pete Report post Posted September 15, 2009 I just spent 2 hours(happily) making a thin pocket holster for myself. My first. It was for a Ruger 380 lcp. All finished and a perfect fit and draw. The leather was still wet from forming (why I wet it I don't know as it was 4oz or so. I wanted to dry it and "cure it" a bit so I put it in the microwave. I set it for 10 seconds and after 2 it shrank to the size of a marble. PLEASE- someone tell me that they have done stupid things like that before!!!! I still have the template so off I go again- ah well.......this is how we learn I am told. pete Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BearMan Report post Posted September 15, 2009 Pete, Don't feel so bad,,, there are Lots of people that have done the same thing. I've seen the results,,, & it might be interesting to give it a try,,, & see if it's controlable at all. Might be useful for something,,, I just don't what yet,,, But I'm sure somebody can find a good use for the rapid shrinking leather. We all learn in differnt ways,,, & I can Guaranty, that You'll never do that again. Take Care,,, Ed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pete Report post Posted September 15, 2009 Just went upstairs since I posted this and lo and behold....I just made another and it's better!!! Didn't wet it as much and I still hand stitched it- record time!! pete Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cowboy316 Report post Posted September 15, 2009 well guys a thought just crossed my mind for a use but not sure if anyone does sculpted leather heads but theres and idea for leather shrunken heads LOL Cowboy316 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luke Hatley Report post Posted September 15, 2009 NOT ME YOU ARE BY YOURSELF ON THIS ONE........ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TimKleffner Report post Posted September 16, 2009 Pete Don't feel bad, years ago.... during a cold wet winter evening, I was trying to get a holster to dry, I turned the oven on WARM , put the holster in , ..30 minutes later ........ BURNT HOLSTER. learning experience. What NOT to do next time ...L O L Happy tooling Tim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grey Drakkon Report post Posted September 16, 2009 Oh man that's just awful! A tip, if you have a small item and want to dry it off, use a hair dryer. I have a really old one that's worthless for hair since it's so weak, but that makes it perfect for drying and curing leather while I'm there watching it. The stupidest thing I've done with leather is have purple dye close to it...And it was a leaky bottle. >_< Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Double U Leather Report post Posted September 16, 2009 Pete, I've done something very similar. I had a pair of gloves that were a bit too large. I remembered back to the day when I rode bulls, we'd soak the glove in rubbing alcohol and then wear it until it was dry. It would shrink down and fit exactly to your hand. So...I think that since I'm trying to get a glove to shrink, I'd soak it and then dry it. Since I wasn't concerned with an exact fit, and since I wanted to hurry the process along, I figured I'd toss it in the microwave for 15 or 30 seconds and be ready to go to work with my new "better fit" glove. When the little bell went off on the micro, I opened the door and here lay a glove that a small child couldn't wear, and it was as stiff as rawhide. My family all thought it was pretty funny, but I failed to see the humor in it. I've still got that glove as a reminder to not do something like that again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
badLoveLeather Report post Posted September 17, 2009 At least you took the gun out...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leatherjunkie Report post Posted September 17, 2009 At least you took the gun out...... i was just waiting for the obvious question. thanks for not disopointing me. i dont know where it is at this time but i have read that you use the oven to dry leather when making a canteen/ water carrying container out of leather. gotta use the oven because you are getting the bees wax to soak into the leather so that it can be waterproof. i read this on a muzzleloading forum. think this may be the same process as armor makers use to harden the leather. not sure though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirtclod Report post Posted September 26, 2009 You can try using hair dryer like the other person said. I have used a hair dryer to dry things using a box. Cut a hole in the box the same size as the dryer snout and stick through. Put what ever you want to dry in the box close it up but not to tight and keep a eye on it so it doesn't over do it. It will get pretty hot in the box in a hurry. Oh yea everbody has screwed something up some time or the other. My worst was not wearing some gloves when i was dyeing a couple of handles and then picking up a piece that didn't need to be dyed. Yep it was start all over time. If you don't mess up once in awhile you aint doing nothing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted September 26, 2009 Boiling water will shrink leather in a hurry as well. How do I know? Well, see, I have this friend............ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted September 27, 2009 I wanted to dry it and "cure it" a bit so I put it in the microwave. I set it for 10 seconds and after 2 it shrank to the size of a marble. PLEASE- someone tell me that they have done stupid things like that before!!!! I haven't had this good a laugh in quite some time! No, I haven't tried it, but that was only because I happened to see a post from someone else who did before I had a chance to. I think this must happen quite often, because I think I see a post like this about every year or so. By the way, putting the leather in boiling water will do the same thing. You can take some comfort in knowing you have probably prevented at least a few others from making the same mistake, and providing the rest of us with some much needed comic relief! Thanks for posting! Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swinewerx Report post Posted October 17, 2009 That is quite entertaining, the worst things I have done were, being impatient, that is the biggest. The next would be to actually get the tooled leather wet on both sides, instant popping up of the tooling. The last would be to use ,,,,used motor oil, at first it didn't seem so good but, after letting it dry completely it actually turned out to be a very nice dark brown. These oil soaked pieces are my foot peg covers on my longest chop ever swine floo , and no, it was not because of the recent outbreak. It was made a year and a half ago, and swine flu has reared itself many times, that is what it was made for Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vikefan Report post Posted October 23, 2009 I just spent 2 hours(happily) making a thin pocket holster for myself. My first. It was for a Ruger 380 lcp. All finished and a perfect fit and draw. The leather was still wet from forming (why I wet it I don't know as it was 4oz or so. I wanted to dry it and "cure it" a bit so I put it in the microwave. I set it for 10 seconds and after 2 it shrank to the size of a marble. PLEASE- someone tell me that they have done stupid things like that before!!!! I still have the template so off I go again- ah well.......this is how we learn I am told. pete I am sorry, and feel for you after all your hard work completing your project. However your story struck me as a kind of funny. Do you have pictures of your leather marble? I am not trying to be smart, just have never seen leather shrink to marble size and think it would be interesting to see. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
David Report post Posted October 23, 2009 Pete, I feel for you bud, my first project was a checkbook..... dried it out in an oven.... It looked like a potato chip! Wavy style. David Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
katsass Report post Posted October 23, 2009 Well, I'm not fessing up to anything but I did have some nicely tooled, hard-as-rock dog chews! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Angster Report post Posted October 23, 2009 Hmmm... Well, there was this wall-hanging I was working on, as a raffle item to an event we were going to the next morning. Just finished tooling it and wanted to get it dried out. Put it in a preheated oven at the lowest setting, I think it was 180. Went to look in on it after a couple of minutes and the grain side of leather was all wrinkled like my great grandfather's face. I reasoned that it was because I hadn't fully cased the leather, just wetting the surface to finish the tooling. So, out of the oven and to the bathtub it went. I was able to get the worst of the wrinkles out (along with some of the tooling), and was actually liking how it looked. Sort of old and antique-y. Then, just to compound my idiocy, back to the oven!!! Thinking I didn't want the leather to curl, I lined the rack with aluminum foil and placed the leather tooled side down. Turned the oven back on and was going to let it harden and dry. My wife, being concerned that I was an idiot asked if it was going to be ok, which I said 'Sure, no problem!' But I started getting worried. After a couple of minutes I went to check... It looked like a well cooked steak, grill marks and all. Although the oven said the temperature hadn't gone over 150, I'm sure below the leather and aluminum foil it was probably around 300... Well, needless to say, I was a bit upset. My wife, bless her, quietly disappeared to the far reaches of the house while I raged in the kitchen for a while. All in all, it did finally work out. I decided to recreate the wall hanging during the event, and as folk watched me work on it, they kept buying raffle tickets, so I think we raised more money than if everything had gone according to plan. The barbeque leather piece? It actually has a happy home with a friend of mine. He just had to have it, even though it was a complete mess. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pete Report post Posted October 23, 2009 I originally posted this more to myself as a rant than an "idiot tutorial". Thank you all for your responses. It's so great to be a part of a worldwide group of screw-ups!!! I get sort of tingly around my legs when I think of you all . (Kinda like ......Chris Mathews but for an entirely different reason) Bumblers.....UNITE!!!!!! pete Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swinewerx Report post Posted October 24, 2009 always hang your rejects in somewhere special to you mine is my garage Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ole South Report post Posted March 4, 2015 To accelerate the drying process 'safely'; pack your holster,shoe,mask whatever with and/or in newspaper and change it out every 20-30mins. The tighter the better! That's the only way we could get completely sodden cleats (kangaroo or calfskin) ready for next day play during tournaments. You can run a hairdryer all night and only part will dry... until what's still wet wicks in! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mtroyalguy Report post Posted March 5, 2015 When I was starting out with masks, one (or maybe more) of the tutorials mentioned casing with boiling water. I also didn't know the difference between veg and chrome tanned. So I had a mask cut out from a scrap of chrome tan white leather from the scrap bin. Dropped it in the boiling water and watched as it not only shrank, but shrank unevenly so I couldn't salvage it as a decoration/doll mask. I regularly use the oven to dry my masks, I have occasionally ended up with grill marks when I wasn't watching closely, but they have always been of the back or light enough that they can be covered by the acrylics I use to paint the masks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pip Report post Posted March 10, 2015 Boiling water will shrink leather in a hurry as well. How do I know? Well, see, I have this friend............ We must have the same friend, I know someone not to far from me who found that out too, he also put his hand in front of his head knife once, ruined his project and nearly his fingers. Silly boy he has learned those lessons but continues to need teaching on new ideologies. Pip Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handstitched Report post Posted March 13, 2015 I just spent 2 hours(happily) making a thin pocket holster for myself. My first. It was for a Ruger 380 lcp. All finished and a perfect fit and draw. The leather was still wet from forming (why I wet it I don't know as it was 4oz or so. I wanted to dry it and "cure it" a bit so I put it in the microwave. I set it for 10 seconds and after 2 it shrank to the size of a marble. PLEASE- someone tell me that they have done stupid things like that before!!!! I still have the template so off I go again- ah well.......this is how we learn I am told. pete Be glad you weren't hard boiling an egg in the m/wave, like my ex once did. She may as well have been m/waving a hand grenade. It took a good hour to clean the kitchen. ( I know its off topic....but its funny) HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
terrypen Report post Posted March 16, 2015 I know someone who tried to quick dry a coaster... dang that sucker got hot and hard in a hurry!... err or so I was told! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
