AGreenSmudge

I'm not sure it'd change too much. In the pic the end of the barrel and slide is as far into the leather as it is going to go. I imagine with ear in over time it'd sit in deeper, but not much. I did specifically make this holster to accommodate the light, thought. So it would make it mostly pointless as I already have professionally made holsters for the gun entirely by itself. Thanks! It turned out better than I expected. I didn't want it to be perfectly even because I think that looks boring over large unstamped surfaces, but I have had trouble with even dyeing on large surfaces.

Only to find that the opening isn't quite high enough to safely cover the trigger. Oh well, it was a good exercise.

Hey guys. I have a veteran friend that has had one of those thin aluminum “C” shaped bracelets for a couple of years with the names of a few friends of his that were lost in action alongside him. He had gotten tired of the aluminum by itself and cut the sides off an inch or so away from the names, drilled some holes and attached the piece onto a generic leather snap bracelet to wear. He brought it to me at a party a few weeks ago after he'd heard and seen some of the work I had done with my own projects. He asked me if I could make him a new strap to attach the piece to since this one is a little too wide and the huge snaps fall exactly where one position is too big and the other is too small. He told me once he gets a new bracelet he's happy with, he will "never take it off again". Sounds like hyperbole and it may be, but he's also a stubborn bastard and it wouldn't surprise me if he did that. So I've been sitting at my desk looking at it while I work on other things for a couple of weeks and I think I can make the bracelet just fine, but I'm not sure how to make the clasp/buckle part. He does a lot of typing, so there will be times where he will have pressure from the weight of his arm on that area of his wrist and it also needs to be somewhat flat so that it won't catch on anything. My initial thoughts are a fairly thick main strap and then cover the inside with either a layer of real thin suede that I use for other projects or some sort of fabric. This should leave a tiny bit of room to cover up the attachment hardware for the name plate and whatever I might need to hide from the closing hardware. I have been stumped though on coming up with a thin design. I’m not sure a normal style buckle will be thin enough to be comfortable. I thought about making it a closed loop with some elastic, but then that could wear out eventually. Most recently I came across some stupid strong slim rare earth magnets in a drawer and thought a hidden piece of thin steel inside one side and another thin (less powerful than what I have) magnet on the other piece would hold well and make it super adjustable to whatever size he needs. But then there’s the whole magnets near electronics issue. Does anyone have any other ideas? Also, how do I make this thing as water proof as possible without making it uncomfortable and stiff? The only real sealant I’ve got is Fiebing’s Leather Sheen that I use to pretty much protect from body sweat.

Been lurking for a few weeks, I figure it's time to finally introduce myself. Been playing with leather for a little over a year and have learned a lot. Here are some pics of my most recent projects. Some key chains and a friction fit holster for my Zero Tolerance ZT0200. Looking forward to learning a lot and continuing the hobby!

Thanks for the response! I guess I should clarify. I plan to do the full dye, resist, antique, and finish coat. My plan wasnt to treat it and just walk away. I know from playing with dye and resist that it stiffens the leather considerably, which I think will be ok as I expect it will loosen up and break in over time. However, I didnt know if skipping any sort of treatment after molding/tooling and just finishing it out will make it too brittle and in the long run cause it to fray or break apart.

Hey guys, been lurking for a few weeks and this is my first post. I am a newbie when it comes to leather working and I'm currently in the middle of my first molding project, a friction hold knife holder. I've got the mold made and dried and about to do some minor tooling. My question is, I know after tooling its a good idea to treat the leather with some oil for long term durability. However, I dont want the mold to become too supple and lose its ability to retain the knife (it's a folding knife held sideways). Will not treating it harm the long term durability of the holder?