1st pancake holster=WIP

[bladegrinder]

That looks ok for a first Diesel, my first had a lot of mistakes that I realized after it was finished. it sill worked and I use it around my property but what JLS and Hags is saying is spot on.

I draw a pattern on construction paper exactly like JLS has shown here. and like Hags said, you want good clearance for the grip and especially the mag release.

after you make a few the lights will come on. but I would stitch it up prior to wet molding.

one other thing I do it after it's been wet formed I leave the gun in it and let my vacuum pump run a couple extra minutes to help pull some water out of the leather, then I let it rest out in the air with the gun still in it for about 15 minutes, then I pull the gun carefully and place the holster in a pid controlled toaster oven on a piece of cardboard set at 150 degrees. I flip it every 30 minutes till it feels pretty dry but more importantly, the leather hardens. you have to be careful doing this or you'll have leather jerky.

once the holster cools and probably shrinks a little I put the gun in a 1 gallon ziploc bag and force it into the holster, 24 hours later it fits like a glove in a nice firm holster.

[DieselTech]

1 hour ago, bladegrinder said:

That looks ok for a first Diesel, my first had a lot of mistakes that I realized after it was finished. it sill worked and I use it around my property but what JLS and Hags is saying is spot on.

I draw a pattern on construction paper exactly like JLS has shown here. and like Hags said, you want good clearance for the grip and especially the mag release.

after you make a few the lights will come on. but I would stitch it up prior to wet molding.

one other thing I do it after it's been wet formed I leave the gun in it and let my vacuum pump run a couple extra minutes to help pull some water out of the leather, then I let it rest out in the air with the gun still in it for about 15 minutes, then I pull the gun carefully and place the holster in a pid controlled toaster oven on a piece of cardboard set at 150 degrees. I flip it every 30 minutes till it feels pretty dry but more importantly, the leather hardens. you have to be careful doing this or you'll have leather jerky.

once the holster cools and probably shrinks a little I put the gun in a 1 gallon ziploc bag and force it into the holster, 24 hours later it fits like a glove in a nice firm holster.

Thank bladegrinder for all the tips & info. Yeah since I used too thick of leather, I had to glue it to wet form it. I usually dye each separate piece of the holster, then rough glue area up & glue then stitch.

But since I was wet forming it up I wasnt sure if I should dye it. Lol I was out of my wheel house a bit on this one. 

Then if I add a front reinforcement panel it's another step involved. But will be a better looking overall. 

Yeah I got some things to learn & in what steps I need to take them. 

Thanks again. 

 

[DieselTech]

@bladegrinder when you talk about your vacuum setup. What mil thickness of bag you use. I'm looking at a 30mil thick forming bag made out of some poly something. Lol i cant remember now what it was called. 

Would you be willing to elaborate a bit on your vacuum setup? 

Thanks. 

[WalterF]

Thank you for posting, getting lots of good information. It will be nice to see your finished holster.

[DieselTech]

5 hours ago, WalterF said:

Thank you for posting, getting lots of good information. It will be nice to see your finished holster.

Thanks. Luckily there is some professionals here wanting to help me along & teach me a few pointers. 

I'll try & finish it over the weekend. 

Bunch of great people here. 

[bladegrinder]

21 hours ago, DieselTech said:

@bladegrinder when you talk about your vacuum setup. What mil thickness of bag you use. I'm looking at a 30mil thick forming bag made out of some poly something. Lol i cant remember now what it was called. 

Would you be willing to elaborate a bit on your vacuum setup? 

Thanks. 

If you do a search for "vacuum bag" you'll find a video Dwight made and posted, I don't know how to copy the link here, but In making mine I pretty much did it just like in his video, it works great!

[DieselTech]

9 minutes ago, bladegrinder said:

If you do a search for "vacuum bag" you'll find a video Dwight made and posted, I don't know how to copy the link here, but In making mine I pretty much did it just like in his video, it works great!

Thanks a bunch. I'll do a search & check it out. 

[DieselTech]

Guys & gals I got it a bit closer to finished. I still need to burnish the edges. 

Dang it! It ain't perfect, but I am happy with my very 1st results. What a learning curve. 

Hopefully the next 1 will be better. 

[MarshalWill]

That came out really nice. Congratulations on your first one. What will your next one be?

[DieselTech]

1 hour ago, MarshalWill said:

That came out really nice. Congratulations on your first one. What will your next one be?

I'll probably make another pancake holster for this shield. But I'll change my pattern up to accommodate for more room around the grip area of the pistol. 

Thanks.