First Post

[JeffChastain]

holsterHey guys. Been scouring through this forum for the past few months, learning a ton, and trying out alot of stuff too. I've been making holsters for about a month now, but I've been using cheap drum dyed leather from Hobby Lobby, and that stuff doesn't mold or tool. I went to Tandy yesterday and picked up some good leather. Caught a good sale and got a nearly 20 feet for 55 dollars. Anyhow, I sat down tonight, made a holster, and proceeded to actually mold and bone it. I learned alot during the process. Spent about 30 minutes molding and boning. Used the handle of my edge beveler, and a sharpie. What do you guys use to mold and bone, besides your fingers? I'm attaching a picture, and I'd like some honest critque. I realized I didn't stitch closely enough to the firearm, but I didn't realize it until I started to molding process. The firearm was very hard to get into the holster to begin with. I know in the picture the stitches don't look straight. Not sure what happened in the pic, but they are straight. Anyhow, enough with my rambling. Any advice and critque will be greatly appreciated! Edited August 30, 2012 by JeffChastain

[IngleGunLeather]

Hey guys. Been scouring through this forum for the past few months, learning a ton, and trying out alot of stuff too. I've been making holsters for about a month now, but I've been using cheap drum dyed leather from Hobby Lobby, and that stuff doesn't mold or tool. I went to Tandy yesterday and picked up some good leather. Caught a good sale and got a nearly 20 feet for 55 dollars. Anyhow, I sat down tonight, made a holster, and proceeded to actually mold and bone it. I learned alot during the process. Spent about 30 minutes molding and boning. Used the handle of my edge beveler, and a sharpie. What do you guys use to mold and bone, besides your fingers? I'm attaching a picture, and I'd like some honest critque. I realized I didn't stitch closely enough to the firearm, but I didn't realize it until I started to molding process. The firearm was very hard to get into the holster to begin with. I know in the picture the stitches don't look straight. Not sure what happened in the pic, but they are straight. Anyhow, enough with my rambling. Any advice and critque will be greatly appreciated!

Not seeing any pics Jeff.

[JeffChastain]

Sorry about that. Not familiar with the site yet. There's a photobucket link at the beginning of the post now.

[Denster]

Sorry about that. Not familiar with the site yet. There's a photobucket link at the beginning of the post now.

The molding looks pretty good for a first attempt. The general design of the holster could use some work. Those wide rounded ears reminded me of our current president. Keep working at it like I said for a first attempt that is better than most.

[SooperJake]

Looks better than my first try.

You will find there are better leathers out there than what Tandy sells, and often for less per Sq. Ft. Hermann Oak ( available through vendors that support this website, and directly from HO, and W&C ( so I hear but still await my first order, week 7, I think) are much better for tooling and forming.

I have also noticed that when I dye the holster, it ends up stiffer than an non-dyed one. Not sure why that is. Perhaps one of the experts will chime in.

Jake

Edited August 30, 2012 by SooperJake

[renegadelizard]

Do yourself a favor...go to springfield leather company's website and order a Herman Oak single shoulder in the 7/8 or 8/9 ounce range...this is great leather for holsters....molding isnt hard but it does require firm fingers and I have found that a bone folder and a modeling spoon help out a lot as well..some of the guys on here also like a pear shaped stamping tool when doing the trigger guard area...

[katsass]

From the old grump: Well, seems that it's all been said - at least mostly. Remember that the 'ears' (that are reminiscent of our current prez's) are out there to provide a place for belt loops, that's all. ( I personally like the descriptive term "ears" - it's mo-better than "wings") They don't need to be humongous.. As to leather, again, do yourself a favor and purchase your stuff from a REAL leather supply outfit - there are a number of them listed here on the forum. As do many however, and FWIW, I use Springfield Leather. Tandy was once a pretty good outfit --- 40 or 50 years ago -- taint so now. Buy shoulder leather or you'll be wondering what the hell happened to your project after a little bit of time down the road. In my experience, Tandy seems to try to sell a bunch of belly leather, which will end up sagging out of shape like some old lady's --- --- uh -- stockings, yes, that's what I was thinking of --- stockings. As you said yourself, you need to tighten up your stitch lines, and I think you need to work on your stitching - when done properly, hand stitching (notice I didn't say "sewing") should look better than a machine's ---- sewing. Stitching and sewing are two different critters - IMO. (Some say I'm just a little anal about stitching) Overall it doesn't look too bad, and for a first go at it, it's a pot-load better than many. Keep it up. Mike

Edited August 30, 2012 by katsass

[Chief31794]

Do yourself a favor...go to springfield leather company's website and order a Herman Oak single shoulder in the 7/8 or 8/9 ounce range...this is great leather for holsters....molding isnt hard but it does require firm fingers and I have found that a bone folder and a modeling spoon help out a lot as well..some of the guys on here also like a pear shaped stamping tool when doing the trigger guard area...

