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

Like ^^^^^^^^ he said ^^^^^^^^^^^^ pictures just don't show up............ May God bless, Dwight