Post pics of holsters you have made.

[aarondhgraham]

I do own a Tippman Boss machine,,,

I do own a Tippman Boss machine,,,
But all I use it for is sewing linings onto things.

For a buscadero style belt it takes about 2 DVD movies (3-4 hours),,,
Just to sew in the lining if I saddle-stitch it in by hand,,,
I can do that same job in about 30-40 minutes,,,
With no quality problems using my Boss.

Since there is no strain on those stitches,,,
I don't mind a lock-stitch machine.

Everything else, and I do mean everything else,,,
Gets stitched with two needles and an awl.

If I were working commercially,,,
Repeating the same thing in volume,,,
I would definitely own a powered sewing machine.

But since I only do custom work,,,
And darn little of that is for pay or profit,,,
I saddle-stitch everything because it's stronger.

The instructor where I got my saddle-making certificate thought I was nuts,,,
Every saddle I made there was completely hand stitched,,,
Except the sheepskin lining of the skirts.

There is nothing wrong with machine stitching,,,
Bianchi, Galco, and DeSantis certainly don't hand stitch their products,,,
I tout this as a matter of pride that my work is done using old world hand techniques.

Aarond

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[aarondhgraham]

Hello rayban,,,

That is a nice rig my friend.

...wanted the mag pouch to not look like a mag pouch

I can understand that,,,
Probably wants people to think it's a knife case.

Aarond

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[doubleh]

All my sewing is by hand. Use a groover, overstitch wheel, stabbing awl, two needles, a cake of bee's wax, and a lot of time. I'll confess to adding a pair of pliers when thick leather is involved.

Many years ago when I was doing quite a bit of custom work I would take everything to the local bootmaker that would go in his hot stitch machine. It saved a tremendous amount of time and blisters on my fingers.

 

[rayban]

Thanks Aarond.....btw, I machine stitch...with pride

 

[aarondhgraham]

I'm starting a new rig this weekend,,,

I'm starting a new rig this weekend.

A young lady friend of mine just received a Tri-Star 9mm as a gift,,,
She also received a nice commercial holster for it,,,
Very functional but not pretty at all.

She, being a very stylish girl, wants a pretty rig to wear to the range,,,
Apparently when her family clan gets together they dress up,,,
And make a picnic/party out of their family shooting days.

So I'm thinking of something very non-traditional,,,
I like costuming and am somewhat intrigued by SteamPunk fashion,,,
So I'm considering a rig that resembles a tactical leg holster but with lots of rings and straps.

The challenge will be to make the rig look good,,,
And still maintain comfort and functionality.

I made a Lara Croft rig for a girls Halloween costume one year,,,


The rig I'm thinking of now will be somewhat similar,,,
With the belt more resembling a harness.

She has a small Egyptian tattoo so I'm thinking maybe,,,
The Eye of Ra on the holster and Egyptian tribal designs on the straps.

Anyways, this should be a fun project for me,,,
It will break me away from the boring traditional stuff,,,
And who knows, I might find a new market for my more unique creations.

Aarond

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[Red Cent]

Machine.

 

[royal barnes]

Red, I have been waiting on you to show some of yours. You have come a long way in a very short time. Very nice!!!!

 

[TAKtical]

just to be different

 

[Jim NE]

I made this rig for a young lady who works at my favorite watering hole,,,
Every year they have a costume contest and she wanted to go as Lara Croft,,,
So we went online and found a pair of Airsoft replicas of the HK's she wore in the movies.

I had originally intended to make them cheap and dirty,,,
But those plastic pistols looked so cool,,,
I got a bit carried away.

The belt and holsters are lined with pigskin,,,
The buckle is an antique from around the late 1800's,,,
And the dragon designs I appropriated from a tattoo design website.

Basically it's a $400.00 dollar rig,,,
For $40.00 of plastic pistols.

She did take first place,,,
So it was worth it.

Post some more pics people,,,
I really want to see more of your work.

Aarond

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Wow, nice work aarondhgraham! If a young lady walked into a watering hole wearing that rig, I'd leave, pronto! I especially like the weave job you did for that Smith and Wesson.

I like all of the other holster from other folks, as well.

You've got me wondering if I should take this up as a hobby. It would be a lot less expensive than buying guns. And I have more guns than holsters.

Are the start up costs for making nice leather holsters expensive?

 

[Jim NE]

For a while I used Preval sprayers to spray Fiebings leather dye on my holsters. Now I keep enough dye on hand that I pour it into a tub and submerge the leather into the dye. That's what I did with the 2 holsters above.
I've recently been trying Tandy's EcoFlo professional water stain and so far have liked the results. I apply it with a sponge.
I used medium brown EcoFlo on this next holster. A light coat was used to get the color of the floral design and then 2 more coats were used on the body of the holster. The background has Fiebings medium brown applied with a small paint brush.

