Finishing first holster…

[Swilly]

Good morning everyone. I’m new to everything leather and have a holster nearing completion. I’m not sure if I have the order of operations down yet, and would love some input. So far I have….

Did all the tooling

Dyed

Glued

Wet formed

Sanded edges

Burnished edges with water

Sanded edges with 600

Dyed edges

Light coat of neatsfoot oil

From here, I plan on burnishing edges with gum trag, applying resist and antique, resolene, then a couple rivets and stitching.

Should I use gum trag on flesh side, or just resolene?

Seems like it’ll be difficult to get the interior completely coated with anything.

Should I have coated the flesh side with something before gluing? I was afraid any coating would keep me from being able to wet form. This holster is unlined, but I’m considering this one just practice and next one will be lined with some 2oz veg tan goatskin. Thanks for any advice.

[Mablung]

If this is, for all intents and purposes, a practice piece, I wouldn't worry about trying to coat the inside.  I'm a fan of gum trag for interiors of holsters (done a couple that way), but whatever you use, it must be applied before the holster is cemented.  I use my scratch awl to make a line on the interior delineating my cement area, then apply gum trag and burnish with a glass slicker everything else.  The glue line functions as a glue line and as a gum trag line.

[dikman]

I stitch after gluing, then wet-form, sand the edges if needed to follow the stitching, bevel the edges then colour if necessary and burnish.

The only "criticism" I can make is you're a bit heavy with the pear shader - I had the same problem on my first effort, so I know all about it! Other than that it looks good.

[chuck123wapati]

That's a nice first holster!!! you should be proud of that. All I use is NFO and a good outdoor type waterproofing and sealer for leather products, Fiebings golden mink oil, with nothing applied inside to attract dust or dirt, use the best leather, and you don't need it. Apply the nfo first to the outside, then the waterproofing sealer. It gives a very natural hand rubbed finish. An unlined holster is just as correct as a lined holster, probably more so in a slim jim, as they are a period type piece usually for black powder.

[PastorBob]

Really like the carving work on this.  I may be odd man out, but my process is:

• NFO then dry
• casing
• tooling
• dyeing
• gluing
• sanding edges to make 'em even
• stitch
• burnish edges (this keeps the edges from getting too mushy when wet forming)
• wet form
• apply supersheen
• apply leather balm

Edited October 13 by PastorBob

[TonyV]

If this is a prototype, don't bother trying to finish the inside this time.  In future, you can slick the inside with gum trag or tokenole using a glass slicker before gluing it together.

I like your idea of lining a future model with goat. Goat is very tough leather.   I don't care for suede liners because the fuzz tends to wear off and get into the works of the firearm and I feel that is wears faster, and I don't think it does much to retain the gun.  The draw is much easier and slick with a smooth liner.  

[wizard of tragacanth]

Another disadvantage of suede is that it collects dirt and grit, which can scratch your gun. Also, it is difficult to clean out, especially in a closed toe holster.

[Swilly]

Thank you for all your comments. There are several things I’m going to change in the next one.