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Posted

If you have a local machine shop, see if they will make you a custom press die...i use mine with a 1 ton arbor press from harbor frieght..its quick, easy and very clean...it takes me about 30 seconds to cut both slots in a holster..

Havoc Holsters

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Posted

A Forstner bit in a drill press cuts a very clean hole in leather.

Regards

Michael

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Posted

Wow, thank you all for the suggestions! Now I have a few other things to try! Your suggestions have all been very helpful. :)

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Posted

This will probably make me sound silly but touching on what was mentioned earlier about the hammering surface, be sure the section of table you are using is very solid. I typically use 8-9 oz scraps over granite. Early on when I had extremely limited resources (now I just have very limited resources) I had padding beneath the granite as not to scratch the tabletop I was having to use. I was using the hammer, hammer, curse, hammer, curse even more method. I moved my granite/ 8-9 ounce leather set up to a true work bench and hammering over a section where the leg was directly beneath the work, slots became so much easier to make. Looking back, I believe the padding beneath the granite and the flimsy area of the table I was striking absorbed too much force which also lead to the tool walking on me a bit. Like Dirtclod and Jason mentioned, a dead blow hammer http://www.harborfreight.com/2-lb-neon-orange-dead-blow-hammer-41797.html, http://www.harborfreight.com/2-1-2-half-lb-neon-orange-dead-blow-hammer-41798.html makes a world of difference. As elementary as it may sound, make sure your punch is sharp. I hear rumor of an overzealous young man (actually not so young) driving his punch through a project, a leather scrap and into a piece of granite and dulling his punch and chipping his granite... just a rumor mind you. For another example, if you go to Particle (Eric's) video on holster making around the 3:13 time frame he shows how he makes belt slots

. Sorry for this jumble of words but windows 8 wont allow me to hit enter to make a new paragraph on this forum.
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Posted

I use a slot die from Texas Custom Dies,1 5/8" x 5/16, and an arbor press like renegadelizard- put a little saddle soap on the die, slides right through

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Posted

I have a similar sized punch from Texas Custom Dies. I currently use a 16 oz hammer but I really need a dead blow mallet.

I'll have to try the saddle soap and see how it works. I tried the chisel and hole method but could never get good slots that way.

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Posted (edited)

I always cut my slots when the leather is wet, right before I mold the shape of the gun. The wet leather is easier to cut, and the outside of the slot gets a nice convex edge that looks more finished.

I really like the idea of cutting them in a press, but haven't tried that yet.

tk

Edited by malabar

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