Holster With Tooling Art Work

[1911 Jerry]

How do you engrave a holster that has been formed for a gun?

Do you tool the leather first and then form it to the gun?

When I try to tool the leather and then form it to the gun, most every thing is lost.

[Mike Craw]

Hey Jerry!

Your last sentence pretty much sums up the problem of forming tooled holsters. The technique I use (after accepting the fact that a highly formed and boned holster isn't an option with tooling) is to tool the holster, sew, and then moisten only the INSIDE of the holster a little at a time so that the moisture doesn't come out through the tooling.

Some forming, using the tools that you stamped your design with, can be done at this point, but the majority of the forming should be done on the back (non-tooled) side.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[particle]

I tool quite a few of my holsters. Yes, some of the detail is lost when the holster is wet for forming, but not so much that I'd consider it a "no-go". You can check out my gallery for a few examples of holsters I've tooled. I wouldn't recommend tooling an entire holster, unless you are not planning on detail molding it to the firearm. I only tool the reinforcement piece, which leaves plenty of area remaining for detail forming. Generally speaking, I cut the pieces, then tool, then dye, then assemble. I try to tool pretty deeply - that way when the holster is wet, I usually retain more detail when the holster is dunked for forming.

http://www.adamsleatherworks.com/index.php/ordering/gallery/

[antleygd]

It is reading post like this one that gets me thinking my process for making knife cases may need adjusting for better results. When making a case: 1) make pattern 2) cut pieces 3) dry fit pieces to close enough 4) glue up 5) sand edges 6) grove and stitch 7) tool 8) dye. Now if you notice there is nothing on edges here and the tooling is out of place for most case makers. You guys are going to make me refine the process again. I think I will be putting the dye on between steps 3 and 4 with an added step at the very end for edging.

I have learned so much from the chatter in these forums! Keep sharing the magic, please......

Gary Antley

Antley TX Knife and Forge