mikesherman

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. As for the antiquing that was the plan...I went with that and it worked out all right. My skills when it comes to dyeing/coloring are pretty weak, so it doesn't look great, but I'm working on it. And Eco Flo isn't the greatest; I guess my next challenge is to research and practice finishing and to find some better quality products...hard to do in California. I decided to do some very light touch up of the stamping, and I'm more or less happy with the results. I'm starting another holster project today, and I'll give it a try with molding first and tooling after, just to see how it comes out...I can always start over... I've never done triple loop lacing before, so it came out a bit rough. But, I liked doing it, so it's all good. And I'm still trying to figure out how to handle images in my post...I don't want them to be huge inline, but I'm not sure how to display smaller sizes that can be enlarged... As always, comments and critique are welcomed...I really want to improve my skills...lots of gifts to be made, and I want them to be good!

Okay...on my way to work but I just wanted to post pics of the dry, unretouched holster...the molding process itself went well, but the stamping leaves a lot to be desired...

Thanks for comments all...I appreciate it. Below pic is with tri-weave completed, after which I went back and touched up the bevels. Aside from the obvious stamping errors, especially around the snap, I'm feeling pretty good at this point...the tri-weave is a tough one to figure out, and I forgot to tape the back of the piece to minimize distortion. I'm guessing that won't really be an issue, since I'll be 'distorting' it intentionally. Then, gun in holster, in walmart vacuum bag. We'll see how it turns out...no doubt some loss of definition will occur, but it's looking good so far. After an hour, I pulled everything out of the bag and did some shaping with a bone folder at the open end. Here again I'm feeling pretty good about the results. It's looking pretty good and I like the shape and the results of the vacuum bag process. It's not dry yet, but even the stamping still looks reasonable crisp Also, I'm still trying to figure out what size to make my images...I'll post again when the holster is dry, and maybe I'll get it right then. By the way, is it a terrible idea to touch up the tooling after the holster has dried some? Maybe just recover some definition? Thanks for reading!

This is the first project I've posted about...Tandy Bullseye holster kit for a 6 inch S&W 686...I've created several rejects trying to make my own pattern for this one, so I thought I'd try a different route. I'm hoping that through finishing a pre-cut pattern I'll see how things come together so I can move forward with my own holster patterns. Any advice will be appreciated... Below pic shows beveling and bordering done...stamping tri-weave tonight, and then wet molding tomorrow. I have read quite a bit about this process and decided to go the tooling then forming route to see how it works out. Also, if anyone can give me tips/best practices about posts, posting pics, etc., I'd really appreciate it...thank you!