Another great thing about Springfield Leather, if you don't need the whole shoulder you can buy what you need, they sell Hermann Oak for less than Tandy's leather and will take an order for as little as 2 Sq Ft. They are truely a Service Oriented Business giving customers what they want. They are also very knowledgeable, call the order in, you get a person, ask a question you get an answer, if you aren't sure what you need they'll ask you what you're going to use it for and then suggest to you the best product for the project. They also sell Tandy products at Tandy prices.

Chief

[JeffChastain]

Thanks for the advice and for checking it out, guys. Katsass, Renegade, Jake, I actually was looking into springfield leather co, but happened to sell a guitar and end up with cold hard cash in my hand, and there's a Tandy store an hour from my house. I'm not a patient person. :/

The clerk at Tandy actually also told me that once I tried Herman Oak or Wickett and Craig that I wouldn't be back to buy leather from him, but I paid 2.99 per sq. ft. for this stuff, and it isn't all that bad. Usable for sure.

Katsass, you were talking about the belly leather stretching over a period of time. Are you suspecting that's what I've gotten here? The guy told me they were single shoulders, but we know how salespeople can be.

On the molding and boning, you've all said it looks okay for a first shot. Can you give me pointers? Can you point out what is good and bad about the boning I did?

Thanks a bunch, fellows!

[JeffChastain]

Why is my boning not as crisp as others I've seen here?

[joshk]

Why is my boning not as crisp as others I've seen here?

to put it simply, tools and techniques.... you'll have to experiment with different tools to use for molding and boning and will most likely wind up creating your own at some point....

I'm also curious.... is this an IWB without attachments added yet or a pancake style OWB without the slots cut.... if it's an OWB, you may want to bring the "ears" in a bit closer next time....

Edited August 30, 2012 by joshk

[JeffChastain]

to put it simply, tools and techniques.... you'll have to experiment with different tools to use for molding and boning and will most likely wind up creating your own at some point....

I'm also curious.... is this an IWB without attachments added yet or a pancake style OWB without the slots cut.... if it's an OWB, you may want to bring the "ears" in a bit closer next time....

Hey Josh, thanks for taking a look. I actually went out and got a small plastic-type cutting board today that's about a foot long, and somewhere close to a half inch thick. I thought maybe I could cut it into strips, and sand the ends into different thickness and shapes for boning. Think that'll do a better job than sharpies and edger handles?

It's an IWB without the attachments added. I guess I made up this shape, trying to re-invent the stone I reckon. The ears don't seem too popular, haha! I've made one like this out of hobby lobby leather that wouldn't really tool or mold well, but I wear it, and the way that holster feels and wears is better than the crossbreed I purchased a while back. I do believe my next design will be more traditional than this.

Thanks again, Josh.

[joshk]

I'm rather partial of bones or antlers for my tools.... the bone tools that Tandy sells can easily be modified into custom tools.... the plastic should work too as long as your sure to get it as smooth as you can, polished if possible, to prevent damage to your project.... just be sure to test whatever you make on scrap and you should come up with something that'll fit your needs....

[JeffChastain]

Thanks for the info, josh. I think what I'm going to do to mold the tips of the tools is use a torch to make the plastic soft, which will also have an effect like polishing it, mold it while soft, then do a gradual sand ending at a very fine sandpaper. Sound like that'll do the trick? I've been asking around trying to find some antler. You'd think living in Alabama someone I know would have some laying around. Gonna keep checking. Thanks again for sharing some knowledge. I learned from boning this holster, and I hope my next one will be bounds better. I dyed it earlier, and it actually looks pretty decent. I will post a picture when it's fully dry.

[katsass]

Thanks for the advice and for checking it out, guys. Katsass, Renegade, Jake, I actually was looking into springfield leather co, but happened to sell a guitar and end up with cold hard cash in my hand, and there's a Tandy store an hour from my house. I'm not a patient person. :/

The clerk at Tandy actually also told me that once I tried Herman Oak or Wickett and Craig that I wouldn't be back to buy leather from him, but I paid 2.99 per sq. ft. for this stuff, and it isn't all that bad. Usable for sure.

