So funny story. I know nothing about leatherworking, but I'm looking to get into it. Especially for the purpose of making gun holsters. I was talking about it with my brother the other day, and I raised the idea of vacuum sealing it to wet form the leather, without any idea if it would actually work or not. And then I find this video! My first holster is going to be for my brothers S&W 686, and I'll definitely be using this method!
Interesting idea for wet molding. I would have liked to see it come out of the bag, and also when finished. This did give me ideas for a double magazine holder, so thanks for that.
Thank You!!!! I've seen this video but never left a compliment. My Apologize, because of you im buying food processors now haha thank you. Tried my dad's shop vac and wasn't all that great. Thank You.
I know this is one year ago. I like your idea with a vacuum sealer and letting the weapon and holster set for a while so that the leather conform to the shape of the weapon. My one concern is that you run the risk of locking the front sight in the holster. I was taught to take a small dowel and set it down the sight channel of the weapon to prevent locking the weapon in the holster. You also won't run the risk of damaging the weapon. I like how you took your time explaining the process and you rational for each step, I just ran up on your channel today and decided to subscribe. Thank You.
I’ve used a similar method for a few holsters in the past with minor differences. Recently I purchased a relatively inexpensive flap holster for a Walther PPK/S on Amazon. When it came I found that my pistol didn’t fit; it was much too tight. So I grabbed a couple of zip lock bags, inserted the pistol into one of them and threw the naked holster in the bathroom sink and covered it with water where I let it soak for five minutes. I pulled the soaking holster out of the water, blotted the water off and shoved the baggie-wrapped pistol as far as I could into the wet holster and went to bed. No, I didn’t use my real gun but rather a PPK/S replica gas powered made by Umarex which is identical in size and shape to my PPK/S that I paid $60 for. It’s worthless as a BB gun but perfect for molding the otherwise useless holster. After sitting overnight the bb pistol fit perfectly, as did the real PPK/S for which I’d previously made a very nice vegetable tanned and lined holster but lacking a flap and belt loops. The Amazon holster cost $25 and after “treatment “ is a perfect fit in addition to being made of really thick foreign leather. I never thought to use my vacuum molding system from my shop. Your idea is brilliant and thank you for your video. Best regards.
I have molded holsters by making the outer half, wrapping the gun and vac sealing the top leather against a 6 x 6" piece of thin plywood (luan) to allow me to ad heavy flat leather back later.
Met a guy 20 years ago at a gun show who made me a holster like this. He used a crock pot to make warm water for the holster, wrapped my pistol, vac sealed it and told me to leave it for the rest of the gun show. Opened it later and did have to clean the pistol but the holster lived for 15 years in my hands and then passed on to someone else.
I can't say for certain, but wrapping the gun good in clear stretch wrap will keep the moisture away while forming. After the forming, I would let the holster dry for a couple of days before using.
Is there a reason you’re running water over the holster and not filling a container with water and submerging the holster? Seems like it’d be easier to keep it evenly wet doing it like that but I haven’t done one yet
I only leave the holster in the bag for about an hour. That seems to be long enough to keep the shape. Then I let it air dry with the gun in for about another two hours. Then I remove the gun to complete the drying process.
Did you really make the video and not show the finished product? Maybe that would be a good idea to include so you could show it actually works, what it looks like, come on man.
Well I guess if you were looking for a flawless shiny finish , you could pay for one done by an experienced leather worker with big bucks invested in their tools. Personally I like the wrinkles . Gives it character.
