hestes

Hey, everyone....I'm back with another question. I have noticed that on the holster I wear the most, the edges around the top of the holster where my gun rubs the most are starting to kind of fray and lose that nice burnished edge on the inside. Am I doing something wrong when I burnish them? Here is a picture of what I'm talking about. I use a dremel to sand the edges to even them out, but then I use a wooden burnishing tool to burnish by hand using Bob Park's method...but obviously, I missing something. I doubt his edges start to look like mine. Thanks in advance for any ideas you have!

So true!

Thanks, Red Cent. I'm fine with using the water, but I didn't want to just jump in and try it if was going to make matters worse. I feel like I still have so much to learn. I appreciate the reply!

I have been working on a pancake holster for a customer that didn't want the leather dyed, only oiled and finished. While burnishing my edges, I guess I left a little bit of saddle soap on the leather long enough that it discolored some spots. Is there any way to get that off? I didn't want to apply more water to leather unless that would allow me to get those spots off...I'm hoping I didn't ruin this thing.

Thanks for the feedback! Katsass, you are right. I don't want the quality to suffer at all

Thanks, Dwight. I dye my leather before I wet mold so dying wet leather hasn't been an issue for me.

Hey, all! I want to first say that I love this forum. I have found so much great information on making nice holsters that I am actually starting to sell a few holsters locally and online! Thank you all for the help! I do have a question about dry time. How long do you let your holsters dry after you take them out of the oven/dry box before you oil (or seal them if you don't oil) them? And for those of you that oil them, how long do you let that sit before you seal it? I want to get the process down to be as efficient as I can in order to cut down on my turn around time. Right now, I'm waiting about 24 hours between wet molding and oiling and another 24 before sealing. Part of that is due to my regular day job, but if I could cut that down I could get a couple more out on the weekends. Thanks in advance!

Thanks!

Thank you! I'm still working some of the kinks out, but I was pretty happy with how that turned out.

Here is a picture of the one I did using the space bag. It only held up for 1 holster. When I tried to do a second one, the zipper edge broke. Oh well, it was a cheap bag. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the results. I've bought a pump from HF (Thanks to a 20% off coupon) and ordered some of the other supplies from veneer supplies. I can't wait to get them!

Dwight, what size of hose do you use? I couldn't tell from the picture. I just tried forming one with a space bag and vacuum. It looks better than when I was forming them by hand (or is it the placebo effect? lol). We'll see how it turns out once it's dry. Thanks to everyone for all the helpful info in this thread!

Ah. I don't have any experience with any of the vacuum pumps so I wasn't sure what the difference was.

Have any of you ever tried the space bags & a vacuum cleaner?

So you put it in the bag with your holster to create some space to allow for more air to be pulled out? Is that all that is for?

Thank you!! That was very helpful!

Wow. Those are some neat setups! Thanks for the info and photos!

Hey, all! I have seen it mentioned a couple of times that some people use a press to mold their holsters. For those of you that do that, what does your setup look like? Thanks! Haley

Thanks for posting the pictures! I think I'm going to have to give this a try!

Those are awesome! How in the world do you get that much detail on the holster you did for the 1911? I still have so much to learn, but that is beautiful!

Thank you all for the replies! Now I have several options to try. @Particle, thanks for the excellent youtube videos!

Thanks for the replies! I am using a toaster oven & the lowest temp is 150. I was afraid that was too hot. It doesn't sound like it should be. I am going to experiment a little bit more with it. Thanks again!

For those of you that oven dry your holsters after you've wet molded them, what do you place them on in the oven? Cedar plank, baking sheets, etc? I'm just curious how others are doing it because every now and then I get a line from the edge of the plank or whatever I have it on. I want to perfect that process and clean up the finished look. Thanks!

Thanks! I recently ordered a couple of spools from the thread exchange in 207 to experiment with. So far, I'm pretty happy with it. I've done 2 holsters with it, one for a subcompact xd and one for a sig P938. So far the 207 seems to be working ok. I guess I will see how it holds up.

Thanks for the info. Originally, I was buying waxed when I was hand stitching. Instead of starting a new thread when i started looking for spools for my Boss, I just updated this one....sorry for the confusion.

This did make me wonder, have any of you bought just a a white spool of nylon or polyester thread and dipped it in dye to get the color you want?