Holster Process

[jackd942]

I really appreciate the information and help I have received since joining this forum. I have had several requests from members about different things in private messages, and I sat down and outlined my process in one of them. I figured that while I was sharing, might as well post it for all to see.

Please understand that I have only been doing this for 3 months and I'm sure there are things in my process that will change...this is just how I currently work. And please, if anyone has any suggestions for improvements, let me know.

Well, here it is in a nutshell...

First of all, all of my holsters are my own design. They look similar to other pancake style holsters out there, but the first thing I do when I get a new model handgun is to set down and design a pattern. I make sure that as I am drawing it out that I am not looking at someone else's pattern that might influence me.

Instead of going through that process, I'm going to give you a link to a video by Andy Harlin. His YouTube channel was a great source of information when I started 3 months ago.https://www.youtube....user/revelcraft is his YouTube channel. His particular video on pattern making is

(part 1) and

(part 2). One particular thing to pay close attention to is how the front panel of the holster is slightly wider than the back. You can make a fine holster without that, but I have found that this is my preference. Another common mistake is to not allow enough clearance between the top of the holster and the grip to get your fingers in between, so keep that in mind as well.

My step by step holster process is as follows, but I want to give you one more video link that was also a good source of info for me...Eric Adams at Adams Leatherworks. The link ishttps://www.youtube....rticlerealities. In particular, these videos are VERY similar to my process (

,

and

). He also has some subscription videos you can pay to watch if you're interested, but these will give you an overview.

1) After developing the pattern, I usually digitize it (optional) on my computer with a free program called Inkscape. This allows me to just reprint the pattern at any time. I scan in the drawing and then digitize it in layers so that I can print individual components as needed (ie. front panel, back panel, stitch lines, belt slots, stiffener). There are many videos on youtube about digitizing drawings and you should be able to get a lot of results with a search. Again, this is purely optional.

2) Lay the patterns on the leather, mark them and cut them out. I use a utility knife and try to stay either right on the line or just to the outside. I always sand the edges flush so I'd rather have too much as not enough.

3) Run a stitching groove around the stiffener.

4) Case the stiffener and then carve/bevel if needed.

5) At this point I either use my overstitch wheel around the groove or use my stitching chisel (pricking iron) depending on what method I will be using. Lately I've been using the diamond stitching chisel (pricking iron) a lot.

6) Run a groove all around the front panel of the holster. After that, I mark and make a groove for the double inside stitch lines.

7) Overstitch wheel or pricking iron on the inside stitch lines.

8) Case all of the leather parts and apply dye with my airbrush. I use Fiebing's spirit dye, it works really well in my airbrush and allows me the do the "sunburst" effect. For the sunburst, I spray the whole panel and after that dries a bit, I fade in the outside with a darker color. I believe this is shown in Eric's video.

9) Allow that to sit for a full day.

9a) Carefully rough up the leather on the front panel and glue the stiffener on. Go ahead and stitch the stiffener on before continuing to the sides.

10) Glue together one side with contact cement and let it sit for an hour. If using a pricking iron you can go ahead and punch through the second layer with the iron, or use an awl to finish the hole as stitching.

11) Prepare thread, place in stitching pony and stitch up the one side. Note that I concentrate a LOT on my stitching. Ian Atkinson and Nigel Armitage have a lot of good videos about stitching on their YouTube channels. IMO it is worth it to really study the information on stitching and practice this a LOT.

12) Repeat 10 and 11 for the other side...but if you made the front panel slightly bigger, you have to take great care to bend the holster and line up the edges well.

13) Cut belt slots. I use a 1 1/2" slot punch to cut the belt slots after the stitching is done.

14) Sanding. I use a oscillating spindle sander to sand all of the edges and flush them up. Many use a belt sander which is good as well. If you don't have either, a trip to Harbor Freight may be in order:) It is WELL worth the money.

15) Soak the stitched holster in WARM water for around 30 seconds to a minute or so. It needs to be good and wet, but it doesn't have to soak for 30 minutes like some people say IMO.

16) take out the holster and lay on a towel. Blot off the excess water and let it rest for a little bit. While it is sitting, heat up the oven somewhere between 150 and 170 degrees. Mine will only go to 170 and it works fine.

17) Now, if using the real handgun, you will need to spray it down with some oil and wrap it in Saran Wrap or stuff it in a ziploc bag. I have done this many times and it works just fine. If I am using a bluegun, I normally go ahead and wrap it as well, just to make sure none of the blue comes off on the inside of the holster. You can scrub your blueguns with denatured alcohol to get the finish off of them, but I have always been extra cautious and just wrap them.

