Dwight

Last Christmas I was asked to make 4 belts . . . I told her how . . . and STRESSED it needed to be measured correctly. I have 3 of the 4 in my shop . . . you guessed it . . . wrong dimensions. I'll "fix" them . . . basically using the original poster's idea. But like another said . . . it's almost as tough to "re do" work as it is to do it in the first place. May God bless, Dwight

Good job in my book . . . May God bless, Dwight

All in all a good job . . . but as another pastor besides Bob . . . as he said I would slick the edges real good . . . PLUS . . . I always run an edger around the leather . . . knock off those little peek-a-boos that slip up just above the edge . . . make it look like a torn piece of paper. But I do like the design . . . you did a good job. Especially the designs on the flap and the back . . . I'd never attempt it because I would get almost done . . . and I'd have a double line I could not cover up. That is also why I don't do a lot of stamping . . . etc. May God bless, Dwight

I'd suggest a Tippmann Boss . . . used you should be able to get one for that price. They are 1000 or so brand new. You can sew down on them to two layers of canvas (I've done it) . . . or you can to up to almost 3/4 inch of veg tanned leather. I've made leather dog collars on my old Boss . . . and it worked fine. It is a non motorized . . . hand operated machine . . . and they are hard to screw up. The company used to have a full lifetime warranty on the machine . . . no matter who owned it. You'ld have to check if they still do . . . and my guess is yes. You can also go into a Tandy Leather store . . . they sell a similar machine . . . take your sample in there . . . let the manager show you how their machines do . . . then go home and look on Marketplace for a used one. May God bless, Dwight

Well . . . if you google . . . "image: boston mass firefighter helmet shield" . . . you should get something near 20 pages of information. Google is your friend when wanting to see something . . . just start with the word "image" May God bless, Dwight

You should never put shoe polish on before any kind of oil. It can block the oil from penetrating. But since you have already done it . . . go for it. I ALWAYS . . . oil before I even think of dyeing or stamping . . . and I use just a light coat of neatsfoot oil. For me it has been THE thing that makes my dye jobs much more even. May God bless, Dwight

Ebay is always your helper for things you need . . . https://www.ebay.com/itm/396977964819?_skw=1911+blue+gun+model&var=665436502944&itmmeta=01K4QBB3J8JF2KZBGH9YMEN1N9&hash=item5c6dbb0713:g:tV0AAeSwb~hodTUX&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1dv2i7ARm3ClNSsxdtKFB0OrG7CAZhEJjKYUozIlkBZe12kCtsecjRR47D6rvCFoRec%2FX13vaUqONlPVuq8ifPxLlvOb2ayE5GdDgATYD0i9splPUBTWVubnSw92ndH%2FksNNy23VBBduDpIktGIOt5LGgTbkyoTPm9EuBvVrsHzfNgoTn5eUH%2BlBCv%2BNQn5knlxF5IQxSNpfAwGKnysm02WUKCQobVKBqvt8Du%2BjYCgvrZoMa47UpZkcPbioivcv%2FU%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_a5rOulZg&pfm=1 May God bless, Dwight

Just a curious question . . . if someone was to send you a "pattern" . . . made of plastic . . . cut out on a computer based machine . . . of an exact personal buckle . . . would you be up to making that buckle? I'm thinking of the American Western buckle type . . . May God bless, Dwight

Let us know how you make out . . . I actually built a box out of 1 x 12 pine lumber . . . a piece of clear plastic . . . put a fan in one end . . . bored a hole in my shop wall . . . and all the burnt leather stink gets blown out into my side yard. I do have the benefit of doing a lot of wood stuff . . . so wood scraps are usually laying around for me . . . but even if you have to buy it straight up at Lowes or Home Depot . . . it's still a lot cheaper than the enclosures the mfg's want to sell you for the laser engraver. May God bless, Dwight

I don't mean to take over this thread . . . but I thought I'd offer Digit another pattern . . . Simple . . . quick . . . and absolutely works like a charm . . . short piece of suede and one snap I "invented" this as I hate carrying anything in a shirt pocket other than a ball point pen or a lead pencil. This is lightweight . . . hardly recognize they are even there. May God bless, Dwight

And I'll echo those ^^^^ words . . . May God bless, Dwight

Some years back . . . I started making key fobs for folks . . . and started to fix one for me . . . went back and forth on name vs address vs phone number. Finally decided that any of those could get my vehicle stolen if the wrong person found it. Wound up putting my Vietnam Veteran Assn. group name on it . . . it's a local group . . . and if returned to them . . . they would let me know. Wound up making key fobs for all of them . . . it's a lot safer than a name or address or phone number. Since then my advice is to always put your church name . . . club name . . . company name . . . or something like that on the key fobs . . . as it could mean you would get it back . . . but would prevent an immediate pilfering of your vehicle. Just a suggestion. May God bless, Dwight

That's why in my "wardrobe" . . . there are no less than 8 or 9 belts. Generally speaking . . . I wear the one I have on . . . and have for over 20 years . . . will probably kick the bucket some day and it will still be serviceable. But that's OK . . . pass it on to someone who needs one. May God bless, Dwight

Toxo . . . go to the other thread about clicker dies and no press . . . find my post on page two . . . lots of good ideas for you there. Long and short . . . you can make something much better than a clicker die on your computer . . . which will do a better job as well. I have done both. May God bless, Dwight

Let me ride this rodeo out of town . . . and start a new one. You obviously have a computer . . . and if you have ANY photo program . . . you can take a photo of ANY SHAPE you want . . . fill in the shape with black . . . and go to your 300 dollar 10 watt laser engraver. It may take two 30 second passes to cut out your shape . . . but it will cut up to 8 oz in two passes. The neat part is you never EVER have to get another clicker die. They are a thing of the past with a laser engraver. I use mine to cut small stuff any time I want an EXACT shape . . . the engraver and Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 (5 dollar program on Ebay) . . . are all I need. My bed is about 14 inches by 14 inches . . . so I can cut anything that size . . . and as many exact copies I want providing I have the leather. You do have to rig up a fan to take the burnt leather stink away . . . but that is the worst . . . and it is not hard at all. AND THE BEST PART . . . When you get done with cutting stuff out with the laser engraver . . . you can then waste a couple days . . . and as much corrugated brown cardboard as you can scrounge up . . . learning how to do roses . . . buildings . . . automobiles . . . horses . . . any shape you want . . . for any drawing you want . . . on your laser engraver. The cardboard mimics leather fairly well . . . so you can get a good idea of your settings needed . . . then do a small check piece of leather . . . then do a large picture or drawing or whatever your heart desires. If you really take your time . . . you can do photographs . . . army patches . . . custom book marks . . . billfolds . . . purses . . . and if you let your daughter play with it for a while . . . she might teach your wife how to use it . . . they can make the decorated front of the purses . . . you can do the rest . . . and you have a whole brand new product line. Or you can just put names on the key fobs . . . that'll work too. May God bless, Dwight