Red Cent

The leather will make a lot of difference in the success of your burnishing. Realize that we talk as if we all buy the exact same leather from................ A piece of leather that is "conditioned" with NF oil or EVOO before you do anything else may not have good edge results. Saddle soap has a number of ingredients depending on the recipe you are viewing. Some or all off the following: lanolin, Castile, NF oil, hand soap, flake lye, and gum turpentine. Pick up a small piece of evenly cut veg tanned leather, preferably 8-9 ounce. With a damp rag, BARELY wet the edge. About six inches long or so. Buff or machine burnish. You should get a glass smooth edge in about 10 seconds. When you get the edge damp, there is a small window when the leather will re-act to the heat of the burnishing. Dampen three to four feet of leather and you will not have the same result the full length. If you machine burnish you may get away with it. This slick edge is the ticket to get an even dye application. And the dye (alcohol) will make the edge dry and may crack. I use a big dowel rod to burnish immediately after I dye. I don't let it dry. This will show all the problems with your edge. This will smooth the leather more even if it is dry, it will be smooth. If it is too dry, then rub on a glycerin bar lightly. No water. The glycerin will provide moisture and really slick the edge. A machine burnisher may not make it shiny. Do not despair. This is probably the leather. After you finish, the best thing in any case is to get a piece of towel and buff the edges. Some leather will crack at this point if you bend it. Use a small amount of water at the bend before you bend and lightly apply more glycerin and get out the old dowel rod. The last application is a 50/50 of beeswax and paraffin. Machined burnished. You don't want to know how much time I put into my edges.

This is interesting. Lets see. I took the hand lift lever and ball off when I got the Cobra 4. What gravity thing? Works great. OK. Trying to "step out of the box". That new fangled Rube Goldberg edge guide seems to be an answer to what question. Betcha I can buy a whole side from Zack White with the price. I use the old roller guide all the time especially with the end of a belt. Its a killer for doing round things=equally spaced stitches. And it hasn't moved yet. Getting miserly in my old age. When I make a ranger belt I sew one piece of leather around the main belt. When I sew this on, there is a little mark for me to place a 5-6 ounce strip of leather under the front of the guide that raises it to the perfect height. I guess I don't do the stuff that would require the new thingy. Why doesn't Al take a hack saw and cut the side off the plate. Then he could get his ball back.

Most of my SASS holsters are 4 layers. Two 8-9 and two 6-7 here. JL, what has three layers of 8-9?

What is the raw rough edge? Won't sand smooth or burnish?

I use the glycerin bar on dry firm edges only. And I use it after sanding and burnishing. If your edges have the look of a sponge, you got it too wet or it is spongy leather. The bar won't help. After beveling and sanding, a light wipe with a wet rag should set you up for burnishing and a glassy smooth edge. Nothing else is needed. After I dye the edges I burnish with a well used dowel rod that will smooth the edges surprisingly well. If the dye causes some roughness, I will get out the glycerin bar. I never use saddle soap.

Looks good Colt. I agree with Bikermutt. I was busy also: children and grandchildren Ashamed to say I struggled like an addict to stay out of the shop.

Won't be able to get anything shipped until after July 1 from W&C. Tried to order last week and they could not promise delivery until then.

Putting an acrylic finish on and then trying to get the leather to absorb a conditioner is really counter intuitive. Aussie contains beeswax and is a "resistant" finish besides being a conditioner. I dye and the next day, rub on some Neatsfoot Oil. After I finish the product, I add the M&G.

8-9 outer and 5-6/6-7 liner here. John Bianchi, in his tutorial, suggests using a one ounce lighter weight for the liner. These weights apply to western and field carry holsters.

Would have to be, I believe. Tie a square/reefer knot, turn so the knot is somewhat flat, wet, then roll flat(er). When dry, it ain't gonna come loose.

The food vacuum gives me decent definition. I carry some of it a little farther. I do not spend a lot of time getting detailed definition. I still think the simplicity (other than construction) of the box works. I may not be satisfied but I want to put one together. Need to do some research on controls.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=wild+bunch+holster&qpvt=wild+bunch+holster&qpvt=wild+bunch+holster&qpvt=wild+bunch+holster&FORM=IGRE

Excellent.

