Dwight

I'm with Art, . . . my CCW belts go out of here as a doubled 7 or thereabouts. I cannot tell you the engineering or anything else as to why it does it, . . . but two pieces of 3/4 bonded together is one heck of a lot stronger than any single layer the same thickness or even thicker. May God bless, Dwight

I saw a pair of gloves once, . . . where the top of the hand, . . . the back of the glove was totally flat. All the bending and forming was done with the palm piece. It put all the stiches up on top of the hand (when the palm is laying flat down on a table). They were side by side where the fingers come together, . . . but did not go down into the valley between the fingers. They looked kinda funky, . . . but that pattern would work form most sewing machines, . . . that is why I even remembered it. That would be my first look, . . . I'd probably try it in a marine vinyl or something like that first to see how it would work for me. Good luck, . . . may God bless, Dwight

I thought about getting a rubber stamp for some of my needs, . . . but being a computer nerd to a certain extent, . . . and having 3 different printers available, . . . I decided to let the computer do my stamping. I have built logos, avatars, return address, customer addresses, . . . on envelopes, . . . labels, . . . cards, . . . handouts, . . . and I don't need even one ink pad. But that is my way, . . . and it has worked for me. May God bless, Dwight

AND, . . . if you tape the back, . . . you can use a strap cutter, . . . yessir, you can. You can also make a jig, . . . see the little drawing. May God bless, Dwight pig skin jig.bmp

Got a PM from him 1 March last year, . . . nothing since. We discussed Mop and Glo. Hope everything is good, . . . just don't know any other way to contact him. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Shaunread, the screenshot below is a better one, . . . the first one I got looked like the one you posted. With the links to delivery, shipping, returns, etc just too prominently posted, . . . that was what I referred to as legal mumbo-jumbo. Your belts, key fob, the strap, even the wallets simply look like raw cut straps with a buckle or sewing. There is no design, no tooling, and worst of all, . . . the edges are simply raw leather. They need to be burnished, slicked, and professional looking, . . . which they are not at this point. The color you chose (tan) looks far too much like raw leather, . . . giving the idea that it isn't even dyed, . . . much less finished. I know you are trying to project yourself to the young, willing to spend, trendy crowd, . . . and perhaps a model, tastefully adorned with your products would do more than the simple pictures. Not to be bragging, . . . but take a look at my website: www.dwightsgunleather.com and you can see something of what I am talking about. The opening to the front page shows a product, . . . and how it is used, . . . with a model. The clothing was specifically chosen to appeal to the cowboy customer, to the male customer, and to the conservative customer. The model chosen is just a good average, . . . not pencil thin, . . . not fat, . . . and the shirt chosen is associated with working men, the blue chambray shirt. When you open the page, . . . your eyes naturally go to the pictures, . . . they tell a story, . . . and they attempt to create a "he's one of us" thought in the eyes of the beholder. Think in terms of your favorite commercials or ads on TV, . . . what did you see that peaked your interest? Product being used ! Competitive or "less expensive" ! A little humor ! Incorporate some of that, . . . it goes a long way in separating your product from the "rest of the world", . . . which is what you have to do to succeed commercially. In the US, . . . a number of years ago, . . . there was only one identifiable trait to the Avis car rental agency that thousands of dollars of research could pinpoint. They were 2nd in size to Hertz. They locked onto "We're only the 2nd biggest, . . . so we try harder" and their business $$$$ soared. Find your niche, . . . you'll succeed. You have the main things needed to be successful, . . . good ideas, . . . willingness to re-vamp, change, learn, . . . using quality materials. May God bless, Dwight

