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Luis - Dont know if this is possible but what if someone purchased a dummy gun and cut the grip off at an angle from where the trigger guard meets the front strap to just below the beaver tail? Then it would not be a dummy gun. Then it could be shipped to you so you have a form to use for wet molding. Heck if you called a distributor maybe they would do it for you. Just a thought.

Thanks for the information Larry. Ocassionally I will come across this problem. I have always dyed my holsters black so it wasn't a real problem, but now I know what to do when I am not going to use black. Thanks.

I have looked at several suppliers websites. I am looking for 4-5oz split in natural (non-dyed). Anyone know where I can get some? Looking for fairly large pieces as I am making cowboy action gun belts. Thanks.

Very Cool Randy - I like it, simple and effective. Thanks for the tutorial.

I appreciate all of the help and tips so far. A couple of questions: The belt - what weight is the suede? The holster - what weight should it be ? The billets that hold the buckle - what weight? The holster - ideal weight for it? Havent made any cowboy stuff before so this is a new arena for me.

I saw this picture and wondered if anyone knew how the belt loop is made and the loop around the holster. Is the hammer thong just woven into the backside of the holster? Is the loop around the holster riveted or stitched or laced together? I really am just puzzled by the backside of the holster and how it all comes together. If anyone has a pattern for this holster that would be great. I am wanting to make this for my dad, brother and myself.

Lobo - very nice indeed. I like the simplicity of your site, nice, clean and effective. I think too many times flashy over artistic sites are put up hoping that they draw customers. My opinion is that it does just the oposite. I get annoyed with all the huba-baloo. I will agree with TwinOaks on the header of the page. At first glance it looks like a run-on of words. Until I hovered over them with my mouse did I realize the words were grouped as hyperlinks. Maybe adding some offsetting feature to distinguish the groups of words like making them appear as a button title (if that makes any sense) would help to draw the words together, similar to what the "Fast Reply", "Add Reply" and "New Topic" buttons look like on this thread. --- Just my two cents Amazing prices. Very affordable. I can see why you are concerned about getting overwhelmed. I have often thought the same thing and yet I have never taken the plunge of putting together a web page for that very reason. I work full time and do volunteer work, aside from all the other 'project work' I have around the ole' household (the wife keeps the list pretty long ) so time is very limited and not being able to get to orders without burning the candle at both ends and the middle, I have just never done it. I applaud you for taking the step. I really like your Tom Threepersons tribute. That is a really nice holster. Does the 'back side' of the holster fold over to form a belt loop? It appears that way in the photo but wasn't quite sure. I definitely will recommend your site to others. Well done and good luck.

Bronson - Passing along some wisdom that an ole pro passed along to me when I was having the same issues with Fiebings dye. Apply your dye before you do the molding and boning. The reason for doing it this way is because the molding and boning compresses the leather and prevents proper penetration of the dye. After drying apply a second coat if needed. Dip your holster in warm water and do your molding and boning. After everything has dried do a buff on the holster to remove any oxidation that may have formed. Apply a sealer - Resolene, Super Sheen, etc. I have not used Fiebings in quite some time, but as I recall there are two different bases for the Fiebings dye, oil and alcohol based. If I recall correctly you need to use the alcohol based dye.

Bronson -- what kind of dye and at what point are you dying the holster?

bronson - as Lobo already said, the heat that you are using to speed up the drying is the cause of the issue. To expand on it a little, without going into great detail, look into cuiriboulli. Its a process of using hot water to harden leather, in effect the same thing you are doing by force drying the leather with a blow dryer.

noob - to accomplish this you have to 'bone' the leather to the gun. After you 'case' the leather by putting it in warm water you put your gun or dummy in the holster and press the leather to form around the gun. Then use a smooth tool of some sort to press into the leather the outlines of the gun. The more 'professional' way to do this is to use a press to fit the leather around the gun. This is done by having two pieces of 40 durometer gum rubber about 12" x 12" x 1.5" and putting steel plates on the outsides and putting the holster inbetween the two pieces of rubber and then 'squishing' it with a press. What this accomplishes is that it compresses the leather which helps with rigidity and also does a decent job at forming the holster to the gun. You would then remove the holster and use a smooth tool to 'bone' the leather to the lines of the gun. This means using the smooth tool to basically draw into the leather the lines of the gun. This helps with retention. It is personal preference as to how much 'boning' you do. Some makers like to put alot of gun detail onto the leather and others just do a basic outline.

