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Sorry to revive an old thread, but how long do you leave the leather submerged in the dye when dipping? I dip dyed recently, and only left it in the dye about 5-10 seconds max - the dye penetrated the leather completely (8-10oz). It took several days to dry... When I sewed my pieces together and wet the items to form (holsters), the dye transferred to my thread (even though I buffed the leather). Now I'm thinking I might need to remake these particular holsters.

From the past threads, most will say 1/4" (two layers of 8-9oz) is border-line too thick. Depending on who you ask, you'll get something along the following: (2) 6-7oz 8-9oz backed with 5oz 9-10oz backed with 2-3oz I posted a thread a while back asking this and got loads of responses - search my threads and you should find it fairly quickly. Regarding the narrower belts - I made my 6yr old son a double-layered belt. It was either 1" or 1.25". I skived the blanks down much thinner, but it went together just like the thicker/wider belts. The finished thickness is probably between 1/8" and 3/16".

When you order your dummies from Rings, be sure to ask them to leave off the final finish coat if that was not discussed over the phone, as the finish coat will transfer to your leather. It's easy enough to remove on your own with some denatured alcohol and a tooth brush, but it makes a mess. I believe you can also request either Black or Blue for the dummies, but I always get blue in case the neighbor kids wander into my shop, grab a dummy, then go walking down the street pointing it at people... (I don't usually leave my shop unattended with the door open).

Have you tried simply brushing it on the exterior surfaces only? I remember seeing Lexol makes a non-darkening version of their conditioner - maybe give that a try?

Sounds like a great thing you're doing! Have them do a few mystery braids.... that'll keep their minds occupied for a while! It certainly did mine!!

Sorry - when I said "concealed carry" rigs, I was referring to all types of carry for self-protection, to include concealed carry and open carry, etc.

What about specializing in tooled/carved concealed carry rigs?Perhaps you could offer up a basic line of holsters to pay the bills, but really push and emphasize your floral tooling on your website by showing that stuff the most. I had a customer email me a few weeks ago saying he'd just spent over $500 for a tooled belt, holster and cuff carrier (he was trying to get me to start making belts).... Think about all those people that spend thousands on their 1911's... Those are the people I'd go after if I were in your shoes.

Interesting photo. It's hard to tell how much the airbrush is penetrating. The dauber certainly seems to have penetrated much deeper, though it obviously comes at a price (uneven application). You might take that same airbrushed sample and do one third with twice as many passes, and another third with triple the passes. Leave one third just like it is already. Then cut it again to see if you can tell a difference in penetration with increased passes. Not sure - this test might need to be initially when you start with natural, undyed leather. I don't know if it will penetrate the same now that it's completely dried...

I haven't any complaints from my customers, but I did receive one back recently that I needed to remake for another reason. He'd had it for a few days, and somehow managed to scuff the the trigger guard area in one tiny spot - it looked like maybe his ring was turned around and the diamond scraped it or something along that line. Or perhaps it was his watch band - don't know. That scuff, along with other comments on this board about dye penetration while airbrushing got me to thinking I need to try a different method. I tried a couple other methods (wool patch, and also dipping), but I'll stick with airbrushing and just put it on heavier. For my base coat, I usually use 3 fairly heavy passes (with my dual-action brush, I spray about 3/4 flow of dye). I'll probably use 100% of the flow now, and 4-5 or 6 passes.

Not great... However, I think the penetration is directly proportional to the amount of coats you put on it. You'll probably never get as thick an application as you would by dipping/daubing it, but with the headaches I've had the last 3 days resulting from applying dye with wool patches - I'll take an airbrush application ANY day!! I'll just start putting it on heavier, or using more passes. I was using 3 passes on my previous work. I'll double that, if not more.

Thanks fellas - I buffed them down some more tonight, and am moving forward with the build. I was hopeful that an application of oil and finish would minimize/eliminate it, so it's good to hear your feedback.

I did try buffing, but it didn't eliminate the sheen.

Looks great to me! I'd like to see a photo of the back of the buckle area, if you'd care to share. Very nice!

