Ok, Let Me Have It...

[sofljoe]

Hello everyone, I've been working with leather for about a week and half now. This is the fourth and fifth holster I've made and the first I feel comfortable sharing. The first was a complete disaster, the second was too small, the third was about the same as the two posted, but I didn't get a pic before giving it to my friend for his gun. So please let me know what you think and any pointers to make them better. They are both hand cut, hand sewn, hand everything. Any advice to get better is always appreciated.

This is my fourth holster. I know I need to work on my cuts to make it flow better, and the resolene got a little bubbly.

This is my fifth holster, I used Ox Blood with reducer, was hoping for a more pink color, but she likes the color it came out. The coloring looks better in person. I free handed the dragonfly, not a big accomplishment, but its my first attempt at carving anything into the leather. This one was made to fit in a purse, so the shape is made to the compartment on the purse, but I know its a bit off. I really need to work on making straighter cuts.

Well thanks for looking and for offering any advice!

Edited January 2, 2014 by sofljoe

[electrathon]

Your stitch line is way to far away from the gun. t will lossen up, the gun fall out, accidentally discharge when it hits the floor, shoot a puppy that is nearby, get you featured in the news as a puppy hater. Easier to tighten up the stitching.

[sofljoe]

Ok, gonna work on that, I love puppies My stitching was too close on the previous attempts and I guess I overcompensated for that. Thanks for the info, time to start another and see if I can get the stitching closer.

[medsar]

I second stitching much closer to the gun. You can stretch the leather a little when you wet form it (if you stitch a little too close again). Consider stitching around the belt loop holes.

[Dwight]

As mentioned, . . . stitch lines leave too much space away from weapon.

But, . . . secondly, . . . get rid of the square corners. Inside or outside corners on leather projects need to be rounded. Look at the leading edge of the little black holster, . . . about half way down there is a jagged corner jutting out, . . . sand your edges smooth, . . . graceful lines, . . . all the way around.

Inside corners that are square cut are an invitation for the leather to crack, break, and undo there, . . . outside corners that are square become dog eared VERY quickly, . . . and it looks like it was cut from a cardboard banana box.

Thirdly, . . . I could not get a real good look at the edge work, . . . but what I saw didn't look like you spent a lot of time on it.

THAT is the one place the hand crafter can shine 100% over the Walmart imports and the leather chopper down the street who is just cranking the stuff out.

If your edges are beveled, polished, and burnished well, . . . a bunch of other stuff can almost be forgiven.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited January 2, 2014 by Dwight

[sofljoe]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Gonna work on everything mentioned and see if I can make a better holster. I definately want to try and make the best quality holster I can.

Edited January 2, 2014 by sofljoe

[malabar]

There's another really good reason to never use sharp angles in a holster -- comfort. Pointy things and skin don't mix well. There's a reason that all commercially produced holsters have gently flowing lines (other than esthetics) -- they're more comfortable to wear.

[ENIGunleather]

For your stitch lines I always measure the firearm halve the measurement and then stitch that far out. For example a 1911 is about an inch wide so my stitch lines are 1/2 inch from the firearm on both sides. Always has produced a holster that the firearm pops into for me.

[katsass]

Awright, FWIW from the grumpy, (real) old (feeling) guy. Everyone has mentioned your square corners, as well as your stitch line. Well, it was mentioned that you can figure 1/2 of the width of the shooter and make that the distance from the outline of your gun to the stitch line. That works well for auto pistols -- it's a bit different for wheel-guns and I won't go into that lest I warp your young mind. One thing that was not stated was that an auto pistol seats in the holster on the front of the trigger-guard. With that in mind, you must move the stitch line upward (closer to the front of the trigger guard than your 1/2 the thickness measurement) enough to seat that bang-bang properly in alignment with the mouth of the holster. By the way, your stitching ain't too bad, but it could use some attention to the basics. Since I can't see your edge work, I'll leave that alone -- for now. Keep at it, I've seen pieces a pot load worse --- like some of my stuff from the early '50s Mike

Edited February 28, 2014 by katsass

[camano ridge]

Not to hijack the thread, but welcome back Mike. Where you been hiding.

[katsass]

Thanks guy, I appreciate the thought. Mike

[jackd942]

Great to have you back Mike!