To be brutally honest, . . . looking at your website, . . . I would not bother past the first page. Simply stated, to me it is not attractive, . . . shows me no reason whatsoever to go to another page, . . . and shows me products that look unfinished to me. Your belt prices (in US dollars) are far and away too expensive for what "appears" in the picture. That same looking belt can be purchased at Walmart in the US for probably 10 to 15% of your price. Steps to improve: 1. Move all the legal mumbo-jumbo to the bottom of the page, . . . in smaller letters, . . . or, . . . just take it down. Most people will ask about what concerns them, . . . whether it be your shipping policy, . . . return policy, . . . etc. 2. Put products with some pizzazz on that front page, . . . let it be the first thing the customer sees. 3. Draw attention to YOU, . . . do that by mentioning your university, . . . age group, . . . where you live, . . . in so doing, you identify with certain groups that "may" pick up on the "birds of a feather flock together" syndrome, . . . making them feel more attracted to you, and therefore possibly your products. I may have hurt your feelings, . . . and that was not the intention, . . . because in today's world of advertising / attracting customers, . . . you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO BE UNIQUE in something, . . . and your website simply does not do that. I certainly wish you the best, . . . you are to be commended for your effort so far, . . . just polish it up a bit, . . . don't get discouraged, . . . and you'll get there. May God bless, Dwight

I may be one of them, glockanator, . . . as I do it sometimes. Most of the time it is because I have a very lazy streak in myself. It can be easier to poke the holes and hand sew it, . . . than to mess around adjusting the tension to get the stitches right on the thick stuff, . . . then have to mess around straightening it up again for the thinner stuff. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Oh, . . .and yes kid77, . . . when I do it, . . . it is definitely saddle stitching for that project part. I have also been known to use it to space the stitches correctly, . . . and make sure they are straight up and down, . . . something I have never perfected to my standards with an awl. May God bless, Dwight

You may also suggest that if he is ever shoved down by an antagonist, . . . lands on his back, . . . with the weapon between his spine and the concrete, . . . he may be paralyzed for life. I've had requests, . . . turned every one down on that simple thought alone. May God bless, Dwight

If you contact Galco, . . . they will sell you the paddle, . . . it's plastic, . . . and by far the best material for for the paddle. Take a look at some of their paddle holsters, . . . I had one once, . . . went to an IWB, . . . it's more concealed. The down side to a paddle holster is they wiggle-waggle on your belt, . . . and you have to almost have a USNavy pea coat as a cover garment to not let it be seen. May God bless, Dwight

Or if you are handy with wood working, . . . I did one for a S&W model 29 a few years back. Still have the model, . . . customer still has the holster, . . . he was tickled pink with it. May God bless, Dwight

Simply put, . . . it is a wrap around holster with a shoulder strap, and a belt strap, . . . a suicide strap keeps the gun from falling out if he bends over to tie his shoe. Look at this example, . . . it's for a military pistol, . . . but shows the general idea. May God bless, Dwight

PM Sent

You'll have to be more specific, . . . 3 oz will work for some applications, . . . a double 8 oz might be needed in another. Is it for looks alone? Carrying a bunch of stuff on it? Woman? Man? Dress? Utility? May God bless. Dwight

Actually, . . . it can hurt. First off, . . . the belts won't wrinkle unless the maker does some radically wrong things, . . . and secondly, . . . the contact cement will not adhere to the filament tape as well as the leather, . . . it can come loose, . . . leaving only the stitching holding it together, . . . I prefer mine to stay "together" as long as it is a belt, . . . so I don't put any foreign object in my leather belts, . . . other than the metal and stitching. May God bless, Dwight

I make, sell, and wear a double belt. I usually make them of blanks cut from the same hide, . . . generally cut side by side. The better looking of the two becomes the outside, . . . which will wrap around and through the buckle, . . . come back and fasten to itself, . . . and lay flat next to the inside piece. I use good quality buckles, . . . and I Chicago screw them together. None of my belts has ever been returned as being worn out. Comfort is in the waistline of the wearer, . . . and while in the pulpit on Sunday morning extolling the virtues of Jesus Christ, . . . it sometimes is a bit more comfortable to have my thinner Ranger belt on, . . . but I also do not have my 1911, and two 8 round magazines hanging off it. Sometimes, I will use one thicker piece and a thinner piece as Chief said he does, . . . but usually mine come from a 7 oz piece of leather. It is (if right on the money) .109 thickness which will result in a .218 thickness belt. The one I currently wear is right at .240 and is a little stiff, . . . but I personally like it better that way. The ones I make and sell will generally start at .180 overall thickness for a slim, ladies belt, . . . to the .250 for Mr. Big Guy whose girth is substantial. And, . . . yes, . . . a few thousandths of an inch WILL make a substantial difference in the comfort level it gives. There is no "one size fits all" in this question, . . . I hope this helps you, . . . may God bless, Dwight

