well and get to work. I got the #70 from Springfield, but I'm thinking about picking up the #71 hoping it does tighter turns better. I find it much easier to push the knife than pull the utility knife. You don't seem to need as much grip strength IMO. However, there is a bit of a learning curve to using one. And I wear a fillet glove on my off hand when using it. Better than a box of bandaids! I did actually cut myself through it the other day, but not nearly as bad as it would have been without it. I'll even wear the glove if I have a lot of edging to do. Helps me grip the leather a bit and keeps me from gouging my hand if the edger slips.

I've had belly leather do that when I tried to use it for something. Conditioning helps. But it won't make bad leather good leather. Head over to the Springfield leather website and look at their blanks.

Thanks. Gonna have to look into it. Although, I've got altogether too much leather right now so it might have to wait a bit. I stocked up some while I had the funds. Black is the color that gives me fits sometimes. Since switching to pro oil dye, it's much more consistent and not nearly as bad as the standard alcohol stuff. (yeah, I know oil has alcohol too) And a much quicker turn around than vinegroon. But pre dyed would be sweet!

I use febings liquid. Yeah, you can spray it on if you want. I got mine at Tractor Supply. IIRC Springfield has it by the gallon. Either them or Weaver's. I got tired of smelling Gumtrag and having to rub in pastes and my edges keeping that yellow tint. You get none of that with the liquid. If you are looking for a burnisher for a drill or dremel I can't recommend Pro Edge Burnishers enough. I picked up their slot master and it is awesome! Went back and ordered a rub stick too for molding my holsters. Great products. He has a website and is on ebay.

Some of my stuff I use a 50/50 mix of beeswax and neatsfoot oil. Rub on and apply heat to soak it in. I usually do a coat of Atom Wax to bring back some of the shine after. If I want an acrylic sealer I use Mop&Glo cut 50/50 with water. Pretty much identical to the name brand acrylic sealers out there.

Does the dyed leather have any finish applied to it? The 2 places I buy from don't offer dyed outside of bridle or harness leather, both of which have wax and oil applied. I just cant get it to wet and mold by hand. I've got some hand applied dyes that I really like, but it would be nice to have a black I could work from. Also, is it struck through?

I have to pay tax. In state. Still the best price going unless you find a used one here or ebay. I prefer built in shipping anyway.

Bluegunstore includes shipping in their new prices. Makes them about the same for me.