Stiffness

[bitone40]

A customer of mine gave me a old holster for a gun did not have anymore and it is a old Galco for a 92f , and that thing is OLD OLD , but what amazes me is how stiff the mouth still is , what is being used to make it so stiff with out a reinforcement? after i put a couple of layers of super or satin sheen , that stiffens it up a bit but nothing like this , what gives ? maybe dipping it in a acrylic based sealer ?

ben

[Lobo]

Stiffness is generally regarded as an asset in a holster, helping to hold the holster open while the weapon is removed, making it easier to re-holster the weapon, enhancing retention qualities, etc.

There are a couple of methods for enhancing the rigidity of the finished product. The more common method involves using heat during the drying process after forming the holster. With the newly formed holster still damp with water, place it into a drying cabinet with a controlled heat source to maintain a constant temperature of around 125 to 140 degrees during the drying (around 30 minutes usually works well).

The second method uses isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol instead of water during the wet-forming process. The holster will dry quite quickly as the alcohol evaporates off, and the result will be similar in stiffness to the forced-drying with heat method.

Either way, you will notice a considerable difference over holsters formed with water then air-dried at room temperature.

[katsass]

A customer of mine gave me a old holster for a gun did not have anymore and it is a old Galco for a 92f , and that thing is OLD OLD , but what amazes me is how stiff the mouth still is , what is being used to make it so stiff with out a reinforcement? after i put a couple of layers of super or satin sheen , that stiffens it up a bit but nothing like this , what gives ? maybe dipping it in a acrylic based sealer ?

ben

I generally use the alcohol molding method in the winter to allow my holsters to take a good firm set. Most of the year I use warm water and the sun to firm things up well, but I live in an area where the summer temps are in the 90's (at least) and the ground temp is well over 100. The humidity level rarely exceeds the low 20% area. You could say that I live in a large, natural drying box. As Lobo says, these are the only two ways I know of to really firm up your holsters, as both ways remove moisture from the leather. It's just possible that a container of a commercial desiccant could be made to work in a humid atmosphere..........never tried it........but logic says it might work. The main objective is to remove moisture without removing too much of the oils in the leather. JMHO Mike

[bitone40]

thanks guys , im going to try a bunch of different ways here over the next couple of days , im going to make small objects that are formed and then apply the different methods, some will be moulding in alcohol and air drying , alcohol and oven drying at a very low temp , and even some watered down elmers or wood glue , but I see that maybe getting brittle and cracking ,or maybe applying the glue after the moulding has been done and right out the oven where it can absorb the mixed glue , and also was reading on using very thinned out fiberglass resin , but i see that staying tacky , if the right amount of MEKP is not mixed in , it will never cure and stay pliable, I am rebuilding the floor in my fourwinns boat right now so I have plenty of that stuff , and also if I can find some gylcerne soap bar , melting that and mixing 50/50 with beeswax and dipping leather into mix right out the oven , and lastly buying a sheet of 4oz leather and cuting in half and cementing the rough sides together to equal a 8oz sheet and after cutting my templates out make a holster out of that , being a total of 4 piece of leather , only problem i see with that is wet moulding , the two sides after being sewen together could be pretty unmoldable being that there is glue in the interior of each sides , but I may try but that could get expensive and now lastly watering down some tandys waterbased leather cement and using that like the elmers glue . let me know if I missed out or could modify any of the methods , thanks for reading and if this passage is hard to read , thank my 3 rd grade teacher , lol , just playing

ben

ps all methods will be after wet molding in alcohol , I honestly think the alcohol molding and oven drying will yield the best results out of all tries but I have to test them so I will be for certain

Edited June 26, 2010 by bitone40

[Denster]

Actually the stiffening process is a process of the moisture in the leather combining with collagens from the leather at about 120 degrees and migrating through the fibers. When it cools the fibers are glued together. (Think liquid hide glue) Alchohol does seem to stiffen the leather in the same manner it may be a solvent for the collagens, not something I've experimented with. You can get some of the effect at around 90 degrees as that is just above the gelling point for the best effect temps between 120 and 130, as Lobo stated, give the max effect.