Posted: 11/5/2024 9:44:04 AM EDT
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Sitting in the waiting room while my wife has a surgical procedure and thought, rather than start yet another election day thread, this would be more interesting. Been working with leather for a short time and I really enjoy it. In that short time a few folks have shown an interest in my work and have even blessed me by purchasing some! Recently I was asked to make a California pattern "Slim Jim" style holster. Not having a pattern, I modified one of my existing ones and came up with this Attached File Attached File Pretty happy with how it turned out and decided to make another and try to document it this time. Keep in mind, I'm not a professional, just a hobbiest so others may have different ideas on how it's done. This is my way. |
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I didn't have a pattern for this one so I modified the Hand of God pattern that I did have. Attached File I wanted it to be a crassdraw (worn on the left side for a right handed shooter) with a 30° cant and an integral belt loop. This is what I came up with Attached File After scribing the pattern on my leather, I used a series of radius punches to cut the tight spots making it easier to cut it out with my knife; a hook blade made for linoleum. Attached File I shine my little flashlight across the leather to make the scribe lines easier to see. All cut out of 7-8oz vegetable tanned leather. Attached File |
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Quoted: that style was very popular, for numerous reasons. sweet rig. good work. Thank you. I wasn't a fan of this style until I made it. I appreciate the gracefully flowing lines. Also really happy with the wrinkles. I don't have much of this piece of leather left and noticed the faint wrinkle lines (they didn't really show up until I started dying/oiling) so I hung onto it for a old timey project like this. Quoted: Well done. I admire the stitching especially. Thanks! I really like stitching these holsters! Believe it or not, It's relaxing. Cartridge loops on a belt? Not so much! |
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Quoted: I have tried, and made, a couple of holsters from leather and kydex. They MOSTLY turned out functional and uglier than a mud fence. I am impressed with your skills. Haha, thank you. I have a buddy who makes Kydex holsters and sheaths (his son is a knife maker) while Kydex has a lot going for it and might even be a superior material, I just love leather. You should smell my work area  !
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Had to fold it up and see what it liiked like Attached File Next, starting the various grooves. For the main stitch seam, I don't want the thread to sink too deep so I just run a creaser along those 2 edges; I'm not removing any material, just making an "indentation" Attached File On all the other grooves from here on out, I switched to a grover and I am actually removing material Attached File Attached File This holster has a few different borders requiring a few different grooves so I mocked up a piece of scrap 5oz in the most complicated area of the patterns Attached File |
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Quoted: That is beautiful work! Love the color and the embossed pattern. Do you ever work with other kinds of leather besides cowhide? Thank you. No, I haven't. Like I said, I'm pretty new at this but, it's my understanding that, of the 2 main types of "tanned" leather; vegetable and chrome, only vegetable tanned allows carving/tooling/stamping and dying. I have ideas for a fancy BBQ rig someday with an inlay of some "exotic" leather, probably crocodile/alligator or maybe shark... |
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Now that all my grooving is done, I can now run the edger around the entire thing. Gives the finished product a, well, a finished look  Attached File I did add a couple of very light stamps at the terminates of where my groove would end up prior to grooving for points of reference. After "casing" the leather, I'll hit em again making them more prominent. Attached File Attached File Here's the tooling I'll be using on this holster. Attached File |
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Getting on to casing which is introducing moisture to the leather allowing the stamping to take hold in the leather. For this project (no carving into the leather) plain old water (I use distilled to keep minerals from potentially discoloring the leather as well as, in my case, keeping vinyl chloride out of the piece ) is fine but I've gotten into the habit of brushing it with saddle soap to help my swivel knife glide a little better. Again not necessary here, just habit.Attached File Attached File Letting it sit for a bit . Attached File Getting my area prepared. Stamping is much easier and more effective if you have a solid surface to work on. We happen to have a stone counter top place nearby and they let me snag a piece of granite out of their scrap pile Attached File Also, when stamping cased leather, it's almost "plactic" and will stretch as the fibers are displaced. When you fold up the 2 sides to sew, the stamped side could have stretched far enough that they don't match anymore! I put painters tape on the backside (flesh side) to help keep that from happening. It really helps Attached File |
