Soaking Horse Before Wet Molding ....

[RoosterShooter]

I usually soak my cowhide about 1 second per ounce / weight before wet molding.

Using a 7 to 9 oz. horse hide .... how long should I soak it to get the best fit for wet molding from it?

Also, can I dry horse in my oven the same as I do cowhide without any ill effects?

Thanks

[Steven Kelley]

I normally have to soak horse about 30 - 45 seconds. Yes, you can dry it in an oven the same as cowhide.

[RoosterShooter]

OK. So you basically soak it until it's flimsy?

[Steven Kelley]

Yes. I've had pieces that soak up water almost as fast as cowhide and some pieces that would take several minutes to soak up enough to mold.

[lws380]

Warm to hot water helps too and seems to work faster for me.

[George B]

Just did one yesterday afternoon. After a soaking of 30 seconds in warm lightly soapy water the holster was not anywhere near ready for the initial forming. Threw it back in the bucket and let it set there for about 15 minutes.

I've had them ready in a few seconds and some like the one yesterday that take a lot more soak time.

Even after soaking for 15 minutes it still dried out too fast in the shop and had to be re-dunked so I could detail it last night.

[harley45]

Where are you folks getting the horsehide from I'd like to try a bit but can't seem to find any.

[George B]

Last butts I bought came from SLC. Have bought from a couple of other leather suppliers but cannot remember which ones, RFJ sounds familiar. I gave up trying to buy horse. The last 7 or so hides had extreme drop offs in thickness. I was able to make one holster from each one and use the rest for really small projects. And at the cost of each it just didn't make sense to keep using horse.

This last holster I just made was for a Sig P938 and as usual, I was able to make one holster from this butt that stayed close to the same thickness.

Contacted Horween numerous times and finally contacted the correct person for horse butts. They required a large order to buy from them at much higher prices than suppliers. I was told this is because they sell their seconds to suppliers? and if I needed smaller quantities to deal with the suppliers and be happy with the quality.

This was about 6 months ago, maybe things have changed for the better since then.