Avion, . . . where are you located? Reason I ask, . . . I've got a couple spare marble pieces, . . . if you're close, . . . I'm sure we could work out something. I wasn't thinking earlier, . . . Electrathon certainly has the other most likely component. May God bless, Dwight

Avion, . . . I am not the "best" person to answer this because I don't do a lot of stamping, . . . and there just isn't enough money left in Ft. Knox to get me to do a lot of basket weave, . . . it's just not worth the wear and tear on my very last nerve. But having said all that, . . . just about every time I have an issue with a stamp or my stamping, . . . I stop and take stock, . . . and I've usually either started before the leather was really ready, . . . or allowed it to get too dry. I usually give it a real good 5 to 8 second dunk, . . . then let it lay on a paper towel on my marble until it has turned almost a "dry" color, . . . before I do much stamping if I really am interested in the piece I'm working on. I use a 1 pound mallet, . . . and I've found that 4 or 5 or 6 "tap-tap" blows will usually equal one "whack" blow, . . . and most of the time will be done a lot more accurately. Whacking the stamp does not work out for me, . . . but again that is just me. Best wishes my friend, . . . wish I could help more. May God bless, Dwight

Mine is usually just a good "dunk", . . . doesn't last over 5 or 6 seconds. Then I give it a few minutes to allow the water level to even out. I have to do that because almost all my Western rigs are two layers bonded together, . . . need that time for the water to get down to the bottom fibers in the stack. I've never had a problem doing that. You also won't want to allow it to get all sloppy, soaking, wet, . . . as the stamping and stuff will lose it's crispness, . . . look more like something rolled out by a press in China, . . . rather than fine detailed hand stamping. May God bless, Dwight

Driften, . . . this is my pocket holster I made for my Colt Det Special, . . . works really well. The leather is 4/5 oz, . . . measured out at about .070 thickness, . . . veggie tan, . . . no oil, no dye, no finish, . . . turned it flesh side out to aid in the holster retention in the pocket, . . . but not for the gun. I sewed the front edge together to give it some stiffness, . . . back is just contact cemented, . . . have carried it that way for years. May God bless, Dwight

OK, . . . I cheat, . . . I'm guilty, . . . I put my Chicago screws in by laying the female onto one of those red rubber erasers kids used to have when they did homework. I push down hard as I am turning the screw, . . . like Electrathon said, . . . it'll hold em. Actually, I sometimes have a bear of a time getting them off when I've put them on this way, . . . but at least they don't fall off. Tandy also sells a different version of this screw, . . . with an open back, . . . and teeth on the inside, . . . they can be pulled down really tight. May God bless, Dwight

I finally got smart a few years back: went to Harbor Freight, . . . bought a whole package of brushes, . . . 36 brushes for 3 bucks. One will last a whole day, . . . pitch it at the end of the day. Contact cement is in the can with the pry up lid (from Lowes), . . . No drippy, . . . no droppy, . . . no sloppy, . . . well, ............most of the time anyway I refuse to do it any other way, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I made one like this (this was my practice piece) for a guy a few years back. His just like it was literally falling apart. His daughter had got it for him 30 or so years earlier, . . . overlook the obvious errors, . . . again this was not a finished piece, . . . just a few pieces of leather hacked out to see how it would go together. Got a note from him a couple weeks after I sent him the wallet, . . . he was thoroughly pleased. No, . . . don't expect to see a return customer for this one. My next wallet will probably be this also, . . . soon as I wear out the one I have. May God bless, Dwight

I could never run a high production shop, . . . I can do one belt, one holster, one pair of chaps, one bridle, . . . etc, . . . but I simply do not do 2 or 3 of anything at a time. Every time I try it, . . . I screw up something, . . . have sometimes gone in the hole because of it, . . . just quit it. If people don't like my wait times, etc, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Here is what I use, . . . has never let me down. The tools all fit in a Dremel. I also use a # 4 edger. May God bless, Dwight