Denster

Weavers carries it in both nylon and poly and I believe Cobra Steve at leathermachine also carries it.

I've only had that happen once. Supposed to have gone to Arizona but ended up in Texas. Took about four extra days but it eventually got to where it was supposed to be.

It depends. Does the store owner want to purchase at a wholesale price 50 of your holsters or does he want you to put 50 holsters in on consignement? If he wants to purchase then it's a good deal and I would go for it. If he wants them on consignement and you are staying reasonably busy with your eBay sales then I wouldn't do it. Consignement is almost always a bad deal for the consignor. Just my two cents YMMV.

I'm not quite sure what you are asking. Are you getting double loops on the underside of the leather or on top of the leather under the presser foot?

PM sent. I'll take the Kahr PM9 and Rugers LCP, LCR and SP101

Several other things to consider if you intend to make holsters. Sewing heavy leather is never a speed proposition no matter what machine you are using and you can sew as fast with a Boss as most folks run their powered machines. Also the GA5 has pretty aggressive feed dogs that will mark the bottom side of the work pretty distinctly. Then you need to add in the cost of the speed reducer and servo motor to the basic machine plus the cost of shipping. The Boss is simple enough that most anyone can work on it themselves and Tippmann has great customer service. The GA5 you will probably need serviced by a professional. If you are set on a powered machine for your first one I think I would give the Cobra machines a serious look.

Mike. You have such a descriptive way of putting things.

Agreed that is the best way and the small convection ovens are cheap. I paid less than $20 on sale at Wal-Mart. Just don't trust the temp dial. The oven will do the best job but alcohol works OK and if it's not as firm as you like after you form and bone it and it dries give it another good spray down inside and out and it will get fimer. +1 on the coat of neatsfoot oil.

As long as it's not wet nothing happens to it except it gets hot.

Actually as long as you keep the temperature under 150deg F you won't have any problems. It doesn't take any experience just some small attention to details. The detail in this case is keep the temp under 150. Just letting it dry after using water will result in the holster only being a small amount firmer than when you started. That's probably OK for checkbooks. Not for holsters.

Youre wrong. Actually you are right and wrong. It really doesn't make any difference which you use.

If you are only going to do one or two holsters you can use denatured alcohol instead of water for forming and it will have the same effect when left to dry naturally. You do have to work quickly to have the forming done before the alcohol evaporates. As to heating I use a cheap convection oven from Wally World. I have a thermometer inside so I can monitor the temperature as you can't trust the dial. Making a heat drying box is simple. A good size is an 18"cube. Use plywood for the base and furring strips for the uprights and the door. You can screw or glue blue insulating board to the sides, door and top. Screw a porcelain light fixture to the base and hook it up in line with a light dimmer switch. One 90 to 100 watt bulb is more than enough.. Shove dowels through the blue board to form a rack to lay the holsters on. Shove a meat thermometer through the blue board about 1/2 way to the top. Poke several 1/4" or so holes in the blue board just above the base and several in the blue board at the top. This will create a chimney effect that will carry the moisture away. Turn the dimmer switch on low and monitor the thermometer. Increase the setting until it holds between 120 and 130 degrees. Put your holsters in and dry away. What you are doing is liquifying the collagens in the leather and allowing it to migrate and glue the fibers in place. The alcohol does it chemically the water does it by heat. Think liquid hide glue which is essentially the same thing. Hide glue liquifies at about 120 degrees and gells at around 80 degrees or so in the presence of moisture.

Thanks! I'm quite fond of the Para. It's the singularly most accurate 9mm I own.

I posted about it in the holster section. All it contains is alcohol. The MSDS sheet lists it as not poisonous so it's not denatured alcohol although if you don't intend to drink it denatured will do the same thing just cheaper. I ordered a gallon on a whim after the lady at Weaver's told me she didn't know how it worked but that it didn't contain alcohol because there was no MSDS sheet with it. Of course when it arrived there was the MSDS showing the alcohol content. For what it is worth it will not make belly leather suitable for holsters. All the alcohol does is liquify collagens glueing thwe leather fibers in place essentially the same thing heating damp molded leather to 120 degrees or so does.

Impossible to tell without knowing what part you replaced and what it is doing. You're best bet is to call Tippmann and explain the situation you have and their Tech will walk you through it.

Much better, but still far too angular for my taste. If it is for you and you like the look then go for it.

Lobo That goes beyond nice. Excellent work! You're customer is really going to be pleased.

A vacuum chamber will not serve for molding holsters. You need a bag made of poly preferably for it's strength and flexibility. When the gun and holster are placed in the bag and it is sealed and a vacuum establilshed the outside air pressure forms the bag around the gun and holster effectively pressing it. With the polybag I can bone the details into the holster right through the bag with a lot less pressure as the bag conforms to hold the detail so there is no danger of burnishing the leather. Some moisture is removed fro the leather during this process but not enough to amount to anything. In a chamber there is nothing forming the leather around the holster it will just be the same, maybe a little drier when you remove it. With the bag the outside air pressure is the force, roughly 17.5 lbs /sqin depending on your locations altitude above sea level.

Those appear to be 1" thick pads not 1/2". The setup you are using will work fine but better if you center the thickest part of the gun under the ram. It will come down more evenly . You have exposed the lines of the gun on the exterior and that is about as much as you can accomplish with the pads and press. You then have to chase those lines with your boning tools.

I got this from Roje's. Pretty good prices and quality. www.rojeleather.com

I wanted a nice range holster for my Para Hi-Cap 9mm. Well I had some free time over the weekend so this is what I came up with. Basic construction is 8Oz with the grain side in. The front coverage is 3/4 veg tan shark and the back coverage is 3/4 veg tan cowhide. Comments good, bad or indifferent always welcome.

You will not get the same pull down around the periferyof the weapon that you get with the vaccum when you use the press and rubber pads. Dwight is correct about the press. You don't need or want anywhere close to the pressure it can produce. What you can get is the lines of the weapon exposed on the exterior so you can chase them with your boning tools and for that a few hundred pounds is more than enough. The only benefit of the tonnage of the press is if you decide to use it as a clicker also.

I would use the waxed thread. Artificial sinew has it's uses but really looks out of place on a holster.

I second what Lobo said about the sharp corners not just from a practical view but aestheticallly the eye like to follow curves. Also you may want to consider lining the holster. The H&K is a big gun and 6/7 Oz is a little on the light side for a pancake design.

Tippmann hasn't produced the aerostitch for several years. They do however still support the machine and will service it or their tech will talk you through working on it. They are not a complicated machine and anyone with even a small degree of mechanical ability can do it. They are built like a tank and the parts that will need some degree of replacement like bobbin shuttle etc. are common with the boss. If you find one for sale the later model with the needle positioning system is the best and brings a better price.