muzzleblast

Jason, Dwight's approach seems fine. But, I have used Plastic Wood in the past for such. You have to clean the bluegun before applying the PW. Once it dries, a little time with a file / Dremel dresses it up nicely. Fairly durable. Wouldn't use it with a hydraulic press, tho. Hand molding only. I am a hobbiest, and have enjoyed making a lot of "custom", one-off projects. I don't charge much for my work. However, I have learned that sometimes, it is best to say no. Firstly, you will irrevocably alter a $60 bluegun. And, may as well figure the cost of the bluegun and materials required to alter the bluegun. And your time customizing the dummy gun. Your work is exceptional. I am sure you won't be satisfied with less than stellar results. But, hey, if the guy owns a owns a vintage Armond Swenson, or Jim Hoag, or other such custom iron and is willing to handsomely pay for some finely crafted leather, I'd go for it. Good luck. Muzzleblast.

Excellent job on the holster. I am also impressed with your home made boning tools. Well done. That set would cost at least $200 if they were store bought.

OldNSlowMarine, Thanks for sharing the results of your experiments. I have been hand applying the acrylic with a 1" foam brush 5 - 6 coats, waiting for coats to get tacky between reapplication. Gives a nice finish but is really not time efficient. I'm going to give dip coating a try. To keep from making a large batch, I think I'll try out these containers. Tall, wide and deep enough for the largest pancake I make. I gal. capacity. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H8ZUV5O/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A3MFA6X0A6DLFT&psc=1

For years I used the 50/50 water to Mop & Glo recipe originally posted here. But, for a long tome I have not been able to find unscented Mop & Glo, only the citrus scent. I do not want my holsters smelling like lemons. LOL. Then I found an Armstrong acrylic floor product that worked really well. It seems they have stopped making it. I could go back to Resolene, but it is a lot more expensive than the other products, likely because it is marketed "for leather". Does anyone know of a "non-lemon" scented commercial acrylic product that is readily available for use sealing holsters? P.S. I could have posted in the Dyes, etc. sub-forum, but it seems the holster makers are up to speed on this subject.

I will definitely give some feedback on the leather. They have it on sale at the moment. I don't know what normal price is. I ended up ordering a side of 5/6 and a side of 7/8. If it is good stuff, and hand cuts well, I will order several more sides and I will make sure to let folks here know. I am really sick and tired of "hard tempered" veg tan... that is best used for making harnesses and belts.

Thanks for the replies. It looks like The Hide & Leather House carries European veg tan. I've ordered a side. https://www.hidehouse.com/Leather/European-Veg-Tan-Sides-Cow-Full-Grain-Aniline-Finish-E860-P.asp

I enjoy making holsters as a hobby. My holsters generally aren't simple "pancakes", but involve hand cutting of multiple small pieces. I've used veg tan from several sources, including the domestic "big names" and south of the border tanneries. I recently got some 8 oz. domestic that is so "hard tempered" that I hate working with it. Yeah, great stuff for a production shop with a bunch of standard designs and a hydraulic clicker press and dies. Great for carving and stamping, too. I don't do either. I have realized that hard tempered veg tan is too hard to work with for hand cutting for me. I am going to turn my latest hide it into belts. A while back I picked up some European veg tan from Springfield. Beautiful stuff. It was A+ grade. It was a one-time special, and by the time I realized how good it was and tried to reorder more, it was sold out. Apparently European cattle have less exposure to the blazing sun and barbed wire, thorny bushes, and ticks than their U.S. relatives. LOL. The European veg tan (Swedish, I think it was) "cuts like butter." It was an absolute joy to work with. Of course, it comes at a premium cost. No matter, I want more... I would like to ask if the members here can share a reliable source for premium European veg tan. Thank you.

Looks innovative. Keep on keepin' on.

Hi DonR. Thanks for the post and welcome. Can your laser cut 16 ounce leather? How do you handle the "smoke staining?"

thefallguy, Very nice looking rig. !!!!!!!!

BHPShooter, Weaver has Schmetz S and LR in stock. I just ordered several packs size 23 - 26 a couple of weeks ago.

Beautiful in design and execution. Your stitching is making me want to take a trip to Yokum, TX and visit with the Campbell Randall folks.