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Quoted: That is both skill and time I do not possess ... It's not bad. Excluding drying times for everything, I can cut and tool something like this in under 2 hrs. Stitching isn't bad either but more elaborate designs can add up quickly. Like I mentioned earlier, stitching cartridge loops takes (seemingly) FOREVER! |
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Let's get to stamping. After putting the stamp in 3 corners to determine where I'm going to end my groove lines i start with the hourglass border stamp. Start in a corner, whack! (Actually not that hard since the leather has been cased) Skip one hourglass width and, whack! Again. Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Till I get to the corner and throw this one in to transition Attached File Attached File Follow it out to the end, turn it upside down and fill in the other side adding other stamps (seeders) to aid in the second border stamps (camoflage tool; looks like a seashell) transitions. Attached File Attached File Until I'm done Attached File |
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Got the wife home from her surgery, everything went well. Here's more if anyone is still interested and the election hasn't taken all your attention! Ready to start stitching. 1st, using stitching (pricking) irons (chisels) start punching stitch holes. Can't remember what the spacing is (4mm I think) but they leave angled/diamond shaped holes and go well with the thread I'm using. Attached File Start at the top on both sides to be stitched and stop at the bottom where I have carefully measured to end at the same time Attached File Attached File All done and got the belt loop punched too Attached File Time to start dying. I mix my dye 1:1 with denatured alcohol. Attached File |
| Nice work. On the finished holster why do your stitches look so short on the top? Also I thought you normally glued the 2 halves together and punched your chisel through both sides at once. It’s hard to do with thicker leather. How do you make sure your holes line up right? Just make sure you start both top sides right where you want that first stitch? |
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Quoted: Nice work. On the finished holster why do your stitches look so short on the top? Also I thought you normally glued the 2 halves together and punched your chisel through both sides at once. It’s hard to do with thicker leather. How do you make sure your holes line up right? Just make sure you start both top sides right where you want that first stitch? Thanks. The stitch spacing at the top? Pretty sure it's just the perspective. I'm taking pictures from the bottom edge of the holster because otherwise the shadow from my shop light would be too distracting. Yeah, punching both front and back holes would be a great way to make sure everything lines up but, as you pointed out, it's very difficult to punch through 2 layers of this weight leather without one side moving. On thinner leather like for a wallet or money clips, it is easier to punch through multiple layers Besides, as long as you place the last time of the iron into the last set of holes, the spacing is nearly perfect. At most, I'll have 1 hole extra and can quickly punch it to finish the seam. Good question! |
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Getting some dye on this thang Attached File Dye took a little longer to dry this time. It's been very dry here but temps were down when I put it outside to dry. The dye is alcohol based and I'm also cutting it with alcohol so it dries out the leather. Work it out in all 4 compass points and hit it with neatsfoot oil and it makes it nice and supple again (and darkens it quite a bit) Attached File Attached File Attached File Oil's dry and time for antique paste Attached File |
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Quoted: Beautiful work! I wonder if something like that would work for my super wrangler ?? What size are your stitching forks? Thank you. Oh yeah, I'm sure it would be a great holster (sized waayy down of course) for the Wrangler. I'm pretty sure they're 4mm. Just checked, yes, 4mm |
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Smooshing on the paste. Make sure to get it in all the nooks and crannies (I go a little thinner with it on the center non stamped middles) and wipe off the excess before it dries Attached File Attached File Dried. Gonna start stitching Attached File |
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Quoted: That is really interesting. Great work! Thank you Quoted: I am interested in learning how to do this. Do you hand stitch using saddle stitches? It's a great hobby! There's a YouTube channel called Road Agent Leather. His videos, especially his older ones, newer ones he's experimenting with lasers and other high tech tools, were the ones I learned the most from. Yes, I saddle stitch everything. It's not hard but there is a little learning curve to get over. Lots of good videos on saddle stitching. My next set of pics are going to be some stitching but I realized there's NO CHANCE I could possibly explain what's going on! |
