Wickett and Craig Traditional Harness for holsters?

[Bransen111]

Hey everyone, I was looking at buying a new side of leather and am really liking the look of the Wickett and Craig Traditional Harness leather in Russet color. I am curious if this leather will be suitable for making gun holsters that are wet molded or if the waxes will make that hard to do. Thanks for any input!

[Samalan]

Not so good for wet molding best use veg tan for that.

[JLSleather]

Harness leather is veg tanned.  I think you mean tooling leather.

[BigSiouxSaddlery]

Wickett's traditional line of harness leather is very dry when compared to other companies HL.  I will add the disclaimer that I've only used Wickett's BLACK traditional HL in recent years.  It's probably been 25 years since I ordered russet, but I do believe you could wet mold the black without too much trouble.  

[Samalan]

7 hours ago, JLSleather said:

Harness leather is veg tanned.  I think you mean tooling leather.

Yes sir tooling  thank you.

[JLSleather]

12 hours ago, BigSiouxSaddlery said:

I do believe you could wet mold the black without too much trouble.  

I would have leaned toward NOT using the harness leather, but I'm happy to defer to what @BigSiouxSaddlery says (and not too many others round here).

[Samalan]

9 hours ago, JLSleather said:

I would have leaned toward NOT using the harness leather, but I'm happy to defer to what @BigSiouxSaddlery says (and not too many others round here).

Tried wet molding a holster out of harness recently must say not what i was looking for but then i dont have anywhere near the experience you gentleman have i did get a nice holster out of it just not what i was looking for. With my limited experience i'll stay with tooling leather for wet molding just works best for me .

[Samalan]

On 1/8/2020 at 3:49 AM, Bransen111 said:

Hey everyone, I was looking at buying a new side of leather and am really liking the look of the Wickett and Craig Traditional Harness leather in Russet color. I am curious if this leather will be suitable for making gun holsters that are wet molded or if the waxes will make that hard to do. Thanks for any input!

Sorry Branson didn't mean to mislead by leaving out tooling leather  but if these guys say harnees is good for wet molding i would listen to them they have great experience it was just my opinion.  anyway best of luck with your holsters .

[BigSiouxSaddlery]

I need to clarify my answer before this all goes wrong.  First of all, I DO NOT  build holsters.  JLS is the guy for that and I defer to any and all advice he has regarding that subject. However I do a lot of wet molding in the saddle construction and other work that I do. Now, let me say that a straight veg tan would always be my first choice for wet molding.  Wickett's traditional harness leather is very dry by industry standards and accepts water better then any other harness leather I've used. If you try wet molding with Hermann oaks harness leather, for example, you ARE going to have trouble. In other words, harness leather is not harness leather is not harness leather. Wickett's show harness selection is a more oily and dense leather with a hard finish, and it would not wet mold well.  So, what I meant is that my experience with Wickett's black Traditional Harness leads me to believe that it could be wet molded without much trouble. That does not apply to any other selecetion or brand of HL.  And no guarantees.

Edited January 9, 2020 by BigSiouxSaddlery

[JLSleather]

Well, I've made a bit of holsters over the years, and I've dun a tad o' toolin' here 'n' there   But I haven't used much harness leather at all.  Maybe a bit biased, but I'm for taking the word of somebody who pays the bill in leather WORK over somebody who makes internet posts from a "job" while they're taking money from somebody else for supposedly doing something ELSE - and plays at leather

Course, I've made my share of purchases that didn't work out so well.  Sometimes what didn't work for doing this is perfectly fine for doing that.

11 minutes ago, BigSiouxSaddlery said:

And no guarantees.

And that should be assumed ANYWHERE really.  Some around here love to go on about Hermann Oak leather.  I'd be one of them.  But even at HO, not all leather is created equal.  They have GRADES of skins for a reason. 

Seems every month there's yet another "reseller" wanting top dollar for sub-par and discount hides.  If IT'S ME sending you leather, then I can personally attest to what you're getting.  I wont be responsible for what somebody else sends you - so if that makes you discount my advice... fair enough.

[Samalan]

1 hour ago, JLSleather said:

Well, I've made a bit of holsters over the years, and I've dun a tad o' toolin' here 'n' there   But I haven't used much harness leather at all.  Maybe a bit biased, but I'm for taking the word of somebody who pays the bill in leather WORK over somebody who makes internet posts from a "job" while they're taking money from somebody else for supposedly doing something ELSE - and plays at leather

Course, I've made my share of purchases that didn't work out so well.  Sometimes what didn't work for doing this is perfectly fine for doing that.

And that should be assumed ANYWHERE really.  Some around here love to go on about Hermann Oak leather.  I'd be one of them.  But even at HO, not all leather is created equal.  They have GRADES of skins for a reason. 

Seems every month there's yet another "reseller" wanting top dollar for sub-par and discount hides.  If IT'S ME sending you leather, then I can personally attest to what you're getting.  I wont be responsible for what somebody else sends you - so if that makes you discount my advice... fair enough.

I find it interesting you assume i'm taking money from  somebody else and making post on thire dime ! while playing with leather WOW thats funny LOL.

[JLSleather]

1 hour ago, Samalan said:

I find it interesting you assume i'm taking money from  somebody else and making post on thire dime ! while playing with leather WOW thats funny LOL.

I wasn't talking to you OR about you.  IN fact, if you hadn't quoted me, I would probably not have realized you meant me.

 

 

[Josh Ashman]

On 1/8/2020 at 2:49 AM, Bransen111 said:

Hey everyone, I was looking at buying a new side of leather and am really liking the look of the Wickett and Craig Traditional Harness leather in Russet color. I am curious if this leather will be suitable for making gun holsters that are wet molded or if the waxes will make that hard to do. Thanks for any input!

Hey Bransen,

Seems like the "waxiness" of the leather has been well covered, I have nothing much to add to the conversation there. I don't know that anyone has mentioned thickness yet. Even if the W&C traditional is dry enough to take water in order to be able to mold it, I wonder if it wouldn't be so thick as to be an issue with holster work. Of course it all depends on what you're making, but FWIW all the harness I've seen comes in 12 oz or thicker which is a bit thick for most holster work in my opinion. I've heard that W&C will split hides, so maybe you're thinking of doing that? Or maybe you have a good splitter and the weight the leather is sold in isn't an issue to you? And maybe again, you're wanting to make some thick holsters for your own reasons. I'm not trying to say "right or wrong" just that if you hadn't already considered thickness it might be something to think about before buying a whole side.

If you end up getting a side I'm curious to hear how it works out for you. 

All the best, 

Josh

[JLSleather]

7 minutes ago, Josh Ashman said:

I've heard that W&C will split hides, so maybe you're thinking of doing that?

I hadnt' really considered the leather weight, as W/C does split if asked.. I think down to about 2/3 oz.

[BigSiouxSaddlery]

9 hours ago, Josh Ashman said:

 Of course it all depends on what you're making, but FWIW all the harness I've seen comes in 12 oz or thicker which is a bit thick for most holster work in my opinion.

Harness leather is easily available in 9/11oz weights from Wickett, and I've gotten 8/10oz harness hides from HO. As JLS stated above, Wickett will split, and I might add that they do a very nice job of it.

To the OP, if you do decide to try using the Wickett russet for a holster, make sure to let us see the end product.  I would love to see it.  I keep wishing I would need their Buck Brown for something.  The sample looks gorgeous.

[chiefjason]

On 1/8/2020 at 3:49 AM, Bransen111 said:

Hey everyone, I was looking at buying a new side of leather and am really liking the look of the Wickett and Craig Traditional Harness leather in Russet color. I am curious if this leather will be suitable for making gun holsters that are wet molded or if the waxes will make that hard to do. Thanks for any input!

Their Skirting leather comes in Russet.  It's not waxed either.  So that is probably your best bet.  Or call them and talk to them.  They have been very easy to work with for me.  FWIW, I use natural tooling sides and dye them myself.  If you need it they will split it for free.  It just takes a few more days to ship.  If you wanted it quick and in a do it all weight the 8-10 oz is what I used for a long time.  I cut my backs close to the spine and cut my fronts lower where it was a bit thinner and not as stiff.  I sell enough now I order an 8-10 for my backs and a level 8 for my fronts.  If it matters I'm doing flat back holsters so the stiffer back has been a nice feature for me.