Another vote for Texas Custom Dies. No vote for Weaver. I had a custom belt slot punch made by Weaver, over charged on the price versus the quote, and it arrived so dull it was useless. I moved my business to TCD and they are top quality.

Multi Molds' focus clientele is the kydex holster maker market. Really, they offer little to the leather holstersmith compared to Rings, ASP, Duncan's or Bunkhouse Tools; especially considering their comparative cost. However, no one effectively addresses the market for revolver dummy guns. There is an opportunity...

That is a very well crafted rig you produced. Your customer will definitely be showing it off to his friends. Betcha get more orders. Kudos and thanks for sharing.

The first blue guns I ordered were uncoated. Then I found a cheaper source that only offered coated blue guns. If left on, as mentioned above, some of the coating will come off while wet molding. Removing it isn't that hard, I just use denatured alcohol and a rag. But, it is kind of a PITA. Take 5 minutes. I just look at it as part of the mold prep process which includes cutting off the front sight, taping a dowel to help mold the sigh channel and filling in the trigger guard, filling in the safety at the "on" position for those models molded with the safety in the 'off" position, and partially filling in ejection port on those models with the cavernous ports. (I use DAP Plastic Wood. Easy to work with, dries hard as a rock. Easy to file/sand.) So, to me, removing the blue is just one of the steps in prepping.

Sir, you have taken the avenger to a new level. Very nice. Bruce Nelson, who originated the design as his "Professional" model would be proud. Of course, the style is most commonly known as the Avenger because John Bianchi, supposedly in consultation with the gunwriter Col. Charles Askins, modified the Nelson design and marketed it as the Askins Avenger. As for the molded versus the sewn-in sight channel, I like both equally, but most often mold in the channel. I have a generously sized dowel taped to my blue gun and have to remove it when doing a sewn-in channel. Both work equally well. I'd have to say the sewn-in channel displays more craftsmanship. Thank you for sharing.

Back in November I asked Jason at Duncan's for a picture of the K-frame mold he had available. The pistol used to make the casting was a 4" Model 10, 38 Special. I do not know if he currently has a Model 19 mold, but, you should make sure to confirm before ordering. Also, the Ring's K-frame appears to be a 4" Model 10. The Bunkhouse S&W Magnum is a 4" .357 N-frame. They also offer 4" and 5" K-frame 38 Specials, as well as 6" and 8" Colt Pythons. I do not know of a source for a Model 19 mold, so have been using my real ones. Good luck. If you find a source, please let us know.

Frans, I think I share your same problem with my new C4 and am also looking for a solution. When stitching through two layers of hard, 10/12 ounce veg tan, with 346/277 and a 25 needle, very slowly, the machine has to be hand wheeled because there is not enough torque at very slow speed to drive the needle through. Increasing the RPM setting is actually counter productive, because I am needing to run the machine very slowly, smoothly and precisely to land my stitches. Going through hard, Barge glued, double 16 ounce in a straight line at top speed is actually very easy. But, that is not the issue. (And yes, belts and pulleys are tight.) If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions it would be appreciated.

Rock76, Sir, thank you. Thank you very much. I truly appreciate your generosity in sharing this valuable information with the Leatherworker community. As the recent owner of a Juki 441 clone, I have been researching needles to experiment with. You have saved me many hours of "googling" and note taking. Thank you again. You "Rock" indeed. Yours, Muzzleblast

Most of the time I use a utility knife, but with the hooked "roofing" blades. For me, these work much better for most applications than straight blades. They easily follow the curves of a holster pattern as well as cut straight lines with ease. And, they are sharp and cheap.

No, a S&W series 59XX will not work for a series 40XX hoslter. The 40 cal slides are just shy of 1/10 inch wider than the 9mm slides and also have a larger profle when viewed at the muzzle. S&W specifically designed the 40 cal guns so that no one could mount a 9mm slide on a 40 cal frame. A standard ( i.e. not TSW version ) 4006 would work for a 4026 holster if you tape a piece of dowel, or other filler, above the magazine release, where the frame mounted "decocker" lever is located. Otherwise, you may be able to design the holster so that the decocker is not covered. If you don't have a 40XX and can't get access to your coworker's father's gun, you could use a 40 cal blue/red/aluminum replica. Good luck.