So, I decided to try a different dye application method for this batch of holsters I'm working on. I ordered some wool, clipped off a 1"x2" patch, then applied my dye with the wool patch. I'm using Fiebing's Pro Oil dyes. When the dye dried, I had darker portions around the edges (where the dye dripped over the edge and soaked into the back) and along the center of my pieces where I dyed the back-side that would be exposed when the holster is formed (the interior, non-lined surface of the holster). Fearing that 80% of my pieces were botched and would have to be re-done, I re-dyed them - but this time I dip-dyed them. This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the pieces will be usable now. The coloring is not nearly as even as I get with airbrushing, but that's another line of discussion. A lot of the orders have airbrushed accents around the edges, and a couple wanted their holsters antiqued anyway! The only problem I see now is that several of the pieces have a pearlescent sheen to them. I assume this is simply the pigment resting on the surface, heavier in some spots, and is causing it to reflect light in a funny way. Should I worry about this? Or is there anything I can do to eliminate it? I tried buffing one of the pieces this morning, and the sheen was still there. I'm still VERY early on in the build process. I still have to glue, sew, form, oil and finish - perhaps the sheen will go away once they are dunked in water, rubbed for forming, oiled and finished. Anyone have any tips to make sure I don't miss a step that could have fixed this?

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=30876&pid=193090&st=0entry193090

I agree with 50 Years Leather - do not case the leather prior to sewing. You want less tracks and pucker, not more. Even if casing the leather minimized the pucker, it'll increase the tracks - the presser foot will basically be 'tooling' the leather, making additional impressions with every stitch. Instead, when you're done sewing, dampen the leather along the stitch line, then rub over the stitches with a bone folder to close the stitch back up.

If memory serves, that was airbrushed with Fiebing's Saddle Tan.

Looks great! Can I ask where you bought that roller buckle?

I've been asked to sell my patterns, but my typical response is to direct them here, refer them to the Stohlman holster book, and let them know I'd be happy to help them generate their own patterns. I've debated selling them, but haven't gotten around to it yet. One time, I told the guy I'd sell my pattern for something like $40, and he would not be allowed to sell holsters built from my pattern (since I make and sell holsters from the same patterns) - they would only be for personal use. This guy had already admitted he was planning on making and selling holsters generated from my patterns. His response was that other makers were willing to sell their patterns for half that cost, and didn't care if he sold the holsters he'd made from those patterns. You know, maybe I should track that guy down and see who he's buying his patterns from... Might save me a lot of work making my own patterns! LOL

Dwight - someone was asking about this just a day or two ago in another thread. May I ask - do you simply offset your stitch line from the firearm, for example, 3/4" on the front piece, and maybe 1/4" from the firearm on the back? Or do you have to use different offsets to compensate for different widths as you progress down the firearm (For basic pancakes, I use the same offset the entire length of the gun and have never had a problem)?

That's the one! Thanks!!

I've been searching for this image for about 30 minutes. I was telling my brother about this holster I saw on this site that was black with silver paint wiped on, then wiped off to accent the tooling. Does anyone know where that thread is off-hand? Yes, I've tried the search, but I guess I'm not using the correct terms because I can't find the post...

Let's assume you are offsetting your pattern's stitch line 1/2" from the firearm. To get the flatter back, you'd offset the back (for example) 1/4" and the front 3/4", or something along that line. When you're ready to assemble, line up the registration marks and glue. That being said, I've never done this and don't know if you need to adjust the offset differently as you progress to wider/narrower portions of the gun.

You might try Barge Contact Cement if you're familiar with the rubber cement approach & workflow. http://springfieldleather.com/store/product/7319/Cement%2CContact%2CBarge%2C2oz/

I was going to suggest contact adhesive, but it would be hard to apply consistently, evenly, quick and inside your square grid quickly enough for your sample boards. You might try something like the gel-type super glue since it's easy to apply , and you'd only have to apply it to your mat board (vs. contact cement needing to be applied to both surfaces and also needing some drying time). I assume you've tried some of the better double-stick tapes (not poster tape)? The super glue (or related glues) might be expensive, but in the end, it will probably the be the fastest method making it more cost effective.