18) Stuff the handgun into the holster. Make sure the it is even on both sides and look it over really well to make sure it is all lined up the way you want it. Sometimes they are a real bear to get in, but if you work at it, it will eventually go in. The harder it is to get in, the tighter the fit will be when it is done. There are a lot of variables, from the stitch line to the temper of the leather that determine how tight it will be, but even though some are tighter than others, I have not had a holster yet that didn't turn out well in the end.

19) Molding or Boning. Now it is time to start molding the holster. There are different opinions on this, but I will tell you mine. If I wanted every piece of detail in my holsters, I would start using Kydex. This is just my personal preference...a lot of people are making fantastic holsters with a lot of detail in them. When I first started, I used to use a modeling spoon and all kinds of different tools to mold it. Now, I use nothing but my fingers. I pay a lot of attention around the trigger guard as well as down the front and back of the slide. I'll push and rub with my fingers for probably 10-20 minutes, and then take out the gun.

20) Baking. Now I take an old wooden cutting board, put the holster on it and stick it in the oven for 20 minutes. After that, I go back to step 18. Re-insert the wrapped gun and start molding and shaping with my fingers for another 10-20 minutes. I stick it back in for another 20 minutes. I then repeat. I usually do 20-20-10-10 depending on how the holster is looking. if it is looking like it is drying out on the inside I may only do 20-15, 20-20 or 20-20-10 and leave off the last bit of time. You just kind of have to get a feel for it.

21) At this point, I'm pretty well done with it for the night. I test fit the gun 1 more time and then take it out and leave the holster alone for at least 24 hours.

22) After it is thoroughly dry, I apply tan-kote to the inside in one direction and kind of wipe it down to burnish it a little. I used to use gum trag followed by resolene. Since then I have started buying better quality leather and don't really need to "glue" down the fibers on the inside anymore.

23) Apply neatsfoot oil to all the outside surfaces with a foam brush. Wipe off any excess after it has sat for a bit and then walk away and leave it alone until the next day.

24) Edges. I apply black dye to my edges and let it sit for a bit. I then chuck up a wooden wheel in my drill press that I made and burnish all the edges. If there are areas I can reach, I use a wooden slicker to burnish them. I then chuck up a 1/2" dowel that I sanded down to a long point in my drill press and burnish the belt slots after black dye as well. I spend a lot of time on the edges...to me the first thing I look at to see quality is the stitching, followed by a close second, the edge treatment.

25) Finish. I spray all my finish with an airbrush. I have used resolene a lot and like it. I usually cut it 50/50 with water. It tends to leave a shinier surface. LIGHT COATS...and you only need 2 or 3. You don't want it to look like a big glob of glass. Lately I've been using Mop n Glo cut 50/50 with water. Yes, the floor polish. Search for posts by Katsass on here and you will find what I am talking about. Again, 2 to 3 LIGHT coats. It leaves a mellow shine, but it still looks like leather and not glass which is something I appreciate more and more as I gain experience.

25) Finally, whether using resolene or Mop n Glo, I heat up the holster gently with a hair dryer or heat gun on low. I then rub in neutral shoe polish all over with my fingers. I then heat it a little more and buff with a soft cloth. If I'm using resolene, I don't do this until it has had a day or more to cure. If using mop n glo, you can wait 6-8 hours. Just make sure the finish isn't tacky at all before you use the shoe polish...you want it to be fully cured.

That's pretty much my process as it is today...Again, if anyone has any comments or suggestions, I'm an open book and I really appreciate everybody's advice I have received on here.

Jack

Edited December 11, 2013 by jackd942

[jackd942]

Almost forgot...between 9 and 10, I rough up the leather and cement the stiffener on. After that, the stiffener is stitched on before the sides are glued and stitched.

[Chris B]

Wow thank you for all of that!!! Great write up!!!!

Chris

[Dwight]

Made me tired just wandering through it.

Think I'll take a nap.

Good job, by the way.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited December 11, 2013 by Dwight

[vaalpens]

Jack, great job! You either love writing or you have too much time on your hands. Either way I appreciate the time and effort you put into sharing your process with the forum members. I like the way you broke it down into specific steps and also the links you provided to other tutorials. I obviously have to show that I actually read the complete tutorial, but asking a few questions:

You indicate that that for the pancake you make the front panel slightly larger. Does this give you a natural backward bend for the holster, or do you bend it backwards during the forming process? Otherwise, what is the benefit of making the fron panel a bit wider?

8) You indicate you case the leather and then apply the dye. I understand the benefit of casing before tooling, but what is the benefit of casing the leather before dying?

