Pictures! Homebrew Kydex first attempt; .38 Bodyguard OWB LH

[Snider]

This is my first Kydex holster attempt - I salvaged it this week and cut it down, re-formed the curvature of it, and finished riveting it together. It was a real disaster of a first try when I came back to it after almost a month of having tossed it into the corner, and I think I saved it! I've tested it sitting down, driving around in the car, and it really does conceal nicely. It's worth noting that I don't wear an undershirt with shorts, but I took the high road here for the sake of you all I'm a bit over 6' 3", 200lbs, and hairy as the day is long.

Two confessions though;
- That is no gunbelt I'm wearing, and I'm ashamed of it. I own a couple really excellent, true gunbelts, but they are all way too big for OWB holster wear (they are cut to length for my IWB 1911 holsters). My 5 stitch Wilderness Instructor belt is on order to fit me for OWB holsters, never fear.
- I may still need to trim as much as a half-inch of Kydex off the top edge of this holster under the grip of the gun, but I haven't gotten around to it.

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[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Snider]

Follow-up photos to complete this post.

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[OD*]

You did a pretty dang good job.

[gunthorp]

Nice work indeed. It looks very comfy and conceals very well.

[gottabkiddin]

I agree with the others; it looks good and it appears that it carries just fine. Good work and nice choice on a carry revolver.

[ArkhmAsylm]

Nice work! Nothing wrong with learning as you go.

[GM]

It looks very good!

[Snatale42]

DAMN! I'm not a fan of all-kydex holsters but that doens't look like a DIY at all! I think you just found your new part time job.

[mkh]

It seems a little large but it conceals well. If it is comfortable then leave it alone.

[jwhite75]

Looks great to me, wouldnt be hard to believe that is a professional mad eholster...good job.

[Snider]

Thanks all! Very encouraging thread, makes me want to get back to the shop and work on another holster.

I took a fair bit of prep time to get my shop ready to do this stuff, so I intend to make quite a few holsters for myself and others. Bought myself an arbor press and a set of dies for the rivets (bored out the end of the press to fit the die) built jigs to form the belt loops uniformly to fit a 1.5" belts, and dedicated a decent electric griddle to the job of heating up sheets of Kydex. I tried setting up a shopvac intake in a spot that would catch all of the shavings while I used my Dremel to cut and sand the material, but the particles seem too heavy to be easily whisked along like sawdust. I would really like to get my hands on a belt sander for speedy finishing, but for now the Dremel works, and is effective enough.

[gatech33]

Very nice holster! You've done a fine job and I agree with the others in saying it looks comfortable and conceals nicely.

[Snider]

It seems a little large but it conceals well. If it is comfortable then leave it alone.

I admit that is the one thing I would change if I was starting from scratch. I placed the lower two rivets prematurely, forcing me to make it probably 3/4" wider total than I'd ideally like it to be. I think I'll trim down the top edges a bit more, but the lower end gives it quite a nice bit of stability that I won't likely get just from the belt. Resting against the top of my shorts seems to give the holster a very even feel.

I may also add rivets to firm it up once I remove the extra material, as right now I think the retention may suffer.

[OldVet]

Not bad at all. I made a kydex holster for my 4566 using only hand tools (files, razors, etc.) and the belt sander would be a nice accessory. I agree that you might trim a bit under the grip for more finger clearance. The nice thing is you can keep trimming until you get what you want.

I didn't like how the rivets turned out (pounding with a hammer isn't the way to go) so I resorted to screws/nuts. I was also surprized at how much the kydex sheets shrink when heated.

Good job again!

[Haystacker]

I think it looks great. My son in law bought me a 4x36 belt sander from Harbor freight. It works great. I see 20% discount coupons in all of the gun mags for HF.
Best wishes.
Jeff