George Lawrence Inspired Holster

[vaalpens]

I just finished my latest holster which I designed based on some George Lawrence holsters. The idea with this project was to try a few new things out and also have an old school design. The holster is lined and made from 2x5oz pieces of leather, except for the strap and band around the holster body which is 8/9oz. The dye is Fiebings Mahogany with neatsfoot oil applied after the dye. Wet forming was done after the dye process, but I did not try and get any detail in the forming since it is old school. I just tried to show the beautiful shape/curves of the P229. The finish I applied was leather balm with atom wax. The belt loop has been attached to the band with chicago screws which was a compromise. I really wanted to use copper rivets, but just could not make it happen. Next time, with better planning and using the advise from forum members, I will definitely include the copper rivets.

Here are some pictures. Any comments, suggestions or critique will be appreciated.

[jackd942]

Love it...excellent!

[camano ridge]

Looking pretty good. Put that one next to the first one you showed and see how far you have come.

[vaalpens]

Love it...excellent!

Jack, thanks for the nice comments. It means a lot coming from you, especially with the quality holsters you are making.

[vaalpens]

Looking pretty good. Put that one next to the first one you showed and see how far you have come.

Thanks Camano!. Yes, I can see some improvement and it is not just because I am doing a better job, but also because of the excellent advise I have received from the members on this forum. This is my third holster.

Here is my first:

And second:

[katsass]

Vaalpens: You have come a long way in a very short time with you work. If I had to critique it, the only thing I can come up with offhand would be to suggest that in subsequent holsters you might try to get your stitching line a bit farther away fro the edges. Keep it up, you're doing well. Mike

[Tree Reaper]

It looks really good, what do you think about dropping the strap down below the trigger guard?

[vaalpens]

It looks really good, what do you think about dropping the strap down below the trigger guard?

Moving the strap down was one design ideas I was thinking about, but i then decided to keep it a bit higher to get the belt loop as close as possible to my 1.75" belt width. Moving it down would have added about 1.5" to the belt opening.

Thanks for the response and suggestion.

[vaalpens]

Vaalpens: You have come a long way in a very short time with you work. If I had to critique it, the only thing I can come up with offhand would be to suggest that in subsequent holsters you might try to get your stitching line a bit farther away fro the edges. Keep it up, you're doing well. Mike

Well, I knew somebody was going to catch that. I think what caught me out was the thickness of the two 5oz layers of leather. I use some 4mm foam to help with my design and compensate for the thickness of the leather, but the lined leather was a bit thicker than expected. I also had some pen marks on the top layer instead of the bottom layer, which I had to trim. I knew there were going to be some lessons learned with my first lined holster, but luckily I kept the mistakes to a minimum.

Thanks again for the time you took to review my work and provide the positive feedback.

[Jeff L]

Interesting design and I really like the dye job. Very nice indeed. Thanks for sharing.

[vaalpens]

Interesting design and I really like the dye job. Very nice indeed. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the nice comments. I used Fiebings Mahogany and found it was a bit too red to my liking. After two treatments of neatsfoot oil I got it to the color that I liked.