Holster Molding

[papy]

Hi from México , I am in the Law Enforcement Equipment supply , manufacturer of uniforms and boots, starting in making leather holsters at industrial production way- at least 100 per day- I will appreciate your valuable help to decide how to molding the wet leather

By 20 tons hydraulic press , by hand molding or by vacuum pump ?,

Thank you

[JackRabbit]

Hi from México , I am in the Law Enforcement Equipment supply , manufacturer of uniforms and boots, starting in making leather holsters at industrial production way- at least 100 per day- I will appreciate your valuable help to decide how to molding the wet leather

By 20 tons hydraulic press , by hand molding or by vacuum pump ?,

Thank you

..."at least 100 per day..."

If you work 10 hours per day , you must make 10 holsters per hour = 1 holster per six minutes ...

Or 10 persons , 10 holsters per hour = 1 holster per person per hour .

There is no time to dry the wet leather properly in that time without burning it , at least what I know about it.

And the quality ... well ...You know what is the result of rushing too hard.

But what comes to your question ... IMHO.

Best results are reached by doing one at time , hand molding with a decent drying time before next step.

JR

[papy]

..."at least 100 per day..."

If you work 10 hours per day , you must make 10 holsters per hour = 1 holster per six minutes ...

Or 10 persons , 10 holsters per hour = 1 holster per person per hour .

There is no time to dry the wet leather properly in .....

JR

Jack.- Thank you for your post, really I don't have time problems with the drying, and I think you are right about the hand molding one by one, maybe I'll press first with the hydraulic press lined with hard rubber and finished by hand for the final touch

I'll tell you the results

Thanks again and best regards

Ceasar

[papy]

..."at least 100 per day..."

If you work 10 hours per day , you must make 10 holsters per hour = 1 holster per six minutes ...

Or 10 persons , 10 holsters per hour = 1 holster per person per hour .

There is no time to dry the wet leather properly in that time without burning it , at least what I know about it.

And the quality ... well ...You know what is the result of rushing too hard.

But what comes to your question ... IMHO

By the way what does IMHO means ?

[JeffGC]

I have a 12 ton press that I'll sometimes use for forming. I have two 1/2 aluminum plates with 1" natural gum rubber pads. I will only use it with dummy guns for fear of damaging a weapon. After I press, I'll detail bone by hand. The press, alone, does an amazingly good job. I'm not doing any production work so most of my holsters are completely formed by hand.

Jeff

[papy]

I have a 12 ton press that I'll sometimes use for forming. I have two 1/2 aluminum plates with 1" natural gum rubber pads. I will only use it with dummy guns for fear of damaging a weapon. After I press, I'll detail bone by hand. The press, alone, does an amazingly good job. I'm not doing any production work so most of my holsters are completely formed by hand.

Jeff

Hi Jeff, I will use with 5" hard rubber pads and with aluminum dummy guns, I'll let you know the results

Ceasar

[Denster]

I don't believe you will get the results you want with hard rubber pads. Remember the rubber has to conform to the surface detail of the gun to move the leather into following those details. That does not take a huge amount of pressure to form the leather. 40 durometer gum rubber pads seem to work pretty well for this. Vacuum bags also work well and is what I use almost exclusively.

[papy]

I don't believe you will get the results you want with hard rubber pads. Remember the rubber has to conform to the surface detail of the gun to move the leather into following those details. That does not take a huge amount of pressure to form the leather. 40 durometer gum rubber pads seem to work pretty well for this. Vacuum bags also work well and is what I use almost exclusively.

Hi Denster, thank you for your comments , I am looking for a vacuum pump , here in my home town is not easy to find it.

Do you have to make by hand a final touch after release the holster from the bag ?

I 'll try with the hard grade rubber recommended Thank you

Regards

Ceasar

[Denster]

Ceaser

The 40 durometer pads aren't hard they are firm gum rubber. With the vacuum system I do the detail boning right through the poly vacuum bag. Do a search on this site for a detail post I did on this system with pictures just search for vacuum. The pump I use came from Harbor Freight it is 3.5cfm less than $100US.