25) I have seen in other posts also where an acrylic finish is applied and then some wax or maybe Montana Pitch Blend is applied on top of the acrylic. What is the reason for putting the finish on top the acrylic since the acrylic seals and waterproof the piece?

Thanks again for the great tutorial

[jackd942]

Jack, great job! You either love writing or you have too much time on your hands. Either way I appreciate the time and effort you put into sharing your process with the forum members. I like the way you broke it down into specific steps and also the links you provided to other tutorials. I obviously have to show that I actually read the complete tutorial, but asking a few questions:

You indicate that that for the pancake you make the front panel slightly larger. Does this give you a natural backward bend for the holster, or do you bend it backwards during the forming process? Otherwise, what is the benefit of making the fron panel a bit wider?

8) You indicate you case the leather and then apply the dye. I understand the benefit of casing before tooling, but what is the benefit of casing the leather before dying?

25) I have seen in other posts also where an acrylic finish is applied and then some wax or maybe Montana Pitch Blend is applied on top of the acrylic. What is the reason for putting the finish on top the acrylic since the acrylic seals and waterproof the piece?

Thanks again for the great tutorial

The front panel being larger does give it a natural curve which is very comfortable in my opinion. It hugs the body better. When I was talking about being careful to bend it to line the edges up, with one side stitched, you have to kind of bend the back and then line up the front to get the edges to line up.

When I mentioned casing before dye, the Fiebing's spirit dyes recommend dampening the leather before application. This opens up the pores and helps the leather accept the dye better.

I use either resolene cut 50/50 with water or mop n glo cut 50/50 with water. Applying heat/neutral shoe polish over that and giving it a buff just gives it a nice subtle shine (almost a glow). There are other waxes/blends that would work for this, but neutral shoe polish is easy and available anywhere. I tell my customers that if they ever want to freshen a piece up to use neutral polish and buff it. The last thing I want (for my taste) is a holster that looks like glass. I like a nice satin leather look. This is just my preference. Some of my earliest work was probably a little heavy on the resolene with no polish and therefore a little shinier. Look at some of Katsass' (among others) holsters and you'll see what I mean about the nice satin shine.

Hope that clears it up, if not, let me know.

Jack

[vaalpens]

The front panel being larger does give it a natural curve which is very comfortable in my opinion. It hugs the body better. When I was talking about being careful to bend it to line the edges up, with one side stitched, you have to kind of bend the back and then line up the front to get the edges to line up.

When I mentioned casing before dye, the Fiebing's spirit dyes recommend dampening the leather before application. This opens up the pores and helps the leather accept the dye better.

I use either resolene cut 50/50 with water or mop n glo cut 50/50 with water. Applying heat/neutral shoe polish over that and giving it a buff just gives it a nice subtle shine (almost a glow). There are other waxes/blends that would work for this, but neutral shoe polish is easy and available anywhere. I tell my customers that if they ever want to freshen a piece up to use neutral polish and buff it. The last thing I want (for my taste) is a holster that looks like glass. I like a nice satin leather look. This is just my preference. Some of my earliest work was probably a little heavy on the resolene with no polish and therefore a little shinier. Look at some of Katsass' (among others) holsters and you'll see what I mean about the nice satin shine.

Hope that clears it up, if not, let me know.

Jack

Jack, thanks for the answers. That explains everything. I have never made a pancake holster before, but with your directions and everything it kind of inspired me to design and make one. It is not my preferred type of holster, but I think I need to make sure I can design and make one if necessary. Also, one of your last holsters you included some collar brass on the holster. That also inspired me to try the same thing. I will probably just use my last old school holster design and add some brass to it and also some collar brass from my dad in his army days. I will probably include it on the band around the holster so that I can remove it if it needs to be cleaned. It has to be non-permanent since I don't want to modify it with epoxy due to the sentimental value.

Thanks again for your great advise.

[jackd942]

Jack, thanks for the answers. That explains everything. I have never made a pancake holster before, but with your directions and everything it kind of inspired me to design and make one. It is not my preferred type of holster, but I think I need to make sure I can design and make one if necessary. Also, one of your last holsters you included some collar brass on the holster. That also inspired me to try the same thing. I will probably just use my last old school holster design and add some brass to it and also some collar brass from my dad in his army days. I will probably include it on the band around the holster so that I can remove it if it needs to be cleaned. It has to be non-permanent since I don't want to modify it with epoxy due to the sentimental value.

Thanks again for your great advise.

Glad to help...You just gave me an idea. Thinking now about incorporating my Desert Storm Medal into a holster for myself...hmmm.

[Ran]

Nice job, Jack..