What Do You Put Your Wet Molded Holster On When You Oven Dry It?

[hestes]

For those of you that oven dry your holsters after you've wet molded them, what do you place them on in the oven? Cedar plank, baking sheets, etc? I'm just curious how others are doing it because every now and then I get a line from the edge of the plank or whatever I have it on. I want to perfect that process and clean up the finished look.

Thanks!

[Russ]

I just put mine on the rack. It's been my experience that if the leather gets a mark on it, the oven temperature is too high.

[chiefjason]

On the rack at 185-195 for 20-25 minutes. If it does not look dry enough I turn off the heat and leave it in the oven longer. Seems to work fine for me.

[Denster]

I have the rack covered with aluminum foil. 120 to 130 degF is plenty to accomplish the purpose. Over 150 and you will damage the leather.

[hestes]

Thanks for the replies! I am using a toaster oven & the lowest temp is 150. I was afraid that was too hot. It doesn't sound like it should be. I am going to experiment a little bit more with it.

Thanks again!

[evandailey]

Get yourself any one of the many silicone baking pads available. No risk of heat marking or even simply the grating bars pressing into the wet leather like a tooling impression.

[glockanator]

The few I have done I bent some s hooks from a coat hanger and the hung the holster from.the top oven rack.

[Steven Kelley]

Making a drying oven is extremely easy and cheap. For about $30, you can make one large enough to dry about 15 items in at a time. I made one using a plastic storage bin, a small space heater, some wooden dowels, and a digital oven thermometer. Basically, cut a hole in the end of the bin about the same size as the space heater. The space heater will blow warm air inside the box drying the items. The items can be hung inside the box using the dowel rods. The distance the fan is from the box will regulate the temp inside the box. It will keep a nice even temp anywhere from 100° to 140°. The moving air really dries the items faster than a kitchen oven, and with less heat.

[PappyUSA]

Tennis shoe rack in the dryer set on delicate also works good..

[particle]

I put mine on a sheet of wax paper, placed on my pizza stone and I try to keep the temp around 130-140 max, for about 45 minutes. Another option to an oven is to cut the end off one of your leather shipping boxes, fashion a small hanger from a large clothes hanger and hang your holster inside the box (really, any box will do), then place a small space heater at one end of the box and allow the heated air to funnel through the box. Works great, provided you keep the heater on its lowest setting and keep an eye on the box to make sure it's not getting too hot. Stick the probe of an oven thermometer through the cardboard to monitor the temp inside the box, and regulate the box by moving the heater closer or further away from the opening.

Glockanator - that's a great idea to actually hang it, instead of sitting it on something else.

As I'm typing this, I see Steven Kelley replied - his is a great option too! Steven, I'd love to see a photo of your box if you'd care to share.