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Paul - I'm using W&C's Tooling/Holster/Carving leather that comes in 8-10 oz thickness. When I asked the sales lady about their Russet 8-10 oz skirting leather, she said its not drum dyed so the color is only on the surface.

I've been using Wickett & Craig lately because I can order their top-grade 8-10oz veg tan leather directly from the tannery with no minimum order, and they'll cut it to whatever thickness I prefer for no extra charge. I always get mine cut to 8oz thick because it helps to remove most of the fuzzy flesh side. I was also ordering belt blanks from Weaver. Their blanks are very pale in color, much like Wickett & Craig, so they match other nicely when dyed. Herman Oak has a much warmer russet color in its natural state, and looks beautiful when oiled! I currently just make holsters and related accessories, and have no problem with the firmness of the leather once finished. All that being said, I am seriously considering switching back to Herman Oak because I really prefer the way it looks when oiled. I just have to find a distributor that can guarantee I won't end up with a bunch of nasty flesh sides again that I have to waste time sanding smooth...

I forgot to post an update. The customer replied back a couple of days ago and said the fit is now perfect for both of his holsters without any additional chemical treatments/additives to the leather. I can't remember if I posted previously, but I inserted the dummy into a thick cotton gym sock, then inserted the sock'd dummy into a zip-lock bag, wrapped the bag around the trigger guard and slide, then holstered the dummy for a good 24 hours. The fit was pretty loose on the dummy after that, but not quite enough for the dummy to fall out without aggressive shaking. That being said, I don't know what the customer's expectations are for how tight the retention should be. He may like overly loose fitting holsters, or perhaps he's just 'normal' and the dummies truly are that far undersized. I don't make a ton of holsters - only maybe 100+/- per year, but I've made a lot of Glock holsters and this is the first customer that's contacted me saying his holsters were way too tight.

Like Spinner - I cut my acrylic finish 50/50 with water, but I apply it liberally to make sure it soaks into the leather well to help stiffen my holsters. I'm currently using Angelus 600. When I airbrush my dyes, I put on 4 heavy coats to make sure it penetrates a little deeper. Daubers may work for some, but I've never had success with them and always end up with splotches. Dipping (for me) results in excessive application that takes days to dry out, and I still get uneven coloring and discolored thread when I sew because there is so much pigment inside the leather. I've only had one customer contact me about his dye rubbing off, and it was specifically related to the black feathered edge where there is very little coverage. A little wear is to be expected and there isn't much you can do to prevent it aside from a good finish coat and proper waxing by the customer.

Thank you everyone for the excellent feedback! That Leather-Kote looks interesting. I wonder how that differs from the Remington Dri Lube I've been using (comes in a spray can)? Before I remake the holsters, I am giving the sock method a try... I inserted the gun in a gym sock, then bagged it in a thin ziplock bag wrapped around the slide/trigger guard, then holstered it. It's sitting on my bench stretching right now. My hope is the dummy will practically fall out of the holster when turned upside down. I'll ship one of the holsters back to the customer once it's stretched a while for his review, and if he's happy with it, I'll repeat the procedure on the other holster. If this sock method works, I may just keep building holsters with the same un-modified dummies and update my break-in procedure with this "if all else fails" method, but will suggest the customer start with a thinner dress sock before moving on to thicker gym socks. This sock method will hopefully allow me to continue detail molding the holsters (will be hard to detail mold a holster that's wrapped in a bag during forming), but will provide an option for the customer to take a more drastic method of break-in than a normal plastic bag allows. I'll keep you updated on my progress...

I recently shipped out a pair of Glock 30 holsters to the same customer. After trying for several days to get the holsters to fit his Glock, he contacted me for further advice. I suggested he wrap the gun in thick freezer-grade zip-lock bags and let it set overnight. He said it helped a little, but it was still way too tight. I also suggested he try spraying a little Remington Dri Lube teflon spray inside to help break the friction - he happened to have some on-hand, but said it didn't really make a difference. I asked him to ship the holsters back to me so I could take a look and remake if necessary. I received the holsters today and tried each one on with my Rings G30 dummy. Frankly, I think both holsters are perfect - they draw very easily. The holsters are tight enough that the dummy won't fall out with the shake-test, but I can still draw them with very little effort. Is it possible my G30 is considerably undersized to the point my holsters are too small for the actual gun, even after the bagged break-in procedure? What about the Gen 4 vs Gen 3 differences? It's my understanding the Gen 4 is dimensionally the same where it matters (for holsters) with the only notable difference being the grip angle and grip texture. At this point, I'm debating just bumping my stitch lines out 1/16" in each direction and remaking them...

WOW! That's fantastic!

Your Ebay listing hit almost $1,200 - did the buyer fall through? That's an encouraging sale price, so I'm curious to know what happened. PM me if you prefer - I'll be selling mine pretty soon hopefully to buy a powered machine.

I'm sure others will chime in, but I'd personally give acrylics a shot since it would be compatible with the water-based acrylic finishes we commonly use on leather.

Ironhead - you should be dang proud of that! I think it looks sweet! Did you say that was your first attempt at tooling? If so, I can't wait to see your second attempt! You obviously are artistically inclined, so you're probably overly critical of your own work. Nice job!

