Dwight

On Facebook Marketplace . . . you can pick up a decent 12 inch wide planer for 100 bucks . . . or at least I did. Then cut your HDPE about 11 1/2 inches wide . . . run it thru the planer. If you do it right . . . all the pieces will be THE EXACT same thickness . . . and can be either screwed down or double sticky back tape . . . put to the table. Take a thin file . . . just BARELY take the length wise edge off the sides . . . your leather will never notice it if you just cut enough off so it is not sharp. The two pieces should slide together really super flat. One thing about it though . . . after about 15 years . . . it has a tendency to become brittle on the edges . . . I have a 3 by 5 piece to prove it. I could probably cut out a piece that would be 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 . . . but I can snap off pieces of the edges in about 3 inches or so. But I gave up on it . . . went to Joann Fabric . . . bought their 3 ft by 5 ft sewing table piece . . . it is the second one now in a little over 10 years . . . cost 75 apiece. To me . . . that is worth twice the price. Hold it down I bought a 4 x 8 sheet of it last spring for a little less than 300 bucks for a different project . . . shop around . . . you may find it . . . I had to go to Columbus Ohio . . . population one million . . . to get it. May God bless Dwight

The small mundane safety equipment was called "hearing protection" . . . on two destroyers with 5 inch / 38 twin gun mounts. (that's a bullet that's 5 inches in diameter . . . weighs 39 pounds . . . and can land 12 miles away . . . guaranteed within 500 feet of your landmark . . . the 38 means the barrel is 38 times the diameter of the bullet) We almost pulled up along side ammo ships . . . off loaded the ammo straight to the gun mounts and let er fly. Actually would get done with the bombardment . . . cut the rudder . . . full speed ahead . . . out to the ammo ship in the South China Sea . . . hated like nobody's business to get involved in any of that exercise. There were times when one would have thought everyone except the guys down in the engine spaces were deaf. After a couple hundred rounds . . . if you were close enough . . . your body would shake with every loud noise . . . and you said "huh" for several hours. My first ship did not get "official" recognition for it . . . but we just may have been THE first ship to drop ammo on the Ho Chi Minh trail. We were with the group of ships that spent a bunch of $$$ on 5 inch and 8 inch boo-letts . . . messing with Charlie in the early spring of 1965 . . . pock marking the trail for miles in either direction. Yeah . . . little orange rubber ear plugs would have been darn near wonderful . . . just had not been invented yet. May God bless, Dwight

I have been very fortunate thru the years . . . lots of times and places . . . stuff coulda done me in . . . Safety gear has been part of it . . . staying alert is a part of it . . . not taking crazy chances . . . all have helped out. My guardian angel did his thing a couple weeks ago though . . . I have a table saw I bought without a blade guard . . . got it ordered . . . was using it before the guard got here. I sawed down a 24 inch or so piece of 1 x 4 down to 1 x 3 or so . . . had both pieces from the other end of the saw . . . was bringing them back to me . . . over top of the saw . . . and somehow the big piece slipped or something in my hand . . . fell down to the blade that was slowing down . . . hit it just so it would become a 1 x 3 pine rocket. Thing caught me perfectly on my upper gum line . . . above my teeth . . . below my nose. I looked like the guy who just lost to Mike Tyson or something for a couple of days. Honestly . . . my worst industrial accident ever. I got a hole burned in my thumb by 450 Volts aboard ship . . . didn't really even hurt . . . even though I jumped like a white tail bunny . . . that was the second worst . . . Worked maintenance electrician and mechanic for 30 some years . . . 4 of em in the Navy . . . climbed more ladders than I'd like to talk about . . . used more power tools than I could probably name off in the next hour . . . Got a sneaking hunch my guardian angel will wipe his brow and say . . . "Finally . . . he's here . . . " when I walk thru the pearly gate . . . as he has done a great job for me down thru the years. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks badhatter . . . probably is . . . just worn down May God bless, Dwight

At church Sunday . . . a friend handed me a shoulder holster . . . was given to him by a mutual friend after an auction. It's a rather well made . . . clam shell type . . . using a metal band . . . It's only marking is "Jay Fee" Anybody know anything of the manufacturer?? Thanks . . . may God bless, Dwight

Get a simple program . . . put it on your computer Adobe photo shop elements 2.0 is a really good one . . . it's 5 bucks on Ebay . . . comes with a disc . . . don't buy one that is a down load as you will forever be plagued with ads and adware Use it to size the photos to 800 by 600 pixels . . . and an overall size of 500 kb or so. Then use the choose files below . . . go to your file on your computer . . . choose the pic . . . and it'll load. You can do a lot with that little photoshop program afterwards as well. May God bless, Dwight

