Another Holster for the Scrap Pile

[garypl]

Well I was almost finished making a holster for a customer’s S&W M29 revolver and when I sewed the seam things went south quickly.

The thickness I was sewing was 3/4” with two layers of really hard temper veg tan for the welt.  I was using 346 thread and #26 needle in CB4500.  About 1” into the seam the needle deflected and came out the side, hit the needle plate and broke.  Tried it again and deflected again - the leather was so hard the needle was bending.  Finally gave up, removed all the thread and hand sewed it, but the damage was done, so I am keeping this to remind myself not to use such a thick welt.

I used a pattern from Stohlman’s book for a 357 revolver and I think it might have been for a K frame and not an N frame.  This is why I added the thick welt so the N frame would go in far enough.

Lesson learned - I will make my own pattern for the second holster and add a little width to allow use of a thinner welt.  Live and learn!

 

 

 

[Hags]

I've had that happen. Bummer..

[JLSleather]

I'm gonna GUESS that if you broke a needle that heavy, most likely the holster sewing area wasn't perpendicular to the travel of the needle bar.  Meaning either not flat, or allowed to "rock" while sewing, causing it to come out different spot on teh back than on the front

But if that pattern is the one from the "how to make holsters" book, which it looks like, that holster is  better suited to an L frame revolver (fits a 686 right nice)

Edited December 20, 2021 by JLSleather

[garypl]

45 minutes ago, JLSleather said:

I'm gonna GUESS that if you broke a needle that heavy, most likely the holster sewing area wasn't perpendicular to the travel of the needle bar.  Meaning either not flat, or allowed to "rock" while sewing, causing it to come out different spot on teh back than on the front

But if that pattern is the one from the "how to make holsters" book, which it looks like, that holster is  better suited to an L frame revolver (fits a 686 right nice)

I think both of your comments are right on.  I was trying to keep the edge perpendicular but when the edge is that thick it doesn’t take much of an angle to end up coming out the edge!  I did use the pattern from the How to Make Holsters book and I agree that  it is a bit small for an N frame.  A friend of mine suggested adding 3/4” to the pattern dimensions to allow for a thinner welt and to move the stitch line in a little more.  Always learning something new…

Edited December 20, 2021 by garypl

[Lobo]

You have a scrap pile? My dogs always had chew toys.

[AzShooter]

I like the holster. Tooling is very nice.  Someday I'm going to try to tool one of my holsters.

 

[garypl]

6 hours ago, Lobo said:

You have a scrap pile? My dogs always had chew toys.

My dog is so small she would have a hard time fitting it in her mouth!

6 hours ago, AzShooter said:

I like the holster. Tooling is very nice.  Someday I'm going to try to tool one of my holsters.

 

Thanks, my scrap pile has a few tooled pieces to remind me how not to tool!  

[chuck123wapati]

12 hours ago, garypl said:

Well I was almost finished making a holster for a customer’s S&W M29 revolver and when I sewed the seam things went south quickly.

The thickness I was sewing was 3/4” with two layers of really hard temper veg tan for the welt.  I was using 346 thread and #26 needle in CB4500.  About 1” into the seam the needle deflected and came out the side, hit the needle plate and broke.  Tried it again and deflected again - the leather was so hard the needle was bending.  Finally gave up, removed all the thread and hand sewed it, but the damage was done, so I am keeping this to remind myself not to use such a thick welt.

I used a pattern from Stohlman’s book for a 357 revolver and I think it might have been for a K frame and not an N frame.  This is why I added the thick welt so the N frame would go in far enough.

Lesson learned - I will make my own pattern for the second holster and add a little width to allow use of a thinner welt.  Live and learn!

 

 

 

Thats a club we are all in and a  pile we all own. lol

I've used a couple of his also. The lesson i got out of my mistakes is to make a pattern from heavy weight card stock type paper then i can wrap it and test the fit before cutting leather. 

[TomE]

I know nothing about holsters, except that is pretty work.  I've had problems with rolled straps rolling under the presser foot and causing needle strikes.  I now leave about 3/4" of filler strip exposed and tack a leather piece under the exposed filler to shim it.  After sewing, I trim the filler flush and finish shaping the piece in a rein rounder.  Would it help to use a wider welt and trim it later?

[JLSleather]

Sewing on the 4500, you could try one or t'other...

either sew QUITE slow which allows time for the lower feed dog to get into position, or cut your pattern about half an inch WIDE on the BACK side, makes it easier to keep the holster level when sewing .... check out page FIVE of your STohlman book