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Uh, that's cool to a whole new level... Very nice!

I agree with dickf - you need to curve your holster while it's still wet to help make sure it doesn't have to flex too much when the belt is tightened down. Excessive flexing will break down the holster in short order. Here is a photo of a 1911 pancake I made a while back. I mold my holsters on a flat surface, then bend the wings by hand as a final step in the molding process until I can look straight through one slot, out the other slot, and the view not be blocked by the back side of the holster.

I'm putting together an order for belt buckles, and wanted to get some opinions on the best place to order. I'm looking for roller buckles in nickel and brass. I have an Ohio Travel Bag catalog, as well as an account with Weaver. Who have you had the best luck with?

That was actually done with a cheap #2 beveler from an old Tandy kit. The trick is to lay it really flat against the leather and keep the toes of the tool from digging into the inside curve of the slot. I used the same punch with the size slot in my tutorial video on my website.

Thanks again for the compliments. I used 277 thread top and bottom. They're sewn with the Tippmann Boss, and I ordered the thread and needles from Tippmann as well. From their site - "Durable, bonded, hi-strength American Efird nylon thread."

Thanks fellas! The leather is 8-9 oz Herman Oak. Regarding the sharp lines, it's really nothing special - just lots of work with the bone folder. I probably work with the leather more damp than most prefer, but I think the leather stretches easier for the initial forming if it has more moisture in it. Once it dries a bit, you can come back and rub over the lines again to burnish the various indentations.

Haha - yeah, it was definitely stable. The leather was probably WAY too thick - I couldn't help but giggle every time I looked at it (and still do). I did this one for the customer for free, so I didn't feel overly obligated to remake it with thinner leather - at least not until he gives me some feedback on the design. I appreciate the compliment.

I had a customer send me a pattern for an Avenger style mag pouch to compliment the Avenger style holster I'm already making. Here is the result of that attempt. I don't know that I'd ever sell it, as it's a pain in the rear to make, but it was a fun experiment. In fact, I'll probably just trim off the wing and use it for a single-loop design.

Here is a another tooled Avenger style holster for a 4.25" 1911. The customer wanted it antiqued. I may have to stop antiquing them, as two coats of Satin Sheen then a coat of Antique really hinders the absorption of water for forming. I have to let the holster soak for a very long time to get the entire holster wet, and the slow absorption tends to affect the dye distribution leaving darker areas at the spots that took the longest to get completely wet. Dark colored thread - no problem, as I can antique it as a final step in the finishing process (before a final sealer), but when using natural/white thread, I have to do it very early in the build process. On a side note, I've been using a vacuum to help initially form the holsters which I think really helps to draw some of the excess moisture out of the leather from the overly long soaking phase. Here is one where I was able to antique it towards the end since it had dark thread. Here is another I did a while back that shows similar dye pooling. I think some customers like the variation in color, but it sure is a pain to work with once they're sealed up like that. For comparison, here is a holster without antique applied. You can really tell a difference and it really emphasizes the need for the antique step. LOL - I talk myself out of it, then I see this picture and it all seems worth it again.

I need to come up with a few more attachment methods one of these days, but these seem to be selling pretty well lately.

I dye before any assembly too. When you say your dye is visible on the white stitching - how much dye transfers? Does the thread go from white to brown and/or gray? Or from white to maybe "natural" thread color? I get slight transfer, but not so much that I worry about it. Usually my white thread turns out looking like natural thread (or maybe a slight grayish tint on black holsters). But you have to hold the two (white and natural) side by side to tell the difference. I also use Fiebings, but I buy the Pro dyes. I can't wax the thread because I'm machine stitching.

Yes - once I receive final confirmation that they're still interested, I'll go ahead and cut the leather and begin building the holster. Then I usually send the PayPal invoice out a day or two later - that way I usually have everyone's payment by the time I'm ready to ship. I don't ship anything unless I have payment first. I imagine one of these days I'll start requesting payment as soon as I reach the person in the queue before I even cut the leather. But it's just not that big a deal for me to place the order on my website as in-stock in case the buyer can't pay. I pretty much only do 1911's and a couple glocks. I have a few other dummies, but the majority of my orders are 1911 so they'll be easy to sell. When I first started, I took a photo of each individual holster and emailed it to the customer to make sure they were happy with the way it looked. Once they approved, I'd send the invoice. I don't send pics anymore unless someone specifically asks.

