The cost of building your own Han Solo holster

Runeseer

New Member
Hello all!
Long time reader and first time build poster. I wish to add yet another Han Solo inspired holster build to this forum.

#TLDR It cost me $372 for leather, tools and hardware to build my own Han Solo holster.
jRQLiEm.jpg


One of the key elements I want to add is the cost in making your own holster. I learned a lot about exactly what it costs to make your own and I am torn to which is better. It is far cheaper and simpler to buy a holster from from one of the online providers ($250) but it is MUCH more rewarding strapping on a rig that you have built yourself.

Weight of leather
My though is the weight of leather should match the weight of the blaster. I have a Denix mauser with a full metal DEC kit attached. The blaster weighs in at 4.5 lbs. So I went with the 9 oz tooling leather. Yep, the heavier the leather the more expensive it becomes. If you have a light weight blaster, I would go with the far cheaper 3-5 oz leather thickness.

Customize based on your needs
Another advantage of making your own holster is the ability to customize at will. I was not over concerned with screen accuracy (crazy, I know!) so I decided to craft a holster without the greeble pouches. I wanted a simple smooth belt with nothing to cause a snag. If I change my mind, I can always add at a later date.

Where the hell to get the buckles!?!?
I wanted to spend the $200 and get the Todd’s Costumes DIY hardware kit. However, it appears that he no longer carries the kit for 2017. I drew up some quick non-screen accurate plans.
y99DtcM.jpg


With both the blaster and leather being heavy, I decided to go with ⅛ in stainless steel as opposed to aluminum.

So I started an Etsy search for a metal fabricator. I found William Scott from Ohio (https://www.etsy.com/shop/KandSFabrication), who was willing to work with me. Bottom line.. $150 for buckle hardware.
JWHOin1.jpg


Material List:
Cowhide Strip 50” long x 2” wide 9 oz thick (⅛ inch) $10
Cowhide Strip 50” long x .5” wide 9 oz thick (⅛ inch) $12
Tooling Leather 8-9oz Pre-Cut (12"x24") $25 x2 = $50
Subtotal = $72
KN6O36I.jpg


Tool List:
X-ACTO #2 Knife $6
Leathercraft Scissors 7-Inch $7
Lock Stitch Sewing Awl $18
Groover Creaser Tool Kit $14
Diamond Lacing Stitching Chisel Set $17
Skiver for Thinning with 3 Blades $11
Leathercraft Tool Punch Snap Kit Rivet Setter kit $13
Hole Punch Pliers Leather $10
1/4" Black Chicago Screws 1290-04 -- TWO 10 Packs $12
Subtotal $108
180Uskk.jpg

JMOzF8K.jpg


Leather Finishing:
Fiebing's Leather Dye, Light Brown, 4 oz. $7
Angelus Brand Acrylic Leather Paint Mate Finisher No. 620 - 4oz $8
Badger Air-Brush Company Basic Spray Gun Set $17
Air Cans for the brush $10
Subtotal $42
cuYD06x.jpg
 
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Loving the work,
I've never tried any leather working before and would love a crack at a Solo rig.
Do you think you could you tell us which tool is which (and an idea what each is used for). :)
 
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Hey Runeseer! Your rig looks very nice! I'm curious as to how you addressed the back sides of the buckles. Any pictures you could share?


spacebob , in Runeseers upper tool photo:

The top tool that looks like a set of pliers had a baby with a western spur is the "Hole Punch Pliers Leather $10", you use those to punch holes in leather where you want to use a rivet, or a concho, or anything that needs a hole to be removed in the leather at the diameter of the part being inserted. That way you don't put undo stress on the leather trying to put a large object in a wee poked hole.

Below that in the same photo L to R:

Groover Creaser Tool Kit $14 - used for putting grooves in leather by compressing the fibers of the leather as you run the tool across its surface, such that it is easier to fold and crease the leather.

X-ACTO #2 Knife $6 - used to cut just about anything. Mind your finger tips these things are SHARP!!!

