Started my holsters tonight, and making progress!

ogreshooter · November 06, 2010, 01:14:13 AM

Finally decided that I would not be happy unless I built my own gear. Since I have never worked leather before, figured I would start simple with a pair of lined holsters. Sure, sounds good to me. Jump in feet first, or head first, take your pick.

Again, started simple. I unstitched one of my Galco holsters because I like the design, although they have always been a bit short. I shoot 5.5" Ruger OMV's, and the barrel sticks out about 1/2", and I don't like that.

Next, I did not like the height of the front face of the holster, so I copied my Bianchi holster opening. So, I think I finally have what I like. Next is to make sure my guns fit, then one more template to make sure the backing of the holster is good. Will post more pics as I get going.

I made sure that I had enough template material so if any changes needed to be made I could. Currently the pattern is 3/8" wider than the original holster. Just wanted to make sure I had enough room to incorporate the lining.

Lining is going to 4-5 oz veggie tanned with a 9-10 oz outer shell. Barge cement for gluing together, speedy stitcher for stitching duty, dremel for cutting the stitch holes. I may also try two needles and hand stitching, will see when I get there. Getting ready to snow here, so I have tons of time.

Till next time,
Homburg Wally

Johnny McCrae · November 06, 2010, 07:08:34 AM

Howdy HW,

Welcome to the Leather Shop. You will find this Forum to be a wonderful source of help, information and encouragement.

This is a good way to start... some planning & thought and then jump in and do it. You will learn and improve your skills with each piece you make. What you are experiencing right off the bat is one of the big advantages in making your own leather... you are able to get a custom designed Holster that fits your exact requirements. Another cool thing is when someone asks where you bought those Holsters, you can say "I made em".

Please keep us posted on your progress.

KidTerico · November 06, 2010, 09:15:02 AM

HI HW Nice to see your work. I feel you are definately on the right track. Keep showing your progress. Have fun. KT

JD Alan · November 06, 2010, 09:23:07 AM

The more time planning out the pattern the better things will turn out. I'm an expert on the opposite way!

Looks like you've made a great start. Some might say the leather choices are a little heavy, but I like heavier holsters and those should be pretty soild.

Keep the pictures coming as you progress

Ten Wolves Fiveshooter · November 06, 2010, 10:02:34 AM

Welcome to our forum ogreshooter

Looks like you have the bug for sure, one thing though, if you're going to line this holster and the Galco holster pattern wasn't lined, you will need to make your pattern larger to allow for the extra thickness of the lining, about 3/16" around the holster itself will do, if the Galco holster was real loose with your gun in it, then you might be OK, but if not, your gun might not fit with the tightness that a liner can give.

Good luck with this, and be sure to post a picture when finished

Regards

tEN wOLVES

Marshal Will Wingam · November 06, 2010, 11:33:00 AM

Howdy, HW. Good to see you on the forum. It'll be nice to see the finished holsters you make from that pattern. You're off to a good start. Looking forward to your posts.

ogreshooter · November 06, 2010, 01:45:22 PM

I read the Simmons Holster destructions and started from there. I did add extra for the lining, but not a whole lot as they were already a bit sloppy.

As for leather choice, yep, it is a little heavy, but I like stout. I was initially going to line them with Kydex, but not knowing where my cowboy shooting was going to take me (NCOWS, cowboy 3-gun, or just local matches for ever and ever), I thought I would make them so that I may transition a little easier. That, and Kydex is in short supply in Podunk, Oregon.

I have cut my first leather now, and not having fancy tools, I settled for an Exacto set. Worked well, just took my time and was patient. For those that know me, you will know how hard that was.

First cutout...

Needs a little clean up, but this is going to be good. I will be cutting my liner shortly, once I find a supply of Barge cement.

So, I have read TONS here, there, and everywhere, but what I really dont see is what people are using for the stitches. I have an Easy-Stitcher, and the thread is not super thick, but we are not really trying to hold back elephants here.

