Dwight

I assume you want to fold the edges over the white portion of the face of the Samsung case . . . or at least enough to hold it in the case. If it were me . . . I'd find a piece of PVC or similar plastic . . . slightly thinner than the tablet . . . say may 30 or 40 thousandths thinner . . . and I'd cut it a half inch short of the length of the tablet . . . and only 2/3 or 3/4 as wide. I'd then take a router and round the edges to match that of the Samsung. THEN . . . very carefully cut the leather so it lays a good 1/4 inch over the tablet . . . and cut the corners so they match up in a nice 45 deg angle at each corner. THEN . . . very carefully wet the leather (that 1/4 inch plus a tad) . . . with 135 deg water . . . working one edge at a time . . . then the top . . . the other side . . . last the bottom . . . I'd work it over with a flat plastic rod . . . until it went over and stayed over. I'd work it until I got all 4 sides done . . . then put it under a lamp with a thermometer . . . don't let it get over 140 degrees . . . but heat dry it . . . Then all you do is carefully dye and finish . . . and you will have a pretty case. Use a light dab of glue or contact cement to pull and keep the corners together . . . and then be very careful with it. You'll have a case like no other. I started to do that with my Samsung Note 8 . . . but I am Mr. Fumblefingers . . . and I bit the bullet and bought a bouncy rubber case for it so I didn't have to pop for a new glass face for it. Post pics when you get it done . . . May God bless, Dwight

You are a definite credit to the leather working industry . . . May God bless, Dwight

I have some fairly rigid white foam . . . cut a round hole in it . . . stuck it down in there. Took all of 15 seconds . . . the solution will outlast me . . . by decades . . . unless someone comes in after I'm worm food and tosses it. Or cut the bottom off a long skinny pill jar . . . screw the lid to a board . . . put the bottle down into the lid . . . drop the skiver into the bottle. . . done. May God bless, Dwight

As always . . . you do beautiful work Bruce . . . I still crack up at your tag line about squatting with spurs on . . . May God bless, Dwight

Both Tandy Leather factory and Weaver Leather in Berlin, Ohio . . . they accept credit card orders . . . I've never gotten a bad piece of leather from Weaver . . . Tandy leather can sometimes be just not quite what I was looking for . . . but I can usually make it work. They both sell sides . . . as well as ST leather in St. Louis. I've not dealt with them in a few years . . . but would guess they are still in business . . . see them mentioned from time to time. May God bless, Dwight

I've done some pretty big gun belts (one was a 53 when he ordered it . . . 56 when he came to pick it up 6 weeks later) lol........... But I've never had to splice the outside or the liner. Just buy leather that is big enough . . . cures that problem. Double shoulders are fine for the holsters . . . use side leather for the belts . . . I tend to try to use the higher up leather for the outside piece . . . line it with the lower leather down near the belly. Don't really understand your glue problem . . . if you use contact cement . . . they go together right now . . . it is done . . . trim and sand the edges . . . stitch it and you have a belt. May God bless, Dwight

Forget the vacuum sealer . . . they don't pull the vacuum this little guy will. https://www.harborfreight.com/25-cfm-vacuum-pump-61245.html May God bless, Dwight

