Leather work, wet forming

[randyt]

nice looking holsters gents.

[Beans]

I use contractor's paper by the roll at Lowes to make holster patterns then when i get what i want i transfer it to leather.
When i learn how to post photos I will do so.

[Rick]

All you ever wanted to know about posting pics....

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ead.php?t=1318

[Task]

Firesteel belt pouch. Wet formed from scrap parts of an old Khukri frog (you know the one).
20 min construction time + drying time. Just sized, cut, wet, clamped, and stitched with upholstery thread.

[Farley]

Somebody is going to get a giggle out of this, but I wet formed a holster for my airsoft gun out of boredom!

20130324_222316.jpg

[crashdive123]

Looks good Farley.

[finallyME]

Farley, how fast can you pull it out? It looks like the front sight post would get in the way.
That gives me an interesting idea. If you found a plastic gun that matched your real handgun in size, then you could use the plastic one as a cheap block to wet form with.

[crashdive123]

Farley, how fast can you pull it out? It looks like the front sight post would get in the way.
That gives me an interesting idea. If you found a plastic gun that matched your real handgun in size, then you could use the plastic one as a cheap block to wet form with.

A light oiling of the metal parts and Saran wrap work well.

[wtrfwlr]

Just a curious question from one who does not know about leatherwork. Could you wrap the, gun/object ect in the saran wrap and then after placing the leather, pull a vacuum to form fit and leave it under vacuum until dried? I would think that would capture the exact shape and detail really well.

[crashdive123]

I've never used a vacuum table, so not sure if it would work on leather. Spoons, bones and fingers are typically used to form the little nooks and crannies. I'm working on making a set from some antler pieces.

[wtrfwlr]

Gotcha. I was wondering more along the lines of bagging it like I've done with composite laminates.

[crashdive123]

Apparently you can, but I think tools might give more detail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c0_klxpHrg

[hunter63]

Would make an intresting trial project.

[wtrfwlr]

Thanks for the video Crash, that was just what I had in mind. Makes me wish I still had my tools and equipment, I think I could do better than that?

And you're right Hunter it would make for a good project! I love fooling around with stuff like that! I used to have quite a bit of stuff to vacuum form carbon fiber, kevlar, fiberglass laminates. You can do some pretty neat stuff by vacuum forming.

I know, I just wander around thinking about things like this!

[Farley]

Farley, how fast can you pull it out? It looks like the front sight post would get in the way.
That gives me an interesting idea. If you found a plastic gun that matched your real handgun in size, then you could use the plastic one as a cheap block to wet form with.

It does snag a bit but in all reality, I dont actually use it. It was just for a project and I had a bunch of belly scrap kicking around. The main issue I have is that when the holster is on, it tends to close up when the gun is out due to the waist curving.

Crash: Thanks

[hunter63]

It does snag a bit but in all reality, I dont actually use it. It was just for a project and I had a bunch of belly scrap kicking around. The main issue I have is that when the holster is on, it tends to close up when the gun is out due to the waist curving.

Crash: Thanks

Funny how that works.....seems the guys that make and sell holsters have had and solved problems like this....
Nice looking project, you learn by trying.

[0369]

Farley, if you stitch or glue a strip of 8-9 oz. leather on the top out side it will stay open for re-holstering. It's all about experimenting. I have about a dozen scrap holsters that I didn't like, but they get better and better. I even think mine are looking and working like they should.
Vacuum sealers(food saver or the like) work great for wet forming. I found that I don;t need to soak the leather, just dampen it.

[nilespathfinder]

nice work. i'm a leather worker and i can add just a bit of knowledge to you on this. add a small piece of leather at the top of the holster from the top edge down to about the bottom button, this will add more strength to the holster , also allowing to keep its shape longer then normal. sew it just like you did the other seems, bevel edges for a smoother and less wear and tear on them. very nice.

[Jpflier]

To the question about vacuum bagging, it does work, but you need to keep work it while it sits for awhile. I had a knife sheath that I liked, but the knife would sometimes fall out of it, so I soaked the sheath for about 30 minutes, oiled up the knife, wrapped it up in plastic wrap, stuck it in th sheath and vac'd it down with a food saver vacuum packer for several hours. I did rub the sheath through the bag some, but not enough. When I took it out and let it dry all the way the knife stayed better, but not as well as I wanted, so I did the same thing again. This time I rubbed the leather around the shape of the knife about every fifteen minute or so with a stick with a rounded tip (which I used before too) pushing pretty hard as I work it around the entire knife handle and blade. This time it came out just the way I wanted, I could pull the knife out with just a bit of a tug and I could feel the knife sort of "pop" into place when I put it into the sheath. Now I need to do it to another knife and sheath since the other one has gone awol.

[Lamewolf]

I stitch my holsters together, put the pistol in it, saturate the leather with rubbing alcohol and hand mold it to the pistol and then dry it with a hair dryer. Been doing that for years on holsters and knife sheaths. The alcohol evaporates very quickly and doesn't hurt the surfaces of the knife or gun. Oh, I use 90% or stronger rubbing alcohol, then I seal it with a generous coating of Snow Seal and melt it in with the hair dryer too.