Recent holsters, 1911, taurus judge

[Stetson912]

Just finished up these two holsters. 

The Remington r1 1911 holster is an iwb with lift the dot snaps. I used the Adams leather works pattern. Nothing too fancy. I tried a different buffing method which didn't work hence the lines.it isn't perfect but functional and I'm sure it'll get use. 

The second holster is a special one. My father in law got a taurus judge "ultra-lite" as an anniversary gift. This holster is replacing the previous one I made(before my current knowledge). There's nothing light about this gun. (Ultra-lite refers to the single action trigger pull when used) again, not perfect but functional. 

Let me know what you think and what I can improve! Thanks. 

 

[JD62]

They both look great, except for the finish as you pointed out. I really like the color of the Rem. holster.

[bikermutt07]

I think they look fine.

I'm a little curious about the judge holster.... Why is the back flap looking kind of oversized?

[steelhawk]

What did you use for the finish on the first holster? 

[Stetson912]

Thanks jd62

Mutt, it was a western fold over style and the shape of the gun made it hard for me to get a decent looking skirt. So I just added 3/4" all around. I used one of the tutorials on here and kinda followed the instructions there. That's what it said to add so I did. It could do with 1/2" or so. But with making the pattern it's hard to visualize the final product sometimes, it's a big gun so I guess I thought it would have looked better haha. 

Steelhawk, I used feibings oil dye light brown, wet moulded, used neatsfoot oil, then resolene thinned with water. I usually just buff the resolene with a soft cloth but I thought I'd try a polishing wheel on the Dremel. Needless to say, don't do that haha. Cut right through it. Probably too much RPM in the tool, even on the low end :/ I'll just stick to my cloth next time haha. 

[bikermutt07]

Well it still looks good and maybe that big ole smoke wagon needs the girth back there.

As for putting that Dremel to your almost finished piece.....

Always remember, test on scraps, not your project (sometimes I forget too).

[chiefjason]

Dremels have ruined more projects and guns than most people imagine.  Great tool for somethings.  Bad idea for others.

A neutral shoe polish might help.  But being IWB it's not a big deal anyway.  

[Stetson912]

Lol I agree, but the 1911 was more of a practice piece.

The judge is a big gun. As you can see from the comparison pic. All in the cylinder and grip haha. 

[JMcC]

1 hour ago, chiefjason said:

Dremels have ruined more projects and guns than most people imagine.  Great tool for somethings.  Bad idea for others.

A neutral shoe polish might help.  But being IWB it's not a big deal anyway.  

Holsters both look good Stetson, but how did you do the mold on the judge without getting the gun wet? Did you wrap it in cellophane or something similar? And yes chief, the only thing I use a Dremel for on leather is sanding edges on sheaths or holsters where the welt is, which works fairly well but only if you are really careful!

Edited January 13, 2018 by JMcC

[Stetson912]

Jmcc, I used a makeshift vacuum press to mold. Because of this the guns weren't in the holster for more than 5 minutes. So this time I went without any plastic wrap or anything. I just oiled the gun before I put it in ant quickly dried them off and re oiled them after moulding. Many people disagree with this but it was a very short time they were wet. No harm done lol. If I were moulding without the vacuum press I definitely would have wrapped them.

[OLDNSLOW]

let me throw my 1/2 cent in here, I went looking for a shoe polishing brush like they use on the big shoe machines you see in shoe repair shops, I found Pilgram shoe machine Co, the old guy that owns it is a little difficult, but I was able to buy the brush I was after by telling him I would run it on my drill press at low RPMs.  He originally made a big box like polisher that had a flex arm like the dremel but much bigger and he still had some of the brushes for it, that is what I use for black dyed leather I haven't gotten around to buying one for different colors you might want to look into one of those when you want to polish something out.  As to the IWB it came out well and that is a difficult holster to sew up on a machine at least I think it is.  Your build came out nice, but the finish is what I would find a way to redo, you might want to try and put another coat on it and see if it takes out what looks like streaks but get a bigger horse hair brush to polish it out with.  Overall nice job!  

[OLDNSLOW]

What I didn't mention is the reason that the old guy that is sticky about the way the brushes he makes are use is that, anything over 5 to 6 hundred rpm if my recollection is correct it will start to burn the leather and ruining what ever project your using the leather on.  that is why I had to tell him I would be running the brush on a drill press at a lower rpm.  I have no reason to challenge the guys thoughts on that, and is a good rule of thumb to go with when polishing to bring the luster of the leather to its best when presenting the finished product.  So when using a Dremel the RPM's can go to high and burn the finish of the leather ruining a lot of hard work put in to a project.

[Stetson912]

Thanks oldnslow, I have a polishing brush I might try a coat of wax and see what happens

[Carson]

Hey man if the holster is for work than who cares but am curious about buffing technique that made the lines     Good job young feller

[Stetson912]

@Carson, I used a Dremel with buffing wheel. It was just too much and ended up marking the leather instead of buffing it. 

But, that was is iwb and doesn't matter much. It works great and is surprisingly comfortable too.

[Carson]

You might be able to brush it up with a horsehair brush to shine it 

[Stetson912]

I tried. It helped a little bit but still there. I think it removed the resolene and got to the leather. But, no worries. It was a practice piece. More for function than looks