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And here we go. As I said, I don't have any idea how to explain saddle stitching. After getting over the initial learning curve it's simple but it definitely looks complicated as hell! Of course, you need needles and thread. The needles I use have "blunt" tips (BS, I still draw blood from time to time) and long eyes. The thread is actually called cord by Tandy and is waxed polyester. Attached File Thread through the eye then the point through the thread Attached File Twice Attached File Pull it tight and do the other end Attached File Here is pictures only Attached File Trust me, it looks more complicated than it is! |
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The reason for the blunt tips on the needles it to minimize this happening. Attached File I've pushed my needle through the thread I had pushed through in the first half of the saddle stitch (clear as mud right?!) Every stitch I pull just a little thread before pulling the needle through completely to make sure this doesn't happen. It will mess up your stitch and eventually break your thread. Anyway, here's the loop sewn on Attached File And the holster sewn together. Attached File All that's left is to burnish the edges of the leather to polish them smooth. Hopefully it was informative, entertaining and a distraction from the election! |
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Threw my sons '51 Navy in it to check the fit. Pretty happy! Sucks that I accidentally got some antique paste on my work surface that got transferred to the belt loop but it'll wear off quickly. Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Quoted: Had to fold it up and see what it liiked like https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105833/20241104_132138_jpg-3368863.JPG Next, starting the various grooves. For the main stitch seam, I don't want the thread to sink too deep so I just run a creaser along those 2 edges; I'm not removing any material, just making an "indentation" https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105833/1000003672_jpg-3368868.JPG On all the other grooves from here on out, I switched to a grover and I am actually removing material https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105833/1000003673_jpg-3368871.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105833/1000003674_jpg-3368872.JPG This holster has a few different borders requiring a few different grooves so I mocked up a piece of scrap 5oz in the most complicated area of the patterns https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105833/1000003676_jpg-3368876.JPG Quoted: Till I get to the corner and throw this one in to transition https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105833/1000003691_jpg-3369184.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105833/1000003692_jpg-3369185.JPG Follow it out to the end, turn it upside down and fill in the other side adding other stamps (seeders) to aid in the second border stamps (camoflage tool; looks like a seashell) transitions. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105833/1000003694_jpg-3369187.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105833/1000003696_jpg-3369188.JPG Until I'm done https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/105833/1000003697_jpg-3369189.JPG The tooling looks great. I hate tooling, especially when there's a bunch of background, or basket weave. Lol |
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Quoted: The tooling looks great. I hate tooling, especially when there's a bunch of background, or basket weave. Lol Thank you. Yeah, I haven't worked up the nerve (or patience) to try basket weave yet. To be honest, I've never liked the look of basket weave but it sure is popular! Of course, I wasn't a big fan of Slim Jim holsters until I made one. They really are graceful looking. I enjoy the tooling and stitching. I just pop in my earbuds and put on some Doobie Brothers or Manfred Mann and zone out! (Not a boomer, Gen X!) |
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Quoted: Nice, definitely one of the better threads in GD in a while.  Quoted: Beautiful work! Thanks guys! Just glued two pieces of 5oz together back to back (flesh side to flesh side) Gonna try this again but "lined". Just need to decide if I'm gonna dye it inside and out or leave the lined side natural (I'll put some neatsfoot oil on it either way) |
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In case anyone is still interested, I decided to try to make a lined holster with the two pieces of 5oz glued (and eventually stitched) together. Unfortunately, I fucked up my cut so I decided to continue for the practice (and I'm pretty sure it'll fit a Ruger Bearcat or maybe a Single Six/Heritage)On the left: Attached File I also glued two more pieces of 5oz together because I wanted to make a lined, crossdraw holster for my N frame S&W 25-5 in. 45colt to make my Hand of God rig a double rig. Turned out great and fits like a glove! Attached File Attached File Of course, I didn't have room on my old rig for 2 revolvers so I had to make a new belt too Attached File Attached File |