What do you guys use that have built more leather and have forgotten more about leather than I will ever know suggest?

Thanks,

HW

KidTerico · November 06, 2010, 04:25:08 PM

HW I sew all of by hand so I'm no help there.KT

Chuck 100 yd · November 06, 2010, 05:31:11 PM

Howdy pard! You mentioned the use of a Dremel tool to make the stitch holes and sewing with two needles. What else would one want? You can stitch a holster so it looks every bit as good as any factory job with these simple tools.
I like heavy leather also.
I am a beginner also and just wet molded my 5th holster today. I am fixing to go hunting so pictures of my latest will have to wait. Here is the stitching on my first ever holster. The layout with the stitch spacer/over stitch wheel is the secret to a good looking stitch job.

Have fun!!

Drayton Calhoun · November 11, 2010, 07:47:44 PM

I prefer 9-10 oz myself on anything larger than a pocket pistol. Haven't done a lot of work lately due to time/obligations with the kids, but starting back up slowly.

knucklehead · November 12, 2010, 08:13:40 AM

Hello HW,

welcome to the wire where lots of great information is here to read and learn from.
if you are in / near the portland area stop into tandy leather factory and talk to Donna.
she will show you what thread and needles to use. hand sewing is easy.
i use the dremel tool with a 1/16" drill bit to make my stitching holes. i use the over stitch wheel to mark the stitching holes.
dont forget to use a stitching groover along the edge of the holster. it puts a channel in the leather for stitching to lay down level with the leather. it also helps keep you straight on making the stitching line.

also there is a class on holster making december 3 and 4(i think. i know its the first weekend of dec) at the tandy leather factory in portland or.
the instructor is a great guy and knows his stuff.

ogreshooter · November 13, 2010, 05:43:34 PM

I have made some serious progress, but may have inadvertently made an error. Pretty sure no one here has made any thus far on their own projects.

Cut, glued, and stitching now. The back apron is not glued at this time. I am waiting till my stitching gets there first.

Decided to go against the grain (DAMN YOU WILL GHORMLEY!). Really like stitching rather than a bunch of tooling.

So, I am going with colored sinew (green) and am going to do a simple stitch pattern on the front. Of course, Should really only do that on ONE piece of leather, and do it before I glue it together! Will have to see what I can do. Also, forgot to stitch the bottom seam, but I think I can still do that as I have a curved needle.

Did cowboys have kydex??? Yeah, I am trying out a gamer holster. STOP IT! I am a USPSA crossover, I can not help myself! It is in my BLOOD!

Still though, I think the first holster is coming along nicely.

Here you can see that I did in fact FORGET a few simple points. First, don't cut out your liner till AFTER it is glued and stitched.
Second, those little doo-dads that help hold your holster open at the trigger guard are pains-in-the-arse...

I have learnin yet to do, but think I am doing OK.

Ned Buckshot · November 13, 2010, 06:00:36 PM

After all these years of doing this I learned that first mistakes will be made some you can overcome and some you can't. Always stich everything except the main seam before folding over.

Always let the glue dry on the lining and then cut the holster to size and shape and then stitch!

This is just the way I do it and has no reflection on the "correct" way!

Ned

ogreshooter · November 13, 2010, 06:11:51 PM

Again, learning from others mistakes can be done, but lessons I learn from MY mistakes won't (shouldn't!) happen again. From here on out, main seam will be last.

Still though, it is a huge amount of fun even if it is not perfect.

knucklehead · November 13, 2010, 06:38:49 PM

looks good to me.

but i will suggest that you glue the entire liner to the holster body before you sew.
i glue all of the liner to holster body. then trim it to fit. i will also use a belt sander / dremel with sanding drum for tight areas to finish triming if needed.

then sew all areas that is not the main seam. after all areas are sewin up then sew up the main seam.
do a final trim on main seam to insure both sides of the seam is smoth and look like one. then burnish all edges.

i allways wet form the holster before applying the sealer / finish coat.
i learned that wet forming the holster after applying the sealer / finish coat causes the moister to leave the holster not in a uniform way thus changing the color of it in strange ways.

