Metal liners

Slowhand Bob · January 09, 2010, 04:32:45 PM

Guys, I got crossed up between which barl length I had and what forth and so on while working on a new pattern today. Be danged iffen I didnt come up with a cut out piece of leather thats going to be about 1/2" short for a 4 5/8" Colt. Well I figure how as it will be little more than a practice holster now anyway, Ill try something new with it. Right now I have what was to be the 6/7oz exterior of a lined holster with main seam filler.

Before adding a 2/3oz full grain liner I want to try my hand at sandwiching a piece of metal in as a shaped form for the belt loop. This will intrude into the main holster very little or not at all is my current plan. I'm not planning to get to fancy here, just thinking a two inch rectangle thats long enough to fully circle the belt loop from the holster mouth to a belt spacer on the skirt. any ideas on what the best bet in metals would be? What I should have available to look at will probably be light weight aluminum, galvanized steel or possibly stainless. It should have pretty good body, able to hold its shape under modest abuse, be able to withstand cold bending without fracturing and yet not so stiff as to be unworkable. I will try to get some step by step pictures as I go along and if this works?

, I will post them.

Ned Buckshot · January 09, 2010, 05:08:11 PM

I've used galvanized steel several times doing just what you are and it's worked out fine.

Easy enough to bend into shape but stiff enough to hold it's shape through normal use.

Hope this helps.

Ned

Slowhand Bob · January 09, 2010, 06:53:21 PM

Thanks Ned, I plan to stop into Home Depot tomorrow afternoon and check out their hobby metals bin. You wouldnt care to make a guess as to the thickness you used, would you? I am also thinking about cutting/drilling several ports into the metal to allow some bonding of leather to leather throughout the area and the four metal corners should be secured by hidden rivets and Chicago screws.

Ned Buckshot · January 09, 2010, 08:07:47 PM

I bought a piece from Ace Hardware in plumbing and heating area. Same as air ducts etc are made of.

I just used barge cement and that seemed to hold fine.

Ned

JD Alan · January 09, 2010, 10:55:57 PM

I'll be a waitin for them thar Photos Bob!

Slowhand Bob · January 10, 2010, 07:47:16 AM

JD, my last project turned out so badly that even after taking the pictures I decided not to post them. Lets hope I can learn something better from this one on the first go around. Im not going to give up on that last project but do need to work out some design changes on it.

JD Alan · January 10, 2010, 06:39:50 PM

Bob, I really appreciate your projects. I made a set of SAA holsters & belt from one pattern, and a 1911 from another. I'm working on shotgun pouches when I can find time, and those are proving to be a little more difficult, but I believe I'm getting the hang of it.

So don't hesitate to post pics, because your screw ups are better than my "good stuff" any day

Slowhand Bob · January 11, 2010, 09:04:57 AM

While at home for Christmas I kinda made some rough sketches of a 1911 Colt holster that I made a long time back and gave to my son. I thought that after I finish an attempt to do metal liners the 45acp would be fun to recreate since that pattern is misplaced right now. These should give me time away from that messed up project and allow a bit of regrouping.

The desire to come up with a good design for use as club loaners for SASS matches has been trying my patience of late and I am hoping my latest goof ups will offer some direction as to the design changes that I need to make. Making singular belt designs that will adapt to a wide range of waist sizes and not look cheesy is kinda whuppin me right now. I want the design to be applicable to all three belt styles; shotgun, Ranger and Buscadero while using interchangeable elements between the Ranger and the Buscadero. What I have been doing is nothing new, but doing it in a way that does not look like a jigsaw puzzle is the biggy.

TN Mongo · January 12, 2010, 08:39:52 PM

This holster has an aluminum lining all the way down the skirt and the all the way down the inside of the holster.

TN Mongo · January 12, 2010, 08:51:29 PM

My front photos have a few to many KB to post. Here is another side shot of these holsters. Yes they do have tension screws as per customer request.

Slowhand Bob · January 12, 2010, 09:48:06 PM

Thanks for the pictures TN Mongo, its a nice looking holster and I am guessing that the aluminum is held in position by the rivets and glue. I am planning to just try a two inch wide insert (galvanized) to encompass the belt (drop) loop on my first try. Probably being an old granny but I am considering a few well spaced holes in the metal insert to reduce weight and allow glued leather areas within the metal. I really want to be sure there is no delamination between the holster and its liner.

TN Mongo · January 13, 2010, 05:48:20 PM

Bob,

My holsters are not true Mexican loop holsters. The Chicago screws (not rivets) hold the holster pocket to the skirt and hold a leather piece that locks the belt in place. All my competition holsters have the same number of screws (Kirkpatrick and others use a similar set-up).

The aluminum lining is held in place by Barge Cement between the body of the holster and leather liner and the stiching around the edges. Aluminum works very well. My only caution is not to make the aluminum that goes down the back of the holster too wide. The back of the holster pocket does not give much when you wet fit the holster, especially around the cylinder.

JD Alan · January 13, 2010, 11:51:05 PM

Mongo, I really like the look of those holsters. I would definitely like to try to make some like that. Thanks for sharing those pictures.

TN Mongo · January 14, 2010, 06:47:40 PM

Thank's J.D.! I'm still learning to use this new digital camera.

Freedom · January 14, 2010, 08:43:24 PM

Mongo that is some fine looking work

OK, so I have a question?? Why would you want to use metal instead of rawhide?? Seems to me that cased rawhide would be easier to work with and in the end you would have a product that was as good or better??.

I have never done either but I have been wanting to ask everytime I see the subject come up.

Thanks Guys

Slowhand Bob · January 14, 2010, 09:00:34 PM

I am still waiting to try my first metal liner but do have one consideration that tipped me in favor of metal, steel to be exact. I think to get an equal degree of rigidity with rawhide would most likely cause a noticeable increase in bulk or thickness of the laminations. I have not had the opportunity to examine the holsters using kydex skeletons but would think that they would also exhibit noticeable thickness in the sandwich. Experience will be my answer in the near future I hope.

TN Mongo · January 18, 2010, 04:20:53 PM

Freedom,

I've seen rawhide used around the lip of the holster to help keep the holster pocket open, but I don't think it would work well putting it down the skirt and the back half of the holster. I wouldn't be able to adjust the holster like I can with aluminum.

I think Kydex works well to keep the holster pocket from collapsing and several top comercial companies like Kirkpatrick and Mernickel use it. My holsters are 8-9 oz. with a 6-7 oz. lining, without the aluminum, so they are rigid enough without Kydex.