Finishing My First Holster

[Gosut]

AKA The Disaster. Okay, so it's usable, and as a brother-in-law said, no one else will be using it. I intend to just put a neatsfoot oil finish on it and it's letting the first coat soak in as I type. The part I feared most, the thumb break was the easiest. That said, learned the hard way that the cap of the snap goes on the thumb break, something I realized after setting the snap with the base. Covered a cap with leather, and after having problems folding it, cased the cover. The result dried so hard I didn't want to undo it to glue it, and set it in place as-is, making sure I set it tight. It looks like an upholstery button and is just as bulky. Then the snap came off the thumb break, so I went back and set it with a cap. By then the "upholstery button" was set, so I didn't try to remove it. If the bulky thing comes off, will cover and set a base in its place.

Other than that, the toe is the worst. Overall stitching is fair to acceptable. The snap-on strap securing the bottom of the belt loop so I can slip in on and off without undoing my belt actually worked.

Might should have gone with a modified version of my original pattern. That would automatically cover hardware due to having a collar-like piece of leather around the main holster. Not sure how I'd adapt the same type of belt loop, but think it can be done. Would like to make it one-piece with the collar, but I'm folding over the belt loop to take some strain off the stitching and might have to sew the belt loop to the collar.

Oh: Went with long post Line 24 snaps and that worked find. The one that came off I attribute to "Operator Error." 

One thing is clear: I might have a holster more to my liking, but I couldn't make a living doing this, not unless I get really good really quickly. 

[Thadrick]

Hey, guess what, the good news is that your next one is going to look sooooo much better.  Don't give up.  

[AlZilla]

10 hours ago, Gosut said:

not unless I get really good really quickly. 

You won't. You have to put in the reps if you want the result. Most overnight success stories are a long time in the making.

[Gosut]

5 hours ago, Thadrick said:

Hey, guess what, the good news is that your next one is going to look sooooo much better.  Don't give up.  

To get the holsters I want, I’ll have to make them. In most cases the don’t exist and those that do are more than I can afford. That’s not a complaint; I understand the labor aspect. It’s just something that is.

[Gosut]

5 hours ago, AlZilla said:

You won't. You have to put in the reps if you want the result. Most overnight success stories are a long time in the making.

Not to mention that you can put in the hours and still not reach marketable quality. Let’s just say I won’t be cutting into anyone’s market share.

[Hildebrand]

@Gosut a lot of the stuff I make is because no one else is making it.  I do quite a bit of my hunting and shooting with single shot pistols and there are very few scabbards or holsters out there for them right now.  Hang in there each one will get a little better and you will remember what not to do.  A tip I use, I have a small note book on my bench and I make notes on the projects as they go, if I need to stitch things in a particular order or edge things in order.  I also use it to keep track of things like which side of the thumb break the female side goes on and where I put the part of the rivet that shows on the the other end of the thumb break stiffener.

Todd

[AlZilla]

32 minutes ago, Gosut said:

Not to mention that you can put in the hours and still not reach marketable quality. Let’s just say I won’t be cutting into anyone’s market share.

Look through the Specialties section of the forum. Tons of kinds of leatherwork to do. Braiding, clothing, dog collars, saddles, book covers, holsters, the list is endless.  Carving is something I say I'd like to be good at. Yet, I haven't put in the time.

Put in the time on the basics. Don't try to duplicate another crafters style. Don't get discouraged.

[Thadrick]

10 hours ago, Gosut said:

To get the holsters I want, I’ll have to make them. In most cases the don’t exist and those that do are more than I can afford. That’s not a complaint; I understand the labor aspect. It’s just something that is.

I started making holsters because of the cost vs quality for factory holsters. I wanted to spend less and have nicer quality. It's cost me a fortune and I still haven't come up with a perfect holster but I have knocked out some holsters that get a lot of attention which makes me feel good. until I get the perfect holster I have to keep buying new pistols which suits me just fine though 🙂 

[AlZilla]

42 minutes ago, Thadrick said:

It's cost me a fortune and I still haven't come up with a perfect holster

My odyssey started because I wasn't going to spend $100+ for a leather hat!

$500 and a few months later, I had a hundred dollar hat.  It's been a great hobby. I should have started 50 years earlier. Maybe I'd be "good" by now.

[alfredleatherworks]

I got started working with leather in my father's taxidermy shop, and my first solo projects were...not great, lol. I think we all generally start from the same place, we just have to keep at it till we figure it out. I've had a lot of teachers over the years, and that's helped, but there's no substitution for practical experience. Just keep at it!

For those times you set the snap parts on the wrong side or piece of leather, you can carefully drill out the post from the side you peened down. Just use a drill bit that is slightly wider than the peened snap post and very carefully drill off enough of the post that the snap comes free. A drill press is preferable, but I haven't got one so I do it with a cordless hand drill. And don't feel bad about setting the snap wrong, I still get it mixed up now and then and you'd think I'd have it sorted by now 😆

You've got me slightly confused with your leather covered cap. Pictures might be helpful? If you are trying to just make the snap cap or bottom post look nicer, I'd use a 1oz-ish thick piece of lining leather, cut a circle big enough to cover the outer surface and wrap around the edge up to the post, and then cut some triangular notches (darts) to remove bulk and wrinkles. Make sure the darts aren't so long that they cut into the material past the edge of the cap or base though. And use some contact cement on the cap and leather to help hold it in place.

Illustration of putting a leather cover on a snap cap:

I drew in probably way more darts than you'll need, but it gets the idea across. The key is going to be using thin enough leather to keep it from being too bulky, and to keep it from wrinkling too badly when you wrap the "petals" around to the backside. I might suggest doing a mockup with tracing paper or some other thin paper (tissue paper maybe?) to get a rough pattern idea. You'll eventually probably be able to do it by eye though. I would think a 1-inch hole punch (sometimes called a gasket cutter) would be big enough in diameter for a Ligne 24 (aka Line 24) sized snap. Maybe a little bigger.

If you're worried about hardware coming into contact with the holstered sidearm you might consider a partial lining (ie. just lining over the hardware on the inside of the leather) or a full lining. It's more work, but even in the Old West the nicer rigs were lined with fabric (common) or leather (less common). If you're worried about bulk of the overall holster, drop the thickness of the outer shell and make up the difference with the lining leather (ie. instead of an 8-10oz single layer holster, make a 6-7oz outer shell with a 2-3oz liner). It'll add the steps of gluing and an increased amount of sewing, but it will be really nice when you get it all done!