Tandy leather kits

[mattd]

My wife got me two small kits from the Tandy store. The instructions leave a lot to be desired....for a novice anyway. She said they were,rude to her too. Anyhow, I have a couple q's.

i guess I stain and seal the leather before assembly? She got me both of those. Seems easy enough.

The holster kit has a rivet and calls for a bunch of tools I don't have. Anyway to make that work?

[doc1876]

Pm sent

[rintinglen]

Answers I have.
Yes indeed you want to dye the leather before assembly, but save the sealant until after. You will want to soak the holster in water to make it more pliable when you mold it to your gun. I don't know what tools they recommend, but at minimum you want some harness needles, a hole-maker unless they come pre-punched, some waxed heavy gauge thread, and a rivet setter. They sell a whole bunch of other stuff, but the above represents the bare bones approach.
There is a sticky on holster making that you may find of interest at the begginning of this thread [shameless plug]

[mattd]

They come pre-cut, pre-punched, with all the sewing pieces, ready to dye and sew up. Pretty simple really, and not much of a skill builder. I did the holster, except for the water to form to the gun part - waiting to figure out which gun. It turned out great. I just used a hammer to set the rivet, and it seems like that did the trick. On to the sheath.