My first carved holster.

[dikman]

It won't win any beauty prize, given the problems I had with it, but I learned a lot (like don't make the welt so bloody thick!!). I made it so the trigger guard would sit inside, resting on a "ledge" so there is zero resistance to pulling out the revolver, which made it 7/8" thick. This is the absolute max that my 4500 will sew, but I forgot that as the machine crawls up the thicker stuff the stitch length will shorten. It also went off-line  right at the top, as I turned the corner the bottom edge of the holster caught in the slot of the needle bar, which I didn't realise until it was too late. This was because it was such a tight fit under the feet. I also broke one #26 needle and bent another! 

The colour came out close to what I wanted, although a little more red would have been nice. I have one more (similar) holster to make and a matching belt. Rather than use the same carving pattern I'll make it slightly different, with less background space and bigger leaves.

 

[fredk]

That looks very most excellent   

If you have extra needle holes, mix some dye with some bees wax and press that into the hole

[toxo]

Looks good to me even though flowers don't do it for me. well done.

[PastorBob]

Very nice work!  Love the contrasting stitching.

[tsunkasapa]

Very nice job! Your carving looks good, and the color is great. Unlike Pastor Bob, I am not a fan of contrasting stitching. I find that it draws the eye there and not to the overall project. Just my opinion.

[chuck123wapati]

That looks great !!! I would be proud of that..

[Brokenolmarine]

Holster does look good, but on western holsters, I too prefer darker stitching.  But, the stitch lines look good. 

[JWheeler331]

I like it. Good job on your first carving. 

[dikman]

Thanks for the kind words. It was partly in way of an experiment as it doesn't matter how much practice I do I have to make the real thing to find out what I'm doing wrong (the pear shading, for instance, is a bit heavy in places). As for the contrast stitching, I've always used dark stitching on the other holsters I've made and I needed to try this. I'm not sure how much I like it and may revert to darker stitching on the belt at least. Thread in #277 isn't that common here in Oz and I only have black, slightly off-white and a medium-darkish brown. 

If it hadn't been such a bugger to  sew I'd be tempted to remove the stitching and sew it in brown, but that would be asking for trouble!!!!!!

[alpha2]

Sorry, but I'm a big fan of contrasting stitching. Western or otherwise. The exception being a black died edge on a lighter holster, but I've done them both ways and been totally satisfied with the results. There are some threads around here about a needle plate for the 4500 machines with a narrow slot. Solves the issue with the wider thicknesses angling a bit and losing the stitch line. 

The welt can almost disappear towards the barrel end with a proper pattern. Keeping in mind that the front sight needs to have a place to go if the welt isn't there when the gun is drawn. Personally, I don't thing you have too much background. It's a personal preference, that can and will change with different holsters. Some flower patterns get too busy. 

[RockyAussie]

26 minutes ago, dikman said:

Thanks for the kind words. It was partly in way of an experiment as it doesn't matter how much practice I do I have to make the real thing to find out what I'm doing wrong (the pear shading, for instance, is a bit heavy in places). As for the contrast stitching, I've always used dark stitching on the other holsters I've made and I needed to try this. I'm not sure how much I like it and may revert to darker stitching on the belt at least. Thread in #277 isn't that common here in Oz and I only have black, slightly off-white and a medium-darkish brown. 

If it hadn't been such a bugger to  sew I'd be tempted to remove the stitching and sew it in brown, but that would be asking for trouble!!!!!!

That would have been one scary stitching exercise for sure. Remembering to open the stitch length on the last quarter 1/2 turn while trying to keep the line true and tension right. Congratulations. 

[dikman]

Thanks mate, yeah, the stitching was a bit nerve-wracking, particularly as I got nearer to the thicker part of the welt! I was impressed with the 4500, it went through the 7/8" effortlessly. But never again!!!

[Brokenolmarine]

I used some light thread on a sheath, but dyed it with the leather to match.  Then antiqued it all to tone it down.  It's a personal choice.  Nothing wrong with it, and some like it a lot.  My daughter asked for it on a couple projects. 

[dikman]

Alpha2, I have that modified needle plate (bought one as soon as I found out about it, and it's great) the problem I had was forcing the maximum thickness I could under the feet! If I had taken off the edge corners first it may not have got caught in the plate slot. Oh well, we live and learn.

[Samalan]

On 6/6/2022 at 2:59 AM, dikman said:

It won't win any beauty prize, given the problems I had with it, but I learned a lot (like don't make the welt so bloody thick!!). I made it so the trigger guard would sit inside, resting on a "ledge" so there is zero resistance to pulling out the revolver, which made it 7/8" thick. This is the absolute max that my 4500 will sew, but I forgot that as the machine crawls up the thicker stuff the stitch length will shorten. It also went off-line  right at the top, as I turned the corner the bottom edge of the holster caught in the slot of the needle bar, which I didn't realise until it was too late. This was because it was such a tight fit under the feet. I also broke one #26 needle and bent another! 

