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My DIY leather holsters

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D_Weezy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2009
Messages
65
Location
, Ohio, USA
imported post

swcr wrote:
D_Weezy wrote:
What sewing machine do you have? I wonder if I can do this with my Tuffsew Straight Stitch machine? I have the 9" model."
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I don't think that would work. According to the website that machine will sew a single layer of 8-10oz. leather. Most IWB holsters are made from 2 layers of 6-7oz. leather or heavier and most OWB out of 2 layers of 8-9oz.
Machines made to sew leather of the weight needed for holsters are expensive. The cheapest one I know of is a hand operated machine that retails for about $1400 and electric sewing machines start at about $1800-$2000.
You don't need a sewing machine at all to make nice holsters. You can saddle stitch, using one long thread with a needle at each end, a holster and get very nice results that are actually a little stronger than machine sewn ones. The only real advantage to machine sewing is the time savings. These two holsters were hand sewn and have held up fine to ten years of extensive use. As an example, the double loop holster and accompanying cartridge belt took about 3-4 hours to sew where as even with a hand powered sewing machine it could have been done in 30-40 minutes.
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Thanks for the info.
 
Dreamer

Dreamer

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Joined
Sep 23, 2009
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5,360
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Grennsboro NC
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However, you can rent an industrial sewing machine that is made specifically for this, if you live in or near a big city. You can probably get an Industrial Singer for a week for under $200, but you're gonna need a pickup truck and a couple burley friends to move it. The ones I've used (for tent making and leather working) weight about 200lbs...
 
S

swcr

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
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20
Location
Sedro-Woolley, WA, ,
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That may be true I've never tried it. If you do your going to want one with at least 3/8" lift on the presser foot for doing modern style holsters and 1/2"-5/8" lift for doing western style holsters.

Eugene
 
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lapeer20m

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2009
Messages
928
Location
Near Lapeer (Hadley), Michigan, USA
imported post

Can I ask how you form the leather to the pistols. You rwork looks really nice, and form-fitted... Do you work it wet, and bone-form it by hand, or do you use some sort of vacuum-forming rig?
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some sort of vacuum forming would be cool....but i cannot think of a method that wouldn't waste a ton of leather.

i get the leather wet, then i let it sit for about an hour until it is just barely damp. Then i mold the holster around the gun by hand, and with some tools...one of my favorite tools is a sharpie marker.

as far as western holsters, i don't have any interest in trying to make any right now.....i'm too busy making my standard 2 types of holsters.

this random google photo looks very similar to my machine. 2 layers of holster leather is at the extreme end of what my machine can handle....it's probably more than the manufacturer recommends. I use titanium nitride needles...they are more slippery than standard needles and provide me with good results.

DB2B737.JPG
 
Gator5713

Gator5713

Lone Star Veteran
Joined
Sep 28, 2008
Messages
591
Location
Aggieland, Texas, USA
imported post

lapeer20m wrote:
as far as western holsters, i don't have any interest in trying to make any right now.....i'm too busy making my standard 2 types of holsters.
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Thanks for the PM. Your work looks really good! I have in mind what I am looking for for my 1911, and I will probably contact to when I am ready for it! As for the westerns, I will probably be getting one soon, and your prices look about the same as everyone else, so I might contact you first just to see if you are interested/have the time at that time, and if not I completely understand. Keep up the good work!
 
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32HR MAG

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
141
Location
Fond du Lac, USA
imported post

Get yourself a stitching horse and sew by hand.The quality of stitch will be far better and is easly fixed if a stitch gets worn or cut somehow.
For the cost of a good machine.You could buy the leather and all neccassary products and equipment to sew many,many holsters and make a hand made purse for the wife/signifacant other.
 
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