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

What would be the purpose of the conditioner??? Resolene pretty much seals up the leather . . . I've never put on 4 or 5 coats . . . but I'd come close to betting that it would be water proof by then. May God bless, Dwight

I have never used Pro Resist . . . so I cannot tell you what will happen. All the purses I have ever done either get ONLY an oiled finish . . . or I give them a coat of Resolene . . . 50 / 50 diluted with water. I do that inside and out . . . unless there is some kind of liner inside. My buddy at Tandy said the rub off is probably from the antiquing . . . so you would have to cover the antiquing with either another coat of Pro Resist . . . or Resolene. I've never had any rub off after the Resolene treatment . . . and no dye separation when it gets wet. Find a piece of scrap . . . re-do it to match what your project has done on it . . . then mess with the Resolene or Pro Resist. That's what I would do. May God bless, Dwight

Resolene will give you a similar effect if you do not dilute it before using it. Try cutting it 50/50 and do a light coat with it. Resolene when thinned makes a really good finish Maybe your product will do the same May God bless, Dwight

I was over at the factory on Tuesday . . . had a minor problem with the Boss . . . One of the techs took it (and me) back to his desk . . . went thru it with a fine toothed comb . . . adjusted this and that . . . replaced a small part . . . showed me where I missed on cleaning it up . . . When he was done . . . he ran off a piece that was equivalent of two pieces of 8 oz . . . then he stacked up a pile that just barely went under the carriage . . . and sewed it like a Singer doing silk. We shook hands and he walked me back to the front . . . no charge . . . I like those kinds of companies May God bless, Dwight

Thanks . . . didn't know the real name . . . just what Joanne used to sell it as. May God bless, Dwight

My Chinese copy of the Singer came with a bobbin that does not hold much like you said. It also said I had to use thread that wound a certain way. I generally use carpet thread for just about anything I sew that is not done on my Cowboy4500 . . . it is strong enough that it can cut your fingers if you try to jerk it and break it. Using a mike . . . it is just a couple thousandths bigger than the cotton thread that came in the machine . . . and it works great so far . . . and I've never been able to pull a seam apart that I've sewn with it. I used to get it at Joann's . . . will have to go to Michaels from now on from what I heard. May God bless, Dwight

Just for kicks and giggles . . . make another one . . . use most of the same techniques . . . Just change one part of it. Make the back completely flat . . . mold the gun over a hard . . . flat . . . table . . . and then put it together. It will be two pieces . . . front and back . . . and in actuality would be called a pancake except for the way it is carried with the belt loop. You will be 100% amazed at how much MORE COMFORTABLE it will be . . . especially if you do not have an extra layer or two of body between your belt and your bones. I have two holsters made that way . . . got the idea from a couple Milt Sparks holsters . . . I sometimes carry a full size . . . all steel . . . 1911 . . . or an officer's model . . . all steel 1911 . . . both weigh in at 3 lbs fully loaded . . . and I can carry them all day and not be noticeably bothered . . . because that back is FLAT against my poor boney body. My usual carry piece is also a 1911 . . . but it is a little Springfield micro compact . . . in .45 ACP . . . looks identical to their EMP model . . . But you did a good job on this one . . . stitching is much more even than my hand stitching . . . which is why I use a machine. One other suggestion . . . try super wetting your leather . . . and forming it with a vacuum sealer of some sort. I use an actual vacuum pump . . . don't really have to do a lot to get the molding to come out the way I want it. Thanks for the pics . . . May God bless, Dwight

One of the advertisers on here . . . Toledo sewing machine co . . . handles used machines. He may not give you a deal . . . but his machines are good . . . and a used price will save you some money. Buy the used one . . . learn how to use it . . . let it make you the cash for the new one . . . then sell the used one. May God bless, Dwight

Good looking leatherwork May God bless, Dwight

I had the same EXACT problem with saddle tan . . . darn near quit using it. Now I take a bristle brush . . . and coat the hair side with NFO . . . and make sure you ARE NOT using the compound . . . buy the good stuff. I dip the brush and start brushing . . . watching that every square inch gets a light wetting . . . it has to change color or I add oil to it until it does. I leave it for 24 hours . . . belts laying on their side . . . holsters laying on their back most of the time. After 24 hours . . . I get out the 9 by 16 baking dish (my dyeing pan) . . . and I put it in the dye just long enough to know for absolute certain that every piece of it has contacted the liquid dye. Pull it out . . . and set it up to dry. I quit having "serious" blotchy problems using the above process. There are still slight variations . . . but nothing like your holster. And I can't comment on your process because I've never tried it. I've also never dampened my leather . . . as that is water . . . my dye is oil based . . . and I never believed that oil and water will mix in a good way. YMMV May God bless, Dwight

