My first holster attempt...

[Peterk]

Hello all,

After reading countless threads here and everywhere else, I've finally worked up the courage (and funds) to give holster-making a try. I have a long road ahead of me to get to a place where I can make some half-decent holsters, but so far I am enjoying the craft and willing to sacrifice my fingers (hand sewing is no fun) to get to where I would like. Here are a couple of pictures. The antique-esque finish is done with Eco-Flo Bison Brown, topped with Satin Sheen. I am currently using 207 waxed thread but any suggestions to a thinner and possibly stronger thread would be greatly appreciated to hopefully make hand sewing a bit easier. Thanks much!

I chose my Makarov as my first test subject because 1) it is a smallish gun to start learning with and, 2) holster choices for Makarovs are slim pickings and I could never find one I like.

Picture one

Picture two

[Tac]

Wow Pete.. that's a pretty good start if you ask me... You seem to have a good understanding of wet molding and stitching... You better watch out... you will get bitten by the bug and the next thing you know you will be making holsters for guns you don't even own! (which is always a good reason to buy more guns!)

[Peterk]

Thank Tac!

Got ways to go on the stitching... hand holding the dremel perpendicular to the piece to drill the holes is not easy... But it does give me an excuse to buy a drill press. :D

Need to figure out how to get my bench polisher to work for me on burnishing an edge; this will be the next lesson for me.

Next up will be my Sig P225.

[Tac]

I love my Sig P225... great gun. Most of the holsters I sell are for Sig's, as thats what my department issues as a duty gun.

I picked up a cheap drill press at Harbor Frieght tool for the same reason and it works great and has served me well.

I mounted one of the Tandy slicker wheels to a bolt with a nut and chuck it in the drill press for most of my burnishing jobs. It works pretty well for straight edges, but not so well for small or tight areas.

-Good luck

-Tac

[ArtS]

Wow, looks good Peter. Hard to believe it's your first. I like that grip on your Makarov. I just bought a rubber grip for mine that I really like a lot.

Art

[Peterk]

Tac, I've not liked any Sigs until I bought and shot my P225/P6. I have medium sized hands and the other double stacked Sigs just didn't feel good and consequently I never shot well with them. Anyway, do you have a picture of your slicker wheel setup you can show me? I am thinking about getting one of those, or one of those rosewood slickers and figure out how to attach it to my bench buffer...

ArtS, thank you very much! I got the grip unfinished from marschalgrips.com, one of the best places, if not the only place to get nice Makarov grips (also where I'm getting my P225 grips), and refinished it myself. Fills the hand and stopped the battering of the web of my shooting hand.

[WaG35]

That's one heck of a first attempt. I really like the color too.

[Tac]

Pete.... I do not have a pick of the slicker set up, but I will try and take one and post it in the next few days.

As for the Sig and the hand size issue.... I am right there with you on most of them. I have a P220 (.45) that fits my hand, but I had to install a short trigger to be able to control it in double action and hit anything with it. It is single stack, like the P225 and therefore narrower than the P226/228/229 series of guns. I have a new P250 9mm with the polymer frame that fits my hand well. It is Double Action Only, but the trigger is light and smooooooooooth... It shoots well enough to make me consider it in the running for replacing my P225 as my favorite 9mm Sig...

-Tac

[Lobo]

Excellent first attempt. Nice wet-molding and the stitching looks very good.

Burnishing: I use a variety of old wooden thread spools with a bolt or machine screw through the hole, chucked into a drill press. I do my burnishing while the holster is still damp from the wet-forming process. Glass-smooth finish and those little lips on the ends of the spools work very nicely for getting the very edges slicked up. Various spool sizes work out all the little curves. Burnishing requires friction and no hand method can provide the friction that several hundred RPM's can!

Edge finishing, generally: I use a bench-top belt sander to smooth out the edges, especially where two or more layers are sewn together. Works great. Also best done while the leather is just damp (avoids too much heat and scorching the edges from the friction). Any sanding belt will work, but I usually use about a 100 grit.

