SLP

Thank you Boriqua! I really appreciate the help. I'll look around.

Where do you find white lizard hide? That is really cool!

Very cool man! I love the deer! Amazing job for first attempt at tooling.

Thanks Triage1998. That, by the way, is an incredibly handsome holster! Wow!

Has anyone had any experience burying the thumb breaks stiffener between laminated leather or liners? Again I'm trying to get it right the first time by doing way too much research and asking just the right people 1000 questions. I've actually left that part of the liner unstitched and sewn up the rest of the holster because I'm not quite sure how far up I want the thumb break to extend. I was planning on molding / wet forming prior to doing the final glue and stitch of the thumb break. I thought if I could bury the stiffener between the leather and liner it might look cleaner.

Beautiful! That came out very nice. I hope my first belt is half as nice. If you're looking for a good place for thread I've had good results from thethreadexchange.com. For small orders check out their small spools section under nylon thread.

I'm fairly new to this whole thing as well, but in the spirit of repaying the debt I owe to everyone on this forum I will add my two cents. As far as spreading the tooling out over several days, I have had fairly good luck with placing the piece in a plastic bag to retain the moisture. When I have allowed it to dry and then re-wet it, I have not noticed any ill effect, but it seems a bit easier to seal it in a bag and let the moisture remain.

That's really cool! Nice work!

I've had similar questions before as well. I think I remember somewhere on the forum someone wrote that after you tool a piece, you can apply moisture to the inside only, with a sponhe perhaps. By inside I mean the side of the leather that hasn't been tooled. By doing this the moisture will not be as heavy on the tooled side and that will allow you to form the leather to the gun (holster making) with minimal damage to the tooling. Admittedly, I have not tried this technique myself, but it seems to make sense.

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the positive comments.

Just curious. Do you guys price a portion of the blue gun cost into each holster, or just take a hit on profit for the first one of any particular type?

Thanks Mike. I agree. The holster is anything but pragmatic. The design does not seem to have been well thought out. Besides the lack of space for a decent firing grip, the way they have the retention strap connect to the less than adequate belt loop really bums me out. However, I'm not out of leather, and I have the tools to create another and another. If I don't try to create my own pattern I may borrow one of JLS Leather's. At first I was really bummed about how the retention strap was pointed as if is should go over the grip safety (not evan a usable design for a 1911, ugh), but I just got it wet and helped it go elswhere. It's not pretty, but it'll do the job. I'll just make another holster and move on. I really do appreciate the feedback Mike. Thanks again.

Finaly, after way too long, completed my first holster/leather project. I started with of of those Realeather holster kits my wife bought me. I only ended up using the main leather piece from the kit. Tooled with the basic set. Leather sheen to resist the edges and initials. I used th Eco Flo anique gel (saddle tan and briar brown mix.) I lined it with 2-3oz. Set the stitches in a groove on both sides and pierced the holes with a piercing awl. Hand stitched with #554 bonded nylon (off white.) Bunished/slicked edges with the hand slicker tool from Tandy. And finish coats with the same leather sheen. Thanks to JLS Leather and many others on this forum for all of their helpful tips. I really want to do a pancake holster next. Any critique or tips you guys have for me would be greatly appreciated.

Very nice. I like the background texture.

That finish is beautiful! What did you use, and how did you achieve that mottled look?

Even after a few coats of leather sheen, when I wet the leather to bend it into the final shape a fair amount of the antique started to come off, so I decided not to push my luck. I just got it into the general shape. Just laziness I guess after spending so long on it, but I didn't want to re stitch. although I think re-stitching after applying the antique finish when fully moulded would have been the ideal procedure. Thanks again to all you guys for your input.

Here's a couple pics

Thanks guys. I decided to keep the forming to a minimum.

Thanks for the tips Josh.

Thank you JLSleather. I have seen many of your posts on the forum, and you have already helped me out more than you know. Your stitch twice recommendation is a great idea I hadn't considered. I now remember reading about that before. It's a jagged pill to swallow, but it seems like the best if not only way to accomplish what I'm after. Thank you very much for your help. I've never been a member of a forum before, and I'm proud that this is my first one. The people on here are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. I've had a thousand questions about leather that have all been answered by searching online, and probably 85% of my answers have come from this forum. I only hope that in some time, I can be as helpful to others as you guys have been to me. Thank you again.

Thanks,Camano Ridge. I wanted to keep my stitching nice and white. So, would you suggest gluing, molding, antique finish, then stitching? I will be hand stitching, so it would be possible to do it after molding. The only problem I see with that is I have to stitch portions of the liner before I stitch the seam. I just don't know how to do it while keeping the antique gel from getting in the stitches and covering the thread.

Please forgive me if I'm not doing this right. This is my first time on any forum. I am attempting to construct a holster with an antique finish. I am curious if wet forming will destroy the finish. I have tooled the leather (6-7oz) and plan to line with 3-4oz. I'm using eco flo gel antique. I don't want to do any intense moulding that will destroy the tooling, but I would like a snug fit. Do I just antique finish first and accept that some will be removed while wetting and forming? I plan to "seal" with super shene. Between the cement and super sheen I assume the water will take longer to penetrate sufficiently to form. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.