Archive for the 'Watch Tucker At Work' Category

Tucker is known for the quality of his work and his insistance on the best materials, but he’s equally known for his decorative stamping. Border stamping is a favorite of many customers and most have never seen it done. Once you see handwork involved you’ll appreciate your holster even more.

I made a video of Tucker applying an Egyptian Key border stamp to what will become a paddle holster for a Glock 30. The stamp is about a half-inch in size and takes repeated mallet taps and perfect alignment. Each tap must be equal in force or the depth of the stamp will vary and produce a ragged result.

Those of you who are waiting for your leather please appreciate that one man is making every order hiimself. If you could watch Tucker for an entire day, you’d be amazed how much work he actually produces while maintaining consistent quality.

I think you’ll find this video of Tucker in action very interesting.

Many of you liked the pictures I posted months ago of Tucker at work. Now I have a short video of Tucker making a pancake holster for a small revolver.

At the end I asked Tucker to sit for a short interview. As you’ll see, he’s a man of few words.

Here’s the video.

Once a holster is cut (often dyed and stamped) and sewn, it’s time to wet mold the holster to the gun.

The holster is dipped in water until just the right amount of water is present. Years of experience dictate just how much. Either the actual gun, or more often, an aluminum “form gun” is inserted into the holster.

Just the other day, Crimson Trace Laser Sights sent us some forms (the laser sight casings with the guts missing) so Tucker can make sure your holster will fit perfectly when you add them on.

Then, with clean hands and fingers, Tucker presses the leather around the gun and the leather begins to show the outline of the gun itself.

Then Tucker has some favorite hard cocobolo wood tools he uses to press and mold in the fine details. Soon every detail of the gun is visible through the leather.

Some people remove the form gun from the holster at this point and then press the leather back in shape because it spreads a bit when the gun is removed. Tucker doesn’t remove the gun at this point.

He leaves the gun in the holster and hangs it upside down to dry for 24 hours in an air-conditioned space. If the gun falls out, the holster isn’t fit correctly.

For the record, Tucker hasn’t had one fall out in 20 years.

After 24 hours, the gun is removed and the holster is allowed to dry another 24 hours. In the past, Tucker has used a drying cabinet that uses warm air to speed the process, but his present method works very well.

Once the holster is dry a special combination of warm waxes and oils is used to apply the final finish and seal the leather. Very little is used because a holster should be hard and stiff, not soft and pliable.

First, Tucker likes to cut a stitch groove in the leather where the stitch line will be. It makes for a much nicer look and protects the stitching against abrasion somewhat when it’s worn.

The two halves of the holster are glued together using “Barge’s Cement.”
It is applied to both sides and allowed to become tacky before the two sides are mated.
The main purpose of the glue is to prevent movement during sewing.

After the two sides are glued together, the sandwiched edge is abraded with a cartridge roll on a spindle that spins and moves up and down to even the edges perfectly.

Now the mated and edged leather is taken to the machine and sewn.
The machine that Tucker uses is a Tippman pneumatic machine.

Tucker takes a first pass with a single line of stitching.

Then Tucker double stitches the areas of max stress.

The stitching is done with the highest quality synthetic threads so that the seams can never rot and come apart during the life of the holster. And that’s just one of the secrets on how we guarantee our holsters for life . Betcha can’t find one other holster maker with balls like that.

But then Tucker is a unique craftsman and not part of the ‘holster herd’ in the first place.

Tucker uses an oval punch to punch out the belt slots.

Next step will be wet molding the holster.

This is one of the two pieces making up the pancake holster. Once the leather is cut with the clicker die, Tucker trims the leather a bit with the head knife tool.

Next he bevels the edges.  Using a sponge and water to wet the leather in the area he will bevel. Why dampen the leather? Because dampening the leather makes it easier to work.  And from experience, Tucker knows just how much water to use.

Tucker then selects which beveling tool he wants to use.

Once he has the proper tool, Tucker bevels the top edge of the leather.

Quality leather is easier with the right tools. Tucker’s got ‘em. And these are just the ones I can show ya. The others are proprietary secrets belonging only to Tucker himself.

The holster pieces are now ready to be sewn together . . .

 
Which is where we’ll pick things up in the next post. Be there to learn just how is it that Tucker can guarantee his holsters for life.

Have you ever wondered how Tucker makes your holsters? Well, in this exclusive photo essay, Tucker is letting you sneak behind-the-scenes to watch him make a holster for your gun! These are just the photos, upcoming are podcasts that you can watch online or download to your iPod or MP3 player to watch him at work.

So, stay tuned. Lots more goodies coming down the road for you. If you’re not already subscribed to this blog, then please do so over in the right-hand column, that way you don’t miss a single thing!

For now, enjoy this series.

Tucker has a collection of numerous patterns that are used frequently. To save hand cutting, Tucker uses dies that cut out the rough pattern like a cookie cutter. These are called “clicker dies” and are made to work with a high pressure press.

Tucker has a wall full of different dies that are made to his specifications.

When Tucker begins to make your new holster (and they’re ALL made to order), he selects the appropriate die, and then roughcuts around it to select a piece of leather to work with.

Here, Tucker is getting ready to make a pancake for a J-Frame revolver and will cut the top and bottom pieces of leather.

Next, the leather and the die are placed in the press and the cut is made.

Here’s what the die cut produces, ready to be worked:

Next up, watch Tucker trim the leather. Doesn’t quite look like a holster, does it!