As is easily seen in the pictures earlier in this thread . . . pancakes I make are generally almost flat backed. They ride well . . . are super comfortable . . . make for both easy drawing and for easy re-holstering . . . I make the front first . . . by cutting a piece of leather that is generally the right size . . . but somewhat bigger. If I'm putting on a front strengthening piece . . . it goes on first . . . sometimes it is tooled or otherwise decorated . . . that is done first . . . then glued and sewn in place. Wet the leather . . . lay it on the gun . . . place the gun on a white plastic cutting board . . . into the vacuum bag . . . do any special molding that is necessary or desired . . . and my front is "formed" so to speak. Hang it up to dry in my oven box at 135 to 140 degrees. Next day . . . finish cutting and trimming the front so it gets the final shape. Lay it down on the blank leather with the gun in it . . . trace the outside . . . adding a sweat shield (if so desired) . . . cut it out . . . glue it to the front . . . sand the edges . . . bevel the inside of the holster mouth and the toe . . . Get the back wet . . . insert the gun . . . using thumb pressure . . . do a bit of molding such as you see above in the pictures. It really isn't much . . . but it helps in the retention. Again . . . into the oven box . . . same temp . . . dry the rascal. Give it a light coat of neatsfoot oil . . . ONLY on the outside . . . hair side of the leather. . . . allow it to dry overnight hanging in your shop (at least 16 hours). Dip dye the whole thing . . . and let is set for about 15 minutes . . . carefully touch up any boogered up spots on the front panel if you carved / stamped / traced anything on there. Back in the oven until it is DRY. Put the gun or gun mold in it . . . and buff it like you are trying to shine up an old bowling ball. Sew it . . . and pull your stitches up TIGHT to the molded edges. From there it is finish the beveling . . . dress the edges . . . add final finish coat(s) . . . you are done. That is my way of making pancake holsters . . . May God bless, Dwight

You're welcome . . . make sure to show us what you came up with. May God bless, Dwight

On a pancake with no suicide strap or thumb break . . . stiffener is a good idea. Over time, the holster will tend to loosen up . . . the stiffener stretches that time out a bit. When you go to do the wet mold . . . use water in the neighborhood of 135 deg F . . . and if you heat dry it (not over 140 deg F) it will also become harder. I have a wooden box with light bulbs in the bottom . . . works as my oven . . . they get right real rigid that way. Also . . . pull those stitches in tight to the gun. Once molded, dyed, dried, and finished . . . wearing it a couple days will loosen up any "extra" tightness from the stitches . . . so get close. Here are some pics of a typical one I make . . . owner wanted black wings on this one. May God bless, Dwight

Resolene will seal it and it won't rub off any more . . . . at least where you will notice it. It will rub off, . . . but in incredibly small amounts . . . you'll never know when it happens. Takes a couple coats . . . thin it 50/50 with tap water. May God bless, Dwight

Looks good to me.......... May God bless, Dwight

That wasn't the question . . . did you BUFF the item after it dried??? There are a few dyes . . . few and far between . . . that do not need a serious buffing after they dry. The rule of thumb is sorta . . . the darker the dye . . . the more you buff . . . and if you use USMC Black . . . you will never buff off all of the loose pigment. It is the loose pigment that is giving you the problem. Take a white terry cloth wash cloth from your wife's stash . . . don't get caught . . . lay down whatever you have made . . . and buff that thing like you are trying to burnish a brass bell. Then . . . put the next coats of laquer on with a brush . . . preferably a cheap bristle brush like the 50 cent ones you get at Harbor Freight. You will probably have your problem cured by then. May God bless, Dwight

Like blue62 . . . +1 on the veg tan leather liner. Generally if I'm lining a holster . . . I cut out my outside piece . . . flip the rest of my leather over . . . cut out the liner . . . put the two together with contact cement . . . sand the edges smooth . . . and proceed with my leather holster making. I generally use 6/7 oz for both the outside and the liner. John Bianchi teaches that technique . . . and he has probably made more holsters than any 20 you can find on this forum all put together . . . I learned from his videos. The other reason to leave deer skin . . . pig skin . . . etc out of your holsters is they absorb and suck the oil off your gun much worse than veg tan . . . and as mentioned earlier . . . will also become a repository for every last piece of sand, dust, dirt, and other garbage . . . in addition to being softer than veg tan . . . and will mush up, cut, and become ugly . . . very quick. These are some I've made. . . . all are double leather . . . 6/7 oz . . . most where both pieces are cut from the same hide. . . next to each other. The only time I break that rule above . . . I put suede as a liner on my trucker holsters that basically are a chest holster for hunting. The gun is never in the suede long enough to get chrome salts on it that will hurt it . . . and the suede makes drawing it just a tad more quiet than the veg tan. Animals have very sensitive hearing. . . so I do that only for my hunting customers. May God bless, Dwight