Katsass, you were talking about the belly leather stretching over a period of time. Are you suspecting that's what I've gotten here? The guy told me they were single shoulders, but we know how salespeople can be.

On the molding and boning, you've all said it looks okay for a first shot. Can you give me pointers? Can you point out what is good and bad about the boning I did?

Thanks a bunch, fellows!

Jeff, if the guy said it was a shoulder, I suspect that it was. But unless you specified that you wanted shoulder leather, they have a tendency to pawn off bellies when they can.

As to boning -- I don't. My primary method of construction precludes boning on a holster. I generally use two pieces of 4/5oz shoulder, glued up on their flesh sides to produce my stuff. This produces a holster of basically the same thickness as what normally is used - 9/10oz - but it is much less flexible when wet, and much firmer when dried. It also gives me a lined holster

I hand mold my stuff pretty tightly and dry in the desert sun, and as said, this produces a much more rigid holster, that retains it's shape better than does a single thickness of leather of equivalent weight - IMO. It does take a great deal more stitching, but that's just the way I do things. Mike

[particle]

Hi Jeff - as others have mentioned, the cheap leather from Tandy will be very difficult to work with when it comes to detail boning a holster. Yes, it can be done, but it's much harder to do. Honestly, I bought one hide from Tandy when I first started making holsters. As soon as I switched to Herman Oak, my boning instantly looked better - it was just SOOOO much easier to work with in that regard. If you're interested, I have a video on YouTube that shows me boning an Avenger style holster. You can find a link to it on my website in my signature. Do yourself a favor and buy a basic bone folder made of real bone - don't get the cheap plastic kind from the hobby store - they're too flexible and won't do the job. It actually takes quite a bit of pressure to shape suitably thick leather to the gun.

[mojoewrkn]

There is a member called Particle and he has a great video about forming the holster. You can find it at adamsleatherworks.com His video helped me out quite a bit, hopefully he doesn't mind me sharing his link. As for me I have found that having the holster at the correct saturation is important. Too wet and I get too many marks, too dry and its hard to form. Practice is key, I get better with each holster I make.

LOL Too funny! In the time it took me to type the above Particle replied to the post!

Edited August 31, 2012 by mojoewrkn

[particle]

LOL! Thanks mojoe - I don't mind at all if you share the link. Thanks for the referral and glad the video was helpful!

[JeffChastain]

LOL! Thanks mojoe - I don't mind at all if you share the link. Thanks for the referral and glad the video was helpful!

Thanks mojoe, I've actually kept up with this guy for some time.

particle, I've watched all of your videos. Probably the best how-to videos I've seen on youtube, bud. Thanks for posting them. I refer to them alot. The (i think) second video where you airbrush the holster blows me away. Instantly makes it a have-to-have piece. I don't know why I didn't look for a boning tool while I was at Tandy. I bought a few tools, and forgot a boning tool and a stitch wheel.

I really appreciate all the pointers, guys. I've kept up with Adams Leatherworks and katsass for a few months now. I'm glad you guys posted with some advice.

[JeffChastain]

Okay, got it dyed. I think it looks better. As katsass stated, I know the first picture made the stitching look rough. It's not as bad as it seemed. I do think it needs more stitching though. Looks pretty bare.

dyed holster

[SooperJake]

I've found the best variety of real bone tools can be found through book binding suppliers. They won't just have one or two, but many shapes and styles.

Here is one company for example http://www.hollanders.com

Go to their bone folders section under "small tools".

Interestingly, I see many of these sites have bone folders made out of teflon. I want to try one of these but one site says they are "teflon- like ptfe".

Jake

Edited September 1, 2012 by SooperJake

[SooperJake]

Okay, got it dyed. I think it looks better. As katsass stated, I know the first picture made the stitching look rough. It's not as bad as it seemed. I do think it needs more stitching though. Looks pretty bare.

dyed holster

tooling on the wings would be cool...

Jake

[JeffChastain]

Thanks for the link, Jake. Those are alot cheaper than I had expected.

I bought a tooling kit a bit ago, and figured out quickly that tooling is harder than it looks. I can't decide if I want to put belt loops on this for IWB, or if I want to punch out slots for OWB. If I did it OWB, I could tool on the wings a little.

I noticed in particles video where he is boning the 1911 avenger that he uses the pear shader to work the trigger guard area. What I didn't notice is, is that pear shader smooth on the bottom? The only pear shader that I have is textured.

[particle]

Yes, my pear shader is smooth.

[dickf]

Looks like a really nice start, Jeff!

Loads better than my first...or second!