Generally speaking . . . me and the welt don't get together until everything else is done . . . and time to add or not add the welt. Most of the time is is . . . but slim Jims are a different animal . . . the gun is so far down . . . doesn't make a lot of difference. Anyway . . . I get it 100% ready for stitching . . . minus the contact cement . . . fold it over . . . and laying on the work table . . . I check the fit. Most of the time a welt is advantageous . . . sometimes not . . . Make sure we get to see pictures . . . and I'm seriously sorry to hear the shoulder problem. My doc injected something in my right shoulder some 20 years ago . . . very little problems since then. I don't have any "butt" . . . so belts don't do a lot for me . . . I do the suspender routine. Which makes any shoulder rig a good deal for me. May God bless, Dwight

Sorry bsshog40 . . . personally I've often thought it would be a really nice addition . . . but it probably is more than a 30 minute fix. May God bless, Dwight

Making a chest holster is really pretty simple as long as one does not get all wrapped up in technicalities. Take this simple picture of a slim jim . . . instead of a flap going down over the belt . . . a slight oval or round part is cut in the pattern to allow the back of the pistol to lay against your chest. Into this oval . . . three tabs are made that simply go thru a "D" ring . . . and on each side of the holster . . . and are riveted thru the oval. I like an inch and a quarter belt going from the D ring as you see it on the right side . . . it goes all the way around your back . . . and attaches with a snap hook to the D ring you see on the left of the picture. Just make it adjustable enough to wear with a Tee shirt or your favorite cold weather hunting coat. Attached to the top D ring is another strap that goes up over your left shoulder if you want to wear it off center . . . or over your right shoulder if you want it to point pretty much straight down between your legs. Personally . . . I prefer the left shoulder . . . it is more comfortable for me. You can put a thumb break . . . a hammer loop . . . or a suicide strap on it to retain the gun . . . and some guys like a loop that goes down to their britches belt to hold it from flopping if you are running or going down hill in the brush. Seriously . . . this is a simple rig to make . . . and I've never had anyone say it is seriously un-comfortable . . . while I have heard that with cross draw holsters. I've also included a similar rig I did for a guy who wanted one for his plastic fantastic pistola. May God bless, Dwight

The Boss is lifetime warranty as well. The "cast iron" is just advertising gimmikery . . . the aluminum body on mine has lasted a full 25 years . . . has never had a problem . . . and when I have to move it . . . I'm darn sure glad it is aluminum . . . Probably best thought there . . . can you drive to either location for service. I'm 2 hours from Tippmann . . . I call em . . . they tell me they're waiting for me to get there. May God bless, Dwight

We have a lot of the same things going for us. I'm 80 . . . and while I can walk pretty good . . . I don't add extra if I don't have to. Given all of the particulars you mentioned . . . I would not do a cross draw . . . I would do a chest holster . . . with probably a hammer thong to hold it in place. I think could be made so it would fit the 45 as well as the Remington clone. Laugh if you will . . . but I would make the holster for the larger of the two (I'm thinking the Remington would be) . . . and letting it also be used for the 45. If there is a big difference in the barrel length . . . a short piece of wooden dowel could be dropped in the toe of the holster to keep the 45 from falling all the way down in. Tie a slim leather thong to that piece of wood . . . and it could be pulled out for the Remington. Cross draw holsters for large pistols are uncomfortable for me . . . chest holsters are much better . . . but you'll have to make that decision. Making the holster standard or rough out . . . makes little difference unless the flesh side is really rough. Don't add a lot of finish to the inside of the holster . . . as the finish is harder than the leather. Also never leave your weapon in the holster when you come back in. Also keep them minimally oiled . . . as the excessive oil will be picked up by the leather . . . then dust . . . and it will act like sandpaper. For what you are doing you should not need to line it . . . just make it and use it . . . Have fun. May God bless, Dwight

