Interesting Holster Project

[MarlinDave]

A friend asked me to make him a right hand cross draw holster for his 4 5/8 inch Ruger Vaquero. I showed him this left hand cross draw holster I made for myself and he liked it. He wants it a less extreme cant (this one is probably 30 degrees), right hand, 2 inches shorter, in brown. I was going to use English Bridle dye. The fun part is the Civil War medallion. A long dead relative of his bought a mule right after the Civil War with this bridle. It had these US medallions om the blinders of the bridle. He got one, his brother the other side. The relative worked the mule for 30 years after the war. He wants this medallion on the front of the holster, and it will be his daily carry. The medallion has 3 prongs to easily cut in and bend over. However, I need to protect the gun. I have used pigskin for linings and it may be too thin to hold up to the wear with these prongs underneath. The gun is stainless so wear is less noticeable than a blued revolver. Also the pigskin seems to lock the gun like velcro and makes it really hard to draw. Could use some thin leather and double wall the holster but I am limited on thickness my sewing machine will sew. Ideas please on handling the medallion deal. 

Edited 14 hours ago by MarlinDave
poor spelling

[wizard of tragacanth]

I would attach the medallion to a round or square "patch" and sew the patch to the outside of the holster. Prongs will be between the patch and the holster body. You could make the patch and thread from contrasting colors or whatever e.g. a blue patch and gold thread.

[Dwight]

I like the patch idea . . .  but I'd rather just make the holster out of two pieces of 6/7 leather and be done with it.

It'll make a really good sturdy holster . . .  it'll outlive your friend unless he is come kind of hard on holsters . . .  

I've made some ungodly number like that . . .  only ever had one that would not pass my quality control . . . I did some experimentation on it for rigidity . . .  and you could probably get arrested for hitting someone in the head with this one . . .  it would knock him out . . . leave a concussion . . .  and he might bleed to death from it.

May God bless,

Dwight

[chuck123wapati]

Not really a patch, but a leather concho like you see used on saddles. Attach the button to the concho attach the concho to the holster.

[MarlinDave]

Thanks. I will give that a try. He said he wanted the button cleaned up. Maybe Brasso? 

[Gezzer]

56 minutes ago, MarlinDave said:

Thanks. I will give that a try. He said he wanted the button cleaned up. Maybe Brasso? 

Loose cotton buffing wheel and red rouge

[wizard of tragacanth]

If it were my project, I may not clean the medallion at all but if I did, I would try a step-by-step solution. First would try dish soap and water with a toothbrush. That may be enough to keep the "heritage" look but not look so rough. If I wanted to go further, I would try to hit just the high-spots using toothpaste (a mild abrasive) on a layer of cotton cloth in my palm and using my other hand to work the medallion around without pressing too hard. This would highlight the letters and the edges of the medallion while leaving darker areas around the lettering and make US stand out. If that wasn't enough, then use buffing compound on a wheel.

Nick