This 1911 holster has dark brown EcoFlo on it.

Keep at it and try different things on scrap pieces until you get something you like.
To all the leatherworkers out there, post some pictures, I love seeing other's work.

Dude, those are NICE! Good job!

 

[mk70ss]

My buddy made this one for me. Sweet little crossdraw.

 

[ivankerley]

just to be different

thats really cool! Nice work
Gene

 

[TAKtical]

thanks Ivan

 

[Red Cent]

Thanks Royal.

 

[tomrkba]

I added a wedge to my Glock 19 holster. This makes it much more comfortable to wear for more than an hour.

 

[smovlov]

Ok, I'm inspired! Ive been wanting to make a holster for a while and I'm going to pick up the tools to begin. Can you guys give me some info on where to start? First holster will be a pancake style holster for a 4" K frame. Any good tutorials out there? I have a lot of experiences in making things I just need to know mainly how to dye the leather and what kind of goop to put on it to seal it. Thanks!

 

[aarondhgraham]

Hello smovlov,,,

Hello smovlov,,,

Get thee to a Tandy Leather store.

Buy this book.

It doesn't cover pancake holsters,,,
But it will give you a good start on leather work in general.

Then talk to the people at the store,,,
Not all of them are professional leather workers,,,
But they will at least be familiar with how to use their products.

Pancakes are about the easiest to make,,,
Tandy used to have a pattern pack for pancake holsters.

But I am sure that the manager can get you started,,,
Dive on in and have some fun.

With tools, leather, dyes & finishes, and hardware,,,
Your first holster will cost you quite a bit,,,
But they are all cheaper after that.

Aarond

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[smovlov]

Got to the Tandy store in Tampa while i was there for Christmas. Got the book too. Made a collar for the dog to start off then jumped into making the holster. I would like it to sit a little tighter at the front. I think I need to lower the stitch line there so it moves a bit better. Also I think I should of wet the front first and pushed the gun in so its flatter on the back and tweak the stitch line around the gun. I was looking a lot at the Simply Rugged Sourdough Pancake. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[aarondhgraham]

Hey smovlov,,,

Man, that's not bad at all,,,
Especially for one's first holster.

With pancake style holsters I usually make the outside piece,,,
Just a wee bit longer (on the vertical axis) than the inside piece.

Make your pattern like you normally would,,,
Then cut the pattern in half right down the middle,,,
Then separate the pieces by about 1/4 to 1/2 inch and tape it up.

Then when you wet-form the holster to the gun,,,
The outside will form a bit bigger and eliminate that fold on the inside piece.

Seriously though,,,
Very nice first holster.

Aarond

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[Greg528iT]

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Repost from my thread to get into this one.

 

[powder]

Assort of kydex stuff: 226, PPQ, AR-10 mag holder, PPQ AIWC.....

 

[aarondhgraham]

Here's an idea,,,

Greg528iT and powder need to get together,,,
That sandblasting technique might just be the trick for Kydex holsters.

I don't sneer at Kydex holsters,,,
For pure functionality they are near perfect,,,
But I'm a person who is very much into the aesthetic possibilities of leather.

Now imagine one of powders fine Kydex holsters,,,
With some tribal design work sandblasted by Greg528iT,,,
That could bring the level of aesthetics up to where I would like them.

Just a thought,,,

Aarond

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[aarondhgraham]

I made a Tanker style rig one time,,,

I gave a base model Ruger 22/45 4.5" slab-side to a young friend as a gift when he graduated from Ok State University,,,
He is a bicycle trail rider so I thought a Tanker holster would be appropriate for his purpose.




It was fun designing this one,,,
I need to make one for my S&W Model 12.

Aarond

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[Greg528iT]

aarondhgraham and other tanker holster makers. I originally put the slide side strap on in the same position you did.. at the trigger, pointing 90 deg to the barrel. I see and understand that's so it can be mounted high and the strap can head straight back under the arm. I found that when I bent over, that the majority of the mass of the gun caused it to flip / fall away from the body. How did you solve this problem?? just don't bend over? Strap it tight? I know there is a retention strap, I built in a flap.. I didn't like it tilting away from me.

 

[Greg528iT]

Greg528iT and powder need to get together,,,
That sandblasting technique might just be the trick for Kydex holsters.

I'm willing to sand blast most anything.. I didn't think it'd work on leather.. was I wrong.