Rawhide to stiffen holster HOW ??

[mecal]

Any one have experience with adding rawhide between holster and lining, to stiffen it?
I have formed some rawhide to cylinder shape for example. Very stiff like metal or more like plastic.
Problem is how do I glue it between holster and lining, while wet and limp? 

[knucklehead]

I asked the people running leather factory here in portland about this same thing.
Hairy told me after holster is finished to the point of sewing together to do the following:

wrap lining around gun.
shape wet rawhide around the area of the gun you want it on over the lining.
let it dry.....
after dry glue the lining with rawhide formed to the holster and sew together.
dampen outside of holster to form it.
after dry to put on the sealer.

I haven't tried it yet. but someday i will.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I tried it. I made one holster with the rawhide stiffener. That stuff doesn't work like everybody says.

1) "Wet the rawhide and shape it." I soaked it for 6 hours and it was almost as stiff as when I started. I let it soak overnight and it was a little better, but not much.

2) Once the holster is finally assembled, wet molding is really a bitch. Rawhide doesn't shape for beans. I think the only way to do it would really be to make a mold and plug and shape it that way.

3) No one tells you that the rawhide changes size 3 or 4 times as much as the rest of the leather. Once you have it all assembled and molded, it has to dry. The rawhide will shrink up way smaller than you thought it would. That makes the lining wrinkled from being too large to fit. You also have to re-wet it and mold it looser than before. The outside doesn't shrink up as much, either, so the outter layer separates from the rawhide and leaves loose lumps. OK, the lining takes care of itself but then you have to re-wet the outer layer and try to compress it to fit the rawhide. I did all this with marginal results. I keep the holster as a reminder to never try it again. Here's a picture of it. Notice how the light reflects off it and you can get an idea of the lumpiness of the loose outer layer. It's a good holster that will hold it's shape forever. 3000 years from now, it will still be the same shape. It's just a little ugly and certainly the last one I'll do.

[mecal]

I found that the rawhide shrinks even after it is dry and stiff. Thought I had it just right, only to find next day it was to small.
Didn't have a problem softening. I used warm water. It took less than an hour to be totally limp.
Marshal Will Wingam, you could have some very old rawhide. I was told if very old, will not go limp.
How thick was your? The stuff I have is 1/16 inch dry.

At this point it looks like we have to form, let dry then assemble, some how, like knucklehead said.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

Thanks, mecal. That was my only experience working with rawhide. It must have been old. It was about the same thickness as yours. It sure was tough.

[Marshal Will Wingam]

I've made holsters with two layers of 8-9oz leather, glued. Those holsters were a bit of a challenge but certainly a whole lot less work. They're almost as rigid as my rawhide one.

[litl rooster]

from hitching lace, I built a humidifier for my extra lace and project in progress/ I used a 2 gallon plactic container with lid a layer of marbles to line bottom and a couple cups of water. Warning check it often to avoid mold and for liquid content.  The old time hitchers claimed hides from a starving cow  deer and elk made the best rawhide