Leathercraft Scissors 7-Inch $7 - I think "scissors" is obvious. ;)

Skiver for Thinning with 3 Blades $11 - it's basically a reverse planer. Think of it as a razor blade that is set to remove layers of skin rather than just hair from your face. DO NOT EVER TRY AND SHAVE WITH ONE OF THESE! It's used to thin the hide in order to make the leather easier to shape, sew through, fold, etc.

Leathercraft Tool Punch Snap Kit Rivet Setter kit $13 - Not shown in the photo, but it's name is another one of those items that is sort of self explanitory.

1/4" Black Chicago Screws 1290-04 -- TWO 10 Packs $12 - Not shown. They are screws that have the appearance of a rivet on one side and a slot for a flat head screw driver on the other. One side has the threads like a bolt, the other side has a cylinder with threads inside it like a nut does.



Lower photo L to R:

Diamond Lacing Stitching Chisel Set $17 - used a punch to lay out a series of dots on the surface of the hide to mark where you want to place your stitches.

I think the little tool that looks like a bubble blower stick is a wrench for one of the other tools to tighten a nut or the like.

Lock Stitch Sewing Awl $18 - the one with the black spool of thread in its middle, is used as a manual sewing machine to bind two or more pieces of leather together by stitching them.

Groover Creaser Tool Kit $14 - repeat from top photo, see description above.



Third Photo L to R:

Vinyl Gloves - wear these to prevent your hands from turning whatever color of dye you are using for several weeks.

Fiebing's Leather Dye, Light Brown, 4 oz. $7 - used to color the raw leather to a desired color. Applying light coats will allow you to darken the hide to your prefered shade of color. The more coats you apply, the darker the color will become.

Badger Air-Brush Company Basic Spray Gun Set $17 - used to apply the dye and finishing acrylic in very thin, even layers. Sometimes the hide will have marks in it or textures within the grain itself that will show through no matter how carefully you apply the dye. Sometimes you can apply dye to the hide to give the appearance of underlying marks and textures to give it the look of a more used part. Horsehide has some very beautiful striations and will change color depending on how it's handled. Oiled cowhide often reacts to handling in a very similar manner.

Air Cans for the brush $10 - used to propel air through an airbrush in lieu of an aircompressor. As air rushes through the airbrush it sucks up a bit of dye/paint in its wake as it passes over the medium resevoir and blows it out of the tip of the airbrush in a very fine mist.

I hope that begins to answer your question!



And I hope you don't mind the assist there Runeseer, I'm just home alone and bored on my birthday and trying to keep myself occupied.
 
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this write up is beautiful! the belt came out great!! like others said, investing in the tools i think was a great idea. now you can mass produce these pieces of work! :thumbsup
 
That looks like it came out great. How about some more pics of the finished belt?

I will upload some more pictures tonight.

The one thing I did not track in this build was the amount of time it took. I am honestly thinking about making another incorporating all of the lessons learned along the way. If I recycle the buckles, the cost is under $100 in leather.

Maybe I could do a "Evil" Han holster in black with silver accents. That is a major advantage to tooling up.
 
Nice work! Love that hardware. I wish I had access to someone who could weld one for me. :)

One accuracy improvement I would make, if you haven't already: Tear out the middle prong of your 3-prong 3-hole belt. Han's only had 2 of the three. Otherwise, fantastic!

Curious if you'll be adding the pouches at some point? (I know you said you wanted it sleek initially, just wondering if your mind has changed...)
 
Awesome work. It looks beautiful. Great Job!! Any chance what so ever you'd be willing or able to offer us members (particularly me lol) a copy of the patterns of the pieces so I could attempt to assemble one myself?

-Ash
 
I wonder if that Etsy seller would do another run of hardware? But I would prefer it if he also included a second asymmetric buckle, this way you could theoretically swap between all 3 movies.
 
Hello all!
Long time reader and first time build poster. I wish to add yet another Han Solo inspired holster build to this forum.

