Working with horsehide (holster) ?

[Denster]

Steven. Vinegaroon is ferric acetate made by dissolving iron (most commonly steel wool) in vinegar. This reacts with the tannins in leather turning it black, a very deep black when treated with neetsfoot oil. Since it is not a dye and the color is "in" the leather it does not bleed.

A comment on stiffening veg tanned leather after forming. This does not occur from the moisture removing anything from the leather but from the moisture releasing collagens from the leather it is much more pronounced when heat is applied between 120 and 130 degrees for around a half an hour right after the forming and is significant with either veg tanned horse or cow. Think liquid hide glue here which is actually a product of the collagens. The fibers are essentially glued into place to hold the molding.

I find that either horse or cow makes a fine holster. I like the soft jacked horse that I buy from Steven for holsters as it more readily absorbes moisture and takes molding better although as Jeff said not as well as cowhide with the detail molding he is noted for. The final product, after heat drying, is just as firm as using hard jacked just with better detail and it takes finish better. Longevity wise I don't know that there is a whole lot of difference and the final determiner is how hard it is used.

[spanky]

Having made several thousand IWB holsters myself I can say from my own experience that "Hard Rolled" horsehide makes a better holster in "my" opinion than cowhide. I have had "dyed" holsters made from "Soft Rolled" horsehide crack right after drying. I've found that using the hard rolled with Fiebings oil dye stops the cracking. I've only been making holsters for about 10 years but in that time none of my customers have said anything to me about cracking. Horsehide is the most requested material by my customers. The hard rolled is much harder to mold than cowhide but my customers are always willing to pay more for my holsters when I do make them from horsehide..

It's not always possible for me to get the thickness and quality that I want so I seldom use it anymore. Mostly I now use Hermann Oak strap sides.

I just ordered some hard rolled from Zack's to check it out. Never dealt with them before so I'll see how that works out....

Edited September 7, 2010 by spanky

[Denster]

Having made several thousand IWB holsters myself I can say from my own experience that "Hard Rolled" horsehide makes a better holster in "my" opinion than cowhide. I have had "dyed" holsters made from "Soft Rolled" horsehide crack right after drying. I've found that useing the hard rolled with Fiebings oil dye stops the cracking. I've only been making holster for about 10 years but in that time non of my customers have said anything to me about cracking. Horsehide is the most requested material by my customers. The hard rolled is much harder to mold than cowhide but my customes are always willing to pay more for my holsters when I do make them from horsehide..

It's not always possible for my to get the thickness and quality that I want so I seldom use it anymore. Mostly I now use Hermann Oak strap sides.

I just ordered some hard rolled from Zack's to check it out. Never dealt with them before so I'll see how that works out....

That's interesting. I've not had any problems with either hard or soft jacked cracking. I do prefer the soft jacked for me at least it works easier and the finished product looks nicer. That said I wouldn't hesitate to use hard jacked if it were all that was available and the customer wanted horsehide. Propably more of a situation of preference and working tecnique than anything I suppose.

[spanky]

That's interesting. I've not had any problems with either hard or soft jacked cracking. I do prefer the soft jacked for me at least it works easier and the finished product looks nicer. That said I wouldn't hesitate to use hard jacked if it were all that was available and the customer wanted horsehide. Propably more of a situation of preference and working tecnique than anything I suppose.

It could have been the particular batch of soft rolled that I had. But I do remember throwing about 7 or 8 butts away and switching to hard rolled. I had made 5 holsters that day (maybe 6 or 7 years ago) and all of them cracked. At the time I only new of one place to get the stuff. The stuff that Zack's has is a little thinner according to the site. so may be easier to mold.