Bolt Vanderhuge

Just spit balling here. What about using two pieces of leather and strips of foam or are these already using two pieces of leather? Either way, it looks like you could stitch the leather to the leather at the outer edge then glue your first foam strip then glue and stitch the two leather layers then repeat. Alternatively, you culd glue the strips of foam to one of the two leather layers then glue the other leather layer to them. Then move on to stitching.

This works for me too. You just have to put in the time both in prep work before edging and then when finishing the edges. By putting in the little bit of extra time you can make 4 layers of leather have no visible line.

I use the black pro line Tandy tools. I think they are 4mm spacing. Here is an example of what I get with them. This is with 1.0mm Tigre thread. This is a test holster I had made. This is the backside. This is the front side of that same part of the holster. I had tried some other diamond tools but ended up back with these. Now I just stick with them. It is good to know that if I were to do smaller items with thinner stitching I can get smaller Tandy irons.

The optic is a non issue. Look at how it lines up just a smidge behind the trigger guard, roughly in line with the magazine release. The leather does not need to go higher than that. For the light you can build up some leather or foam on the trigger guard to match the width of the light. Yes you will not be able to add any retention in the forward portion of the trigger guard but I see two other viable spots. One is the recesses on both sides of the frame for the slide release levers. The second is on the light itself where it necks down between the bulb and the body. I would just do it lightly on the sides and the bottom of the light. I would leave the gap between the odd non threaded extended barrel and the light alone. In other words I would not try to mold to the shape inbetween them but rather smooth the leather like ther was no gap there but instead like the slide continued to the end of the barrel.

I punch all the way thru. I do not use an awl. My holes are full thickness all the way thru. The size of your holes is only the problem if the smaller holes are the cause. I noticed it mentioned to pull straight. I personally pull the threads in the direction I want them to lay. If the thread is the lower thread I pull it down and the upper thread gets pulled up. I pull these at about a 45* angle to the work piece. I am thinking that your issue is the way you are laying your thread in relation to the angle of the holes. This is a test holster I had made. This is the backside. This is the front side of that same part of the holster.

Are you using a groover to cut out stitch lines? If so then stop. By grooving you are creating a narrow channel that will force the stitches towards the center of the groove. I mark the lines by creating a very shallow line on the surface of the leather. This lets the tread stay at the ends of the holes and gives the zigzag you already have in the back. As for stitching/placement I have the front of the item on the right side not the left.

Those are some beauties for sure.

It does not sound like thickness is the actual issue. It sounds like you need to apply or apply more netsfoot oil on the leather. Especially if you are thinking your dye with alcohol.

Is this dye type or method dependent?

Very nce.

That is top notch for sure.

I have to second the all I got is WOW.

That looks great. Thanks for sharing.

YinTx was referring to this post of yours. Not HO making thread.

I used a ruler and lined it up with the exposed portion of the gun mold. Then made the line down the holster front.

There are rulers that alrady have the cork installed. I got mine at Walmart. Though I do not always use it.

That looks cool. Have you used it to cut out the actual holster pattern yet?

That looks great. I really like the tooling and coloring. Good job.

That looks great. Chicago screw posts work great for providing threads while holding the base of the snap to the leather. I use them all the time. I use black screws and get them from knifekits.com although my local Ace Hardware store has stainless ones that fit too. Lining the holster should not add any thickness. You would want to use thinner leather that when glued together will be the same thickness as what you normally use in single layer leather.

Those look fantastic.

A shooting buddy recently picked up a FN40. Here is the holster set I built for him. I had never handled an FN before so I had to make a couple test holsters to get the gun pocket and the detail work sorted out to my liking. I should have done the same for the mag pouch. Then I would have discovered that the wings should have been about a 1/2" wider on each side before the straps. This pattern is good size for single stack mags though. The build is using Hermann Oak 8/9oz leather dip dyed in straight black Feibings Pro Oil dye. Stitching is by hand using 1.0mm Tigre thread. Finish is two coats of Angelus Satin 605. The holster is flat backed but the mag pouch is not. The straps are part of the back piece of leather for both as opposed to being separate pieces. This was my second test holster. You can see in this one that the gun did not sit all the way in like it does in the finished product.