#TLDR It cost me $372 for leather, tools and hardware to build my own Han Solo holster.
http://i.imgur.com/jRQLiEm.jpg?1

One of the key elements I want to add is the cost in making your own holster. I learned a lot about exactly what it costs to make your own and I am torn to which is better. It is far cheaper and simpler to buy a holster from from one of the online providers ($250) but it is MUCH more rewarding strapping on a rig that you have built yourself.

Weight of leather
My though is the weight of leather should match the weight of the blaster. I have a Denix mauser with a full metal DEC kit attached. The blaster weighs in at 4.5 lbs. So I went with the 9 oz tooling leather. Yep, the heavier the leather the more expensive it becomes. If you have a light weight blaster, I would go with the far cheaper 3-5 oz leather thickness.

Customize based on your needs
Another advantage of making your own holster is the ability to customize at will. I was not over concerned with screen accuracy (crazy, I know!) so I decided to craft a holster without the greeble pouches. I wanted a simple smooth belt with nothing to cause a snag. If I change my mind, I can always add at a later date.

Where the hell to get the buckles!?!?
I wanted to spend the $200 and get the Todd’s Costumes DIY hardware kit. However, it appears that he no longer carries the kit for 2017. I drew up some quick non-screen accurate plans.
http://i.imgur.com/y99DtcM.jpg?1

With both the blaster and leather being heavy, I decided to go with ⅛ in stainless steel as opposed to aluminum.

So I started an Etsy search for a metal fabricator. I found William Scott from Ohio (https://www.etsy.com/shop/KandSFabrication), who was willing to work with me. Bottom line.. $150 for buckle hardware.
http://i.imgur.com/JWHOin1.jpg?1

Material List:
Cowhide Strip 50” long x 2” wide 9 oz thick (⅛ inch) $10
Cowhide Strip 50” long x .5” wide 9 oz thick (⅛ inch) $12
Tooling Leather 8-9oz Pre-Cut (12"x24") $25 x2 = $50
Subtotal = $72
http://i.imgur.com/KN6O36I.jpg?1

Tool List:
X-ACTO #2 Knife $6
Leathercraft Scissors 7-Inch $7
Lock Stitch Sewing Awl $18
Groover Creaser Tool Kit $14
Diamond Lacing Stitching Chisel Set $17
Skiver for Thinning with 3 Blades $11
Leathercraft Tool Punch Snap Kit Rivet Setter kit $13
Hole Punch Pliers Leather $10
1/4" Black Chicago Screws 1290-04 -- TWO 10 Packs $12
Subtotal $108
http://i.imgur.com/180Uskk.jpg?2
http://i.imgur.com/JMOzF8K.jpg?2

Leather Finishing:
Fiebing's Leather Dye, Light Brown, 4 oz. $7
Angelus Brand Acrylic Leather Paint Mate Finisher No. 620 - 4oz $8
Badger Air-Brush Company Basic Spray Gun Set $17
Air Cans for the brush $10
Subtotal $42
http://i.imgur.com/cuYD06x.jpg?2

Runeseer,


I've signed up for a leatherworking class next month. I had the same idea as you - to make the Han Solo holster. (We all work extremely hard to get every last detail correct on our DL-44 blasters, but for some reason the Han Solo holster build is very elusive.) The 2 hardest things to find are the templates for the leather parts and the buckles themselves. I'm working on extrapolating holster measurements from screen caps and promotional pictures.


But I do need to get the buckles. Most I find are 3D print resin versions. I prefer metal. Can I use your (buckles) templates to commission the same Etsy maker (William Scott) to manufacture a me set? This is for my own holster, not for commercial gain. I like to get the creator's permission first from before having an item made.


Jedar
 
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Feel free to use the buckle template. It was just done by eye. As far as the leather patern is concerned. All I did was use a brown paper bag to draw something that looked close to what was used on screen. Outside of making a copy and sending it to you, I am not sure how to copy it... It is very organic
 
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