Dwight

Harbor Freight has a plastic pouch with like 10 different files . . . they're all little guys . . . perfect for this kind of work. Sign up on line . . . . you may hit their 50% off deal. May God bless, Dwight

This idea will not get you thru a dozen belts . . . but it should get you thru 1 anyway. Take a look on youtube . . . making things out of HDPE . . . which is gobbledygook for milk jugs. You can melt the milk jug and put it into a mold you have made that is about 1 inch square and 4 inches long. Once you have that piece . . . cut it with a sander to the correct width and depth . . . then get a set of fine files . . . there's about 10 in the set at Harbor Freight . . . you can use those smaller files to make the lines in the HDPE. If you take your time . . . you should get at least one belt out of it . . . and if the tip messes up . . . sand it off . . . and make another one. OR second . . . find someone who has a laser engraver . . . that is strong enough to cut 1/8 inch steel . . . He should be able to duplicate one for you . . . that will last a long time. One of the keys to being successful in almost any hand work these days . . . think out of the box . . . and be resourceful May God bless, Dwight

That's good . . . the new Bat Masterson . . . lol May God bless, Dwight

You can't do much better than dealing with one of the sponsors here . . . Toledo Industrial Sewing Machine Co . . . call em at 866-362-7397 I've done business with them for a number of years . . . always good folks to work with May God bless, Dwight

Weaver leather. . . in Ohio . . . their handbag section may have them too. I've used Tandy's brass rivets for 20+ yrs . . . never had any major problem with them. Not meaning to be disrespectful . . . but setting technique is the key to good rivet use. May God bless, Dwight

Resolene is THE sealer . . . May God bless, Dwight

For 20+ years . . . I have put the Chicago screw together with my fingers . . . Picked up the leather piece . . . and grabbed the back piece of the Chicago screw with the leading edge of a pair of professional lineman pliers. Left hand puts the squeeze on the screw head . . . and if you have enough ooomph in your left hand . . . you can shake the holster and it won't let go. If not . . . eat some Wheaties. Right hand picks up the screwdriver . . . and when it's job is done . . . that Chicago screw is "there" . . . and just maybe forever. Works for me. May God bless, Dwight

I've made that mistake . . . I take a deep breath . . . get out the razor knife . . . cut the stitches . . . pull out the thread pieces . . . Sew the belt piece . . . go get a coffee . . . and double check to see that I sewed it. I don't use that greasy kid stuff glue . . . I use Weldwood contact cement . . . Start at the toe end . . . stick a needle in that end hole . . . down into a piece of rigid foam . . . come up about 10 holes . . . stick another needle . . . and squeeze that piece between the needles together . . . move up 10 more . . . squeeze together . . . and so forth. Take it to the same sewing machine I did it with the first time . . . stick that needle down in the first hole . . . and VERY CAREFULLY sew it back together again. So far it has worked every time. May God bless, Dwight

Don't laugh . . . but you could move to Ohio . . . I have several leather jackets . . . I keep em all on good hangers . . . in my hall closet . . . knowing that July and August are the only months I may go completely thru and not need one of them. Today is the 22nd of May . . . all afternoon I'll be wearing leather . . . 50 degrees at 10 AM . . . yeah . . . leather May God bless, Dwight

Uhh . . . yeah . . . reading it myself again . . . I don't know . . . brain out in left field . . . I guess I was just going as I usually do . . . as I always take the blade off . . . clean the grease off it . . . put it back on . . . then adjust the depth . . . as most of the time, what I did last time isn't what I need this time. And that is why the blade is not over the center . . . I just stuck it back on from the last use . . . after I greased it up. I actually used to use it a lot more than I have lately . . . as I've been taking a micrometer with me to see truly what thickness leather I'm buying . . . and it has cut down on my time on the splitter. Thanks for both points . . . especially the blade position as I know better . . . just didn't do it last time I put it back on. Glad someone is watching over me . . . May God bless, Dwight

That is my second mat like that . . . and I've already turned it around. I love the thing . . . Wish the splitter was as easy to use as the mat is . . . lol May God bless, Dwight