Hand-stitching: I use a stitching groover to assure even spacing from the edges. Lay out your stitching with a simple stitching wheel (about 6 stitches per inch works well for most work). Then I punch the holes using a stitching awl chucked into a drill press, the drill press table provides a nice solid horizontal surface and the hand-crank dropping the awl to the marked holes provides all the pressure needed to pierce two or three layers easily and quickly. For sewing, nothing beats a stitching pony, holding the work conveniently and securely. A small pair of pliers is a great aid in pulling the needles through the work.

Keep at it! You are doing great work. Lobo (Lobo Gun Leather, making serious equipment for serious business).

Pete.... I do not have a pick of the slicker set up, but I will try and take one and post it in the next few days.

As for the Sig and the hand size issue.... I am right there with you on most of them. I have a P220 (.45) that fits my hand, but I had to install a short trigger to be able to control it in double action and hit anything with it. It is single stack, like the P225 and therefore narrower than the P226/228/229 series of guns. I have a new P250 9mm with the polymer frame that fits my hand well. It is Double Action Only, but the trigger is light and smooooooooooth... It shoots well enough to make me consider it in the running for replacing my P225 as my favorite 9mm Sig...

-Tac

[dbusarow]

Hand-stitching: I use a stitching groover to assure even spacing from the edges. Lay out your stitching with a simple stitching wheel (about 6 stitches per inch works well for most work). Then I punch the holes using a stitching awl chucked into a drill press, the drill press table provides a nice solid horizontal surface and the hand-crank dropping the awl to the marked holes provides all the pressure needed to pierce two or three layers easily and quickly. For sewing, nothing beats a stitching pony, holding the work conveniently and securely. A small pair of pliers is a great aid in pulling the needles through the work.

Lobo, you punch all of the holes and then go back and stitch afterwards? No problem with the holes sealing themselves? That sure sounds like it would be faster than punch one, stitch one like the book says to do.

And Pete, good job on the first one!

Thanks,

Dan

[Tac]

Dan,

I punch all my holes just before I start sewing. I rarely have a problem with them closing up. Like Lobo, I use a drill press on most of my projects, but I use a very small drill bit to actually drill a small hole in the leather..... Occasionally I will use a sewing awl, but I still punch the holes first with the blade from the awl before I sew them. I imagine if you wait long enough after punching the holes, that they could close up... but I don't give them a chance. Most of my projects are not so large as for time to be a factor in the sewing of pre-punched holes.

[Tac]

Pete...

Here is a pick of my burnishing wheel set up. It's the slicker wheel from Tandy mounted on a bolt so it can be chucked in my drill press.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j296/Tac56/100_0880.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j296/Tac56/100_0881.jpg

Let me know if you have any questions.

[dbusarow]

I punch all my holes just before I start sewing. I rarely have a problem with them closing up. Like Lobo, I use a drill press on most of my projects, but I use a very small drill bit to actually drill a small hole in the leather..... Occasionally I will use a sewing awl, but I still punch the holes first with the blade from the awl before I sew them.

So drill all the holes and then go back like normal with sewing awl and needles. Only the awl only has to cut the sides a bit rather than punching the hole. Is that right? Still sounds like it could be a winner. I'll give it a try.

Dan

[Tac]

Dan,

It depends mostly on the thickness of the thread I am using. Most of my projects I can get away with just drilling the holes on the drill press, with no need for the awl. If the leather is thick and the thread I am using is heavy, then using the awl after the drill press can help make sewing easier. Most of my holsters are made with a double thickness of 7/8 oz. leather in the areas that are sewn, and I just use the drill press for the holes.

[DenverCZBob]

Pete,

Nice holster, good job!

One quick tip, don't mold behind the trigger. You don't want a mishap when holstering the weapon.

-bob

Picture one

Picture two

[MADMAX22]

I have used that drilling method myself. It gave me the best looking hand stitch job I have done to date. Very nice and easy to maintain a good straight even sewing pattern.

[Peterk]

Pete,

Nice holster, good job!

One quick tip, don't mold behind the trigger. You don't want a mishap when holstering the weapon.

-bob

Picture one

Picture two

Thanks for the tip! I have wondered about that... Good thing the Makarov has the heaviest trigger known to man.

[DenverCZBob]

Thanks for the tip! I have wondered about that... Good thing the Makarov has the heaviest trigger known to man.

LOL

-bob

[Peterk]

LOL

-bob

Actually I take that back, the double action pull on my Sig P225/P6 was worse until I did a trigger job on it.