For shoe lasts check out www.walrusshoe.com. I too want to make shoes and from another forum I found that site. I have not ordered anything yet, but I would really like to try making a pair of shoes. It looks incredibly interesting. There is a guy on youtube that has a username MarcelHun. He has done several videos of how he makes shoes. He is a bespoke shoe maker in Hungary.

Here is a picture of what it will look like. I use a 3/8" dowel and sand it flat to give it a side to sit against the top of the slide as seen in figure A. I then sand the dowel to form a ramp as seen in figure B. Usually the overall length is about the same as the barrel minus the breach, but it is personal preference and what you think will work. The purpose for it is to provide enough room for the front sight to clear the leather without scraping the inside of the holster and getting leather on the sight causing a disruption in sight picture. With the channel being about the same length as the barrel the front sight will be able to clear the holster, since by the time you have drawn your weapon from the holster that distance, your front sight will be in the area of the holster that is wider. This will be where the trigger guard exists and the weapon will have more freedom to move out of the holster and the front sight will be clearing the holster. Hope this makes sense.

525brwn....so shark is not chrome tanned??

Rhome Very nice. Question for you, is the shark you are using veggie tanned or chrome tanned?

Rick, There is another alternative to the blue guns. There are two companies I know of that do aluminum molds as training aids. The guns are dimensionally correct and are nearly indestructable. Do a Google search for Duncan Customs in Michigan and Lindell Aluminum Training in Kansas City, MO.

I want to thank everyone for the comments on the tutorial. carr52 - that looks pretty nice for your first holster - good and functional - I like it

I concur with ArtS.. Wow! That is really, really cool. That lacing adds an incredible artistic uniqueness. That is just really cool. Thanks for sharing.

Rhome Nice looking rigs. Welcome back to the states.

Really nice looking exotics. The rattlesnake has a nice contrast and that alligator adds a really neat accent.

Echo4v - I cannot answer your question I have not done stamping on any holsters. My assumption would be that you would do the stamping after the molding. Hopefully some of the others that have made holsters with stamping will chime in. I know there is a holster maker by name of Tucker that does alot of stamping on his holsters. I think he is on 1911forum and of course is at tuckergunleather.com.

Rusty - You asked about drilling the holes. I find that it works best its makes a cleaner stitch in my opinion. I drill the holes with a drill press. I drill the holes from the outside in. For finishing the edges I try to get the edge formed like the bitmap picture that I put above. To accomplish this I use a dremel with a drum sander attachment with a medium grit drum and sand the edges to that form. I then apply the hot liquid wax. It soaks in. I then remove any excess wax that may sit "on top" of the edge with a piece of denim in a burnishing type action. I then take it to my edge burnisher and burnish the edge to a nice hard shiny finish.

In response to Rusty here are a couple pictures of the tools that I use the most. From left to right: stitch spacing tool, free-hand stitching groove tool, adjustable stitching groove tool, edge beveler The stitch spacing tool is a 5 stitch per inch and sorry I do not remember the edge beveler size. From left to right: hole punch, razor blade knife, rasp, Tanner's Bond Leathercraft Cement

Here are some pictures of edges that I was able to get somewhat decent pictures. These two pictures are of an edge that Lou Alessi did. This is what everyone strives for. Perfectly formed and a nice hard waxed edge. This is a picture of an edge that I burnished. Its not bad but I still have a ways to go.

Here are some pictures of the homemade setup that I use to burnish the edges. I mounted everything to a 1"x12" board so I can clamp it down to my workbench then unclamp and move it when I am not using it. Here is a bitmap image that I drew that shows what a cross-section picture would look like of an edge.