Are you on the Texas CHL forum (I see you're in Houston)? I posted a few holsters early on in my endeavor on there for sale and didn't have any trouble offloading them. Now, I don't (and wouldn't) run daily ads or anything (nor would I probably list anything there since I have a website of my own now with plenty of traffic) - don't want to be a nuisance. But, I think you can safely and confidently post one thread in the classified section of the forum and list your excess holsters in that one thread. http://www.texaschlforum.com/ Regarding deposits -I tossed that idea around after I had a few people fall off the planet when it came time to pay up, but here is what I decided to do. When I am finishing a batch of holsters, I'll email the next group of customers to make sure they are still interested in their holsters. If they respond, I cut the leather. If not, I hold onto the order and move on to the next customer in line. If I never hear back, I'll call. Several times I've come across inoperable numbers or obviously fake mailing addresses... If I determine it was a fake order (after not being able to contact the customer), I'll just void the order and move on. If they say they're still interested, I build the holster, then they for some reason can't pay, it's no problem for me to just post it on my website as an in-stock item. I don't do any crazy custom stuff that no one else will buy. However, if I did, I might request partial payment up front to cover the custom color dyes, exotic leathers, etc. This way I'll know they're committed and it's not just a scam or prank order. These are hard financial times for nearly everyone. I've had several people email me and say they've lost their jobs, or had to sell their gun to pay a bill, etc. I'm happy to cancel their order if it makes their financial situation better. Likewise -we've had a lot of medical stuff come up with our youngest child. I basically had to take a month away from making holsters just to shuttle my wife and kid around to the doctor, babysit my other kids, etc. If I took my customer's money up front, I'd feel bad about the added wait time on their order. If I had to stop making holsters all together, I hope I could come up with the money to credit my customers their deposits back. Since I don't take money up front, I could stop making holsters tomorrow and it wouldn't really be a big deal. Some customers might be ticked if they really wanted one of my holsters, but at least they didn't lose any money and I'm not forced to pay a bunch of people their deposit back.

I oiled my coasters and let them sit at least 12 hours to soak and distribute through the leather. I had no problem with the finish adhering to the coasters. For the finish, I used two coats of Satin Sheen, followed by an airbrush coat of Resolene. I haven't sold any coasters, but I have handed them out as gifts and they've held up very well.

Very nice. If you apply the antique for those customers that request it, at what point do you apply it?

Thanks! Some of the tooling got a little shallow after folding it - particularly the seed portion of the flower (I used a single stamp, instead of the seeder stamp this time...). But regarding the process, I dyed the leather after the tooling was completely finished and dry. Then it was glued and stitched onto the holster body. With a damp sponge, I wiped down the tooled piece of leather to dampen it a bit, and then dampened the interior at the fold line a little more deeply, then folded it and glued & stitched it closed. At this point I completely wet the holster (dunk for 5-10 seconds), then move on to forming. I've started using a vacuum press and was pretty concerned that the vacuum would compress the tooling, but it didn't... I pushed on it a bit to contour the tooled area around the slide, but that was all the effort I put into that area on this particular holster. The rest of the retention is in the trigger guard area and around the slide.

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so I figured I'd throw this out there. Things have been crazy lately! Car repairs, vinegaroon (spelling??) disaster that made me have to remake this particular holster set, glock holster that didn't stiffen up... Anyway, I was honored to be asked to build this holster for a guy that's getting married this weekend - it's an open carry wedding. He wanted black with dark brown, and tooling. I antiqued the tooling after having applied two heavy coats of Satin Sheen, but the dark brown antique REALLY darkened the leather - more than I was expecting. I wasn't about to remake this order for a third time...

