Denster

Heat drying to increase rigidity has nothing to do with the tannins in the leather. What happens when you heat a damp piece of leather to over 120 degrees is that collagens are released from the leather. Think liquid hide glue here. The fibers of the leather are glued into place. Best temp is between 120 and 130 degrees for at least 30 minutes although longer doesn't hurt. Above 150 and you will damage the leather. I use a cheap convection oven from Wal-Mart with a cooking thermometer inside because you can't trust the dial. You can build a simple drying cabinent out of insulated board and a rheostat controlled 75watt bulb for a heat source and just stick a cooking thermometer through the wall.

I have both and I use the vacuum setup almost exclusively. The biggest advantage I find is that if you get the better quality poly bag instead of the vynal you can bone the details right through the bag. One thing to be aware of is that it is useful to clamp the sides of the bag to the table to keep it from bunching up around the holster.

You solved the problem before I could reply. Lightly caseing the leather will eliminate the problem completely.

Glueing to the edges is a must. You won't have any problems sewing through the glue line.

What dirtclod said. The poly cutting boards work great and don't dull your knife. After much use they will pick up a lot of lines and make cutting harder as the tip of the kinife wants to follow the cut it is in. I just resurface the board with my belt sander and coarse grit belt..

Nice clean attractive work. You do have a talent.

I'm amazed at the problems folks are reporting with Weaver. In the past three years I've ordered over 100 HO veg tan sides and numerous other leathers and have never had to return anything. I tell them over the phone what I want and what it's for and that's what I get. A couple times a year I drive up there just for something to do and they let me go back and select the hides I want. Can't ask for more than that.

Eric This is my iteration of a holster for the P7. This one is for the PSP with the shorter triggerguard and heel mag release but the pattern is essentialy the same for the M8 just a different stitchline and cut a little lower to accomodate the mag releases. Troops right about getting as much belt behind the triggerguard as possible. As to cant this one is about 20deg. Can't wait to see what you come up with. I'm with the majority opinion that it will be nice.

Congrats on the expected addition. I second Particles suggestion on the pink holster for her sippy cup. Maybe with shark trim around the bottom for a stabalizer

OK! I feel better now. I guess I'm not just a overly suspicious retired detective. All of the points made are valid and things I noticed. Also that is not what I would expect to see with the damage to the clothing from a grazing bullet passage. Even with the stretching of the leather in the area of the trigger I doubt it is enough to activate a Glock trigger with the gun holstered. Very interesting.

Interesting post. Is it only me or did anyonw else notice anything suspicious about the photos and the circumstances?

Was that really called for?

The best pattern packs for western holsters and belts are Will Gormley's pattern packs. Generally available at Tandy or direct from Will at his website. For instruction get or rent John Bianchi's DVDs. You can rent the set at smartflix.com

I wet my holsters with 7/8 and 8/9 OZ leather with about a 2-3 second dunk in warm water then let sink in prior to molding. With drum dyed leather I give it a 5 second dunk. Longer than that just puts too much moisture in the leather. I dry them at 130 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes then let them air dry overnight. A lack of firmness suggests not a high enough temp. What are you using to measure the temperature?

Good machine I really like mine. If you have any questions ask away. By the way Tippmann still supports these and thier Techs are very helpful don't hesitate to call them.

To the best of my knowledge there are no dummies for those guns. Solution: Hit a gun show and buy the real steel. One can't own too many guns and it's tax deductable:spoton:

I love gun shows and I set up at one every month. That said, if all I was selling was holsters it would be a worthless endevor. I do take a few holsters generally for the newest guns on the market that no one else has holsters for and a few of those will sell. I also get calls later from folks that saw my work and are wanting to order. Lobo's litany of irritants is right on and I'll add a couple. If you have your holsters where people can get their hands on them one in three will pick up a holster and stand there folding it back and forth. Then there is the guy who will walk up and try to stuff a full size 1911 into a holster for a compact 9mm. "Just to see if it will fit". YMMV but I doubt it.

You've come a long way grasshopper

The Bianchi DVDs are excellent although they only cover western rigs. You can rent them at smartflix.com

I've had good luck with the horse butts I've purchased from Siegal's. They offer both soft and hard jacked. I find the soft jacked accepts moisture better for forming. The butts I've used from Springfield were hard jacked and tended to be longer and narrower. I use them for belts. Siegals tend to be shorter and wider and higher quality and I use those for holsters. As always you get what you pay for Siegals is about 50% higher than Springfield.

Well thank you for the kind words. Actually with these three pistols there isn't a lot of detail to be molded in. I'm not a fan of adding lines that aren't on the weapon.

Brian It looks just like an oversized bag punch. I got mine from Texas Custom Die. They will make you about any size you want and they make custom clicker dies. The one I used for these holsters cuts a slot 1&9/16 tall and 3/8 wide. Just google Texas Custom Die. I drive these with a 4lb maul and after I reground and sharpened them I can go through two layers of 8/9 Oz with one or two whacks. That is one Caveat TCD seems set on grinding them like bag punches which leaves too steep a shoulder to go through two layers of heavy leather. Eric (Particle) had the same problem with his set.

I use a mallet die to cut the belt slots. Kind of like a bag punch on steroids.

Thanks guys for all the positive comments. To answer some of the questions. That line around the mouth and bottom of the holster is just the continuation of the stitch groove. The LC9 shipped to dealers on the last Friday in January. I got one of the first ones. This is going to be a hot one for holsters guys. Ruger hit a home run. On the black dye. I cheated. I use Hermann Oak drumm dyed leather because it will not bleed out the dye.

I haven't posted anything for awhile. Here are three of the current crop for the Ruger LC9, HK P7 PSP and Taurus PT709. All are Hermann Oak 8OZ.