Dwight

Do you still have the HDD?? I've got a buddy that is fantastic at fixing computer stuff. If you have it . . . I could ask him to take a shot at maybe retrieving the stuff . . . he's usually up for a challenge of most any sort . . . and that would be one. Lemme know. May God bless, Dwight

You need to do 3 things: 1: get 120 or 150 grit sandpaper . . . and you may even want to to up to 180 or 200. It looks like you have 80 or 60 grit on there now . . . and it is way too coarse. You also might want to hook up a vacuum to the sander . . . I did with mine . . . it grabs the dust and makes a better experience. 2: move your machine so there is almost zero distance between the sandpaper and the shelf on which the leather will sit. Mine would not move so I made a topper for the table . . . out of 3/16 basswood plywood and contact cemented it to the table. I purposely changed the sanding belt . . . and then placed the plywood shelf up so it was just barely touching the sandpaper. When I started it up . . . it sanded the plywood slightly . . . but left a VERY THIN space between the shelf and the sandpaper . . . THAT is the desired effect. 3: make sure your table is exactly 90 degrees angled from the sandpaper. I sometimes have a problem with seeing my project . . . so I outline where I want the sanding to go with a black ball point pen . . . and I sand it until the ink line just disappears . . . works perfectly. The technique is to slide the project back and forth . . . barely touching for chrome tanned . . . you can apply a bit more pressure with veg tan . . . especially if it is layered thicker . . . like a knife sheath or holster. When you have your desired edge . . . comes the final tricky part you need to do. Turn your project over and VERY LIGHTLY touch the sandpaper. It will take off a little "edge" that the earlier sanding produced. Try it . . . you'll like it. May God bless, Dwight

Actually if you do it that way . . . it is about identical to the one Weaver Leather sells for some exorbitant fee . . . I don't want anything in my shop to be intentionally built or made by me that could be interpreted as patent stealing. That's why my design did not use the stiff wire pointer . . . theirs does . . . But going back to your clear plastic . . . do you actually have the plastic? And do you have the drawings? Reason I ask . . . I have a laser engraver that I've never used on plastic / plexiglass. AND . . . what little I have . . . it is really thin . . . wouldn't work for the thicker belts I make. I'd be interested in doing a "shared experience" project if you could supply the drawings and plastic. I'd put it on my machine and see how well . . . or even IF . . . it would work. We would both learn something from the process. So far . . . I've cut 3/16 basswood plywood very successfully . . . but that is about all I've cut. It engraves beautifully. May God bless, Dwight

For punching belt holes and not having problems . . . take 2 or 3 hours out of your day and make this little jig. It will darn near end all your belt hole problems . . . May God bless, Dwight

Looks good from here . . . May God bless, Dwight

I would cut a piece of 3.4 inch pine to fill the hole . . . nice tight fit . . . that would be screwed to a piece of 3/8 inch plywood . . . that would be the size of the outside diameter of the pulley. Tool a really nice little Farmall "M" . . . sitting atop a small plowed field . . . with clouds on the left and right . . . and the IH in the middle above the tractor. Contact cement the tooled image to the plywood . . . get nails used for attaching cloth to a wood project from Hobby Lobby . . . ring the outside of the tooled image with them. Start the tractor . . . sand the pulley real well . . . paint it bright high polish fire engine red . . . call it all done May God bless, Dwight

I use two different ways to make boxes . . . the first you see as two pieces of wood . . . the leather is placed between the pieces . . . about 4/5 oz . . . WET LEATHER . . . and it is then placed in a vice . . . it takes about 10 minutes for it to partially dry and take the shape. That will hold a single stack 45ACP mag relatively loosely . . . which is the desired effect. The second way is the leather cell phone case. The bottom 2/3 of an inch or so is solid leather . . . cut out . . . and glued together . . . the inside width of the cell phone case. Once that is made . . . it is taken to a small belt sander that makes all the edges flat and level . . . then it's fastened with contact cement. I wore it for a number of years . . . my new one is made the same way . . . May God bless, Dwight

Go to google . . . search for "youtube: leather carving shadows I haven't done it . . . but anything I need info on . . . that's how I get it. May God bless, Dwight

If you lived a lot closer . . . I'd say load up the pickup with the knife and come on up . . . would be fun to make a sheath for that beauty May God bless, Dwight

Lookin good . . . saw Fess Parker as Davy Crockett at the Alamo as a kid . . . never made it, but always wanted to visit the place. Thanks for the picture . . . keep up the good work May God bless, Dwight

I have the 4500 . . . which will sew a bit thicker and use some heavier thread . . . but from my perspective . . . the 3200 would very probably do what you need with no trouble. I have nothing but good words to say for the Cowboy sewing machine I own . . . was worried to spend as much as I did for it . . . but am certainly glad I did . . . May God bless, Dwight

I would take my cell phone / camera . . . and go visit a half dozen camper / hunter supply stores. They have oodles of back packs in there . . . Take a bunch of pictures . . . print em when you get home . . . then cut and paste the parts you like best. Personally . . . all my back packs have two main compartments . . . both the full length and width . . . but separated in the middle to only give me half the depth. As well there are two pockets on each side . . . a larger bottom pocket in the back . . . and a smaller one also in the back. As well there is a little slip pocket on the flap cover . . . it lays up on the top . . . for papers / permits / licenses etc. Multiple pockets means you have to fold stuff up tight . . . but you also don't have to sort thru the whole pocket to find just one thing. Kind of a "file cabinet" back pack. I would also consider the one in the pictures if I was in a hurry . . . as it is less complicated to make. But to each his own . . . May God bless, Dwight

Using that pattern . . . I get an end product that I really like . . . as the piece making the front of the belt loop has the hair side showing. A lot of others don't and while it won't hurt the function . . . the flesh side to me is just not as desirable. I think it is "purtyer" this way. I took the knife blade . . . used it for the back template . . . then used that for the template for the front . . . and for a wedge that goes all the way around in the stitching of the sheath. That blade was really thick . . . and I just didn't want to do a fold over . . . so the bottom is three pieces. May God bless, Dwight

Had a fellow bring me his handful of knives that had no sheath . . . so I made em for him. Here they are. May God bless, Dwight

Put a coat of 50/50 Resolene and water on that inside . . . then take a glass slicker while it is still wet . . . slick the fibers down real good . . . let it dry for about 1/2 hour . . . then apply another thin coat . . You'll be good to go May God bless, Dwight