carr52 Posted November 13, 2008 Report Posted November 13, 2008 Here's my first attempt at it. It's a 9mm Keltec P-11. Your right about the learning curve part. I had to cut several paper patterns before i got one i was happy with. On the next one I'll make the belt loop bigger. I had to do alot of streching on this one to get it right but it fits an inch and a half belt kinda snug. Tom Quote
Members mattsh Posted November 15, 2008 Author Members Report Posted November 15, 2008 I want to thank everyone for the comments on the tutorial. carr52 - that looks pretty nice for your first holster - good and functional - I like it Quote "Courage brother, do not stumble, though thy path be dark as night: There is a star to guide the humble, trust in God, and do the right. Let the road be dark and dreary and its end far out of sight. Face it bravely, strong or weary. Trust God, and do the right." - General Norman Schwarzkopf
carr52 Posted November 15, 2008 Report Posted November 15, 2008 I want to thank everyone for the comments on the tutorial.carr52 - that looks pretty nice for your first holster - good and functional - I like it The thanks go to you. With out your tutorial I'd still be hacking away at it. Now I have a great place to start from. I'm hoping my next one will be better. Thanks again Mattsh. Quote
MADMAX22 Posted November 23, 2008 Report Posted November 23, 2008 Mattsh I was wondering when you talk of using a wedge to keep the front site channel cleaned out so that it wont catch once your all done what kind of critter did you use for this. Thanks for the info. Quote
Members mattsh Posted November 26, 2008 Author Members Report Posted November 26, 2008 Here is a picture of what it will look like. I use a 3/8" dowel and sand it flat to give it a side to sit against the top of the slide as seen in figure A. I then sand the dowel to form a ramp as seen in figure B. Usually the overall length is about the same as the barrel minus the breach, but it is personal preference and what you think will work. The purpose for it is to provide enough room for the front sight to clear the leather without scraping the inside of the holster and getting leather on the sight causing a disruption in sight picture. With the channel being about the same length as the barrel the front sight will be able to clear the holster, since by the time you have drawn your weapon from the holster that distance, your front sight will be in the area of the holster that is wider. This will be where the trigger guard exists and the weapon will have more freedom to move out of the holster and the front sight will be clearing the holster. Hope this makes sense. Quote "Courage brother, do not stumble, though thy path be dark as night: There is a star to guide the humble, trust in God, and do the right. Let the road be dark and dreary and its end far out of sight. Face it bravely, strong or weary. Trust God, and do the right." - General Norman Schwarzkopf
Members noob Posted February 25, 2009 Members Report Posted February 25, 2009 great tutorial, how do you get the leather to be form fitted, where you can see the lines of the gun in the leather? Quote
Members mattsh Posted March 4, 2009 Author Members Report Posted March 4, 2009 (edited) noob - to accomplish this you have to 'bone' the leather to the gun. After you 'case' the leather by putting it in warm water you put your gun or dummy in the holster and press the leather to form around the gun. Then use a smooth tool of some sort to press into the leather the outlines of the gun. The more 'professional' way to do this is to use a press to fit the leather around the gun. This is done by having two pieces of 40 durometer gum rubber about 12" x 12" x 1.5" and putting steel plates on the outsides and putting the holster inbetween the two pieces of rubber and then 'squishing' it with a press. What this accomplishes is that it compresses the leather which helps with rigidity and also does a decent job at forming the holster to the gun. You would then remove the holster and use a smooth tool to 'bone' the leather to the lines of the gun. This means using the smooth tool to basically draw into the leather the lines of the gun. This helps with retention. It is personal preference as to how much 'boning' you do. Some makers like to put alot of gun detail onto the leather and others just do a basic outline. Edited March 4, 2009 by mattsh Quote "Courage brother, do not stumble, though thy path be dark as night: There is a star to guide the humble, trust in God, and do the right. Let the road be dark and dreary and its end far out of sight. Face it bravely, strong or weary. Trust God, and do the right." - General Norman Schwarzkopf
Members Tnoisaw Posted March 14, 2010 Members Report Posted March 14, 2010 Thanks so much for that. I was struggling in my holster design and you simplified it so much. Quote
Members GunNut Posted April 9, 2010 Members Report Posted April 9, 2010 I am new here so please accept my comment with that in mind. I have been making holsters for a few years now and only found this website recently. I felt your tutorial was excellent. It hit on all the points that you don't learn from the patterns you can order. I wish I would have had this when I started. It would have made my life much easier. One thing I do when using an exotic leather with a leather liner is reverse them. I leave the exotic the way you have it but turn the rough side of the leather to the rough side of the exotic. The glue holds much better and you don't have to rough the glue patch. It also leaves a smooth surface for the gun to ride on. I have just recently moved up to a Boss machine from hand stitching so I'm in learning mode again. Thanks for the great article and the pictures! Quote Gn
Billsotx Posted April 9, 2010 Report Posted April 9, 2010 (edited) I am new here so please accept my comment with that in mind. I have been making holsters for a few years now and only found this website recently. I felt your tutorial was excellent. It hit on all the points that you don't learn from the patterns you can order. I wish I would have had this when I started. It would have made my life much easier. One thing I do when using an exotic leather with a leather liner is reverse them. I leave the exotic the way you have it but turn the rough side of the leather to the rough side of the exotic. The glue holds much better and you don't have to rough the glue patch. It also leaves a smooth surface for the gun to ride on. I have just recently moved up to a Boss machine from hand stitching so I'm in learning mode again. Thanks for the great article and the pictures! 13. This picture shows a couple steps later. Pictures would not have shown much. I have cut out the elephant and glued it to the flesh side of the cow hide so the smooth side is inside. I have also cut out the mouth/belt loop support piece and glued it together. My understanding is that roughside and flesh side are the same. Maybe I'm missing something .... Smooth is grain from what I've read. Edited April 9, 2010 by Billsotx Quote
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