caressofsteel

Regular dye = rub off. Especially with black. 99% of my problems with rub off disappeared after switching to pro dye. Pro dye used to cost twice as much as the regular dye; but now it's only about 15% more, which is well worth it in my opinion.

277 bonded nylon thread or 0.8mm Tiger thread. I like the Tiger thread more and more because it lays flat and the braid seems to be stronger than 277 nylon.

I do not own one but read a little about them since old time holster makers swear by the old lock stitch machines. This is a hook and awl machine. As far as I can tell, this uses an awl moving downward to pierce the leather and advance it. Then a hook comes up and grabs the thread, pulling it down to form the loop. The advantage is supposed to be that the awl makes a smaller hole relative to a needle, and there is no presser foot to scuff the leather. People who use these machines say these advantages are functional; IE a stronger stitch and stronger leather versus a walking foot machine. The other side will contend that the final stitch is the same and the differences are cosmetic. Both sides agree that these machines are loud and finicky. Parts, if available, are expensive. If not available, need to be custom made. I know of one holster maker who almost went out of business waiting for his hook and awl machine to be fixed, then finally broke down and bought a walking foot machine to complete his orders. I am sure several people here can give you more details or even some first hand experience with these machines.

Consider a Glock with a slide width of 25mm and a triggerguard width of 16mm; the outside piece of leather will be around 41mm longer than the inside piece of leather in a fully offset holster. My pancake design puts the outside piece of leather 10mm longer than the inside. This does several things. Like a traditional pancake, there is a natural sight channel and the belt slots pull the pistol in tight to the body. Like a fully offset holster, one side is still longer, making the holster stay open when the pistol is withdrawn. The outer piece can be reinforced with a piece of leather to further aid the holster in retaining its shape once the pistol is withdrawn. The downside is that it adds a step to construction. The traditional pancake holster can be glued and sewn all at once. For an offset pancake, I glue and sew the triggerguard and trailing edge; then I insert a large dowel, wet the outside piece of leather, and glue and sew the leading edge. I have experimented with several different lengths of offset and settled on 10mm. I create the traditional pancake pattern, then trace that to another piece of paper (I use manilla folders). I mark a line 5mm forward of the front stitch line and use that to retrace the front of the holster. This gives me the pattern for the outside piece. Then I do the same thing, except 5mm shorter. This gives me the pattern for the inner piece.

One thing I like to do with a pancake holster is to first design the holster with the two sides at even length, then shorten the body side by 5mm and lengthen the outer side by the same amount. This gives the holster more rigidity than a flat pancake but still has a natural sight track and pulls in tight to the body fore and aft of the holster.

I have had 3 boxers and you managed to capture their personality in your tooling.

Another

Nelson Professional holster for a buddy of mine. 8oz Herman Oak leather Surface dyed with Feibings Pro dye Finished with Feibings resolene More pictures

The scales are desert ironwood. There is a tunnel belt slot on the backside.

I want to get started making holsters. Talking to a maker, he said he only uses the Bends and actually throws the shoulder away. While I think this was hyperbole, it got me doing research. Another maker has on his website that only shoulders are suitable for Holsters. What do you all use? What are the tradeoffs?

First project in about ten years. Sheath is made from 2 layers of 4oz leather with a welt running along the knife edge. Lining is left natural while the outer layer is Fiebings pro dye.