Some of my holster work

[CaptQuirk]

Ok, got the holsters done- check.
Got pics of above mentioned holsters- check.
Got above mentioned pics uploaded- check.
Throwing it out there for your perusal- check.

 

[bikermutt07]

The black judge holster looks downright mideval.

I really like the use of the skull on the shoulder rig.

[CaptQuirk]

Thanks. The skull was a small personal touch. The original yoke guide was a simple round piece.But where is the fun in that?

[CaptQuirk]

Only one critique? Go ahead guys, I have a thick hide... at least 8-10 oz

Let me start the ball rolling- "The stitches on the front side look ok, but the backside looks like drunken sailors coming back from shore leave, all over the place and covered with blood!" I know, I know. That is why I stopped using white thread. It makes the crooked stitches less noticable, and it also hides the blood from the holes in my fingers from the awl...

[robs456]

22 hours ago, CaptQuirk said:

Only one critique? Go ahead guys, I have a thick hide...

OK then, the basketweave is messy. Probably too wet leather when you stamped it.

[TonyRV2]

Ok Cap...here's  few things that stick out to me.  Get yourself a stitch groover and learn how to use it.  This will help you keep your stitch line at the same distance away from the edge all along the seam.  Of course an overstitch wheel or chisel would be used after you make the groove.  This will also help with the placement of your rivets, which look like an afterthought in this piece.  Your stitched seam should be somewhere around 1/8 or 3/16 of an inch from the edge to be most effective.  All of your rivets could then have been placed just inside that line for uniformity.  As far as the basketweave, yes, there is certainly room for improvement here.  I think most would agree that your tooling should not extend beyond the stitch line, as yours does in a few places.  So then, if you have a stitch groover, you can set it first for where you want your stitch line to be.  Next, you would set it perhaps an 1/8 inch further in and scribe another line which would represent your border for the tooling.  This edge can then be beveled to give it a finished look.  Then its just a matter of keeping your tooling within this border.  For a basketweave, after I finish the basketweave pattern, I go around with some type of border tool to fill in the gaps where you didn't have enough room left for the basketweave stamp.  These are just minor things that I think you'd agree would lend itself toward a more professional looking product.  The most important aspects of your work, the cut of the leather, the fit up, general construction, all look real good.

...Tony

[CaptQuirk]

Alright! Fantastic! Thanks for joining in, I was afraid I'd have to post to myself.
@robs456 - The basket weave started out nice, but then became mushy after wet molding. I have a thread covering that elsewhere.
@TonyRV2- Shouldn't you be putting up plywood and getting ready for the storm? Moved out of Fla to get away from that stuff, and it looks like they are trying to follow me into Ga I finally did get a freehand stitch groover and overstitch wheel, used on the holster attached to the shoulder harness. I should have taken a better picture of the holster. As robs465 pointed out, the basket weave is still a little mushy on that one too, again due to wet molding after the tooling. Still trying to figure that out. As for the rivets, they weren't an afterthought, as much as a decorative touch the customer wanted.

The holsters in correct order of construction should be BlkTaurus, Br Taurus, shoulder harness with Blk Taurus, and Br Glock 43. They would actually be my 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th holsters. I don't really consider my first holster at all, since it was made with a bag of scrap leather, using finishing nails to make the stitch holes, and thrown together with no idea of how to construct a holster. As I sell a holster,  I use the money to buy one or two new tools. One of the first tools, was an Osborn stitching awl. That has had it's ups and downs. First 5 minutes practicing with it, I stabbed myself good, sank the blade halfway into the handle, and bent the blade.

Aside from the stitching on the backside though, I think that each succeeding holster gets a little better than the last, as I learn the craft. But thanks guys, this is all part of the learning.

[TonyRV2]

When you 'case' leather, which basically means getting it wet, you want the color of the leather to almost come back to natural before you start tooling it.  I keep a piece of scrap leather nearby for comparison.  A fan helps speed up the process depending on how wet you got it to begin with.  Some folks will take and put a piece of glass over the leather and let it sit overnight before they start tooling.  The glass keeps the leather from totally drying out while there's enough evaporation that can escape through the air gap between the glass and your table.  Incidentally, its the edges of the leather that will dry out the fastest.  You need to pay attention to this as you're tooling.  Re-dampen only as necessary and don't over do it.  If you find that your not done with a project, but you're done tooling for the day, then stick your work in a larger baggie and put it in the refrigerator.  It'll stay damp for several days like this.  There's a lot of information on this site when it comes to properly 'casing' leather.  That said, my primary work is on knife sheaths working with 7 to 10oz leather.  I never properly case it...I just use a spritzer bottle and give a few shots at a time as needed.  Learned this from a sheath master by the name of Paul Long, in one of his videos.  I figure if it was good enough for him...which for him means well near perfect...then it was good enough for me.  Your mileage may vary.

[TonyRV2]

Lol...I'm not in Florida right now, I'm at my place in Michigan.  The place in Florida is about 20 miles east of Gainesville,  well inland from the storm.  We may see some rain and wind in that area, but usually nothing too severe from this type of storm...knock on wood.  This is one of the reasons the wife and I chose that location in the state.  We had no desire to be on either coast and have to deal with hurricanes and such.

 

[CaptQuirk]

I'm originally from the Space Coast, also known as Ground Zero. We moved pretty much to the middle of Ga, figuring we'd be safe... and it looks like this storm is tracking right for us.

As for casing the leather, I don't over wet it, and wait for it to cool down, back to the color it started. However, I don't use a bag when I stop for the day, I just re-case it when I start up again. Could be part of the problem?

P.S. That "G" word is a no-no, unless you are talking about Tom Petty or some green Go 'Noles!