Mr. Ghormley would be proud. That's a nice looking holster, but I would ask him personally if you are concerned about copyright issues. My thinking is that if you paid money for his pattern, you have a right to produce holsters for profit from that pattern. Obviously you can't sell the pattern, but I don't see any problem with selling the holsters you make from the pattern. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

The word you're looking for is "T-Nut". As Luke said, you can find them in small quantities at the local home store - Lowes, Home Depot - look at the isle that has all the pull-out draws with specialty fasteners. That being said, there is a version with the barbs, and there is a version with tiny holes that you would nail a brad through to hold the fastener to a piece of wood. I have been unable to find a t-nut with short enough barbs that won't completely penetrate the leather without being filed down to a shorter length. If anyone knows where to find the t-nut with barbs that won't penetrate 6-7 oz leather, I'm all ears.

I actually rooned it, did the whole bathing thing, then let it dry overnight. Then I assembled it, stitched it, then it sat again overnight. Then I soaked it in water and tried to form it - about 2 days after having rooned it. Or should I say "ruined" it, as the case may be! LOL This was a tooled holster for a customer that's getting married and I'm against a deadline. Shouldn't have tried something new with this one. Live and learn!

Well, I tried my Vinegaroon a couple days ago and tried to form my holsters last night. Couple things struck me.... First, this stuff stinks! Is it possible to get rid of that smell?? The leather - I dunked it in the roon for maybe 5-10 seconds, let it sit for a minute, then dunked it again just to make sure I had thorough penetration. Then I dunked it for maybe 10 - 20 seconds in a baking soda solution in the ratio ChuckBurrows mentioned a couple posts back. Lastly, I rinsed it thoroughly in water and set it on a paper towel to dry. I was a little dismayed to see how much discoloration transferred to the paper towel. I'm not sure what is transferring (since it's not dye) - perhaps some of the "stuff" in the leather is just oozing out and getting on the paper towel? What threw me was that this eliminates the possibility of roon'ing a holster with white thread AFTER it's already assembled and formed, which brings me to my next point. I had a very hard time molding the roon'ed leather to the firearm. Even after soaking it for maybe a minute, it just didn't want to form very easily and would hardly hold the shape I was asking it to hold (yes, I said "please..."). I know it's a bit waterproofed when it's rooned, but I'd heard it could still be formed. I'm not entirely sure about that - at least not to the point natural veg-tanned leather is capable of. So, in the future, If a holster is to have black thread, I'll roon it after it's assembled and formed to the gun. If it's to have white thread, I'll just keep using black dye and dye my pieces prior to assembly. Anyone have any insight to offer that may be of some help to the smell and forming issue?

Try hitting it with a coat of Satin Sheen before you take any more drastic measures. In wood working, often times you need to build up multiple layers of the finish coat to smooth out the grain of the wood and eliminate the surface imperfections. If you want a satin finish, it's recommended that you do all of your base coats with gloss, and then a final coat or two of Satin as Satin tends to look foggy with multiple coats.

Thanks for the workflow description. I'll give my batch a try in the next couple of days hopefully... For burnishing dyed holsters, I simply dampen the edges with a sponge with water right before I do the forming. Once the edges are damp, I run the edges over my burnisher that's mounted in my drill press (wooden dowel with some grooves filed in it with a round rasp). All I'm basically trying to accomplish at this point is to round the edges up a bit, and smooth it out some - basically getting the basic rounded shape around the edges. After forming, I put the holster in the oven to harden the leather, and then air dry it in front of a fan overnight. At this point, it's very difficult to round and shape the edges because the leather doesn't manipulate very easily - this is why I do the initial edge shaping before the molding process. After it has dried in front of a fan overnight, I'll dye the edges (I always use black, unless it's a natural holster), then in an hour or two I burnish with Gum. Lately I've scrubbed a little beeswax on the edge (instead of Gum) and burnished again with a wooden dowel with a strip of canvas taped onto it (it wraps around the dowel when you turn on the drill). For a natural holster, I'll spend a little more time initially to get some good burnished color before the forming process, then do it again with water after the holster has been formed and dried. Then I may hit it with some light brown dye to darken it a bit more if the burnishing didn't work very well. There are probably MUCH better methods than what I do - I'm just too lazy to order any other products.

Sorry you didn't get any feedback - I just made my first batch of the stuff, and haven't strained it yet so I haven't gotten to use it thus far. I was hoping someone would chime in with some feedback as I'm needing to figure out what the proper work flow is. Did the white spots go away on their own? Or did you have to buff them out?