Vacuum bag for forming holsters

[BOOMSTICKHolsters]

Denster, I managed to get pics of one holster before my camera died. I don't try for a lot of detail with IWB holsters because I think it is counter productive, but I still showed the lines that I boned after getting detail from the press. The top two are of the front and back of the holster right after I pulled it out of the press, and the bottom two are after I boned the lines to tighten the fit of the holster.

[Denster]

Boomstick: Thanks a bunch for the pics. I appreciate you're going to the trouble to do that.

Josh : Here are the pics you asked for. As you can see I clamb the sides of the bag to the table. One of the tricks I learned as it keeps the bag from bunching up and it pulls straight down. All of those fancy attachments on the side of the pump are the accessory kit I bought from that site I posted. Basically it is just a filter guage and vacuum adjustment for how much vacuum you want to pull. That wood disc is the platnen I mentioned. It is grooved all the way around to keep a seal from being made around the air outlet before a sufficeint vacuum in the bag has been established. The white rod is rolled onto the end of the bag and the blue cover snapped over it to seal the bag.

[jbird]

Thanks a lot sir take care.

Josh

[TwinOaks]

I used a food saver style to vacuum form a holster for a client last weekend. What I found worked well was to only form the outter side of the holster. It's a work in progress, to be sure, but it gave decent mold lines for retention. The biggest advantage is that it pulled the leather down well enough for me to mark my stitch lines and the major detail areas, and saved a good bit of time for that. Now, I'll finish the cut out ( I used a larger than needed piece) and move the stitch lines in a bit to make the leather stretch when I insert the pistol.

Incidentally, I'm facing a pretty serious issue with this holster. The customer wants it to be suitable for two different pistols- HK compact and a P229. Both are similar in size/dimensions with the largest difference in the trigger guard. Any forseable critical issues with this project?

Appologies for the minor hijak.

[Tac]

Twin Oaks... If you mold/bone it to fit one gun well, then it won't fit the other one.... If you leave it "loose" in the stitching/molding , it won't likely hold either gun well....

"a jack-of-all-trades is a master of none"....

-Tac

[BOOMSTICKHolsters]

The customer wants it to be suitable for two different pistols- HK compact and a P229. Both are similar in size/dimensions with the largest difference in the trigger guard. Any forseable critical issues with this project?

Appologies for the minor hijak.

If you are making a formed and boned holster, tell your customer no. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Offer to make him two holsters that fit well. Explain to him that it's obvious by the handguns he chose, he wants the best options available, and that you want to help him make the same kind of choice when it comes to how he will carry those firearms. Realistically, anyone who has both a Sig and an H&K can afford a decent holster for both (and a belt, and a magazine holder, light pouch, etc...).

[Denster]

Boomstick and Tac are right on. While it is do-able by molding to the gun with the largest overall dimensions it won't be right. Sort of like dropping a High Power in a 1911 holster. Even though he requested it the customer won't be happy and I'll give you one guess who he'll blame.

[Dwight]

FWIW, . . . I know not everyone has the funds to experiment with this process, . . . and if one needs a quick and useable vaccuum source, . . . try your local pick up truck.

For a few bucks you can buy vaccuum hose at your local NAPA store, . . . pull a line off your local pick up truck, . . . attach the hose to the bag, . . . start the truck, . . . VOILA, . . .

I watched a guy one day pump out my septic tank using this method, . . . he just had a coiled roll of 3/8 inch hose hanging on the side of the big tank, . . . lifted up the hood, . . . started her up, . . . about 10 minutes later the big "HISSSSS" from the pit said it was empty. Paid him $85.00 for the lesson and the cleaning.

May God bless,

Dwight

[MBOGO]

Great stuff, Really!

[tlowry]

For anyone interested in reading a little on vaccum systems used in the woodworking field, check out the April 1993 issue of "Fine Woodworking" magazine. Page 72, an article, New Tools Make Laminating Easy: Big baggies and vacuum pumps put the squeeze on veneers. Explains the differences in the types of pumps. If you already own an air compressor you can get into a system relatively cheap. Sure gave me some good ideas.