chiefjason

The piece is normally to strength the mouth of the holster for re holstering. I don't use them anymore. When I started I did. But I've seen no negatives to not having them. I glued and stitched it before wet forming when I add them though. I dye all my holsters after wet forming. For me, the dye seems to inhibit the leather from taking on water. Especially if you are using vinegroon to make it black. I know some guys are using pre dyed leather. I've only tried a couple times, but I've not had much luck getting the detail on pre dyed as natural. Some guys pull it off just fine though. I'm sure it's a difference in the process.

Thanks guys. I found the Tippmann channel on youtube and watched the introduction video last night. I was surprised at how simple the machine seems to be. The tension adjustments are similar to those on my rod building/rod wrapping lathe. And I've got some time on a standard sewing machine so the lower bobbin area looks pretty similar, and probably easier to deal with. I feel like a kid waiting on Christmas. lol

Anyone have a good reference or pointers on the Boss? I have a lead on one locally that I will be picking up next week to test drive. A friends brother bought it and it's sat in a shed unused for years. I'll be doing a lot of web searching here soon. But thought I would ask here for any good references. Thanks!

If you are using the awl on a relatively flat piece, stack some cardboard or scrap leather under the piece to protect the point of the awl. You don't want it being forced into anything solid. If you have a drill press you can chuck the awl in there too. That's what I do. Oh, and tac lights are hateful. And I need to get to building a hybrid for one. I'm not looking forward to it. To get around the light issue, you might could more of an old school pouch holster with little boning and a retention strap on it. Just a thought. And make sure you leave enough space for the flashlight to draw out of the holster.

I'll try my best to describe it. I start with the 2 pieces, front and back. I insert the gun into the front molded piece. Then get the position I want for the gun with the 2 pieces held together. Then I mark the outline of the back piece onto the back of the front piece. Remember, the front is oversized. Once that is done, I remove the gun. I then align the holster using the previous marks and then mark the inside of the flat back piece with a pencil where the leather makes contact. Then I apply my glue to the flat back section using the pencil marks. And apply the glue to the front section using the mold as a guide. The outside edge guide mark is used to attach the glued pieces together. When I glue them together I use clamps to press the sides together and usually let that sit overnight. I use scrap leather and wood pieces to keep the clamps from marking the leather. Then I trim, sand square, edge, set my stitch lines and so on. It's a bit complicated. Probably confusing. And I'm certain it's inefficient. But I really like the results, and more importantly; so do the customers.

Yeah, the flat back is a very different process. And I know there are several different processes used for them on here. I have my patterns pretty set for the guns I make the most holsters for. I cut the front larger than needed, mold it, then glue it to the back piece. From their I trim the front to match the back.

I leave my holsters completely open on the bottom. I can use a 5" 1911 for any size I need to build. No complaints. Outside of that, you could buy the 4" and cut the barrel.

Well, here is what I do. I cut my groves on the front. Lay out the spacing with a wheel. Chuck my diamond all in my drill press. Punch all my holes from the front. Turn it over and free hand the back groves. Works for me at least. I have an adjustable edge groover and freehand groover from Springfield. Finding a thread that works with your stitching is key too. I finally found one that works best, not too big or too small. Lays in the grooves the way I want too. Also, pull the thread pretty snug on each stitch. Complete the stitch, then pull. Just be careful, it is possible to tear out the stitch. You get a feel for it after a while though.

Nice. I did a 686 recently for IWB/OWB carry. That thing was a beast of a holster. He wanted clips, so it added width outside the belt slots. I cut it about as small as I was comfortable going. Customer loves it though.

Eric, The reason I went to the oil and beeswax is because I could not get an acrylic finish to take consistently on the grooned leather. It would crack when flexed. Something you might want to keep an eye out for if you use any. One thing that did help was to give the leather plenty of time to dry between steps. Sometimes that did not help though. But with oil and/or wax finishes that's not an issue. Jason

OWB is my thing though. It's how I carry 99% of the time. I build what I carry, I build what I like; it seems to sell well enough. I'll do other stuff on request, but I don't push it as much. Like I said, all but one has been received well. part of this is a personal issue with me. I take criticism, it just bugs me until I get things settled by either fixing it or deciding to ignore it because it was just a personal issue with one customer. A few things I have decided were my fault, and I fixed them. A few more, just personal issues like ride height, cant, and probably this width issue. Just wanting to bounce the question off of folks here and see where my stuff lines up so to speak. Doing something different is fine, and I'm fine with some of the differences between my holsters and others. Being drastically different may not be so good though. I don't think I'm that far off though.

So, I've been at this a while. I'm pretty happy with the results I'm getting. Customers are happy with the results they are getting. But I'm also always on the lookout for better or easier ways to do things,. I had one customer this week return a holster because he thought it was too wide. Now, I do make them a bit on the bigger side. And this is just one customer complaining. But the OCD part of me is forcing myself to ask. About how wide, front to back, are you guys building your pancakes? Lets just streamline this for 1911's, full or commander size. Since it was a commander size 1911 flat back pancake that led to this question. I actually went back and measured some of my personal holsters and other stuff, and the holster falls right in line with what I normally make. Full and commander 1911's and double stack polymers are running in the 7" to 8" range. And that also falls in line with some of the holsters I had from before I started making them. And I also understand that holsters are like shoes, you try it on and you like it or you don't. I've got a buddy that's really skinny and I finally had to make an avenger for him because a pancake would wrap from belly button to spine, lol. Thanks.

