Dwight

Me too............ May God bless, Dwight

I tend first to agree with all the above, . . . but sometimes I want to see just the simplistic, basic item, . . . So I guess what I'm saying, . . . it is not mandatory, . . . but a lot of your customers have come to think it is, . . . or expect it. You have to look at it through the eyes of the customer. One of the prettiest tooling pieces I ever did, . . . a rose on a black holster, . . . only tooled, not painted, . . . to this day I love that simple piece. It was done for an uncle who has since passed on, . . . I got the holster back from his estate, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Trevor, . . . If you want the rig to carry that cannon, . . . better do it right. Yes, . . . it needs to be curved, . . . there is an excellent video series from John Bianchi, . . . he goes through it. Basically, . . . if you can think of a bow where the string is 6 inches from the bow at the middle, . . . that is the curve you need to make. That keeps it from dropping to his ankles every time he sneezes. I make only dual layer belts, . . . two pieces using contact cement and then sewn together, . . . 7/8 oz veggie tan. Tongue is also double layer, . . . same leather. Buckle holder is 7/8 single layer. Belt loops are 4/5 or 5/6 depending on what is there when I need it. I use a single hole looping system, . . . the loop comes through the hole, . . . around the cartridge, . . . and back out the exact same hole. There is an example on my website, . . . but it is a money belt, . . . made a bit differently than the standard gun belt and it is not curved. Gun belts are not that hard to do, . . . just time consuming. Oh, . . . final point. Make it a practice to add 4 inches to the length of the belt the guy wears, . . . for a hip holster. That way it fits, . . . if you don't, . . . you'll re-make it most likely. May God bless, Dwight

I played around with different ideas, . . . formulas, . . . finally hit on 50/50 fro all of em. So far has worked out OK, . . . don't have to remember different formulas for different dyes, . . . all are the same. I landed there because that is the one where black worked good for color, . . . and there was not that much left over pigment to have to buff off. May God bless, Dwight

Years ago (actually several decades ago) I worked for a construction electrician. I kinda took a look at how he seemed to price his work / product. It was basically a "material x 3" for the final price. 1/3 went for material, . . . 1/3 went for tools, minor consumables, permits, and other "costs" of running the business, . . . and 1/3 went for profit. When I opened my sign shop later, . . . used the same formula, . . . worked there. Now using it in my leather business, . . . again, . . . works for me. May God bless, Dwight

Not meaning to bash your idea, soccerdad, but your process looks to me like a lot of extra effort expended, . . . for a basically inferior end result. Whatever glue used, . . . over the whole of both surfaces, . . . will give a much stronger and better product than stitching alone, . . . unless you are doing some sort of quilt stitching all over the thing. Putting on the contact cement, . . . and letting it dry, . . . usually takes about 1 full minute longer than just putting on the contact cement, . . . and I have full assurance that when the product leaves my shop, . . . it will not come back because the stitching failed and it fell apart. But then again, . . . to each his own. May God bless, Dwight

Go to your local Harbor Freight store (print off a 20% off coupon before going, . . . get it on line at Harbor Freight), . . . Get this..... http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-watt-12-interval-heat-gun-430-800-570-1160-69343.html Also get ..... http://www.harborfreight.com/36-pc-12-in-horsehair-bristle-acid-shop-brushes-61880.html Use the brush, . . . apply a THIN coat of Weldwood contact cement, . . . go back and forth with the brush, . . . smoothing out puddles, . . . and when you have both pieces cemented, . . . gently wand over the pieces with the heat gun. AND, . . . put them together while they are still warm. Finish the process with a rolling pin, . . . a seam roller, . . . or your thumbs, . . . push em together, tight. Works wonders in my book. May God bless, Dwight

Tinker hit the most important part for me, . . . finish after stitching, . . . the finish will then help lock the stitches in place. The only variable on the stitches that I usually do, . . . stitch before or after dyeing, . . . depending on whether my customer wants white stitching or dyed stitching. For a glossy / polished finish, . . . paprhangr gave you the nuts and bolts of the situation: Resolene. Just be sure to cut it 50 / 50 with water before you apply it. Apply one light coat and see how you like it. It is more or less my only finish, . . . for just about everything I do. May God bless, Dwight

Welcome, jroberts, . . . pull up a chair, . . . sit a spell, . . . spin a yarn or two with us. Had to look up where Vine Grove is, . . . got a niece and sister in law down in E town near you. Anyway, . . . what kind of machine are you looking for? Got a "neighbor" I can recommend, . . . he's up the street a bit over a hundred miles, . . . but has been good to me and a bunch of others on here. Its........ http://www.tolindsewmach.com/ May God bless, Dwight

I agree that it really looks good, . . . and the last part is some very, very important advice. My pieces probably don't look like Tinkers, . . . but they do the same job, . . . if you came into my shop and saw them laying there, . . . you'ld wonder what in the heck was going on. They allow me to fasten, snap, rivet, etc, . . . before AND after forming, dying, finishing, etc. May God bless, Dwight

