Progress

[BruceGibson]

"...BruceGibson, I've had a picture of the G19 holster on your home page sitting on my desk for inspiration for a couple of weeks now. The color on that one is my current goal...."

Thanks,

Dan

Thank you, Dan--you made my day. Which holster are you referring to? Is it the Natural, or the Light Brown? This one's the light brown...

[dickf]

Dan, these look superb! I'm also having issues with achieving a solid tan finish. All in good time I suppose. Yours look really really nice.

Bruce, I admit - I'm also a closet Gibson fan. Thanks for the inspiration.

Cheers!

[dbusarow]

Thank you, Dan--you made my day. Which holster are you referring to? Is it the Natural, or the Light Brown? This one's the light brown...

The Natural. The Light Brown is really nice too but your natural finish is what I'm shooting for now.

Dan

[Randyc]

Dan

Real nice work. Good solid design work.

Keep it up.

Randy

[BruceGibson]

Dan, these look superb! I'm also having issues with achieving a solid tan finish. All in good time I suppose. Yours look really really nice.

Bruce, I admit - I'm also a closet Gibson fan. Thanks for the inspiration.

Cheers!

Much obliged for the kind words, dickf.

Dan, the holster you refer to is shown in a post we started back in September. You'll find it here:

1911 Holster-Light Brown Pancake

The original subject was the 1911 holster, range scars, dye blotches and all. The holster was made for a friend of mine who's a local sheriff's deputy and veteran of both Iraq conflicts. His troops had pitched-in and bought him a customized 1911 Government (5") when he came home, and he wanted a holster specifically for it. In short, I hated the way the holster turned out. He, on the other hand, loved it. The customer's always right, so he's happily using that rig for his prized 1911. I used that Forum post to by-gawd try and figure out a way to get a consistent, clean/even finish with Fiebing's Light Brown Oil Dye.

I don't like using any more harsh/noxious chemical formulations than I absolutely have to, so I'm not a fan of stuff like acetone to deglaze. At some point in the above-post I was playing amateur chemist and remembered a trick Chuck Burrows (a member here) used to deglaze. It was 70% isopropyl alcohol that you can get at any pharmacy or Wal-Mart. I think Chuck uses a spray bottle, but a piece of sheepskin is my preferred application method. Anyway, that worked, so that's what I do now to get an even finish with the lighter dyes.

As for the Glock holster in natural, I'd be happy to share how I did that. Y'all just cut me some slack on the butcher-job I did with the border stamp. Here's the holster:

Natural, with white stitching is my favorite gunleather color combination. Not only because you eliminate the potential aggravation of dealing with finicky dyes, but because I think it just looks good. The leather is Hermann Oak, which is all I use for holsters. I started with HO, and never played with any other brand, but I hear good things about Wickett/Craig. On holsters that I detail bone/mold, I use the press and squash the snot out of it. On this one, with the border-stamp, it's completely hand-finished because the press would destroy the tooling.

Once it was molded/shaped, I detail-boned the back of the holster for retention. It's not visible on the face, but the back is where the trigger guard and finer boning details are done. The leather has been cased, and it's still damp. In fact, you'll get a little burnish with the boning tools when the moisture content's just right. At this point, weather-permitting, I take it outside with the mold-gun still in it, and hang it upside down to dry away from direct sunlight. Here on the Redneck Riviera, that's usually only an hour or two.

When it was dry, I brought it back in the shop and applied a LIGHT coat of 100% pure neatsfoot oil. That sentence right there will scare the hell out of at least half the modern-day, high-tech, tactical holster makers I know. It shouldn't. The operative word is, "LIGHT." I'm sure there are other ways (there always are), but my way of applying the neatsfoot is with a piece of t-shirt material. I use sheepskin for heavier saddle-weight leather, but t-shirt for holster-weight. Wipe on a nice, even coat, with the dummy gun in place. The dummy, or mold gun, has been in the holster from the start. Once that's done, I take it back outside, and hang it upside down again for a few hours. You don't want direct sunlight where it burns like a drunk tourist on vacation, but you do want it to spend some time in the sun and open air. That's where the magic happens, and the Hermann Oak veg-tan takes on a nice honey gold, deep color.

The final finish, once the holster's spent some time outside hanging around like Jessica Simpson on an MTV Spring Break tour, is aerosol Leather Sheen. I used two or three light coats, back and front, to get a matte finish. I don't like it to be too shiny, but I do want the neatsfoot sealed. I spray the Leather Sheen AFTER I've removed the mold gun. On the INTERIOR, I use Fiebing's Leather Balm with Atom Wax. It's a ridiculous name, but I love the stuff. I apply it with a wool dauber, and use one good heavy coat.

I hope that helps--that's every step I used to get the finished product on the holster pictured. The "secret" is a light coat of 100% pure neatsfoot oil (don't use the other crap) and a dose of natural sunlight.

If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask. And, thanks again for the kind words!

[dbusarow]

I'm thinking my leather may be part of the problem I'm having with the natural finish. I ordered one of Weaver's imported double shoulders to start with. Wasn't even one of their "name" imports. Holster #3 above started out like you describe with just a single light coat of 100% neatsfoot. It came out flesh colored, not very attractive in a holster So I added another coat of oil, and then another. It got darker but never got the warm color you have, kind of muddy actually. I'm getting close to ordering again and I'm planning on the best grade from Wickett and Craig this time. I'd try Hermann Oak but I can't justify buying enough to go direct and am leary of ordering from someone like Weaver or another supplier who may cherry pick the good hides for themselves and sell off their rejects. Don't know if that's a valid concern but I saw something like that posted here and it makes sense.

So I guess I wait for the new leather before I can try for that beautiful natural finish.

Thanks for the explanation!

Dan

[BruceGibson]

My wife says I'm long-winded, so I apologize for my rambling posts.

I recommend Weaver because I don't buy ten sides at a time, either (the Hermann Oak direct-minimum). I've dealt with them for years, and they've always done a good job. When you order, they'll ask you what it's for--if they don't ask, don't hesitate to tell them what the plan is. Maybe I've been lucky, but I haven't gotten a bad side of Hermann Oak from them yet.

[dbusarow]

Thanks Bruce. Another member also PMd me and let me know that my fears about Weaver and HO were groundless.

Good to know. Thank you guys.

Dan