Stiffening Leather

[Red Cent]

I have never baked a holster. Not even in the sun. But I may have to now.

Would someone note the specifics. I realize I should not boil the leather. And 30 minutes at 500 degrees might not work. Aside from those.................................

[Denster]

You just need some moisture in the leather, not a lot, what remains after molding is sufficient. Heat at about 130 Deg F for at least 20 minutes. I generally leave for an hour or more. This will release collagens in the leather, essentially liquid hide glue, that will glue the fibers in place and stiffen the holster nicely.

[camano ridge]

Red. My kitchen oven goes down to 170 degrees, I set it at 170 and put the holster in for about 10 - 15 minutes. 30 minutes at 500 should give you something akin to a dried prune and about the same color.

[Red Cent]

Yeah, I figured as much with the prune.

OK, guys going to go set the oven. Thank you.

[Dwight]

A couple of 100 watt light bulbs with a line control thermostat set at 130 degrees, . . . in a large cardboard box should do the trick.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Red Cent]

Thanks everybody. But....I thought as I was turning the oven on.

I make the cowboy holsters with 2 pieces of leather. They are Weldwooded. Do I have to worry about runny glue much less the holsters coming apart?

[Dwight]

The one word answer is "NO".

In fact, . . . in the last few years, . . . virtually all of my weldwood stuff gets a "hot foot" treatment, . . . i dry the weldwood with a heat gun in about 10% of the time it used to take waiting for it to air dry. AND, . . . it may all be in my mind, . . . but it seems to stick better.

Belts, holsters, mag carriers, purses, wallets, . . . all get the same treatment, . . . and it works for me.

Putting the holster in an oven will not do anything but make it harder, . . . quicker.

Unless, of course, . . . you put it in a microwave for 45 seconds, . . . and you really don't want to know how I am absolutely certain that one should never do that (a line from the short movie "Younger and Dumber").

May God bless,

Dwight

[camano ridge]

Red, I agree with Dwight all of my holsters are double layer they are all glued and stitched then baked. Never had any problem with them.

[katsass]

FWIW from the old grumpy guy; I'll agree with Dwight on all that he has said. One other thing not mentioned is what I actually use most all of the time. Old Ma Nature's smile, starting about this time of the year. Of course I live in a desert area but most places I've been will also work just as well. If you have one of those handy-dandy laser pointing thermometers, (Harbor Freight type of thing) measure the temp on the driveway, concrete walkway or the natural dirt surface around your abode. Even this time of year (we've only hit 90 once so far) you'll be surprised at the surface temps reached. With it in the 80's, the surface of the sand or gravel will easily hit 150, concrete will usually be a bit cooler. Just sit your masterpiece on a small box or something of the sort slightly above the dirty surface, and let Ma Nature do her thing. Turn it over once in a while. Mike

Edited May 18, 2014 by katsass

[Itch]

I use a liquid leather stiffiner and set the product out in the Sun.. Once it dries it is almost as hard as Kydex..

[Red Cent]

" liquid leather stiffiner"

OK Itch, how much is it gonna cost me to get the name?

Edited May 18, 2014 by Red Cent

[chiefjason]

I use the shoe rack in my dryer. Set it for 40 minutes. Works well for me. Don't have to worry about over cooking like in the oven.

[marine mp]

I use 2 methods....as Katsass does.....nature is a excellent oven....and as ChiefJason....I use the dryer when nature ain't co-operating!!!!!! Nice thing about the dryer is that there is hot air circulating all the time. Has worked for me many-a-year and imagine shall continue same. Semper-fi Mike

[Red Cent]

I have purchased all my leather from one place except the last order. This last order of leather contained beautiful lightly tanned, soft, and supple leather.

First let me state I know very little about types of leather. And this is not to criticize anybody.

If I continue to get this leather, I will have to increase the liner weight to achieve, I hope, the stiffness desired. But I may not. All the holsters prior to this last one has not needed any baking. Matter of fact, they did not need sunshine. At the end of the day, I turned a fan on them. Super stiff. But then the leather I used in the past was much stiffer.

