What Material And From Where, Metal Holster Reinforcements?

[Tallbald]

I see some makers using metal reinforcement for example at the mouth of holsters, on or in the tab of thumb break retainers and a few other places on modern gun leather. I would imagine high tensile stainless steel is an appropriate metal, but in thinner gauges. Where are craftspersons buying the metals they use, what are you using, how do you cut and de-burr it, etc. Thank you so much. Don

[camano ridge]

Don for, thumb breaks the two places I get mine is from theblugunstore.com or High destert leather. SOme people usemetal strapping fpr mouth piece re enforcement. If I am going to to re enforce the Belt loop so it can be bent out etc. Or I am going to make a Fast Draw holster I use Galvanized or stainless.

http://037287c.netsolstores.com/thumbstiffenersbreaks.aspx

http://www.highdesertleather.com/id74.html

There is also JRM Clips. They sell thumb breaks, metal holster shanks, belt clips etc. However you have to buy quantitiy from them.

http://www.jrmclips.com/thumb-break-stiffeners.html

Edited April 7, 2014 by camano ridge

[strike2]

For reinforcing thumb break tabs I sew a small piece of 22 gauge sheet steel between two layers of leather. The steel that I use is just regular mild sheet steel from Menards that comes in a 24"x24" sheet. It's thin enough to cut with metal shears but heavy enough that I haven't had to worry about bending it through everyday wear and tear.

No matter what you do, you can't go wrong with stainless. If you're worried about rust prevention with mild steel, you could always spray it with metal primer before sewing it in.

Here's a couple photos of the finished project; one of the holster itself and one of the thumb tab. Wish I had a few pics to share of it while it was in progress but I didn't think of it at the time.

[malabar]

I put a steel band in the throat of many of our holster models. I use steel strapping, and have been using strapping salvaged from pallets at home-improvement stores.

It can be ordered from U-line.

[triage1998]

Here is what I have been use Uline Strapping. I believe Malabar recommended it to me 2 years ago . Thanks again Malabar.

I also use JRM Clips reinforcing thumb breaks. #175.04c black phosphate. I like the look and it gives me the 3 holes I prefer on my reinforcement piece.

[malabar]

Here is what I have been use Uline Strapping. I believe Malabar recommended it to me 2 years ago . Thanks again Malabar.

I also use JRM Clips reinforcing thumb breaks. #175.04c black phosphate. I like the look and it gives me the 3 holes I prefer on my reinforcement piece.

Nice work! IS that horsehide? Who do you get it from and how is it finished?

tk

[triage1998]

Malabar that is horsehide I purchased directly from Horweens Tannery Row. I contacted John but the man is really hard to get a hold of.

The holster is dyed with Fiebings Dark Brown Professional oil dye. I believe I put 2 coats on using an Iwata Eclipse sprayer. The finish is Fiebings Acrylic Resolene cut 50/50 with H2O and applied using a sponge brush. I used to use an Iwata sprayer but I now prefer to apply my acrylic using a sponge brush. I like the finished look much better. I only use my Iwata sprayer to apply dyes now.

The thing about horsehide is it sucks up a ton of acrylic compared to cowhide and it is really hard to get an even finish throughout the holster. This example has 5 coats of acrylic and a final wax, after 72 hours of drying, of Angulus #400 neutral wax to get a nice matte luster to it. For cowhide I usually only use 1-2 coats of acrylic.

Here are a few more pictures. I really loved this holster and hated to send it off to its new owner

Here is another example of the same process using Horweens russet horse butts. I believe I ordered about 50 lbs of horse strips and received about 42 strips. About 8 of those strips I couldn't even use. Really poor hides. The rest I thought was average at best. I had 3-4 hides that had fantastic marbling. Below is an example. Over all horsehide is nice to work with but the quality of hides I received are average at best.

Edited April 11, 2014 by triage1998

[Tallbald]

Hey thank you everyone. My question has been answered better than I ever would have been able to bouncing around blindly looking myself! Don