H
Handy
Guest
I've made a couple decent holsters for myself and used them for IDPA and carry. While I'm sure there are more qualified instructors, here's the basic formula which has worked for me.
Pancake holsters are the easiest quality design since they incorporate a sight channel and hold the gun tightly. Here's a picture of one to reference:
http://gun-holsters.com/holsters/pancake1.html
How to make a pancake holster:
Leather. Look for smooth leather about 3/16 of an inch thick. Thicker is generally better as it makes the holster stiff, but 1/4 inch is probably pushing it. Use you judgement.
You'll also need leather work needles (more than one, the eyes break), waxed linen leatherwork thread, leather glue (it's like elmers but has some kind of rubbery agent), an awl for marking the stich drill points, a fine drill bit-like the smallest one in a standard set. It should be small enough to require a smaller than standard chuck for the dremel. Any leather dye will work, but liquid beeswax is better for finishing.
Most of the leather specific stuff can be had from a local leather/crafts store or a saddlery or shoe repair place. For mail order, Tandy Leather has everything, but it's nice to pick out the leather in person. Check your yellow pages.
I start by holding the gun against my body until I figure out how it should fit-figure out where the belt is in relation to the pistol and it will all go from there. I pen and cut both sides of the holster from brown bag paper and staple it into a shape the gun will fit into, leaving about 3/8 of an inch from the gun to the stitches. The outside stitches go about a 1/4 inch from the edges of the leather. Cut the pieces with a little extra so you can trim the front and back together. Mark, but do not cut the belt holes. I would do this after the stitches. I like to leave the muzzle open so cases or dirt fall through.
Once you think the leather shapes are about right, glue them together inside the areas that will be closed in by stitches (the same area where the belt loops will be cut). Do one side at a time, lightly clamping the glued portions between wood for a good set. Doing them one by one allows for the front and back pieces being different shapes, as the piece closer to your waist should be a little smaller than the one going around the outside of the gun.
Once the glue has set, mark for stitch holes. All you need are two rings of stitches, one over the slide, one under the trigger guard. The stitches define the outside edges of the holster and the inside area that the gun fits into. The spacing of the stitch holes is around 3/16". Tandy sells a little spur wheel thing that gets the spacing perfect, but I eyeballed it. Make the marks with the awl. Drill the holes. Use the awl to scratch an indentation between the holes that the stitches can seat into (optional). As you'll see when stitching, it would be ideal to have an odd number of holes, but don't bother counting.
Stitching. Starting somewhere inside the holster body (so the end of the thread gets hidden) start a basic up and down stitch. It will miss every other space as it goes above and below to hit every hole. That's okay because you go around twice, the second time one off the first, covering the gaps and going through the holes for a second time. In the end, every hole will have two threads passing through it and every gap (front and back) will have a single stitch crossing it. (hope that makes sense.
Molding. Your holster will not come out with the super crisp molding lines of custom holsters. That's because they use inside and outside molds. Hold your creation open and let a second or two of water run through it, then the same to the front and back. Wrap the oiled pistol in a layer of sandwich wrap and insert (don't get oil on the leather). Now take the rounded end of an awl, screwdriver or similar and force the damp leather into the contours of the pistol, front and back. Bend the holster into the curve of your waist and let it dry on something soft (a wire rack would leave marks). Let dry completely, remove gun and let dry some more.
Do any final trimming, die the holster a pleasant color (I think naturals or reddish browns look best) and let dry completely. The next day, apply liquid wax and work in with cloth, then buff with a shoe shine brush. Burnish edges as best you can (I never mastered this) with wax and emory cloth or the appropriate dremel attachment.
About 2 days total (drying time) and 3 hours actual labor. A wet molded holster that looks very good and is super durable for about $15 invested. If you have the spare time, it's fun.
Pancake holsters are the easiest quality design since they incorporate a sight channel and hold the gun tightly. Here's a picture of one to reference:
http://gun-holsters.com/holsters/pancake1.html
How to make a pancake holster:
Leather. Look for smooth leather about 3/16 of an inch thick. Thicker is generally better as it makes the holster stiff, but 1/4 inch is probably pushing it. Use you judgement.
You'll also need leather work needles (more than one, the eyes break), waxed linen leatherwork thread, leather glue (it's like elmers but has some kind of rubbery agent), an awl for marking the stich drill points, a fine drill bit-like the smallest one in a standard set. It should be small enough to require a smaller than standard chuck for the dremel. Any leather dye will work, but liquid beeswax is better for finishing.
Most of the leather specific stuff can be had from a local leather/crafts store or a saddlery or shoe repair place. For mail order, Tandy Leather has everything, but it's nice to pick out the leather in person. Check your yellow pages.
I start by holding the gun against my body until I figure out how it should fit-figure out where the belt is in relation to the pistol and it will all go from there. I pen and cut both sides of the holster from brown bag paper and staple it into a shape the gun will fit into, leaving about 3/8 of an inch from the gun to the stitches. The outside stitches go about a 1/4 inch from the edges of the leather. Cut the pieces with a little extra so you can trim the front and back together. Mark, but do not cut the belt holes. I would do this after the stitches. I like to leave the muzzle open so cases or dirt fall through.
Once you think the leather shapes are about right, glue them together inside the areas that will be closed in by stitches (the same area where the belt loops will be cut). Do one side at a time, lightly clamping the glued portions between wood for a good set. Doing them one by one allows for the front and back pieces being different shapes, as the piece closer to your waist should be a little smaller than the one going around the outside of the gun.
Once the glue has set, mark for stitch holes. All you need are two rings of stitches, one over the slide, one under the trigger guard. The stitches define the outside edges of the holster and the inside area that the gun fits into. The spacing of the stitch holes is around 3/16". Tandy sells a little spur wheel thing that gets the spacing perfect, but I eyeballed it. Make the marks with the awl. Drill the holes. Use the awl to scratch an indentation between the holes that the stitches can seat into (optional). As you'll see when stitching, it would be ideal to have an odd number of holes, but don't bother counting.
Stitching. Starting somewhere inside the holster body (so the end of the thread gets hidden) start a basic up and down stitch. It will miss every other space as it goes above and below to hit every hole. That's okay because you go around twice, the second time one off the first, covering the gaps and going through the holes for a second time. In the end, every hole will have two threads passing through it and every gap (front and back) will have a single stitch crossing it. (hope that makes sense.
Molding. Your holster will not come out with the super crisp molding lines of custom holsters. That's because they use inside and outside molds. Hold your creation open and let a second or two of water run through it, then the same to the front and back. Wrap the oiled pistol in a layer of sandwich wrap and insert (don't get oil on the leather). Now take the rounded end of an awl, screwdriver or similar and force the damp leather into the contours of the pistol, front and back. Bend the holster into the curve of your waist and let it dry on something soft (a wire rack would leave marks). Let dry completely, remove gun and let dry some more.
Do any final trimming, die the holster a pleasant color (I think naturals or reddish browns look best) and let dry completely. The next day, apply liquid wax and work in with cloth, then buff with a shoe shine brush. Burnish edges as best you can (I never mastered this) with wax and emory cloth or the appropriate dremel attachment.
About 2 days total (drying time) and 3 hours actual labor. A wet molded holster that looks very good and is super durable for about $15 invested. If you have the spare time, it's fun.