Could it be you folks have always used the soft and supple and need to bake and I have been using stiff and dry and had no need to bake? In our discussion, it seems you folks have a particular experience with your leather and I have my experiences with my leather and our experiences don't match.

Anyone have any insight to this?

[Red Cent]

I have read a bunch about the different cuts. However, I have always purchased double shoulders. Would it make any difference if I bought single bends instead? I am aware that the single bend includes a half of a shoulder.

[Itch]

" liquid leather stiffiner"

OK Itch, how much is it gonna cost me to get the name?

Weavers sells this product...

[Red Cent]

Thank you.

[Denster]

This is an alcohol based product. You can get the same effect with isapropel without the expense. To use you just substitute it for water when molding.

[chiefjason]

Red,

Might be a difference in the tanning processes, or just differences in hides. Leather being natural and all. I have used the same dealer for over a year now. And I have gotten good, solid, stiffer hides as well as hides that are still nice just a bit softer overall. The side I have now is a bit softer. I dry all of them regardless.

Denster,

Are you casing your leather or just wetting and molding after adding the alcohol?

[Lobo]

The person working on one project at a time can usually find any number of methods for getting the job done. In my shop we are working on multiple production batches, usually 10 to 12 items per batch and 3 to 4 batches over the course of a week. So we have developed a process that keeps everything moving smoothly.

When a batch of a dozen holsters has been cut, assembled, stitched, edges dressed and beveled, dyed, and allowed to thoroughly dry and set up, then we start forming.

Step one is immersion in water (room temperature). Then the forming piece (dummy or actual handgun) is forced into the holster and roughly formed to shape and contour. While doing this another holster goes into the water.

Then the holster goes into a convection oven at lowest setting (150F) with the door propped open about 1/2" or so (preheated to avoid temperature spike during start-up) for about 8 to 10 minutes. During that time the next piece is rough-formed and another goes into the water.

The first holster comes out of the oven and is closely formed using a few simple tools. Then it goes back into the convection oven for another 8 to 10 minutes. Continue on with the others in the cycle.

After the second trip through the convection oven the first holster is usually ready for detail boning (if still too damp to take the boning it can go back into the convection oven for another cycle) using a variety of specialized tools. That one is then ready for the hot box (see prior post, cabinet with rheostat-controlled 100W bulbs as heating elements). My hot box has a capacity up to 12 pieces, so over the course of about 2 hours everything has been formed and boned, then hung in the hot box.

One to two hours in the hot box is generally enough, but there is nothing wrong with leaving everything there for several hours. That time is spent starting another batch (cutting, assembly, stitching, edges, dyeing, etc).

When they come out of the hot box they are generally ready to proceed with oiling and finishing. However, we just lay them out on benches until everything for that week's production has been done before proceeding. That way we only need to set up for finishing work once per week, after which we usually have from 30 to 50 pieces ready for packaging and delivery.

Probably the easiest mistake to make in the shop is to try and rush a project through. Cements need to completely set up before anything else can be done. Dyes require time to set properly. These things should never be pushed. All day is better than a couple of hours, and overnight is usually better than all day.

This has worked very well over the years. If I ever need to "stiffen up" a holster more than the results of these methods provide I will probably try crushing a few of those little blue "V" pills and disolving them in my forming water.

[Red Cent]

Thanks folks.

[RoosterShooter]

I'll state the obvious ...

You don't want to lay leather directly on the oven rack!

I always lay a piece of aluminum foil down so that the debris from the rack doesn't put 'grill marks' on my leather.

Edited May 25, 2014 by RoosterShooter

[malabar]

I also dry my holsters in a convection oven. I've made wooden racks our of boards and dowel, and put the holsters on the racks. My procedures is REAL similar to lobo's, but I don't put them in a hotbox after the oven. Maybe I should.

tk

[dakotawolf]

This is kind of a late response, but I use my food dehydrator for things small enough to fit. I can set the temp (90 to 160) and it gets mild air circulation. I set it at 130 degrees . It's been working great, and no, it doesn't turn leather to jerkey (if you don't leave it in there for days LoL).

[Colt W Knight]

I can tell you that skin wrinkles in leather crinkle up and shrink when you heat dry them. But you probably aren't using this lower quality leather for your holsters to begin with.