First, this is her sewing machine. It is a Tippman and it is one huge sucker. The lever on the right is the operating lever, it is a manually-operated machine.
From the design and the hold-down bolts, you can get an idea of how much force that machine applies. (A new one has a MSRP of $1,500). I asked about electric ones. Apparently they cost about five times as much (for good ones) and are prone to going out of time, a fault that takes a tech to fix.
This is the holster:
The slots are cut to my belt. She gave it to me with the leather damp and the gun wrapped in plastic. I spent a couple of hours kneading it with my fingers to get a precise fit. I was warned not to nick it with a fingernail during the process, as that would leave a mark, but I did anyway. After it dried, I brought it back for staining.
If you want a holster that is precisely molded to your gun, I suspect that you'll be limited to Kydex. A leather holster that is fitted for a particular gun is going to be not as precise, for the maker is likely going to shove a blue gun (or a wrapped-up real one) into the damp holster and let it dry for awhile. Having a leather holster precisely molded to a gun does take a bit of hand work, with you're probably not going to get on a $50 holster.
Or you can buy a leather holster and then go through the molding process yourself, like G. Gordon Liddy wrote about doing in this book on his days in the FBI (and subverting American democracy for Nixon).
5 comments:
Very nice!
I started out hand-stitching holsters until parents bought me a Tippman in exchange for plumbing their bathroom. It's overkill for me, but nice to have--It saves about an hour or two per holster over hand sewing.
Hand sewing isn't difficult, just time consuming. With $50 in tools you can sew as well or a bit better than the Tippman.
Smooth, hard tools make better molding than thumbs--I use a bone folder, (actually plastic) and the handle of an old butter knife. I also cheat and squish the holstered gun between chunks of inch thick rubber in a hydraulic shop press. Again, overkill if that's all you use the press for.
If there's a Tandy Leather nearby you can get supplies and lessons.
Nice rig. I like the Tippman but have been hand stitching instead. Use a vacuum storage bag with a dampened holster, you'll like the results.
I can't see pushing a needle through layers of thick leather a few hundred times, so I'll let someone else make them. The vacuum bag idea sounds pretty neat, I'll pass that one along (along with the others, in case she has a hydraulic press-- you never know).
Golly that's a nice sewing machine...
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