I laid the first one out on some thick cardboard, . . . using John Bianchi's rule of 6 inches bow in the length of the belt. I made my 40 inch belt (normal 36 inch waist, . . . add 4 inches to gun belt) from that layout. I first traced an arc on a 40 inch line, . . . that was 6 inches high in the middle, . . . it is the top edge of the belt. I then added 2 1/2 inches to the radius, . . . making a line for the bottom of the belt. I then cut it out, . . . made my first belt, . . . mine. Later I sold the belt. Then I turned that one pattern into a slip slide type pattern I can open up to whatever size I need to make the next one. That's how I do it. May God bless, Dwight

For me, . . . it makes no difference, . . . buscadero or ranger, . . . ALL are cut on the curve. Tried the straight stuff, . . . found out it just don't work as well, . . . especially for us old guys who needs every extra help we can get. May God bless, Dwight

You most likely bought 277 or 346, . . . should be a paper tag under the bottom of the spool. Personally, I like the thread, . . . and if you want to, . . . pulling it through a clean white cloth will remove the biggest part of the wax. Personal choice, . . . I use 346 for just about everything, . . . waxed, . . . from Tandy. May God bless, Dwight

Most of my work is CCW leather, . . . prone to being sweated upon profusely, . . . so I routinely use a 50/50 mixture of Resolene and water on them. On certain special pieces, . . . they get the NF / Beeswax treatment, . . . apply / rub / heat gun, . . . repeat, . . . repeat as necessary, . . . and finally buff to the luster you want. My western rig for my SAA Beretta .45 LC is done that way, . . . love it. But I've never added oil to the rig since I finished it. It's only 6 or 8 years old, . . . should be good for another 50 anyway, . . . maybe one of my great grand nephews will toss it then. May God bless, Dwight

I have routinely lined holsters with both pigskin, . . . and suede, . . . sewed the things together, . . . dressed up the edges (first pass), . . . then dunked the whole doggone thing in a bucket of warm water, . . . did all the bending, shaping, forming that I wanted to do, . . . hung it up for a couple days to dry naturally in the shop, . . . they come out nice. When I say line, . . . I mean two layers of leather, . . . stuck together with Weldwood contact cement. They were laid flat when I put them together, . . . rolled the rolling pin over them, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I weigh it out, . . . equal portions of virgin bees wax (got my own virgin bees ), . . . and neats foot oil. Stick it in a jar, . . . stick the jar in my Salvation Army $10 crock pot with enough water to float the jar, . . . Turn it on, . . . when the concoction is a nice runny liquid, . . . I set out muffin papers in a muffin pan, . . . pour the concoction into the muffin papers, . . . let it cool. When I want to use it then, . . . grab a hunk of it in the muffin paper, . . . rub it anywhere you want to waterproof something. It DOES lightly darken the leather. I also rub some on, . . . hit it with the heat gun to melt it into the leather, . . . do that until I get the finish I want, . . . shines like new copper penny. May God bless, Dwight

Yes

Contact ciminodw@gmail.com..........

I've had my aluminum one for about 8 years, . . . had to take it back once for a problem we could not diagnose any other way. Turned out to be a slipped disc so to speak, . . . was not charged for service call as it was covered under the warranty. It'll probably be sold in my estate after I turn room temperature. May God bless, Dwight

Are you looking for a vertical or horizontal hold? May God bless, Dwight

Are you looking for a vertical or horizontal hold? May God bless, Dwight

Hey, . . . they're great if you ask me. I've got a 10+ pound hunting rifle, . . . scope, . . . bipod, . . . and a single point on the left side of the receiver at the rear. Left hand controls the weapon all by itself (with help from the sling) leaving the right hand for other important duties: binocular, sandwich, coffee, door handle, tree branch, cookie, . . . whatever. But unlike your system, . . . my barrel is at least tipped up all the time, . . . not hanging down to get stuffed into the Ohio clay. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, John, . . . you obviously went up on Morse Road, . . . maybe met Scott there, . . . I was in your shoes almost 20 years ago. Been a customer there for a number of years, . . . taught holster making class there for a couple of years. I'm 35 miles north of the store, . . . holler if I can be of help. May God bless, Dwight

One of my favorite IWB holsters for a full size 1911 is 4/5 oz. The only ones I make that are over 9 oz thick, . . . are all two layers, . . . made John Bianchi style. I find that the treatment of the leather is far more important than how much skin is there. As for roughout, . . . it is generally used to keep the holster outside from being too slick and moving around, . . . to look like a spaghetti western cowboy, . . . or in some cases, to be a bit more gentle on the weapon. The hair side will not absorb oil, grit and grime like the flesh side will do, . . . becoming an inadvertent sanding machine, . . . working on your weapon's finish. May God bless, Dwight

Go out to Google, . . . type in youtube multi layer belts. If it is there, . . . you'll see it. I personally wouldn't build a belt like that, . . . but that is just me, . . . May God bless, Dwight