Leatherworking

[Ebow1]

Didn't bother to look for a similar thread, but I'm getting curious about getting into my own leatherworking for making holsters and carry rigs and the like for myself. I've bookmarked a couple of websites with articles online and books for sale on the subjects, but I was just wondering if anybody here has any experience with this sort of thing and just what to expect in general with this kind of stuff.

[kb4ns]

Hopefully there'll be a few folks that chime in. I know there are a couple here that make a nice leather holster.

[gregintenn]

JDLawhon.com - Holstermaking 101

Leatherworker.net

The first link is an invaluable tutorial. The second is a forum with a wealth of information and helpful folks willing to answer questions. If you'll look over Mr. Lawhon's tutorial, you will get a good idea of the necessary tools. A trip to your local Tandy leather store and you can get all you need.

Above is the very first holster I made last winter, and below is the latest rig I made; a holster, double layer belt, and speedstrip pouch.

I'll be glad to try and answer any questions you have along the way. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

[Guest Jamie]

I made holsters for about half the officers at the SO, quite a few years back... and Gregintenn is right, a trip to Tandy will get you most of what you need.

What will cost you, if you're thinking of going into production, are the castings of the guns you'll be making holsters for - unless you have a copy of the gun it's self - and a machine that'll sew heavy leather.

Yes, you can do it by hand, but it'll be slow, and if you're like I am and insist on tight stitches, it'll eventually break your hands down.

The cheapest machine I found was something like $1500. It was hand operated.

Anyway, I still piddle with it, every now and then, but it's only a hobby, and not something I do for others anymore.

J.

[bvarnell]

Check out Adams Leather Works

Holster Making

[kb4ns]

I don't think I'll be making any holsters anytime soon, but those sure are some neat and informative links. Helps me understand the price behind a good holster!

[gregintenn]

Tandy Leather Factory - Leathercraft and Leather Craft Supplies

If you watch their sales circulars, you will find that they rotate their stock on sale every few months, a lot of it at 40%-50% off.

[Currently]

When I used to do leather work, I used these guys for leather ...

Weaver Leather | Leather Manufacturing | Leather Manufacturers

Fair prices and great selection.

As for tools, there is only one company I ended up dealing with, they have old world craftsmanship and quality. A bit more expensive but much better than the brand-labeled chinese crap I would buy at various suppliers.

http://www.csosborne.com/

Once you handle their tools, you will never go back to a bad tool again.

These guys are a distributor that I used for CS Osborne:

Henry Westpfal & Co

115 W 25th St

New York, NY 10001

(212) 563-5990

Fax (212) 563-5068

They are renown for cutlery and scissor sharpening services.

They are also a premier vendor for leather working tools.

My first wife took dibs on all the leather tools we accumulated together during our marriage in our divorce. I have since replaced a few of the low cost ones but the expensive ones like the leather splitter was never replaced.

I never made a gun holster, I made custom tool holsters for specialty professions.

I recently got an email from a former client that told me that his holster was still in daily use that he purchased from me in 1983.

Edited July 18, 2010 by Currently

[Ebow1]

Well first off, OUCH on the $1500. Looks like I'll be doin' it by hand for awhile. Thanks for all the comments, I've got a decent amount time off work this week so I might actually have a window to check this stuff out, although I did pick up a Nietzsche book I haven't read and some Thomas Payne writings I'm looking forward to getting into so I might not.

[Guest Jamie]

Well first off, OUCH on the $1500. Looks like I'll be doin' it by hand for awhile. Thanks for all the comments, I've got a decent amount time off work this week so I might actually have a window to check this stuff out, although I did pick up a Nietzsche book I haven't read and some Thomas Payne writings I'm looking forward to getting into so I might not.

here's the machine I was looking at:

Tippmann Boss Leather Sewing Machine

If you're going to sew holster-weight leather, it was the only one I found that looked like it would hold up. That, and they only seemed to get more expensive from there.

J.

[Ebow1]

Looks like I might start off by buying holsters and just doing the leatherwork for the belts to set up a rig.

[gregintenn]

I hand stitch everything I make. I can tell you that a belt is more work than a holster. I make them as a hobby, but I also sell a few along to help diffuse the cost of tools and supplies. You'd be better off financially to make the holsters and buy the belt.

[Ebow1]

What makes the belts more work then the holsters? I'm asking because I would've thought it was the other way around what with the belt essentially being a strip of leather with a bit of metal attached to one end and some holes poked in it.

[Murgatroy]

I think he is talking about the amount of stitching, especially if you are hand stitching. If a belt is 40" and you stitch both sides (top and bottom) you are stitching 80" of belt.

If you do a holster, you might be stitching 30" to get the pattern done.

[Ebow1]

Yeah, that's true.

[gregintenn]

A good gun belt consists of two layers of leather glued and sewn together. Some makers offer an additional layer of kydex or other stiff material sandwiches in between. Depending on how you want the belt to look, in addition to the additional stitching and edge burnishing, it also requires more stamping, tooling, carving, etc. I can probably make two holsters in the time it takes to make a belt.

[Guest friesepferd]

I just started to get into leatherworking for some costuming things I do. Its a lot of fun. Tandy Leather (online and there is one in Knoxville and Im sure elsewhere) is great.

[Guest friesepferd]

With belts, it depends on what you are doing. If all you want to do is buy a belt strip, but an edge on it, dye it, and put the buckle on, then its really easy.

If you want to make a nice high quality belt with stitching, its a lot of work.

[kb4ns]

If you want to make a nice high quality belt with stitching...

Is there any other way to make a gun belt?