Dwight

Generally, the biggest pieces I dye are flapped western style holsters, . . . or the cartridge belt for that holster. I use the 9 x 13 (or somewhere thereabouts) cake pan I cabbaged from my wife's stash of pots and pans. I actually have three: one for black, . . . one for browns, . . . one for "others". I pour something near a quart of dye, cut 50/50 with Feibings thinner, . . . and just snake the piece through it, . . . making sure every nook and cranny gets covered. And when I say dip, . . . that is very accurate, . . . I do not leave it in the dye any longer than it takes to take on the color by getting wet in it. It takes me all of probably 30 seconds to dip dye a 40 inch gun belt from stem to stern. Hope this helps, . . . may God bless, Dwight

You got me, . . . I cut all my dye 50/50 with Feibings thinner, . . . whatever it is, . . . and dip dye. No problems,.............. well, . . . almost no problems, . . . saddle tan does sometimes come out darker than I wanted it, . . . but we're talking degrees, . . . not total failure. I couldn't tell how big that piece is, . . . looks large, . . . try dipping it, . . . worst thing can happen, . . . it's really messed up worse. Oh, . . . and I never moisten the leather. I know people swear by it, . . . but think about it, . . . leather is differently dense from one square inch to another, . . . you put water into it first, . . . then try to dye it with an oil based product that may displace the water in this square inch, . . . but not over there where it is more dense or less dense. Nahhhh, . . . get it wet, . . . OR, . . . dye it, . . . but don't do both, . . . that's my motto. May God bless, Dwight

Smart phone / dumb phone, . . . makes no difference if you can do 2 things: take the picture, . . . then send it to yourself as a message, a text, or as a picture. My old phone (dumb one) would take the picture, . . . but I had no real way of getting the image off the phone. Verizon had disabled the cable connection, . . . and the salesperson conveniently "forgot" to tell me that when I got my last dumb phone. I researched it this time, . . . got an I-phone 5, . . . am super happy with it, . . . especially with the ability to picture something, . . . send it, . . . talk to the other party about it, . . . takes a lot of uncertainty out of some of the leather work I do. May God bless, Dwight

Take the pattern you used last year, . . . you already know it works, . . . and bling it up. Rhinestones, . . . balls, . . . diamonds, . . . conchos, . . . all kinds of stuff to "bling" with. May God bless, Dwight

What process do you use? Frankly, . . . I dip dye virtually everything I do, . . . and never have a problem like that. And I use Feibings oil dye almost exclusively. May God bless, Dwight

One fellow I talked to on here, . . . sews or glues the beads to one piece of leather, . . . then cuts the next piece of leather so it is a window frame around his beading. I was interested myself, . . . and that was the description he gave me, . . . I think he mostly works with dog collars and such. I AM interested in your beading, . . . can you share some pictures with us? I just finished a couple of loom bead panels myself, . . . size 8 beads, . . . for a fringed leather jacket I am making. May God bless, Dwight

Ya gotta promise not to laugh.............. I take pictures with my I-phone, . . . then email them to myself. Pull em out and run em through the Adobe Photoshop oven, . . . voila, . . . pictures my man. I used to do a camera, . . . onto the chip, . . . chip out, . . . load onto computer, . . . yadda, yadda, yadda. Phone is so much easier and quicker, . . . plus I can take a generally lousy picture with my phone and snazz it up with my Adobe. May God bless, Dwight

You would ask a 71 year old to read what is on that needle???? From what I can see with a 1 inch thick magnifying glass, . . . it looks like 200-25. When I had my machine in for repair, . . . they guy asked me if I needed needles, . . . he asked me the thread I was using, . . . that's what he gave me. They work in my Tippmann Boss. May God bless, Dwight

Alex beat me to it, . . . Resolene is the only thing I would consider using on something like that. All my dog collars I've made used Resolene, . . . have not had one come back yet. BUT, . . . like he also said, . . . I would do a test piece first to make sure the colors don't change or something. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Art................ Just too many folks today getting their bloomers in a wad for someone else's decision or choice. They need to take a chill pill.......... especially those who have no first hand experience with the issue they are complaining about. May God bless, Dwight