I've been messing with leather for 25+ years so far . . . NEVER have had any thing I made give me problems with Resolene . . . it goes on . . . stays on . . . and works. I was really . . . REALLY . . . mad at a belt I made one time using USMC black . . . I think I could have wire brushed that thing and black would still have rubbed off. Grabbed the Resolene . . . 2 light coats . . . END of problem. Try it . . . you have nothing to lose at this point . . . if you've never used it . . . make sure to dilute it . . . 50 / 50 Resolene and tap water. Stir well and put on with a bristle paint brush (I use the little cheap 1 inch wide throw away ones . . . rinse the resolene out of it . . . use it for months) . . . You kind of slop it on to start with . . . then give it the up/down . . . left / right . . . right angle . . . left angle . . . put enough on that serious brushing will cause a bit of foam to come up . . . then brush it until all the bubbles are busted . . . that is one coat. Give it 20 minutes to rest and add a second coat . . . and you should be fixed all and good. May God bless, Dwight

Try Weaver Leather . . . they're a sponsor on here . . . May God bless, Dwight

You just might check with local veteran groups . . . there are people who help veterans with "problems" . . . they find leatherworking as a resource to help them work thru their "problems". If you are not a veteran . . . they may welcome you anyway as someone who brings another group of ideas that may spark a better interest than key fobs, wallets, and belts. Plus . . . you may find someone there with your same interests . . . the help could go both ways. Columbus Ohio Tandy has a really great one . . . and I know the instructor . . . he's a cool dude . . . and apparently it is really helping some of the guys. May God bless, Dwight

If I were making it for you . . . I would do "PARAMEDIC" in larger letters . . . Your job is outstanding . . . so your "title" should be too . . . unless of course the unit has certain limitations. Plus . . . just before you quit on the shield . . . go over the back with 2 or 3 or 4 more coats of 50 / 50 resolene and water . . . that valley between the shield and helmet will allow lots of water to hit the back of it . . . and you don't want water to go in the back and ruin the rest of it. Resolene in several coats on a product that does not flex . . . is the next thing to waterproofing . . . good stuff. May God bless, Dwight

Here in Ohio . . . our best bet for selling stuff is Facebook marketplace . . . I bought a truck . . . milling machine . . . I've seen whole shops on there . . . and I've sold a brass bed headboard . . . portable air tank . . . it's just good. I'd try there first . . . doesn't cost anything unless you want to pay for some special treatment of your ad . . . just make sure you put a good list of what you want to sell . . . if the information doesn't spark an interest . . . no sale. Do you have any machinery? You can list it here . . . or if you want . . . you might break it up into machinery . . . hand tools . . . leather (size & sq footage) . . . you might sell it all on here. May God bless, Dwight

A couple of years ago . . . I was in an Amish store that sells material for sewing . . . kinda like an Amish Joann Fabric shop. They had this tool in there . . . and I knew exactly what it was as soon as I saw it . . . the tool itself was 35 bucks . . . and the set of dies was 18. Both sets fo male and female came in that kit. I went back later and bought another one just like it . . . so I didn't have to swap dies every time I wanted to do a snap. I have been just plain pleased with this tool . . . it is great . . . you have to be careful and follow directions . . . and if you do . . . great snaps every time. I believe I also saw them in Hobby Lobby . . . not certain. There is a cheaper version like this . . . sells for about 18 bucks . . . comes in a kit . . . Amish buy them for the snaps for the women's clothing . . . it is a smaller tool . . . and I don't know if it will do line 24 snaps . . . mine does every time. Nothing against Dot . . . but that's a bunch of money for a snap setter. May God bless, Dwight

Ohio Travel Bag is a name you may look at . . . I believe they are owned by Weaver Leather now May God bless, Dwight

I bought 2 of em . . . asked the lady if it was a Singer . . . she said yes . . . loaded it up . . . got it home . . . then saw that it didn't have the "Singer" across the middle like the one in the picture. Had to go buy another one . . . checked it this time. Yep . . . they are one solid platform for sure. May God bless, Dwight

I use a smaller oval shaped punch . . . Never quite got the hang of it . . . minor miscues really look bad with it. Finally put it in a vise . . . made sure the punch was oriented straight away . . . Took a file and engraved a line down the middle of the top of the punch. No more problems . . . works great. May God bless, Dwight

Excuse me for laughing TomE . . . but just for the heck of it . . . I went to the page on threading . . . the Chinese actually coppied the same images and everything in my book that came with it. I could not afford even a used Singer here . . . and this one was only 335 bucks. May God bless, Dwight

I have severe peripheral neuropathy in my feet and legs . . . (starting in my hands as well . . . ugh) . . . so I have to sit while using it. Coincidentally . . . saw a Singer frame for sale . . . had to laugh when I thought of it . . . Wound up buying two frames . . . will make a table for our church out of the other one. I sit on a folding stool when using it . . . and it is really comfortable. It is a Chinese copy of a Singer 29 something . . . it is one of the two with the smaller spool . . . about the size of a quarter. I was somewhat concerned about the thread . . . turns out that good old carpet thread works great in it . . . I'm also going to remodel it some day down the road . . . in the arms (solid 2 x 4's right now) . . . I'm going to make some long drawers . . . keep all the thread, bobbins, needles, etc. in them. May God bless, Dwight