billymac814

Single layer belts get the back side dyed, double layered doesn't. I dye the top layer before cementing them together. I think it looks nice with the natural backside.

It could be the needle height or tension. You should just be able to feel the needle if it is all the way down and you put your finger right under the tip. Also make sure your castoff(the long rod beside the needle) is ok and lubed up good and make sure your thread is going up through the hole in the whirl wheel and theat its spinning as it should and make sure there's no pieces of that broken needle anywhere in the machine. I have no experience with that exact machine so I can't give too many specifics but those are general things that apply to most chain stitch Mckays. Good luck, it took me a long time to get my McKay to work good, it was very frustrating.

I'd imagine it would keep it from stretching lengthwise but I really doubt it will keep it straight though I can't say that would be a bad thing either if it still formed to the body, I'd think a strip of masking tape or packing tape would give the same result though. A 1/4" thick gun belt shouldn't stretch much even without anything added inside it though. I've used kydex and another stiffener I got from Springfield, the advantage of something stiffer like that is you're able to make the belt out of thinner leather and still have a very rigid belt

I never had a need to mist it, I think its too thick to do that really. I use a piece of sheepskin and apply it lightly, never had any issues with it being uneven. I have put it on while the piece is damp and its fine, but I wouldn't wet it just to do that.

Cool, how long does it take from start to finish to form a holster? It seems like it would be a bit slow compared to a press though I can see some major advantages as well. I wouldn't mind having this set up to use on certain things, like when I'm using a real gun but keep the press for my regular production. I've seen some that have some type of frame around them, would that be quicker than the bag type setup? Back when I first started I tried one of those vacuum bags that you use with a shop vac but it really didn't help much , I'm sure this way with the motor would be much better.

I have those for my Consew. A Standard singer 111 outside foot should fit the Boss but I think something needs to be modified for it to fit if I remember correctly, maybe the PO made that modification and used it??

I primarily use blue guns but I use real ones as well and never broke anything using the 40 durometer rubber, I have no way to measure pressure but I'm sure I'm using more than 2 tons. For really deep items ill layer a softer foam on top of the harder rubber so it goes down over the item farther. It is too hard for kydex though, I've tried it and it doesn't work well. I bought some stuff from knifekits.com for that but it wouldn't work well on leather I don't think.

That sounds like it would make it just about perfect. You may find you need to upgrade the rubber but you can always add that at a later time.

I'd agree with the previous poster, that foam will likely be too soft to be effective. I use a 40 durometer gun rubber in my press and that works well. It was expensive though and about the same cost as the shop press I used. It would probably work well for kydex though as that uses a lot softer foam, as long as it'll hold up to the heat anyway. It might be too slow for kydex though as the kydex would probably cool down before you got it tightened. I use a press to save time really, I can do it by hand just the same and end up with the same results but it takes a few minutes longer. You might not save much time with that setup. I think if you could mount a cross member using your all thread and have a center threaded rod that came down the center with pretty coarse threads so you only had to tighten one and it tightened quickly it may work faster for you. Otherwise it looks very good. You can get the Gum rubber from McMaster Carr. I use 1" on top and bottom.

Use Feibings Pro oil dye and finish with 50/50 resolene and water. It won't bleed like other dyes do. You also need to buff it off after dying but with the pro oil dye it barely needs buffing unlike the other dyes where you gotta buff and buff and buff to get excess pigment off

Yes they are external mix, I don't think I'd want to even mess with trying to run resolene through an internal one as that stuff guns everything up. The harbor freight ones are decent for the money, especially for just spraying dyes and finishes.

Once you get them ironed out how much do you think you could sell them for?

What I do with the finish is buy the harbor freight airbrush that has about 6 cups with lids with it, its pretty cheap and easy to clean since its a single stage plus if one gets too bad I just toss it and grab a new cup. I don't spray finish very often though, mainly on antiqued items to prevent the resolene from smearing the antique around.

Wickett and Craig has no minimum, you can order one side, they ship and their prices are good, no middle man taking a cut

I replace those all the time as they seem to break a lot. I've found them at Tandy and a few other places. Prices range from high to ridiculous it seems.

I've been going about 3-4 years without ever cleaning my airbrush. I dump out the dye and spray until there's nothing coming out and that's it. It is a harbor freight two stage. I always figured it was cheap enough that I didn't have to worry much about it but it keeps on working anyway. When I first got it I was a little better about cleaning it but it became a pain in the butt so I stopped. I don't know if I'd recommend that for an expensive one though. I have another one that's single stage for finishes and I run some water through it.

I can sew pretty thin material on my cb4500. I made a wallet a bit ago and most of it was a couple layers of 3-4 oz but a section was just one layer and it did fine. I could have used my flatbed machine but I really like sewing on the CB better so I used it. I'd like to get a 227r since its like a mini version of the 4500 and would be better suited for the thin stuff. You're also limited by needle choices with the 4500 for thin stuff, you have to use round point for anything thinner than 138 thread.

Depends on the leather too. If I don't have to I don't because it saves time but a lot of times when its not cutting well I dampen it a bit, it definitely helps cut easier. I use Wickett and Craig tooling leather and it always seems harder to cut than any others.

I started using a blog page and that was my primary "website" for a couple years. It was free and easy for me to use and I was able to even have a store by adding Paypal buttons to it. I was also able to purchase my own domain name for it through google which also have me email which was cheap at around 10 bucks a yr and it looks more professional having @mccabescustomleather.com instead of @gmail.com I now have a regular site and a Facebook page. Forums are great places to show your work, I got started from one particular forum and sold quite a few holsters because of it. Once you sell enough and have enough happy customers they take care of the rest. I don't post my stuff anywhere anymore, I haven't had time to really be active on any forums and I don't want to come off like I'm soliciting my wares if I don't participate in other areas of the forums so I just don't post them. I haven't done any gun shows or anything like that, I've never had time to be able to make up a bunch of stuff. There is one coming to my home town in August so I may try to build up some inventory and do that show, probably more for fun and for the opportunity to be able to tell people where I'm at than to make any money. A web presence is really necessary these days. That way your not limited by your local market. It also allows you to focus on a specialized item like BP rigs. My first 1.5yrs making holsters I only made them for one model of gun. I would have never been able to do that just selling locally but was able to because there were enough people in the country looking for a holster for that particular gun.

I'd use an arbor press. With English bridle leather I typically do it dry since it doesn't really accept water anyway. I also have a branding iron and so far I get pretty inconsistent results with it so I don't use it much but its also very small with small letters so that may be part of the problem. With a branding iron you now have time do deal with instead of just pressure. I have much more consistent stamps using a press compared to hammering the stamps.

I would also consider trading something for a cylinder bed machine or anything else really.

There's also one I seem on Craigslist. You might need to use the Craigslist nationwide ap to find it.

I'm glad to hear you got it all worked out. It should serve you well for a long time.

Ok so I heard back from Shoe systems plus and here's what they told me. The thread size is only limited by the needle. A 138 thread requires a size 140 or larger needle. A 207 thread requires a 180 or larger needle. Since the heaviest needle available is a 160 you cannot use the 207 thread. You can also put the 138 thread in the bobbin but you won’t get a lot of yardage in there.

That's a good question actually. I have no idea so I emailed Shoe systems Plus and asked them. It works fine with 138, ill try and bump it up to 207 just to see. My Adler will sew with 138 but it doesn't always like to. The Claes didn't have any problems so I assume I could maybe get by with 207 on occasion. Its a very cool machine. Its pretty similar to the Singers and Adler patchers but it looks a little more heavier and very well built.