Some Dutch holster touch-up work

Vlim · 01-20-2012, 02:56 PM

Recently Ed had a Dutch KNIL holster for sale. Since I was looking for one we struck a deal and the holster arrived here safely. One of the issues that it had was that were the pushbutton on the cleaning rod pouch used to be, there was a gaping hole.

The missing bit, the original button with a small strip of leather still attached to it, was rediscovered by forum member Wlyon (Bill), who found it in the grease compartment of his cleaning rod.

The button and the holster were reunited and are back in their home country

Today I started with the first attempt to reattach the button to the cleaning rod pouch flap and I have to say it turned out pretty well. Of course, I don't expect the repair to be completely invisible, or to hold up under use (as I doubt that the holster will go into action again), but it had to look decent nonetheless.

Tools used were a strip of donor leather, the holster, the button and a good quality adhesive, suitable for the job. The holster was attached to a table top using a set of plastic clips, so that the flap was lying absolutely flat on the table. A piece of swab was placed below it, this helped to absorb excessive glue and preventing to bond the holster to the table.

With a lot of patience, a small cutter blade and a tiny watchmaker's screwdriver, the contact areas of the leather were covered in adhesive and the leather parts stuck together. Since the hole was bigger than the remaining leather + button I first bonded the button to it's proper location, leaving a gap of about 2-3 mm at the other side.

The first repair was left to set for a while, in the mean time I prepared a small patch that would fill up the remaining gap (a semi-circle of about 1 -3 mm wide. The patch was test fitted and trimmed where needed, then bonded into place using the same set-up. Much to my surprise, the undyed repair patch soaked up the color of the surrounding old leather during the adhesion process. I used the tiny screw driver as a spatchel during the process, aligning the fibres and removing ecess adhesive.

The repair is a bit more noticable on the photo (macro lense setting) than in real life. Under normal light, it nicely blends in and is almost invisible.

After this, the repair was left to dry for a couple of hours. When dry, some tiny gaps, only needle hole sized, were filled up with a little adhesive and some donor leather fibres. Again, the fibres absorbed the dye from the old leather.

All in all, the end result is very acceptable. The hole is gone and the button is in the right position. A little more touching up can be done when the adhesive has completely set, we'll see how it works out.

Below are some before and after shots. Some of the before shots borrowed from Ed and Wlyon.

Ron Wood · 01-20-2012, 03:46 PM

Well done!. You should nickname the holster "Lazarus".

lugerholsterrepair · 01-20-2012, 05:16 PM

Gerben, Always satisfying to see a rare holster like yours get repaired. Looks like a very good job!

wlyon · 01-20-2012, 09:27 PM

Gerben
Nice work. Glad it all worked out. Bill

01-20-2012, 02:56 PM	#1
Vlim Moderator Lifetime LugerForum Patron Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Europe Posts: 5,049 Thanks: 1,035 Thanked 3,957 Times in 1,200 Posts	Some Dutch holster touch-up work Recently Ed had a Dutch KNIL holster for sale. Since I was looking for one we struck a deal and the holster arrived here safely. One of the issues that it had was that were the pushbutton on the cleaning rod pouch used to be, there was a gaping hole. The missing bit, the original button with a small strip of leather still attached to it, was rediscovered by forum member Wlyon (Bill), who found it in the grease compartment of his cleaning rod. The button and the holster were reunited and are back in their home country Today I started with the first attempt to reattach the button to the cleaning rod pouch flap and I have to say it turned out pretty well. Of course, I don't expect the repair to be completely invisible, or to hold up under use (as I doubt that the holster will go into action again), but it had to look decent nonetheless. Tools used were a strip of donor leather, the holster, the button and a good quality adhesive, suitable for the job. The holster was attached to a table top using a set of plastic clips, so that the flap was lying absolutely flat on the table. A piece of swab was placed below it, this helped to absorb excessive glue and preventing to bond the holster to the table. With a lot of patience, a small cutter blade and a tiny watchmaker's screwdriver, the contact areas of the leather were covered in adhesive and the leather parts stuck together. Since the hole was bigger than the remaining leather + button I first bonded the button to it's proper location, leaving a gap of about 2-3 mm at the other side. The first repair was left to set for a while, in the mean time I prepared a small patch that would fill up the remaining gap (a semi-circle of about 1 -3 mm wide. The patch was test fitted and trimmed where needed, then bonded into place using the same set-up. Much to my surprise, the undyed repair patch soaked up the color of the surrounding old leather during the adhesion process. I used the tiny screw driver as a spatchel during the process, aligning the fibres and removing ecess adhesive. The repair is a bit more noticable on the photo (macro lense setting) than in real life. Under normal light, it nicely blends in and is almost invisible. After this, the repair was left to dry for a couple of hours. When dry, some tiny gaps, only needle hole sized, were filled up with a little adhesive and some donor leather fibres. Again, the fibres absorbed the dye from the old leather. All in all, the end result is very acceptable. The hole is gone and the button is in the right position. A little more touching up can be done when the adhesive has completely set, we'll see how it works out. Below are some before and after shots. Some of the before shots borrowed from Ed and Wlyon. Attached Thumbnails Attached Images Last edited by Vlim; 01-21-2012 at 02:59 PM.

01-20-2012, 03:46 PM	#2
Ron Wood Moderator 2010 LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Santa Teresa New Mexico just outside of the West Texas town of El Paso Posts: 6,992 Thanks: 1,067 Thanked 5,104 Times in 1,679 Posts	Well done!. You should nickname the holster "Lazarus". __________________ If it's made after 1918...it's a reproduction

01-20-2012, 05:16 PM	#3
lugerholsterrepair Moderator Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Arizona/Colorado Posts: 7,763 Thanks: 4,868 Thanked 3,105 Times in 1,429 Posts	Gerben, Always satisfying to see a rare holster like yours get repaired. Looks like a very good job! __________________ Jerry Burney 11491 S. Guadalupe Drive Yuma AZ 85367-6182 lugerholsterrepair@earthlink.net 928 342-7583 (CO & AZ) Year Round 719 207-3331 (cell) "For those who Fight For It, Life has a flavor the protected will never know."

01-20-2012, 09:27 PM	#4
wlyon Lifer 2X Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: May 2005 Location: Somewhere in Montana Posts: 2,620 Thanks: 3,145 Thanked 2,532 Times in 944 Posts	Gerben Nice work. Glad it all worked out. Bill __________________ Bill Lyon