When To Really Start Molding?

[jprieto]

I started to make gun holsters, for me only so far, and when it comes to molding, I keep getting conflicting advise.

How I do it is that I wet the leather with almost hot water ... then immediately place it over my gun and start molding it with a plastic bone.

I was told to

1. wet the leather

2. place it in a pastic bag and let it sit overnight

3. then start molding the nexct day

elsewhere in this forum i read to

1. wet the leather

2. wait for it to dry to almost the return of its color

3 then start molding

MY QUESTION IS.....

After I wet the leather, how soon before I start to mold it?

I wet it by placing leather under running hot water, flipping the sides, for a minute or so .....

What am I doing wrong? How can I do it better?

Please help.

Here is a photo of the holster I made for my XDM 9mm

ps: this post is about MOLDING, whereas i posted the pics on another post for GENERAL design advise. I hope my posts are NOT considered double posting, if it is, please accept my apologies, it was not my intent. One post is for MOLDING advise, the other is about DESIGN advise.

Edited May 29, 2012 by jprieto

[mlapaglia]

Im not sure there is a "right" answer to when to start molding. There are several points where you can start. It is up to you. I wet the holster under running water and wait, at the most, 10 minutes then start. As it drys I go back and touch up the areas I feel need a little more. Once it starts looking like good cased leather, almost the original color, I stop and put it in the dryer to get it to 125 deg so it gets hard. Then I put it in front of a fan until the inside is no longer damp.

That works for me. I am sure there are others that do it differently and it works for them. Try with some scrap and find the method that works best for you.

Michael

[particle]

Fill a container large enough to hold your holster with water - it doesn't need to be hot, just around room temperature is fine. Soak it for maybe 8 seconds. Natural can soak less, completely dyed maybe a little longer. Anything longer than 12-15 seconds is overkill in my opinion and leaves you with a soggy mess.

I start molding pretty much immediately after dunking. Here is a video that shows an overview of my process. I probably dunked mine a little too long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOoBoFE74PI

Edited May 29, 2012 by particle

[Northmount]

I think there is some confusion about casing. Casing for carving and stamping leather is not the same as used for molding. For molding, the leather does not need to dry back to its natural color before you start molding. As you can tell, it is easier to stretch when wet. As it dries, it begins to hold / retain its molded shape better.

CTG

[jprieto]

  On 5/29/2012 at 6:30 PM, northmount said:

I think there is some confusion about casing. Casing for carving and stamping leather is not the same as used for molding. For molding, the leather does not need to dry back to its natural color before you start molding. As you can tell, it is easier to stretch when wet. As it dries, it begins to hold / retain its molded shape better.

CTG

Aha!!!!

thats what i was thinking -- thank God, you confirm it ..... many thanks!!

all other tips above are indeed VERY USEFUL TO ME and will incorporate into all future work

thanks