Hand Pattern Cutting Help

[cstephens]

I am an amateur holster and sheath maker and I was wanting to know opinions on the best tools and methods for hand cutting these out?

[dirtclod]

I use a head or round knife to cut them out. Make your patterns out of poster board or something along those lines.

[cstephens]

I see, thanks for your reply. I just have problems cutting good smooth cuts but i guess it will just take time and practice.

[dirtclod]

The biggest thing is a really sharp knife. But the again i have got some leather from different companies domestic and import that is just really hard to cut even with a sharp knife. Depending on the thickness of the leather it may take more than one pass to get it cut all the way through.

[gregintenn]

I'm not sure I understand your question, but I cut my patterns from posterboard with regular scissors. I cut the leather with a hobby knife.

[katsass]

I am an amateur holster and sheath maker and I was wanting to know opinions on the best tools and methods for hand cutting these out?

I draw my pattern on inexpensive file folders.........cut it out with scissors..........transfer to leather with a ball stylus............initial cut with a swivel knife (this gives me a distinct and smooth line to follow with the final cut)............final cut with a 'dedicated', very sharp, knife (this knife happens to have been in my family for 70 years at least, but any good SHARP knife that you are comfortable with should work)...........smooth edges with drum sander if necessary. Hope this helps. Mike

Edited August 5, 2010 by katsass

[Dwight]

I've never quite gotten far enough up the food chain to use a head knife. I'm still doing all of mine with the standard old razor knife that drywall people use.

BUT, . . . I take it to the old rosin strop and sharpen it first , . . . brand new razor blades are too dull for smoothly cutting leather.

The key is not to cut the leather too small, . . . cut it a little big, . . . sand off and smooth out the outlines with a power sander. I got a $39.95 belt sander from Harbor Freight that I just love for leather work.

The method Katsass uses is probably more exacting, . . . but I just don't have the patience it takes to cut it twice. Like him, though, . . . I also use file folders for all my patterns. And I cut them with the razor knife too.

Hope this helps.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited August 5, 2010 by Dwight

[carljc72]

I use a round knife for cutting my leather and file folders for patterns. Tight radius cuts are the hardest to make smooth. If the radius is pretty tight, I will use a round punch and then cut away from the curve in each direction. A little sanding will smooth it all out.

Carl

[Deanimator]

I am a MISERABLE freehand artist.

Acknowledging my limitations, I use Corel Draw to lay out my patterns. I can scale and shape them as many times as I need to. I can easily modify a pattern for one gun to fit another, especially different length versions of the same gun. I did this with my Glock 17/22 holster to create the pattern for my Glock 19/23 holster. I'll do the same thing with my M1911/Commander/MicroCompact holsters that I'm working on now.

I print prototype patterns to paper to see if I'm close. When I've got the pattern where I want it to be, I switch to card stock. This saves me the step of having to transfer anything to separate pieces of cardboard.

I use plain old scissors to cut out the patterns once they're printed on card stock.

I've cut leather with both a razor knife (box cutter) and my grandmother's 70+ year old seamstress shears. I'm not completely satisfied with either. Her shears need sharpening, which I'm finding a bit difficult to do, since I have little experience sharpening scissor like implements. I find that I usually need to make multiple passes with the razor knife and have problems making a proper vertical cut (see separate post). A head knife would probably work better. Maybe after I sell a few more holsters.

[dirtyernie]

I am a MISERABLE freehand artist.

Acknowledging my limitations, I use Corel Draw to lay out my patterns. I can scale and shape them as many times as I need to. I can easily modify a pattern for one gun to fit another, especially different length versions of the same gun. I did this with my Glock 17/22 holster to create the pattern for my Glock 19/23 holster. I'll do the same thing with my M1911/Commander/MicroCompact holsters that I'm working on now.

I print prototype patterns to paper to see if I'm close. When I've got the pattern where I want it to be, I switch to card stock. This saves me the step of having to transfer anything to separate pieces of cardboard.

I use plain old scissors to cut out the patterns once they're printed on card stock.

I've cut leather with both a razor knife (box cutter) and my grandmother's 70+ year old seamstress shears. I'm not completely satisfied with either. Her shears need sharpening, which I'm finding a bit difficult to do, since I have little experience sharpening scissor like implements. I find that I usually need to make multiple passes with the razor knife and have problems making a proper vertical cut (see separate post). A head knife would probably work better. Maybe after I sell a few more holsters.

What is Corel Draw, and how do I get it?

Thanks

Edited August 6, 2010 by dirtyernie