Comic Relief...my First Holster

[Tranger03]

Well here it is. My first holster. Actually the first leather that I have ever made. I made a ton of mistakes but I had a lot of fun doing it. Mostly just trying to figure out how to use the tools and order of operations. Even though the leather is a tad on the thin side, it retains the gun surprisingly well. Time to pick up some thicker leather and give it another go.

[eransh10]

Looks good for 1st leather item you ever made.

Better than my first.

The only thing I would suggest is to burnish your leather edges and finish them better.

Eran.

[Tranger03]

Eran,

That is definitely an area that I plan to concentrate more on with my next one. Since I've never owned a leather holster before I was trying to figure out how slick to make the edges. I see there is a lot of info on here so I'll be making my way through some of the tips and suggestions. Thanks for the advise.

[JLSleather]

Yeah, my first one was NOT funny. SO not funny, I pitched it before anyone saw me with it

Still, git in there 'n' practice - that's how it's learned. My Mom has never ruined a holster. Know why? CUZ SHE DONT MAKE HOLSTERS!!!

Guy asked me a while back, how long before you stopped makin' mistakes. Told him "I'll let you know".

[Tranger03]

JLS,

I may or may not have thrown this one away as well, but my dad told me he wanted to buy my first one. I think it'll be fun to have around and see the evolution of my holsters over time. I checked out the links in your signatures. I appreciate you putting that info together. I already see a couple of things I would like to incorporate into my next one. On your pdf regarding avenger style holsters, you mentioned witness marks. Are these marks made on the edge of the leather with a pen? Or punched through the leather with an awl (or similar tool)? Thanks again for taking the time to put those instructions together.

[JLSleather]

Just a "dimple" with a stylus, or the point end of a modeling tool. Close enough to the edge so that the edger removes it. Don't mark on the grain side of the leather with a pen!

You can mark the EDGE of the leather with a pen if the holster is dark, but basically that black ink mark is just so you can SEE it in the pictures. Ink might penetrate too deep to remove by sanding, and a marker is even worse.

Course, if the holster is all black, mark it how you like

[chiefjason]

Loose the sharp edge on the top of the trailing loop. The rest is practice mostly. Dying it would actually make it look better. Dye will hide some of the minor cosmetic issues. I like liquid saddle soap for burnishing. I you don't have an edge burnisher an old toothbrush that's smooth will work.

Edited January 12, 2016 by chiefjason

[Tranger03]

Thanks chiefjason,

It was dyed. Funny thing about water based dye. If you dye it before you wet mold the holster, the dye likes to leave the leather when you put it into water. Lesson learned on that one. I was using ecoflo. I thought that the pieces were dry but I think I am going to try the Fiebings oil based offerings next time. The edges around the loops look like crap because I waited to cut them until the very end. Big OOPS. I also plan on getting a punch, at least for the ends of the holes cause my knife skills were not up to cutting those out. In the end its gonna stay looking like this but I'm already looking forward to making another one this weekend. Thanks for the tip on the burnishing. I definitely feel like this is one area that I'm going to have to work hard on until I get a good system down. Thanks for the tip about the saddle soap. I'll be sure and pick some up.