The colour came out close to what I wanted, although a little more red would have been nice. I have one more (similar) holster to make and a matching belt. Rather than use the same carving pattern I'll make it slightly different, with less background space and bigger leaves.

 

wow very nice job you nailed it very cool just sat down and the first thing i see this morning is a job like that wow that made my day thanks for showing.

[Samalan]

On 6/6/2022 at 6:56 PM, dikman said:

If it hadn't been such a bugger to  sew I'd be tempted to remove the stitching and sew it in brown, but that would be asking for trouble!!!!!!

Every job I've ever done there was something about it that i said next time I'll do this or that but that's the fun part let the stitching stay do what you like on the next one.

[kgg]

On 6/6/2022 at 6:59 AM, dikman said:

It won't win any beauty prize, given the problems I had with it, but I learned a lot (like don't make the welt so bloody thick!!).

Looks great to me, nice job.

kgg

[dikman]

You may have noticed that I didn't show the back. I had a lot of trouble stitching the belt loop, because I'd formed the leather into a curve when gluing the liner (as recommended) so I couldn't flatten it and trying to work it under the feet of the machine was a problem (this is when I broke the needle!).  I had a couple of holes go skewed, so I ended up hand stitching it.

While gluing the liner while curved definitely worked well, it's not so good for sewing the belt loop.

[Viking]

On 6/8/2022 at 6:56 PM, dikman said:

You may have noticed that I didn't show the back. I had a lot of trouble stitching the belt loop, because I'd formed the leather into a curve when gluing the liner (as recommended) so I couldn't flatten it and trying to work it under the feet of the machine was a problem (this is when I broke the needle!).  I had a couple of holes go skewed, so I ended up hand stitching it.

While gluing the liner while curved definitely worked well, it's not so good for sewing the belt loop.

I never (very rarely) show the back! Haha 

 

great job for your first carved holster! 

 

 

[dikman]

Thanks Viking, kind of you to say so. It does impress people when they see it, but that's because they don't understand the subtleties of carving leather so don't look too close!

I must admit it was a lot of work but I found it very satisfying to make.

[Hags]

Very nice! My wife tells me that the mistakes I see from 6 inches are invisible to everyone else. But I still see them, and will work to eliminate them.

[Steve75]

On 6/5/2022 at 11:59 PM, dikman said:

It won't win any beauty prize, given the problems I had with it, but I learned a lot (like don't make the welt so bloody thick!!). I made it so the trigger guard would sit inside, resting on a "ledge" so there is zero resistance to pulling out the revolver, which made it 7/8" thick. This is the absolute max that my 4500 will sew, but I forgot that as the machine crawls up the thicker stuff the stitch length will shorten. It also went off-line  right at the top, as I turned the corner the bottom edge of the holster caught in the slot of the needle bar, which I didn't realise until it was too late. This was because it was such a tight fit under the feet. I also broke one #26 needle and bent another! 

The colour came out close to what I wanted, although a little more red would have been nice. I have one more (similar) holster to make and a matching belt. Rather than use the same carving pattern I'll make it slightly different, with less background space and bigger leaves.

 

Slim Jim or California Holster provides a great uninterrupted canvas to carve.  I made two of them for my Uberti 1860s.  When I made mine I made the belt loop independent as opposed to folding over leather to create it.  I sewed the belt loop on before I glued in the pigskin lining, it made it easier for me to sew the belt loop on.  I hand sewed the holsters which included toe plugs.  No matter how flawed our masterpiece is most folks will not even notice the flaws.

[dikman]

Steve, you're quite right, the reactions from people who have seen it range from impressed to awestruck!! The fact that holsters are uncommon here, let alone carved ones, probably has more to do with it than the quality of the workmanship. You're right in that to be period correct the belt loop should be sewn as a separate piece on the back, however for my needs I needed the holster to sit a bit lower, to make it easier to clear the holster when drawing an 8" barrel.

Your idea of stitching the loop before gluing the liner had already occurred to me as it would be much neater than this effort. With the folded drop loop the loop part of the liner would have to be glued first, folded over and stitched to the holster and then the rest of the liner glued to the holster. It would be do-able but a bit tricky if the holster is formed with a curve first, but I think it's the way to go

I'm still working on the design for the next two, I just scrapped the first drawing as it just didn't look right.

Did you post any pics of your holsters?

Edited July 17, 2022 by dikman

[Bert03241]

Beautiful work, I do laser engraving and it will never match the beauty of hand carving. I just dont have the talent for carving, or should I say patients I'm so in envy of you guys that do this kind of work

[dikman]

Thank you for the kind words, Bert, but my effort is pretty mediocre compared to what others are doing on here. I have a long way to go yet.