Depending on the "look" you want, . . . either 277 or 346 should do right well there. Your veg tan is in the 6/7 ounce category, . . . which I use a lot, . . . and my sewing machine is set up for 346 thread, . . . all my customers are happy with it so far. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Steve, . . . I think I may have solved the problem, . . . but at the same time, . . . it is good to know you are out there. Are your stamps made of delrin or one of the other wonder plastics? Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

Kansan, . . . IFFFF, . . . I had my druthers, . . . a perfect piece of 6 oz works best for me. That makes a belt that is just over .180 thick. I'll go up to .240 for special belts, . . . but the usual, . . . standard, . . . I like to keep in the .165 to .200 area. It makes a good sturdy belt, . . . yet it is not super thick and fat. One thing you will want to avoid on belts that will be subject to loads, . . . never sew across the belt. What happens is the sewing becomes a perforation line, . . . and it makes your sewing line THE weak point of the belt. It's an old trick I picked up from harness, . . . harness makers never sewed across their straps, . . . and while I'll admit never losing a belt to this, . . . I just have made it a habit that I do not do it. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Howard, . . . from one old sailor to another, . . . have fun with that. What kind of holster did you make? Post some pictures, . . . everyone here likes to see new ideas. May God bless, Dwight

I'm with ya Gary, . . . one bad customer can ruin your whole day. I'd just give him back his money, . . . toss the holster in a drawer, . . . sooner or later a buddy will need one, . . . he'll be tickled pink when you joke and tell him you need 59 cents for the hardware, . . . but he can have the holster for free. We've all been in your boat, . . . it ain't fun, . . . but with Ebay being what it is, . . . get your holster back, . . . give him his money back, . . . go on down the road. May God bless, Dwight

You'll have to do a better job on the picture. When we click it, . . . it gets even smaller than the little one in the post. Cannot see what you are trying to portray. May God bless, Dwight

Trooper, . . . is the class 4 a walking foot machine, . . . ?? Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

The only one problem I ever had, . . . used a blue gun full size 1911, . . . it was to be for an older Springfield stainless (Loaded???) 1911. The slide was definitely wider on the real gun, . . . messed up the whole thing. BUT, . . . that is THE ONLY problem I've ever had. YMMV May God bless, Dwight

Quite honestly, . . . an hour spent at a Tandy Leather shop should be time well spent. You will have far more questions than you have offered here, . . . and they can answer them as fast as you can ask them. If you should happen to get a dufus salesperson, . . . come back later, . . . or find another store. Even if you have to drove 100 miles, . . . it should be worth it. May God bless, Dwight

Yes, . . .you can, . . . if you handle it while it is still in case (damp). Let it fully, . . . FULLY, . . . dry, . . . my rule is a full 24 hours minimum, . . . before I handle anything serious that I have stamped. And then even, . . . I might drag my feet a bit. Like I said upstairs, . . . I'm not a really good leather stamper, . . . tooler, . . . whatever, . . . so I do my best not to mess up something that I've spent some serious time fixing. May God bless, Dwight

You can mold before or after dyeing, . . . OR, . . . you can use the dye to wet the leather for molding, . . . effectively turning two separate operations into one, . . . and saving time. I dip dye everything I do for the most part, . . . and even if I have already molded it, . . . I'll touch up the molding when I dye it. May God bless, Dwight

Biglew, . . . if you have not already seen this, . . . take a look, . . . this pancake is a bit different from the ones I make, . . . but look to be quite sturdy and useful. This is also an easy to make holster. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=68882&hl= May God bless, Dwight

For that price, . . . I would be in the library, . . . borrowing the book. Sometimes if you bug the local librarian a couple or three times about a book, . . . they'll go get it for you. May God bless, Dwight

I always tool first, . . . (almost always anyway), . . . because if I'm gonna mess up anyplace seriously, . . . it'll be there. If I do, . . . I just toss it and start over, don't have a bunch of other labor involved...............yet. May God bless, Dwight

I got an order for a belt from a niece, . . . need a stamp as she would like to have "butterflies" on her belt. I am not good at carving something that intricate. Hoping somebody has a 1 inch butterfly stamp the'd part with for a reasonable fee, . . . It needs to look something like the picture. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight