First Vinegaroon Holster

[Johnny McCrae]

Here is a practice Holster I made for my Richards Transition. This is the first time I've used Vinegaroon to dye a Holster. I am absolutely amazed at how good this stuff works. It was easy to apply and work with. Actually this method is less messy than wiping on Oil Dyes. It's a real treat to handle a Holster without any dye getting on your hands. As I've mentioned so many times, this is a big advantage in using the Natural Dyes.

I could not find any Black Tea in my town so this dye job was around ten minutes in the Vinegaroon followed by a Baking Soda treatment and a fresh water rinse. After drying, the Holster received a coat of Lexol followed by two coats of Neet's Foot Oil and two coats of Skidmores.

Special thanks go to Wolf Tracker for giving me a jug of his home brewed Vinegaroon to try out. You did a great job of brewing this amazing dye. Your Vinegaroon gave this Holster a deep and rich Black Color, much better than any of the Oil dyes I've used in the past.

Special thanks go to Ten Wolves for his help and patience in walking me through the various steps for this process.

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Dang Johnny, that is beautiful.  I am always amazed to see the results from the natural dyes.  Considering the spots, I assume you dyed the leather before stitching?  Did the vinegaroon make the leather hard like the commercial dyes do?

I need to get it into gear and start my vinegaroon instead of talking about it.

[Johnny McCrae]

Howdy Two Walks,

Many thanks for the kind words. I do appreciate it.

This Holster is lined and the spots are buried. I did everything on the Holster including the stitching and then dyed it. I don't think the Vinegaroon makes the Holster any stiffer than Oil Dyes. The combination of Lexol, Neet's Foot Oil and Skidmore's give the Holster a nice feel and appearance.

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Thanks Johnny, it is amazing that the holster can be totally completed before being dyed and still looks great.  I am finding it sure is a lot easier to stitch the undyed leather, this will help save the old hands.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I have been soaking mine in the roon for 24 to 48 hours. I like to use white or natural thread and sew after dieing.
The leather is black all the way through and I get ZERO rub off and they turn out great.

Many ways to skin that old cat. Your holster looks great pard. 

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

I have been soaking mine in the roon for 24 to 48 hours. I like to use white or natural thread and sew after dieing.
The leather is black all the way through and I get ZERO rub off and they turn out great.

Many ways to skin that old cat. Your holster looks great pard. 

Sewing after with white or natural makes sense, sometimes a design looks better with contrasting stitching or if a design is stitched in.  So much to learn and so little time at my age ... sure wish I had started 50 years ago.

[bedbugbilly]

Johnny - that turned out great!  It's a beautiful holster and you got a nice, deep black.  I'm a recent "convert" to vinegaroon as well and I love the stuff.  Have used it on a couple of holsters and a belt.  As you point out - there are many "plusses" to the natural dyes.  Thanks for sharing your photos . . . you can sure be proud of that one!  I love the shooting iron as well!   

[ChuckBurrows]

Nice job !!!

I could not find any Black Tea in my town

FYI: Black tea can be found at any store - it's not a brand - nothing more than Liptons to name one brand or the real El Cheapo Great Value brand......
I use the term black tea since they also offer green tea

[Johnny McCrae]

Thank you Chuck for the information on "Black Tea".

By the way, it was your excellent DVD "Frontier Holsters" that helped take my work up a notch. I would heartily recommend this DVD to anyone starting out to make Holsters.

I also want to thank everyone for their kind words. The encouragement, help and advice I've received on this forum has been fantastic.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

Howdy John

           Pal, you really did a fantastic job here, you make me proud , and thanks Wolf Tracker for jump starting Johnny on the Vinegarron, And thank you Chuck Burrows for sharing these methods with all of us, I think I speak for us all when I say we appreciate your knowledge and wisdom on these natural dyes. So Johnny you are now a believer, can't wait to see this total rig when done, your use of spots looks great, this holster is a real eye catcher to say the least, they will be all eyes when you step up to the line wearing this. I guess what I'm saying is this is a job well done, you can be proud, I know I am.



                    tEN wOLVES 

[KidTerico]

Hi Johnny , You did a outstanding job all the way around. Color , leather work just beautiful. Oops cant forget the spots.  Great holster pattern. Its one I would be proud to wear . Terry

[Arizona Cattleman]

Johnny, outstanding job on the roon and spots, a fine looking holster.  Just a tip though, the cuts for the loops should have a small hole punched at the end of each cut to keep them from tearing later down the road.  But again a great looking rig I'd be proud to wear.

AC

[Wolf Tracker]

John very nice holster. The spots and the stamping really set it off. Glad you liked the roon.

[GunClick Rick]

I really like that Vinagaroon stuff,nice work Johnny by golly!

[marine-mp]

Johnny,  Very nice work indeed.  You should be prud of that "rooned" holster!!!

TwoWalks Baldridge,  Ionly make cocealed carry holsters, but find that the "rooned" holsters do not get hard like the typical dyed holster does.  That seems to be the only drawback to the vinegarooned process.  I have other ways to make it hold its shape a bit better, but they still don't get as hard as I would like for a CCW.  That may be a advantage for you if you do the cowboy style holsters.  Semper-fi    Mike

[GunClick Rick]

Boy that's a nice shooter too Johnny I want one