Unless someone had more definitive knowledge . . . my guess is contact cement. It IS the product of choice for me when I do anything similar. AND . . . it is a rather unique product . . . but I'm not sold on that plastic case . . . the rubber case I have extends up around the sides . . . not sure what protection these cases provide if the phone would be dropped on concrete and land on its edge. Personally . . . while I like the esthetic properties . . . but not the practical application. May God bless, Dwight

How about tossing us a picture or two . . . make sure what we are discussing. May God bless, Dwight

I made an envelope from some thick vinyl . . . hooked up a vacuum pump . . . I slip the holster with the gun in it on a plastic cutting board . . . slide it in the bag . . . turn on the pump . . . and watch the magic. Depending on how detailed I want it . . . sometimes I'll turn off the pump . . . let air back in the bag . . . reposition the holster or sheath or case . . . hit the pump again and mold it while it is in the vinyl bag. I get what I believe are really good results . . . May God bless, Dwight

A lot of the answer will be determined by the type of holster he wants. If for example he wants a flap over holster . . . similar to the old cavalry holsters of 150 years ago . . . the molding will be VERY minimal. If he wants a "wrap around" holster similar to what John Wayne wore in his westerns . . . you do a bit more molding. If he wants a pancake holster with lots of "grab" and no suicide strap or thumb break . . . you will do a lot of molding. Let us know which type holster . . . we can go from there with much better and more detailed information. May God bless, Dwight

You have your work cut out for you on that one. I doubt if any of the mold makers have one for that. You will either have to have him give you the gun . . . or . . . make a mold yourself. It can be done . . . I have a drawer full of mold models I've made over the years . . . a band saw, drill press, a 12 inch disc sander . . . and a 30 inch belt sander are all used for just about any I've done. Personally . . . I'd have to hit him up for some mold money as well as the holster . . . OR . . . you make just a generic fold over holster that wlll hold it. The one good thing about making the mold yourself. . . . you will learn skills that cannot be taught in a school or class . . . Best wishes my friend . . . may God bless, Dwight

If I'm cutting rounded pieces . . . I cut a bit . . . turn the leather . . . cut a bit . . . turn the leather. AND . . . I use a razor knife exclusively . . . nothing else. Can't get confused that way as to which knife to use. For sanding blocks of glued together leather . . . glue first . . . then sand. I have a 12 inch disc sander and a 30 inch belt sander. . . . they both do great jobs. I make holster toes . . . bottoms for cell phone cass . . . bottom for special purses . . . May God bless, Dwight

Go to the Salvation Army or Goodwill . . . you may find a leather vest there or a denim vest . . . I've done similar when I needed a pattern . . . cut the dude apart and you have the pattern. May God bless, Dwight

Then that should be a piece of cake to sew with a machine. After you sew it . . . get the outside piece pretty damp and roll it. That will stretch it . . . and you are good to go. Make sure you glue them together first . . . I use only Weldwood contact cement . . . works every time. May God bless, Dwight

Without a special machine, . . . I think they call it a patcher . . . it ain't gonna happen unless you have another seam behind your strap that we cannot see. The other alternative would be (what I would do) to hand sew it. Make a dowel that fits inside it quite nicely . . . use it to back up your punch going thru the leather . . . practice on some cheap belly leather first, till you get your procedure down. For me it would be a 2 hour project (the stitching that is). May God bless, Dwight

Biggest problem I've ever found is finding just the "right" piece of leather so it looks good. Inspect it real good . . . then go for it. I've made any number of em . . . pretty much always liked the end result. BUT . . . I cannot think of but one I always do that way . . . if I make one similar to Clint Eastwood's spaghetti western rig . . . Otherwise . . . they are all CCW holsters. The rough texture keeps it from moving around as much . . . and while some folks like that . . . I am NOT a fan of it. Personal choice. May God bless, Dwight