Ledbeter36

Thank you, so your saying I should never let a wet form stay in until completely dry rather remove it near the end and let it finish drying on its own. I've noticed every leather reacts somewhat differently to being heat dried. I've had some that dried completely in the oven and it didn't Matter but this is the third time I've seen this reaction. So no more full drying under heat.

So I have a bunch of cheap leather from Argentina that I was using to try new designs, build prototypes, practice carving and just try new things in general. So I was making a holster back piece and didn't like the way the water based dye was going so I decided to rinse out as much as I could and go with a much darker color to cover since it's not that important. Once wet I just put it in the oven on lowest setting like always because I wanted to hurry up drying and didn't care if it was hard. I checked it several times and the outer edges were drying and the center was still darker. Then a short time later the center turned very dark and heavy wrinkles in the skin. I had a piece do this that I knew had been in contact with baby oil before but this hasn't had any oil on it as far as I know. Is my oven heating up more than it should? Or does it mean it had to of come in contact with some oil or chemical. It didn't feel that hot when I removed it. I just want to make sure I don't do this to expensive leather. I'm not experienced enough to know for sure. Any help or ideas is appreciated.

I still consider myself a newbie but everyone loves my holsters. I never intended to sell any just make stuff for me and maybe friends. I started by copying a design of a holster I bought from a guy who happens to be on here. I liked it a lot but wanted to change the color but since it was black I was told it would be easier to make one so I did. Now I'm up to my neck in requests. Now someone is asking about a gun belt. I have always bought my gun belts because it's such a competitive market. I can't see being able to make a truely stiff single or dual layer belt cheaper than you can buy one. But I'm still getting requests so like everything I do I'm making a prototype for me first. My stuff for myself is always the crappiest looking of everything I make because I want to be sure I give someone somthing good and functional as well as nice to look at. So where do I start. Should I use double shoulders or sides or what part? And why do people use a strap cutter rather than just a knife to cut out the belt? What tools might I need that I don't already have making holsters. I guess this is the next logical evolution but if I can't provide as good or better quality than a person can buy at a decent price I don't want to do it. After all I'm not trying to turn a hobby I enjoy into another job.

I only have experience with the leather sheen spray and my little experiment with the mod podge acrylic that doesn't flex enough. Leather sheen is ok. Seems like I have to use a lot of coats and its pricy. I'm trying resolene currently and may prefer it over mop n glo but mop n glo works well. I haven't tried dipping so I just might.

Ok yes I am making a flat back style also. I too prefer the flat back. But I am trying to expand my experience so if I sew the pieces first then form I will have a form somewhat in the back piece. So a lot of people do all their stitching first? Wow I would mess that up. Can you stitch just the outside edge and still form it that way and then stick around the form when done? And when they say they measure the slide width and divide by half are they talking about the top of the slide or across the side of the slide. I also wonder if you still couldn't get a flat back the pre stitch way by keeping the pressure on the back flat and keeping it as dry as possible. I would like to see the back of some holsters formed after stitching if anyone feels like sharing.

New guy with new questions. I have made about half a dozen pancake style holsters so far and seem to be doing well. I had no one to teach me other than reading and word of mouth. So I have been plotting out my back piece the. I cut a rough over sized piece for the front. I lay the gun on the back piece and then mold the wet piece over the gun. Then cook it on low checking it often, take it out just a little before completely dry then finish drying over a light bulb. Then lay it against the back piece mark it and cut off the excess. Then glue, burnish, dye, stitch and finish. I've read on here and other places that a lot of people cut the back and front same size glue and stitch it then wet form by sticking the gun in. Am I doing it wrong the way I've been doing it. I seem to have good retention as long as I pay attention to boneing good and stitch close. Will I get more the other way. It certainly seems I will waste less leather. Are there advantages to this way over what I have been doing? Thanks in advance guys.

Hello great site. I've made about half a dozen pancake style holsters and learning a lot. I've been experimenting with different finishes. I have noticed a lot of people use mop n glo cut 50/50 with water. Why do they cut it. Ive cut it and used it uncut. It's pretty thin to start with and other than cutting it cuts down gloss a little it seems to work better straight. Are they cutting it to spray it better? Also I see a lot of people use a coat of shoe polish or johnsons paste wax on top of the acrylic finish. So I tried johnsons paste wax. It seems to add a thin slick layer. Is the johnsons safe for all finishes? I only ask because I do a little wood working and I know johnsons has some petroleum products in it. I noticed when experimenting with some mod podge clear acrylic spray "which looks great but is not flexible enough cracks too easy" that when I used johnsons paste wax over it it removed the acrylic finish. It may have been because it wasn't fully cured it had only been a couple hours but it made me wonder if I shouldn't be using a neutral shoe polish instead. I haven't noticed it taking the acrylic mop n glo or resolene off but it sure took that acrylic spray off. Has anyone else had any problems with johnsons? Sorry long post. I have many thoughts and questions in my head.

Hi new member here. I'm new to leather work. Actually I've been in it a couple months but I've already made half a dozen pancake style holsters. I guess I'm ok at it. I tried making one for myself and it turned out pretty good for a newb and then coworkers and friends seen it and wanted one. So I made more and I seem to get better with each one. I have a ton of questions and have been stealing info from here so I joined. I live in Florida but travel all over Kansas and Missouri for work. I'm away more than home currently so this is a great hobby that I can do on the road. Looking forward to learning all I can. I'll try to post a few pics of my first holsters. I know there sub par compared to a lot of work I see on here but they are functioning well and I'm getting better each one.