GunClick Rick · November 14, 2010, 07:00:19 PM

You guys carry on,yopu do fine work!Now what was that Ned? Fold your stich???

Reminds me too,i saw one of those (stiching saddles?) at an antique store here the other day,looked in good solid condition and stain restored.They wanted 125.00 for it.But i don't know what to look for either.

ogreshooter · November 17, 2010, 01:45:26 AM

Learning is tough. My wife, who loves to sew, says that she has pulled many seams that did not turn out quite right. SO, I took her advice and cut my main seam. Was done too early anyways.

While really looking at the holster, the lining looked like it had slipped out from its placement at the welts while I was stitching, so is better anyway.

I am adding a second stitch line at the welt / trigger guard area front and back to help secure the lining I seem to have cut too short or am missing how it is SUPPOSED to go together.

Here we go:

Yes, I realize that is two different color threads. Faux sinew, and it was CHEAP! $1.00 a yard. Got inexpensive while learning, and local shop had 10 yards for a buck. Pretty good to learn with, although I think I prefer actual waxed thread. Will see on holster 2.

Shoot straight, shoot safe, have fun.

Slowhand Bob · November 17, 2010, 08:33:59 AM

I always like to leave a bit of extra around the lining edges for later dressing and this applies double at the main seam. I cut the main outer leather to my pattern and then outline it on the oversize lining piece with a pen (Sharpie) or pencil, afterward I trim the liner with a quarter inch of margin around the tracing and even transition that to perhaps almost a half inch at the main seam. On the small filler, I actually like a tiny bit of protrusion on their final assembly also. It is a lot easier to dress a tiny bit of protrusion than it is to fill it in when it ends up countersunk.

Many, if not most, like to roll the liner in but I glue mine up flat, then I trim and dress off all edges, except relating to the main seam, before laying out and sewing those liner seams. I also stitch the liner seams with a one size smaller layout wheel than I use on the main seam, when hand stitching the thread takes a bit of a beating with so many extra holes spaced really close. One last thought on the glue job, as pertains to the liner, I really like to give this extra time to set. Working the leather from flat puts plenty of stress on the joint and I will even clamp the assemble tight while the glue sets. When I am ready to assemble the main seam I will roll the holster to help in preforming the bend for main seam gluing/sewing but when rolled I will pre-trim the liners remaining excess main seam edge before gluing.

Like you, I learned to insert liners on my own but there are now several good videos out on holster assembly using liners. I am a visual guy who catches on better from watching a video than reading a description but in the distant past, if one did not have a mentor, it was Al Stohmans book or an occasional magazine article. Jim Simmons(?), George Hurst, Dusty Johnson and ,last but not least, the John Bianchi set all have videos out that spend a good amount of time discussing liners. You will notice that each has a system that sometimes strays from the others so you get to experiment to find what works best for you. Stay with us and always ask before you leap as many of us have already taken the fall and may be able to help.

ogreshooter · November 18, 2010, 11:22:58 PM

More or less done with the first one.
Again, I really like plain leather with just a little stitching.

I tried a few different stitch techniques and thread. Settled on waxed nylon and the two needle approach.

I am open to constructive criticism.

Thanks!
HW

JD Alan · November 19, 2010, 08:57:57 AM

As one of the least experienced guys on the forum, I'd say you did a fine job for your first holster. It's likely that you don't need to go quite so long on that second stitch line up at the throat.

Are you using a stitch groover to create a channel for your stitches? If not you should, as it will protect the stitches and give the holster a more finished look.

You will probably want to spend a little more time smoothing the edges of the next one, and also burnish them. For the natural look I'd recommend rubbing the damp edges with a piece of saddle soap bar and then rub them briskly with a piece of canvas or even an old piece of levi material.

I'm sure others with more experience will also comment, but once again, very nice job, especially for a first holster. I wouldn't even show you pictures of my first, second or third ones!