I sell a lot of doubles for 1911's. I sell more doubles in my hybrids in all calibers, mostly for IDPA shooters. I had the unpleasant experience of making a leather double mag holder for a friends Para Warthog double stack .45. Good grief that thing was massive! I've pretty much got set styles for each, and like Dwight they are pretty much reversible. Just change the direction the bullets face. I was trying to do mine like the flat back holsters I make, but the doubles were giving me fits. Even the single stack 1911. I finally just set down and patterned them out one night like you would a standard holster. My life is much easier now.

On my grooned holsters I add a light coat of neatsfoot oil after grooning. The groon wants to suck all the oil out. Then my final finish is beeswax and neatsfoot oil- 2 coats applied. Each coat is heated with a heat gun to open up the leather to accept the oil-wax. The holster stays plenty stiff as long as it's molded correctly and I heat dry after molding to stiffen it too. At some point the grooned leather needs some oil put back in it. The oil also helps deepen the black.

Yes, but...... The new 9mm version is on the same frame as the .45. So the XDs .45 will work for both there too. Matter of fact, the double stack XD line is nearly identical in frame width for 9mm, .40, and .45; much like the M&P series.

Well, I'm currently searching for what I like best. Everything I have ordered has been either too thick, too waxed, or too weak. I may get flamed for this, but currently I'm using the waxed thread by Realeather from Hobby Lobby. And it's probably the best thing I have found yet. I bought a spool of the Hobby Lobby brand waxed cotton thread and it works well. But it's not very waxed, I waxed it myself a couple times while sewing. It's also considerably larger in diameter. But the rust color was exactly what I needed for the oxblood holster I was working on.

Josh, If you don't have a modeling spoon, pick one up. It has been a huge help for me. I got mine at Hobby Lobby. I lay out my lines with the spoon, except for the really straight ones. Then I go over the lines with my bone folder to expand them. But more importantly for fixing your problem areas, the spoon allows you to go over those mistakes and smooth them out. If my bone folder jumps out of the line, or like yours, it leaves extra lines doing a curved area. I can go back with the small backside of the spoon and clean up my mistakes. You can buff out some pretty nasty looking mistakes with it. It's not about making something perfect, it's about figuring out how to fix your mistakes so they don't show. This is the one I have. http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/blade-tool-and-modeling-spoon-386516/ Springfield Leather carries a few more varieties. http://springfieldleather.com/store/search.asp

I would imagine that the properties that everyone loves about horse hide would make it harder to bone too. Does it take water well? I would think it would not, but I've not tried it. IMO, CC holsters can do without some of the details and still be just fine. And in reality, a lot of those details are just for looks. Speaking of looks, I think it looks great. You could always do away with the detail lines and just tell everyone you prefer the "clean look" without them.

Figuring out what works for you will be key. But my "can't live without" is this. I have a ton of stuff organized in the drawers. And I can lock stuff behind the door when needed. Picked this up a Sam's. It was not cheap but it's well built and well worth it for what I needed. I've replaced the scroll saw with a table top bandsaw. Added a 1 ton arbor press. I do a lot of hybrid stuff too. There is now a floor drill press to the left. My cutting area is a door on top of 2 adjustable saw horses. And I have a couple of shelves for things too. It's still an absolute mess. But with the storage it's at least manageable. If I get myself a sewing machine I'll probably add that to the list of can't live withouts. But I've not taken the plunge just yet. What I have learned? Storage, small boxes, and shelves are your friend.

I have 3 partial holsters cut out in a drawer in the garage. I'm waiting on an order from a lefty, or time to make them and post them for sale on a local board. GRRRR!!! I even put notes on my patterns. Apparently I don't read them.

My wife carries one, so that's what I use. Dimensionally, the frame of the Kahr CW, P, K and T series 9mm and .40's are the same. The length of the barrel changes. Kind of like 1911's. Not sure that's much help though, since the PM is a shorter barrel and that's the only blue gun. The .45 is noticeably thicker in the frame, so that's not good either.

I probably will. I have it marked for my next order. But between work, vacation coming, and feeling like I'm worn to a nub already; it will probably have to wait till mid august. Unless I find myself really needing something.

Thanks. It's taken a while to get there, and I still have things I need to learn. I do all of it by hand. No press yet. But I start off molding with thumbs. Then move to a smooth toothbrush handle for the big folds around the sight channel and trigger guard. Then I use a 2 sided modeling spoon to cut the detail lines. Once I have the lines started I widen it with a bone folder. The only real molding is in the ejection port, trigger guard, and the end of the frame/dust cover area. The lines are just detail lines. No function other than looking nice.

Nice. I'm getting an itch to try some exotics too.

Toaster ovens are notorious for uneven heating, and higher than wanted temperatures. Be really careful. I use my large oven. My oven does not go any lower than 180, but I don't pre heat it. And I'm more careful if I put items in after it's heated up. I used to have a incandescent bulb in a box that I used. Bulb on the bottom, wire to hang the holsters from on the top. I like the oven better. And I have used the clothes dryer as well and it works fine if you have a rack for it.