Need help making a holster

[wes]

Johanna, the link that you posted is probably the most powerfully convincing argument for Lexol that I have ever seen. On that site I went to this page, More Lexol Information, and their arguments are well presented.

The following excerpt was the argument that caused me to use Connolly Hide Food initially. (I am easily convinced by hype and name dropping, aren't I?)

........Connolly Leather has a reputation for excellence. Jaguar, Ferrari, Bentley and Rolls Royce consider Connolly leather to be the only acceptable leather for their cars. The seats in the British Parliament are covered in Connolly, as well as the seats of the famed Concorde..............is properly pH balanced to offset the natural alkalinity of leather, and keep it healthy.........

Edited September 3, 2006 by wes

[Gregory B. Moody]

Lexol is pretty much accepted as the oil which will change the color of upholstery leather the least...

However, let me remind everyone that the finish on upholstery leather is pretty much impermeable... so the effects are very shallow... if you have a car with leather upholstery and want it to really last you must take the seats apart and apply oil from the backside... I would say once every five years depending on the climate you live in and whether you roll up the windows and leave it out in the sunshine...

The only oil I have seen at the Mercedes Dealership is Lexol...

and for the record.... for those plastic parts of your car Lexol makes Vinylex....and is highly recommended by the old diesel mercedes guys...

[wes]

I went to Tandy's today and purchased some stuff:

an overstitch wheel w/3 wheels

a diamond shafted awl

5/64 th edge beveller

contact cement

creaser/groover, adjustable

gum tragacanth

set of tool setter anvils and punches

a package of 24 snaps for my thumb snap. (I have obtained an old holster that has a thumb snap. It has a piece of tempered steel as reinforcement for the pull tab. I am going to scavenge this piece of steel from this holster, which will save me quite a bit of searching for another.)

This list of items is no where near my complete list of items that are required for my holster project. I will purchase more items as they are needed. Plus I need some information from you folks as to the type of needle that I need to get to do this project. (input wanted!)

I have finalized my design for my holster. Thought out the minute details. Created a template of my pistol with allowance for the width of the leather. And am ready to go.

Tomorrow I cut out the wood templates of cedar and begin the process of filing the template to the exact sizes and contours of the mould. I will radius the edges of the cutout template, as has been suggested by an expert in a previous reply in this thread. I will sand the surface of this template very smooth, as has also been advised to me in this thread. Then I am going to seal this wood template with polyurethane, so that it does not tear and bruise the surface of my leather.

Since this thread has become very long, whenever I begin to post pictures of my holster building process, I do believe that I shall begin a new thread for the occasion.

[Billsotx]

Wes,

I use harness needles. I'd keep a supply of both the 0 and 000 sizes. I use waxed 5 strand thread. I remove a strand or two if it's too bulky for what I'm sewing. Being able to remove strands and retwisting strands saves me having a bunch of money in a bunch of thread. I use one color - white. I like white on natural leather. If the project gets dyed, the thread gets dyed.

... good luck

Edited September 13, 2006 by Billsotx

[wes]

I have not forgotten about my holster, nor have I lost my enthiuasm for this project. I had to stop all of my projects to build and put up an electric fence, which took up several weekends.

Then we had the school shooting here at Bailey, CO in the Platte Canyon High School, which cost the life of a 16 years old girl by a sexual pervert. Our little community, population of about 2000, has been shaken quite a bit by this. I had to sit down for a while, drink a few cups of coffee and mull over the state of the universe and our place in it.

But next weekend, I will be working on my holster again.

Edited October 8, 2006 by wes

[Romey]

I thought i would offer up a couple of EXSTRELY well made videos for knife sheaths and holsters that a friend of mine, Chuck Burrows was asked to do. I by now way am making anything of his sales i just thought that some people would like to check them out, he is a master leatherworker especially and old west and frontier stuff. I know he has a Sheath and one holster video. He is the one who taught me how to make a proper fitting sheath. There are several projects in a single DVD from beginner simple to advanced.

Here is his link Wild Rose Trading company

[papy]

Hi Wes

In the factory world we use a 20 ton hydraulic press which is lined in the inside with layers of special hard rubber about 5" thick. The holster is dipped in water with some dishwasher similar liquid to allow more even penetration and then allowed to dry until the moisture is basically inside but starting to dry on the outside. The pressure is raised to 20 tons and then released. The hoslter with the aluminium replica ( which is used as the dummy) is removed and then re-wet with a sponge on the outside. We use stainless steel moulders ( they are in the shape of a bullet really) to hand mould the now impressed impressions into the leather. Basically just to enhance the moulded look.

In a situation outside the speed production a factory would need I would follow the same steps but use the gun itself and of course just press it and mould by hand. If the holster is unlined one can get a pretty deep impression by hand moulding but if its lined ( suede or smooth lining) you are going to have to put some energy into it. Just wipe the gun off when finished and reoil. If you get the leather with just the right amount of moisture as stated above there is no reason to worry about the moisture on the gun and can easily be removed with adry cloth.

I could go on forever with this but Im sure you get the drift. A good book with some info at the back on doing this by "hand" instead of using hydraulic presses and aluminium moulds is "Bue Steel and Gunleather" by John Bianchi written when he was still in the driving seat @ Bianchi Gunleather.

Dont know if this helps.

Lindsay

Hi Lindsay, I am starting in the leather holster business, I am in México . What kind of rubber do you use in your hydraulic press ? How long must be pressed ?

Thank you for your comments

Cesar K