Dwight

Outstanding, . . . awesome, . . . super, . . . Don't know any better words. You do superior work, it is a pleasure, just to be on the same forum with you. May God bless, Dwight

Here is a trifold idea that I did some time back. Guy had a billfold like this, . . . his daughter bought him 30 years ago, . . . it was falling apart. This is my practice workup piece, . . . can't find pics of the final one, . . . but this shows the general idea of it. Pretty simple, . . . back, . . . two insert pieces, . . . one fold over piece, . . . bill holder, . . . done. May God bless, Dwight

I did a very simple 2 layer belt, . . . stitched of course, . . . 46 1/2, . . . saddle tan, . . . for my last 2015 project. It goes to my son's father in law, . . . if he ever gets over here. Happy New Year to all, . . . like chief said, . . . this is one great place to be, . . . y'all take care. May God bless, Dwight

I make insoles for my feet, . . . using veggie tanned, . . . cut out the basic shape, . . . get the leather wet, . . . step on the leather, . . . then pull it up around my feet to mold to my foot's contour. I then cut hard foam pieces to fill in the arch, etc, . . . so I can walk without my feet hollering at me. You could do the same with a piece of veggie tan that was cut say 1 inch bigger all around than your foot, . . . pull it up, . . . mold it to your foot, . . . let it dry, . . . you then would have a "somewhat" pattern for your foot to go by. May God bless, Dwgiht

OK, Badluck, . . . curiosity has the better of me. What are the 4 rivets for? I like the design, . . . and the artwork is really good. I would prefer, . . . myself, . . . a standard pancake, . . . instead of your design . . . but that is my personal choice, . . . and I'm glad you offer choices, . . . makes shopping more fun. May God bless, Dwight

I added a ceiling and a floor to 16 feet of my 24 ft wide car port, . . . put in a non vented propane heater, . . . and I love it. It is my leather shop, . . . reloading room, . . . private get away room, . . . and by being on the other side of the car port, . . . I stay dry traversing the two, . . . but they are far enough apart that no smells cause problems in the house. I had thought of the trailer, . . . a good dual axle with steel siding, . . . steel studs, . . . foam insulation, . . . would be hard to beat. You won't lose money on the trailer, . . . hook it up and go when you move, . . . and you won't have to get ready for shows, . . . just unplug from the house, . . . hook to the truck, . . . and drive. May God bless, Dwight

You have apparently purchased a pre-finished product. I'd go back and get some regular veggie tan leather, . . . I've never been highly successful with the prefinished stuff. May God bless, Dwight

That's a good little gun, . . . nice holster for it as well. May God bless, 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