Isn't As Easy As It Looks...

[MStarmer]

Well I've been a fan of leather holsters over Kydex for a long time although I own plenty of each. Got to the point I was tired of working on guns, and wanted to try my hand at a holster. After much lurking and reading I ordered some stuff from Springfield Leather and dove in. Made a half dozen templates and even a foam holster to start. Then jumped in and hacked out a piece of leather. At each step of the way so far I have made at least one mistake and found something I will improve on next time. In fact at the last minute I ended up molding this holster to a Glock 19 blue gun in lieu of my Springfield Armory XDm 3.8 compact as they are almost identical in size. Learned what does and doesn't cut leather well, learned there is a lot of waiting involved and that if I get in a hurry I'm going to screw up big time. Anyway feel free to comment as this is dumpster holster most likely but I will dye it and see how that process works. But for now I'm just over joyed that it actually resembles a holster! I'm hoping the next one will actually be something I am proud to wear.

To pro holster guys I can't believe I ever balked at the price of a custom leather (epecially one's with exotic trim). You guys are true artists, me unfortunately can't even draw stick figures very well.

Edited September 6, 2013 by MStarmer

[Warpe]

Well I will let you in on a secret.....we all started at the beginning too.

[papaleather]

Not a bad looking holster. I am getting ready to dive into making my own soon and I plan to take it slow as well and I have no delusions of it looking 'professional'. Reminds me of the joke; Guy is in New York and stops someone on the street and asks, 'How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Person replies, 'Practice, practice, practice.' Let us know how it looks after you finish it.

One question, What weight leather did you use?

Edited September 6, 2013 by papaleather

[GrampaJoel]

Ok here is how you make that holster look much better.

Take out the rest of the sewing you have so far. Don't damage the holes

Now hand saddle stitch in the already made holes with a sthick thread. So it fills the holes.

Get some dark color you like and color the holster.

Burnish the edges. Apply a top coat a wax or some type of finish. Buff it to a sheen. Not a shine. Step back and see how you turned a pigs ear into a not quite silk purse, but a useful holster.

I truly think that piece of work is very salvageable.

Don't give up yet!

Joel

[Red Cent]

As stated, holster looks good, except..........................what GrampaJoel said. I made something similar. I turned the back part roughside to the body and lined it with thin suede.

The best burnisher, I think, is two circles of 2" pure felt pad screwed together (tight) with a bolt through the center and beeswax. As you burnish, the middle of the felt will crease and leave a brown edge on you leather. Or not.

Edited September 6, 2013 by Red Cent

[MStarmer]

I used 8-9oz Herman Oak from Springfield. I thought it was a good deal for $35, leftover shoulder from making belts. http://springfieldleather.com/30422/Shoulder%2CSingle%2CH-O%2C8-9oz/

Thanks for the encouragement, I never figured the first one would be close to a keeper as I was kind of hurrying thru, and kind getting a feel for it but I may just give it a go.

One question for the vetrans out there. It still feels a little soft, how do you get a holster rigid? It's pretty firm but not like some of my purchased ones.

Thanks for the motivation!

[oltoot]

You can get a compound from Weaver Leather, probably Springfield too, that adds body but I wouldn't worry as long as it isn't plumb raggy. Since it isn't molded to an exact replica of your gun, stiffening could lead to increased holster and gun wear. Grandpa Joel's suggestion was good too, (re restitching with bigger thread) if you want to have the stitching contrast, do the finishing, except for the topcoat, then stitch. Just another look.

[MStarmer]

I've got another delivery enroute from Springfield Leather with two more types of thread, another diamond awl (busted my first one already) and a smaller beveler. I also have some neatsfoot oil and resoluene (sp?) to finish it out after I dye (fiebings oil). So after that I should have everything I need to actually build one start to finish. I may start a second one as I'm working on this one since there is so much down time, it will give me a chance to fix my processes and build a holster for a gun I actually have. I just happened to have a blue gun laying around from when we carried Glocks at work and used them for weapons retention drills. Luckily my pattern will work both for the Glock 19 and my XDM 3.8 other than the stitching around the trigger.

[vaalpens]

I used 8-9oz Herman Oak from Springfield. I thought it was a good deal for $35, leftover shoulder from making belts. http://springfieldle...ngle,H-O,8-9oz/

Thanks for the encouragement, I never figured the first one would be close to a keeper as I was kind of hurrying thru, and kind getting a feel for it but I may just give it a go.

One question for the vetrans out there. It still feels a little soft, how do you get a holster rigid? It's pretty firm but not like some of my purchased ones.

Thanks for the motivation!

I am a novice at this but have two different outcomes regarding stiffness of the leather. My first an only holster was stitched and dyed and then formed with the pistol. It was a tight fit. I just finished it of with some Kiwi clear polish and the holster came out very stiff. I then did a mag pouch that I formed ahead of the stitching. Left it outside in the shade (AZ temperature) for a while, and it came of stiff and hard. I then dyed it with an alcohol based dye and finished it with clear Kiwi again. This one came out stiff again. I then did just the belt loop for my BK-2 knife, which I just put olive oil on and then outside in the sun to get some color. I then formed it for the belt and finished it with clear Kiwi again. This one did not come out stiff or hard.