That's a cool gizmo Sylvia, and the price seems very reasonable! Regarding winding with a drill - it's the exact same concept as the machine you just posted. The only difference is the bobbin is attached directly to the drill, instead of being driven by a detached motor. Neither method would be any more or less prone to thread twisting than the other.

Great find!! Thanks for sharing!

I try to get mine as smooth as possible, but that rarely happens. In fact, I don't think it's ever happened! But, I figure the smoother I can get it, the more thread I can fit on the bobbin. However, I have to assume that a zig-zag pattern on the bobbin would be the least likely to have snags - much like an open-face fishing reel would spool the fishing line, though you'll sacrifice a bit of capacity on the bobbin.

Agreed - thank you Lobo, and thanks to everyone else as well. I started this thread thinking I was going to be in the minority, but it looks pretty evenly split so far! My wife and family have been pushing me to take payment up front, but cancellations haven't been a big problem for me so far. I always email the current batch of customers right before I begin their orders to make sure they still want their holster and to confirm they don't have any changes to the order. There is almost always tweaks to orders! I will say the only reason I am even debating taking payment up front is because I'm building a new website, and the shopping cart system doesn't have an option for buy-now, pay later. I won't get into the nitty gritty of how it works (partly because I don't understand some of it), but in an effort to simplify the ordering process for my customers and the invoicing process for my wife (she handles the billing), I'm almost forced to accept payment up front unless I want to pay someone to develop another option for my site which I can't afford right now. But at least I know I won't be in the minority if I start requesting payment up front! Spinner - that's a good idea about a separate account for deposits. We debated keeping it in PayPal, but it's probably better to create a new savings account at my bank... Good idea!

I'm curious to know when most people are billing their customers for holsters and related gear orders. Personally, I hate holding onto other people's money any longer than necessary, so I send an invoice a few days before the order is complete and ship the order once payment is received. Since it can take weeks or months to complete an order, depending on the queue, I'm more comfortable knowing the customer isn't really out anything financially if something happens to me or an order is abnormally delayed because life stepped in the way. I'm working on updating my website with a whole new site, and the shopping cart system doesn't have an option for "Buy Now, Pay Later", so I'm sorta being pushed to collect the money up front since I don't know how to incorporate any other methods with a cart-based system. For what it's worth, my new site is using Wordpress and WooCommerce for the shopping cart. So, let's hear it - when do you usually collect your money?

What models/sizes, etc.?

I can't explain how to use the roller, as I've never used one, but I think they're pretty straight forward. Here is a couple videos from Wizcrafts he posted on YouTube. I stumbled across them a few days ago searching for something else. I have to assume you put slight pressure against the roller, and nothing more, but I'm sure others can provide more insight. Regarding your 1/8" stitch line - if I were you, I'd go with 3/16". If you get too close, when you bevel your edges you will be cutting very close to the thread. Maybe this is okay, but the next step of dying your edges (if you dye them) could result in accidentally touching the thread with your dauber. If you're like me, this is usually enough to spoil the whole holster (I'll dye the whole thing black at that point and put it on my website as an in-stock item).

Thanks Art - I agree - I really don't want a 9" throat. Ferdco's specifications on their site are incorrect and got me all excited!!! Guess I will hold out for a better machine with a needle feed. I really don't want a bunch of teeth marks in my leather!

Thanks Dirtclod. I believe your machine has a different (better) feed mechanism. Thanks for the photo!

Okay, so the specifications on the Ferdco site are inaccurate and the Ferdco 1010 is a 16" throat. It's not a needle feed, but it does have a walking foot. I just placed a deposit on the machine. Am I going to miss the needle feed....?

Very cool! How long did that take?

I currently sew holsters and belts, but have always wanted to add journal covers and messenger bags. I have really only made one bag that was fairly small. I started making a 17" laptop bag, but got carried away with 12 internal pockets, didn't use thin-enough leather (almost impossible to sew the gusset to the front/back panels) and just ended up with an expensive learning lesson that went in the scrap bin. I did it all with the Tippmann Boss, but it was very difficult and sewing the 12 interior pockets onto the back panel was a real challenge (borderline impossible) with the Boss and I doubt I would ever do it like that again. So, someone is offering me a Ferdco 1010 for what I believe is a good price, but it's only a 9" throat. Will I be limited in any way with bags by a 9" throat? Do I really need a long-arm machine for what I plan to sew? Anyone have anything bad to say about the Ferdco 1010?

If I were you, I'd stick the gun in a baggie, focus on wrapping it around the muzzle for the most part, and a little around the trigger guard. Shove the gun in the holster and leave it for a few minutes. Remove the gun from the baggie and see if that helped. Usually, that's about all it takes. At that point, you might moisten the trigger guard area with a dauber on the inside and outside. Let it sit for a minute to case the leather, then massage that indention out of the rearward area of the trigger guard. You can cut the mag release at any time, but I'd probably do it when it is dry so you don't distort the shape of the holster with the sawing motion of your x-acto knife. Just use a brand new blade with a sharp tip.

Looking pretty good! Be sure to burnish (and dye the edge if you decide to do so) that reinforcement piece prior to assembly. Also, be careful with that indention rearward of the trigger. You want the trigger to fit nicely within a pocket of leather and try to make sure the leather can't push on the face of the trigger should the safety ever be disengaged.

That looks great! That ox blood does indeed look cool, especially with the airbrushed black edges.