3D Printed Glock 48 Appendix-Carry Holster

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Whoever came up with the phrase, "Third Time's The Charm" must have been real lucky or they must have really known what he/she was doing.

It generally takes me at least four or five tries before I get it right or to get it "Good-Enough" for me to consider having gotten it right.

This Glock 48 3D printed holster project was no different. It took me four prints to finally get it to where I considered it "Good-Enough."

I had plenty of white PETG filament in my storage closet so after modeling the holster I used this white filament because the first print was just a test run. I knew that tweaks would have to be made after I printed it so I went ahead and printed it with white filament.

I was right. I did have to make some major tweaks to get my Glock 48 to fit into my new holster design snuggly; not too snug but, just snuggly.

So, I printed that second iteration after making my tweaks to my CAD model. With that second print, I found that I still needed some tweaking, then came my third print.

I held off printing it with the Black PETG filament because I only had enough of the black filament for one full print. And incidentally, my holster design was made up of two components. There was the main holster and there was the belt-loop part which was designed to attach to the main holster.

I made it this way just in case my concealed appendix-carry holster didn't quite pull my pistol close enough to my gut once I had it in place. With a separate belt-loop component I'd be able to add or subtract some thickness just to that one component without having to completely redo the entire holster.

My black PETG holster printed OK but, I was cutting it close as far as having enough filament on the roll to print both components. I'm not kidding. I woke up the following morning to find that the prints had completed alright but I had less than six inches of filament left till there was no more black filament. That's cutting it close.

Although the print came out good and usable, there was a weak point in a certain part of the design that I didn't find out about till I slipped my pistol into the holster. That one lone weak point split in two. Although it was an easy enough fix after I cracked it, another tweak to fix that weak point was in order.

All I had left as far as filament was concerned was some white PETG and some transparent PETG filament. I decided to print what I'm hoping will be my last print out of some transparent PETG filament. This transparent filament doesn't really print out transparent. It's got the look of frosted glass with a sort of pearlescent sheen to it. No matter, it's for concealed carry so it won't be seen, I hope. If it is seen, folks might think I'm some kind of gay concealed carry permit holder.

Actually, the second white printed holster and the all black holster are both fully functional at this point. The transparent-filament printed holster has just finished up. It looks like it came out good as well. The slicer software showed that it would be an eight and a half hour print.

I started that print at noon today. It's 10:03PM right now and I just checked on my print. I'll wait till tomorrow to take it off the build plate and clean up what needs cleaning.

As long as it came out good, I'm a happy camper.

I could have just bought a holster but, my reason for buying this printer in the first place was so I could make my own stuff whenever possible.

I'm including a couple of CAD renderings to show the design of my DIY Glock 48 holster. The renderings are done in the different colors that my holsters were printed in. (as close as possible to the colors I printed them in anyway)

I'll take some photos of the finished prints tomorrow or the next day just so you can compare. Please note that only in my dreams can my 3D filament printer crank out finished prints as pristine looking as these CAD renderings; and remember, I'm not shooting for perfection. I'm going for just "Good Enough" for me.

HollowPoint

That is pretty interesting. Do you think the PETG will be able to stand up to the use? I made a drill press handle to adjust table height out of PLA which could not handle the simple action. Started trying PETG but life got in the way and my printer ended up being moved to make room for the gf's computer to work from home. Keep us posted please and good luck.
Ron

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrWolf

That is pretty interesting. Do you think the PETG will be able to stand up to the use? I made a drill press handle to adjust table height out of PLA which could not handle the simple action. Started trying PETG but life got in the way and my printer ended up being moved to make room for the gf's computer to work from home. Keep us posted please and good luck.
Ron

I think it will but, only time will tell. The only kind of "Use" these holsters generally get is to just sit around either cradled inside your waist band or sitting on the night stand.

If they were subjected to constant exposure to the sun perhaps they wouldn't last very long. I'll be happy if they last a month although, I expect them to last longer than that. If they start getting brittle or break down, I can just print another one.

HollowPoint.

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All Printed and Put Together

This is what they look like when they've been assembled.
I think they should work out well and last for a while. If one starts to go bad I have two others to fall back on.

HollowPoint

I like what I'm seeing. Is the retention adjustable by the 2x bottom screws?

Very nice design. Looking at the finished print I'm interested in how you oriented it on the print bed to get it to turn out so nice (a picture of the orientation in the slicer would be nice.) Another filament I've had good luck with is Ninjatek Cheetah TPU -- slightly flexible -- practically unbreakable -- and fairly easy to print. However TPU can be more difficult to print if there a lot of overhangs.