Mike516, the chuck opens up the use of a lot of stuff. I use a belt/disc sander for initial sanding but I use this: https://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories/Pages/SubCategories.aspx?catid=2091 to fine tune the edges with the grinder. .

Cheap grinder with all the safety stuff removed. Screw on keyless & ready to go. I use a cheap milling vise and a drill press to make burnishers from dowel rod. Rat tail files are good.

aaaaaah, gettin' there. I would suppose the rotary vane pump has some serious power over the shop vac. I was surprised at the reasonable prices also. Ken, did you build a box? And thank you very much for the info. Dwight ol' boy, you are regressing. Actually the food vacuum does a good job. Small area and the wrinkles are the problems. Difficult to get gun and wet leather in that little bag. The ability to have a large area to lay the mold gun down, lay leather on it, drop a frame with the membrane attached and not have to mess with it sounds good. Now the valves and hoses. I am getting a few requests for mag holders an hybrid holsters that I have turned down.

Marshall, there is no standard holster for Wild Bunch. The holsters I see range from WWI, WWII, and I have seen a buscadero type rig among others. About anything will work since you draw one time a stage and never re-holster on the clock. You might draw frowns if you wore a radical speed rig. Or a good flap holster will work also.

Hey Dwight, made me a kydex press a few years back. Use a heat gun if I need to touch things up. Press is a little of a pain. I use a food vacuum bagger at the present. Can't keep the wrinkles from the plastic out of my leather and spend time rubbing them out. Does a decent job. Recently bought a 20 ton shop press that is great at punching leather. Be putting air over hydraulic on it soon. Could take care of the kydex and mold problem. Dwight, do you have a vacuum box? The mold box intrigues me. One could make ten mag pouches or five holsters or whatever, all at one time with a reasonable size box. Chief, do you have a vacuum box?

I am starting to build a vacuum mold box. Construction is rather straight forward but I need info on the membrane. I believe there is stuff that works well so I thought I would ask the experienced people before I bought any. I will be doing concealed carry and some of them will be the hybrid holster consisting of some kydex/plastic. I need something thin enough to give me some decent detail and strong enough to take the HD shop vac. Opinions anyone?

Trying not to confuse the public...............To add to Josh's remarks, competition SASS/western holsters need to be very stiff. They need to retain their rigidity to maintain a small amount of retention. I do not mold the western holster allowing the front edges of the cylinder to provide friction/retention and a little friction from the tip of the barrel and ejector rod. No saddle soap, glycerin, and a very light wipe down with NeatsFoot Oil is the extent of conditioning. The Cowboy Fast Draw Association (CFDA) holsters must be very stiff. To be competitive, the cylinder must turn free in the holster since the gun is cocked in the holster before it clears leather. Different world of holster making

Oh Yeah. Holster looks great!

http://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/default.aspx?

Uncle Q, this is a candid and well meant answer. What you are asking is akin to someone writing a book. I would suggest that you go to the Tandy website. They have all kinds of videos. And, of course, YouTube. Searching for information is like networking. One video will create a need to find other videos. I don't hand stitch and I don't want to. But to get a proper and good looking stitch, you will spend some time learning. This site is a wonderful site that allows us to post different ways to do leather. But the posts are tips and information on pieces of the construction such as burnishing, dyeing, conditioning, sewing, and other specific areas. I am not brushing you aside. I harassed a few members when I started a few years ago. Still do sometimes:). Don't give up. It is a very satisfying hobby/business. Until you meet "that" customer:). https://www.tandyleather.com/en/free-leathercraft-instructional-videos.html

Exceptional. What is the color? Dye?

I also use a cake of beeswax/parifin (50/50) to rub the edges of a belt or holster. Then I use a home made burnisher on a grinder. After burnishing, you need to polish edge with a piece of old towel or something to reduce the coating to what is necessary. Makes for a great looking edge.