My feeling is that if you don't oil it a bit and your form it a bit (lot of stretching), in conjunction with the drying will leave it stiff and hard. There are lot more knowledgeable members on this forum that will be able to tell you exactly what to do to get the desired leather softness/hardness.

Good luck.

[chiefjason]

If you are looking to stiffen it, you need to heat it after wet forming. Wet the holster. Form it. Then put it on a shoe rack in your dryer on high for 20-30 minutes. That force dries the leather, gets the water out, and stiffens the collagen in the leather.

FWIW, that holster looks better than some I see on ebay. If I were you I'd finish it. And as suggested, re stitch it with thicker thread.

[MStarmer]

Well thanks for the tips, I put a little more work into it. I ended up trying to drill the remaining holes with a .062 drill bit just to see how it worked and if I thought it was something I wanted to give a shot. After seeing it compared to the awl punched holes I think I'll skip the drilling.

Some things I learned from this one.

I need to layout everything when it's flat.

Do all edge grooving and marking when flat.

Don't use overstitch wheel around the corners, or go very slow.

Don't punch out the belt slot holes, I really oversized them.

Edge beveler #3 is a little big for my tastes.

Here it is stitched up, edge burnished and 2 coats of Fiebings Mahogany oil dye. I don't have any neatsfoot oil but it's on the way with the other goodies. All in all I guess it turned out decent. I already have another one of a little different design cut out waiting to start!

[LewSchiller]

I'm screwing up my courage to make a similar holster as my first ever leather project.

If mine turns out 10% as well as yours I'll be happy

Edited September 10, 2013 by LewSchiller

[MStarmer]

I'm screwing up my courage to make a similar holster as my first ever leather project.

If mine turns out 10% as well as yours I'll be happy

Thanks!

You have nothing to loose but your time. I don't count the cost of tools as those are mine to keep but $35 worth of leather gives me enough to do probably 6 or 8 holsters. Now I kind if wished I would have molded it to my XDm so I could actually carry with it and see how it works. Unfortunately the blue gun doesn't provide the stopping power I'm looking for.

[malabar]

MStarmer,

That is a far better first effort than mine -- or my second or third, for that fact. The shape is good looking, the stitching is nicely spaced and that's quite a nice dye job.

A few observations/suggestions....

-- I use a number 4 edge beveler when working on leather this thick, but it's a round one, and from the look of your edges, you're using a flat one. You might find the round ones easier to use when burnishing the edges (if you are using a round one, then it's just my eye)

-- try to get your stitch lines a little closer to the gun. This makes for better long-term fit, and enables better molding to the gun.

-- The shape of the guard in the back of the holster looks good. Between that and the overall shape, it looks like you can get a good grip on the pistol while it's fully holstered. Personally, I would change the front profile slightly to cover more of the trigger guard area, but if you do, you need to make sure you taper the top edge down to the slot more sharply, to ensure you can continue to get a good grip on the pistol.

-- Your design looks well thought out so you're probably covered on this, but make sure that you leave the mag release exposed in the back. If the leather covers the mag release, then a blow to the holster can release the mag.

Can't wait to version 2.0!

tk

[MStarmer]

Yeah the stitch line didn't end up even close to where I was shooting. I molded it then tried to layout the stitch line. May work out fine for someone with more experience but I found it a lot easier when the holster was flat. I'll post up a pic of the back of the holster, I didn't realize I forgot to take one. Been working on version 2 for XD today, was looking great until I punched out the belt slots, I tried drilling then joining them with a chisel. Harder then I thought it would be, I had better luck with the punches last time. Belt slots are a little trickier than I imagined...

Here's the back;

And here's my next one, this one will be for my XDm

Edited September 10, 2013 by MStarmer

[malabar]

The back looks fine -- plenty of the stock exposed so that you can get a proper grip, and mag release is in the clear.

The belt slots can be tricky. If you're going to do more than a few holsters, a 2-inch bag punch from Osborne is a good investment -- but there are a number of very experienced holster makers here who use the hole and chisel technique. Just takes some practice.

Better watch out -- looks like you're catching the disease <g>

tk

[chiefjason]

but there are a number of very experienced holster makers here who use the hole and chisel technique. Just takes some practice.

Better watch out -- looks like you're catching the disease <g>

tk

To add to the above, I have found a punch and the round knife works great. I punch the hole. Put the point of the round knife in the hole and roll the round knife towards the other hole. Do that for both sides. Flip the holster and reverse it. Now the lines are cut straight and probably 95% of the material is free. I then carefully run the point of the round knife from top to bottom to free the piece of leather and knock it out.

I recently ordered a Vergez Blanchard straight skiving knife. it's a touch wider than what I need so I need to re profile it a bit but I'll use it like a chisel once I get the profile right.

[jbossartcustomgunleather]

Well I will let you in on a secret.....we all started at the beginning too.

So true

[MStarmer]

I'm the kind of guy that likes to go on with both feet running. When I was learning how to checker the front strap of my 1911 a whole lot of people said I was craszy. Practice on a pipe or something. I did practice on something, my frame! I'm looking forward to posting a few more pics.

Edited September 13, 2013 by MStarmer