Well . . . to start from the beginning . . . first determine how thick you want this piece of leather to be. Then loosen the large allen screws on each side of the blade . . . then by turning the black plactic knobs . . . you can raise or lower the blade . . . and when you have it where you want it . . . tighten the large allen screws. Now you are ready to go. Loosen the knob on the right side of the skiver . . . and you can then use the lever to lift or drop the roller . . . drop it and insert the leather piece you want to skive. Pull thru about an inch or two while holding the lever down. You will notice it drop as you begin your cut . . . as it pulls the roller up to the proper position. Once you have that inch or two skived . . . tighten the knob on the right hand side of the machine . . . while holding the lever down . . . that will keep the thickness even. You can then lay a board or something on the bail . . . to keep it from allowing the leather to jump up . . . jumping up gives you the bad skiving experience. Pull the whole piece thru . . . loosen the knob . . . insert the stub end . . . about an inch or two from where you need to start . . . again under the bail . . . and tighten the knob . . . pull the stub end thru and you are done. May God bless, Dwight

I use my Tandy splitter almost exclusively for belts . . . generally I leave a little extra on each end . . . I grab it with a pair of vise grips . . . and pull it thru. I actually start about 10 or 12 inches in from one end . . . then turn it around and do that section last so the whole blank is the same thickness. You are probably having two problems . . . The first is your blade is not sharp. Coming from the factory . . . none of those blades are SHARP . . . they are kind of a dull sharp . . . but not sharp type sharp. Your blade should be able to be held in one hand and shave 1/2 inch slices of a piece of copy paper . . . just like you might do with a straight razor or a pocket knife. If it is not that sharp . . . you need to work on it. I sharpen mine with several stones . . . ending up with a 3000 grit . . . and then I strop it . . . and I strop each side. When I get done . . . you do not want to touch that blade for any reason except to cut leather. Your second problem is in the picture . . . my hand it on the bail. Your leather needs to be under that bail . . . and as you pull the leather thru with your right hand . . . hold the bail down with the left hand . . . or lay a 2 x 4 edge on it to keep it down. If you don't . . . your leather will ride up and you will cut completely thru your blank. If you take a good look at the picture . . . my blade will appear to be rusty . . . it is not . . . believe me. It is greasy . . . that is just plain old axle grease on it . . . and it is on both sides . . . it keeps the sharpness from going away between uses. I wipe the grease off the blade . . . then run a piece of scrap thru it to check for sharpness . . . before I use it. When I get done for the day . . . unless I know for certain I will use it the next day . . . I grease it up and set it off my work bench. Hope this helps . . . may God bless, Dwight

The steel rod part is the last thing before putting it on . . . or handing it to a customer May God bless, Dwight

Let's talk about how you use resolene . . . I had problems similar when I first used it . . . because I used it too strong . . . and used too much of it. First . . . mix it 50 / 50 with COLD water . . . not ice water . . . just tap water from the cold side. I actually don't mix it . . . I shake it . . . mixes real good that way. I use a cheap 1 inch bristle brush I got from harbor freight . . . cost about 30 cents each or so . . . maybe more now . . . have not bought any in a while. Dip the brush fully . . . and start wetting the belt . . . or whatever you are doing . . . process is the same for all items. As you wet it . . . swirl the brush in little circles . . . building a light froth . . . you definitely want to see them there bubbles. Once you have gone end to end with the froth . . . the start end will be trying to dry out . . . hit it again . . . this time using long strokes . . . then cross wise strokes . . . then long strokes . . . then cross wise . . . Keep this up until there seems to be no change in the finish. Hang it up for a couple hours . . . get it down then and play with it . . . you want to flex it a bit . . . not seriously . . . just a bit . . . Last thing . . . especially with belts . . . find a 3/8 or 1/2 inch steel bar . . . roll the belt over that rod . . . pull the belt up close to your stomach . . . roll it across the rod . . . and pull it down sharply . . . flexing it the full length . . . and do it both ways. Give it an hour or two to rest . . . and then just use it. Using this process . . . I have no more trouble with my belts or the resolene. I will have to say though . . . I make very few single layer . . . most all are double. May God bless,, Dwight