spblademaker Report post Posted October 6, 2009 Here is the first holster I have ever made for a pistol. I would like as much feedback as possible. Thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TexasJack Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Looks pretty nice to me! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) Weeeeelllll, it would appear you've done some homework before starting the project....Excellent!!! Fit looks good, as does the finish on the leather. Here's a few things to work on for the "details": Be careful with the use of 'common' snaps. Holding a pistol is one of the last places you want cheap snaps to rear their ugly heads; 'pull the dot' snaps are best (AFAIK), but they're a little pricey. For first projects, the 'common' snaps will do, just watch they don't pop loose. Corners: Not only will it look nicer, but will wear nicer if you radius the corners a bit. Rounded corners are less likely to snag and get turned up/down.Mouth of the holster: When you run the edger, knock the corner off all exposed edges. Edges: I yield the floor to Mr. Bob Park and his tutorial for technique. However, for the holster here, it appears as though both pieces were edged/finished before assembly. When two pieces of leather are mated, DON'T round the sides where they meet. After they're joined, finish it as a single piece of leather and there should be little or no visible edge where they meet. If you have a belt sander, this goes very quickly. Alternately, I often use a "sure-form" rasp tool to trim edges together. A standard file works too, it just takes a little extra slicking. Stitching: Overall, very well done. Along the curves it gets a little rough, but it's an easy fix. You'll need to scribe a line (or groove a line) for the stitching. If you don't have a fancy tool to measure everything 'just so', you can use a serving fork by hanging one tine over the edge and scribing with the next. Yes, I said use a fork. Dinner forks can also be used for marking stitch holes. Look around in the toolbox and kitchen drawers, there's tons of stuff you can use if you don't have "leather tools". Need a good mold? Vacuum seal bags. Want detail but don't have a press? Rolling pin. Want more detail (during wet molding) without scuffing the leather? Put it in a Ziploc and bone the details through the bag. Excellent first holster, and very nice pics too! Edited October 7, 2009 by TwinOaks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOOMSTICKHolsters Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Good advice there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dustin29 Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Nice looking holster. Very nicely done. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shorts Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Here is the first holster I have ever made for a pistol. I would like as much feedback as possible. Thanks. Good start! And you've done a first holster with a challenging pattern to build. My first was a pancake holster....no hardware or straps to think about Well, I'm just going to jump right in. Edging - Glue your pieces together, sand them down even, then burnish. This gives you a solid, seamless edge. Corners - Try not to have any sharp corners anywhere on the holster. They get bumped and then start fraying. Round off the square and it'll add longevity to that area. It will also be more comfortable. Leather corners can be hard to bump against. Wet mold - Looks like you wet molded the top piece prior to stitching. This is a personal preference, I like to wet mold after stitching. Makes for a snug fit for retention. Gun position - When building a holster, try to keep the gun down in the holster. I can't tell on this one, but if you sit the gun too high in the holster it becomes top heavy. This is especially tricky with some larger semiautos. You need to balance the weight so that the grip doesn't flop away from the body. Just something to keep in mind as you build holsters. Alright, all in all, good work on your first holster. Once you get the feel of building a holster some details will smooth right out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
katsass Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Great Work! But I have to agree with Shorts....round those corners and burnish well. I also wet mold after stitching. I can't tell for sure, but I think you may have dyed after assembly. I like to dye prior to assembly, buff each piece, then assemble. I also like to use a contrasting color of thread when stitching, it seems to set your work off a little. And, yes, it looks to me that the gun sits a little high in the holster. It may have a tendancy to lean out from the body as the butt carries all the weight of a full magazine in it. Don't take these coments as a put down! You did a fantastic job for a first holster! There a lot of things to remember in doing this line of work, what with different holster styles and different firearms. It comes with time and experience. Keep it up, you are on the track of a very satifying trade. My first holster was made over 50 yrs ago and if it looked that good I'd still wear it. Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spblademaker Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Thanks for all the good info. I am aware that the egdes are the weakest part on this piece, but I can finish them. I'll run the edges on my belt-sander with a fine grit. At the same time I'll round the edges. Then I will try a burnishing wheel and some wax. I'll look into the snaps as well. I dyed each piece prior to stitching. I also did the wet mold prior to stiching. I was unsure about how much the leather would stretch and didn't want a holster that was too tight. I've bought a few of those and won't use them. The gun has a poly frame an sits very well in the holster. I actually used a Comp-tac holster for the basic design. I'll use all the info and post again after the details are touched up. I am also making a holster for a revolver. Thanks for the input. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shorts Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Thanks for all the good info. I am aware that the egdes are the weakest part on this piece, but I can finish them. I'll run the edges on my belt-sander with a fine grit. At the same time I'll round the edges. Then I will try a burnishing wheel and some wax. I'll look into the snaps as well. I dyed each piece prior to stitching. I also did the wet mold prior to stiching. I was unsure about how much the leather would stretch and didn't want a holster that was too tight. I've bought a few of those and won't use them. The gun has a poly frame an sits very well in the holster. I actually used a Comp-tac holster for the basic design. I'll use all the info and post again after the details are touched up. I am also making a holster for a revolver. Thanks for the input. You want a holster that is too tight. The reason is because you can fit a tight holster to your gun and your retention preference. What you do is take either a piece of wax paper or a plastic baggie and put it around the gun. Holster the gun and either practice some draws or you can leave it sitting for half hour or so. I've found wax paper works best to really slick and set the leather fibers. The draw is excellent. I recommend these final fitting instructions to my customers as I send all my holsters out too tight. When you have a problem is when the holster is too loose from the start. Once a holster is stretched it can never be shrunk to fit tight again. As for a good estimate on the stitch lines is taking half the width of the gun distance away. A general rule of thumb is .5", for thicker polymer guns you want to bump it out to .7-.75"ish Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spblademaker Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Ok, I'll try that technique with the revolver. I'm also trying to design a kydex clip that would snap over the trigger-guard and be covered by the leather. That way the holster would work like the kydex style and have the leather look to it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted October 8, 2009 (edited) For the Kydex trigger lock, I designed one by molding a strip of Kydex to a 1/8th tsp measuring spoon to make a 'hump'. Then I put a bit of an angle on it to provide a positive lock on the trigger guard. It was fully internal, and attached via rivets. I think the downside to the one I made is that it was a dual gun holster. I had a bluegun to mold from, but only on one gun (HK compact vs. a Sig 229). The problem is that the trigger guards aren't exactly the same and the lock was too strong on one of them. It caused some hinging at the closest rivet, and eventually broke the kydex. Lesson: keep enough kydex intact to compensate for "oops".Back to tight holsters: Other than the bag or wax paper method, you can also spray down the inside of a holster with one of the 'dry lube'sprays. My personal choice is Rem-Dry, because I also use it on firearms. It 'moistens' the leather with a solvent and leaves behind a teflon based film which slicks up holsters very well.Monica, you're gonna have to tell me how you managed to get the spacing between the lines like you did. I tried that to separate the headings and when I posted, it all got jammed up together. P.S. It did it here too. Edited October 8, 2009 by TwinOaks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shorts Report post Posted October 8, 2009 Monica, you're gonna have to tell me how you managed to get the spacing between the lines like you did. I tried that to separate the headings and when I posted, it all got jammed up together.P.S. It did it here too. I'm not understanding what you mean Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted October 8, 2009 I guess it's on my end....BTW, I like the idea of using the waxed paper. I'll have to try that on the next one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shorts Report post Posted October 8, 2009 I guess it's on my end....BTW, I like the idea of using the waxed paper. I'll have to try that on the next one. It looks like you have some extra space in your sig line area. See if that might be goofing up your post. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
