Removing molding marks?

[wizard of tragacanth]

You don't remove marks... you never make them.

Thanks for sharing that video. Beautiful work. Very enlightening. 

I would agree that it is high-grade, thinnish leather, worked with great skill. Very impressive.

However, I never understood why people desire this level of detail. Personally, I do not want to advertise the gun at all. I would be perfectly happy if no one could even tell it was a holster. But, that's a personal thing. In reality, my holsters do have a little detail, mostly in the trigger guard and ejection port, for retention.

nick

[larry1096]

I think very detailed boning is partly aesthetics, partly to enhance retention. I continue to work toward the level Mr. Ingles demonstrates, though I've a long way to go.

 

Larry

[Stetson912]

Jason is a great holster maker. His work is top notch. He does his molding by hand. Molding is an art form in itself. Learn leather has a video of him molding a holster in detail if memory serves. But, In a nutshell; proper casing, smooth tools, and progressive molding. Start with the larger molding tools and work down to finer tools as the leather dries. As it dries it holds more detail but be careful, if you slip thats it, leather is marked. Burnishing in my experience comes as a result of rubbing the leather with something that causes friction, like a wood handle or slicker that isn't completely polished and smooth. Popular molding materials are bone/antler, stainless steel, and smooth plastic. But really anything smooth is your friend.

Look up Eric larsen (of hbe leatherworks) youtube. He has a few short videos of holster molding that are useful too. 

[Stetson912]

On 7/26/2025 at 5:42 PM, larry1096 said:

I think very detailed boning is partly aesthetics, partly to enhance retention. I continue to work toward the level Mr. Ingles demonstrates, though I've a long way to go.

 

Larry

That's looking pretty good. Leather weight is also a factor. I believe jason uses 7/8oz. As for retention, the trigger area and ejection port are the only places retention can be achieved with molding, so focus on those areas. The rest is, as you said, is more for looks