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FYI - I still have this video available for free viewing for a little while longer. I added a little more length to the end (it's now 44 minutes long) so I could add the missing parks on my reinforcement piece, and also did a mock-up holster to test the pattern, and close with a brief discussion of what adjustments I'd make to the pattern to perfect it moving forward. I had quite a few technical difficulties with this one, as the raw video footage was almost 31 gigs (I'm doing all this editing on my laptop)... and my microphone accidentally came unplugged towards the end as I was moving my camera around to film different steps so I had to do a voice-over at the very end. Oh well - I'll get the bugs worked out one of these days!!

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Particle,

I didnt get to see it all due to the wife and kid coming home in the middle of it, but I plan on watching it all again tomorrow. Great video. You should really think about putting them all together on a dvd and offering them that way.

Nice build design too.

DM

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Great work Adam, thanks for the tutorial. Question: how long are you casing the leather prior to the boning process? It seems to hold the definition nicely, and am curious as to your casing method. Thanks again!

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Thanks! Generally, I dunk about 5-7 seconds. The actual time might vary a little. Natural will take less, and something dyed completely black (inside and out) may take a little more. If you're boning the detail completely by hand, you might lean more towards a quicker dunk. If you use a vacuum press (like I do), you can get the leather a little more damp because the vacuum pump will help to remove the moisture from the leather. Note that there is a bit of a trade-off. Less damp will hold the detail better as you form it, but it will also be a little more difficult to initially shape the leather to your firearm. More damp will be easier to form, but it will 'bounce back' a bit - meaning you'll have to go back over your work several times (like I did in the video). If you're using a dummy, you might dunk it longer so it's easier to form, then once the dummy is inserted in the holster, set a fan next to your bench to help dry the leather as you work it. If you're using an actual firearm, it's probably best to not over-wet the leather. I have another video on my site that shows how I form an Avenger style holster to a 1911 if you're interested.

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Adam,

I did a build along last night using your methods and video. It worked very well, and I learned quite a bit from it. Thank you.

I just have to sew my main seam and then mold it and its done. Will try to post pics when I am done.

DM

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Thanks! Generally, I dunk about 5-7 seconds. The actual time might vary a little. Natural will take less, and something dyed completely black (inside and out) may take a little more. If you're boning the detail completely by hand, you might lean more towards a quicker dunk. If you use a vacuum press (like I do), you can get the leather a little more damp because the vacuum pump will help to remove the moisture from the leather. Note that there is a bit of a trade-off. Less damp will hold the detail better as you form it, but it will also be a little more difficult to initially shape the leather to your firearm. More damp will be easier to form, but it will 'bounce back' a bit - meaning you'll have to go back over your work several times (like I did in the video). If you're using a dummy, you might dunk it longer so it's easier to form, then once the dummy is inserted in the holster, set a fan next to your bench to help dry the leather as you work it. If you're using an actual firearm, it's probably best to not over-wet the leather. I have another video on my site that shows how I form an Avenger style holster to a 1911 if you're interested.

Thanks for the reply! I think we're kinda on the same page here, as I made a vac press also. 6hp ShopVac with homemade box. I found I could get unreal detail in vacuum forming kydex (much more so than my kydex "press") , and decent detail in a single piece of leather (for pancake style where I only needed top detail). Then it hit me, I combined my vac press with my "typical" kydex press, and compress everything under the foam press while applying vacuum. I just can't seem to get that "perfect" casing that I can repeat everytime! This might be due to the slight variations in leather don't you think? I can repeat the exact same time, temperature, water faucet, etc. and still get different results! Arrggghh. As a beginner, I thank you guys that are willing to help us newbies, and I'm sure MOST of my problem is getting TOO anxious to see the final product and hurrying along too fast. But I'm sure I'm the ONLY one here that has ever done that, right! Quick story, hard lesson--I messed up the top piece on a pancake style hybrid I was trying, leather was WAYYYY to wet, so I thought I could lessen the drying time by putting it in the oven on low for a while...well, it shrunk up like an apple head doll, and was hard as armor! I soaked it for 4 DAYS in water, it didn't change shape at all!!! That's why the experience and knowledge of guys like yourself is so beneficial to us newbies. Thank you again.

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I think each cow hide, how it tanned, where the piece was cut from the hide, the density of the grain, thickness, age of the tanned hide, how it was stored, etc. all affect the way it reacts to the various things we subject it to. That's an interesting idea to combine the two presses. I'd be curious to see a kydex comparison between only the kydex press, only the vacuum press, and the combined method to see the difference in detail you can obtain. It seems like sticking the kydex in the vacuum bag, clamping it closed, then inserting it into the kydex press would give the kydex too much time to cool, making it more difficult to form? I haven't worked with Kydex yet, so I'm not sure how difficult it is to regulate that ideal working temperature.

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Particle,

What weight of leather are you using? 7-8oz?

Thanks,

DM

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Since I pulled that from my scrap bin, I can't say for sure. But, it was on the top of the pieces and my most recent hides have all come from Wicket & Craig. Their hides are 8-10 oz. It was a thicker piece than normal, so I'm going to say it leaned more towards the 10 oz thickness.

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Posted

Great video as usual Eric...

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