In 2000 . . . I made a deal with a retailer that after the Christmas season . . . he would sell me his used Tippmann Boss for a thousand bucks . . . and put out a new one for display. Christmas came and went . . . I got my cash together and went to see him. Some kids had jammed up the machine . . . and it needed to go back to Tippmann for repair . . . SOOOOooooo . . . he went in the back . . . grabbed a brand new machine . . . and gave it to me for the thousand bucks price. A Tippmann Boss. I still have it . . . have sewn everything from about 3/32 of an inch (207 thread probably) to 3/4 inch . . . (no thread . . . just punched the holes . . . cowboy stitched that holster later) . . . and the number of belts and holsters I've done with 95% 346 thred . . . is well . . . beyond calculation . . . there were so many. I've looked at the others and will give them a possibility of being worth while . . . but the Boss is definitely so. I've also needed work a couple times . . . took it to them . . . they sat it on the desk . . . an hour later . . . me and the Boss are headed home to do more work. And of course there was no charge for their work . . . including once putting in new parts . . . even though we were not 100% convinced that it was necessary. Tippmann ponied up the cost as a Just In Case scenario to keep an old client happy. And I still am. I also have a Cowboy 4500 . . . which now does most of the work . . . but the Boss is there when needed. And I have no doubt it will answer the call when needed to do so. May God bless, Dwight PS: Remember . . . the Boss is the one with the proven track record . . . the others are the new kids on the block. Where do you want to put your money . . . proven track record . . . or possibly good performance. That is the bet you make . . . either way.

First thing I would say is toss the glue . . . go to Weldwood contact cement. Much easier and quicker . . . and . . . more accurate to use as far as getting the result you wanted. A note worth thinking about . . . dye will not penetrate glue successfully. Sometimes a bit . . . most times not at all . . . so learn to be careful where you put it. I use cheap little acid brushes . . . get a 100 for 3 bucks or so . . . use one a day . . . get fresh one tomorrow. Edge paint . . . I don't bother with it. My customers in 20 years have never mentioned it one time . . . so for me . . . it's not worth the hassle . . . But on the very very seldom time I do it . . . little round wool dauber on a metal handle . . . dip in the dye . . . shake off most of it . . . and very light short strokes . . . and if you hold your mouth right . . . if the moon is in the right position . . . and if the Ohio river isn't flooding . . . it might work. May God bless, Dwight

Look on Ebay . . . copper rivets . . . https://www.ebay.com/itm/352511867169?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20231107084023%26meid%3D0d1f268ea5e74b5c84712fb55d99b4c2%26pid%3D101875%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D352656754562%26itm%3D352511867169%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2332490%26algv%3DSimVIDwebV3WithCPCExpansionEmbeddingSearchQuerySemanticBroadMatchSingularityRecallReplaceKnnV4WithVectorDbNsOptHotPlRecallCIICentroidCoviewCPCAuto%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2332490.c101875.m1851&itmprp=cksum%3A3525118671690d1f268ea5e74b5c84712fb55d99b4c2|enc%3AAQAKAAABkG96wQ16jds4VFcrhy1F3d4mbwZUJI9Fs%2BgdXYAHIzlX2e3YaNh7x%2BEnKA3G%2BCqSl1Xn4McfcWFK1GytmS2qxJ87mtE8Gm3iR1Ja4WBwh0hNHJrJx3Ki5mp04ow4CO7lP%2BooCybZDDU%2BbbSwmg7CbTin%2BBzBzbCYVnbjvyQAHu6--HI4MB7SvJl5IJqlyvomgoLMlgT6qAJzX0SANJhty2dLNihoUJlF8VqAlqljdRi835uzdT%2FRw2dvDZ%2FKGbQCHYRB14v0kGwE3cSXw%2B2qhe%2B0H%2F1j8myQUlVEX3joNhwh7qOrSJOdzneyRFZuDtxGj41Mo4ttFpvmPdZnY7DNvrzgPZCIDLjXsrwahFpin7FtgWogJyNJJFhlkZOSSgeqjgV%2FE6qC577KxRtf3aqZZ0MdG4rIUuSNO3m0nywm82cOYvXRVnn69oHwxBnnQ0KjnMpyrigJIETey1stdnFqzITxjP1rL6sGbvwarZEpOM1iVBWuTfedF6PWlN7ZXF9L4SBY50J8Wnr10iexzh033FM%3D|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2332490&itmmeta=01JX5ZZDZP9HHYXS3MDAEYDAG9 Cut a piece of 8 or 10 oz . . . about 7 inches long. Push the ends together . . . . then overlap the top corners . . . and swing the bottom corners of each end up so they are level with the top edge of the loop of leather. Put three rivets in it . . . in a triangle pattern . . . with the point at the top. That is the VERY BEST way to hang a hammer loop off a nail apron. I usually put a 8 or 9 inch piece that goes straight up from the loop we talked about . . . and fold it over the belt . . . with two snaps. it's THE most comfortable and easiest to use May God bless, 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