Dwight

I have no idea who bad mouthed the stitch groover from Tandy, . . . but I'd bet it was either someone who did not know how to use one, . . . or someone wanting you to buy his fancy one, . . . or one like his fancy one. I am in the holster, belt, knife sheath, purse, and wallet (reluctantly only) business as a hobby. My Tandy groover has been in service since somewhere near 10 years, . . . still working fine, . . . used it today. My belts alone are almost never shorter than 35 inches, . . . add 9 inches to the blank to start, . . . doing both sides, . . . both edges, . . . which works out at 176 inches per belt, . . . and that is the short one. I get belts for them guys that wear 53 inch britches, . . . You want to spend more than their $15, . . . have at it, . . . I surely would not. May God bless, Dwight May God bless, Dwight

If you make the belt out of two equal thicknesses of veggie tanned leather, . . . contact cemented together, . . . sew the edges, . . . you will have a belt you can will down to your grandchild possibly. They are absolutely sturdy, . . . strong, . . . look great, . . . wear great, . . . and if you carry "stuff" (cell phone, . . . handcuffs, . . . CCW, . . . pager, . . . ammunition, . . . flashlight, . . . etc) on it, . . . it won't sag. If you use almost anything else, . . . the edges will not burnish really well together, . . . wind up looking raggedy in a couple years or so, maybe even sooner. May God bless, Dwight

My first one did not look that good, . . . Altogether, I'd say good job for the first one. May God bless, Dwight

By the time all is said and done on that "first" one, . . . profit is slim to none when you add in the blue gun. Fortunately, . . . after that, . . . it's a whole lot better. May God bless, Dwight

Mine is about an inch and a half thick, . . . but I'd say your's will probably do the trick. The important thing is to allow the stamp to do it's work, . . . which on a spongy surface, . . . doesn't happen correctly. I would, however, . . . build a box to put that thing in, . . . with handles at each end, . . . and bring the wood up around the edges so it is flush with the top. My piece sometimes aggravates me when I get kinda tired and rest my wrists on the edge, . . . with a rounded wooden edge you would not have that problem. I have meant to do that to mine, . . . but for now just throw a towel on it. May God bless, Dwight

Tinker hit both nails right on the head. I've just about made it a habit, . . . and part of my "pre sewing check out", . . . to check the bobbin. I make just enough belts that I got into that habit, . . . knowing that on my machine with 346 thread, . . . I'm always good for one belt on a bobbin, . . . but need to check for that second one. May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . first thing you gotta do is go spend time at the EAA museum, . . . tell em Dwight sent you. Then, . . . get into the habit of dip dyeing your projects. I use all Feibings products, . . . I cut them with thinner, . . . half dye / half thinner. I use a couple of old cake pans I scrounged out of my wife's kitchen, . . . they're 9 by 14 or something thereabouts, . . . 2 inches deep. The leather goes in, . . . end for end, . . . dunked all the way around, . . . and sometimes it's tricky to get the last few places dyed, . . . and sometimes it gets a bit messy, . . . BUT IT GETS THE JOB DONE. Another process is spraying it with an air gun, . . . but it is only surface deep, . . . I don't like it as well. Both processes work well though, . . . purses, holsters, belts, billfolds, pouches, etc. May God bless, Dwight

Always was a fan of his, . . . you did well in your re-creating the image. I thought about making one for myself several times, . . . but I guess I just don't think I could do justice to the persona, . . . gave up the idea. If I did, . . . I would hope it came out as well as yours did. May God bless, Dwight

Two things: 1) I don't like pigskin for a liner, . . . it just never worked for me as well as I wanted it to, and sometimes I could not get the edge to look good, . . . it seemed to pretty much stay together, . . . but looked funky, . . . and 2) try using suede leather, . . . I've never had any issues with the ones I've done in suede, . . . and the old wives tale about it rusting your gun because of the chrome salts, . . . it's so much hogwash in my opinion. Better yet, . . . use two layers of the same thickness of veggie tan, . . . my "better" grade western holsters are all made this way. It is the best lining you can do for the treatment of the weapons, . . . and it seems to be more indestructable. That said, . . . I pretty much use your process except for the gum trag. Had a bottle of it, . . . threw it in the trash. If you get any of it any place where it is not supposed to be, . . . forget dying that piece of leather. Gum trag is a wonderful resist for stopping dye in its tracks. But to answer the HOW??? I think it was John Bianchi in one of his videos, . . . maybe not, . . . whatever. When you are doing the forming of the holster, the last thing you do before you hang it up to dry, . . . gently take your thumb and flare the mouth of the holster slightly outward. It is not supposed to look like the fat end of a Bflat trumpet, . . . just ever so slightly flared, . . . giving the weapon a sort of "funnel" to guide it down in. The upside of that flaring is that it also adds incredible strength to that outside of the holster. It will seriously help it from crushing flat should it get really bad squeezed. I've never had a problem using this process. May God bless, Dwight

When the belt is laid down on the table, . . . loops up, . . . flat, . . . it should look like a big smile (or frown depending on which ends are up). My 40 inch belt has a 6 inch curve if you draw a line left to right, . . . point to point, . . . then measure from the line to the belt. Both pieces are cut, . . . curved, . . . loops put on outside piece, . . . then glued together. If you are thinking curve like a curve around a barrel, . . . you are thinking of the wrong curve. It's the curve you get from a smiley face that you want in the belt. That is what keeps it up around the cowboys hips when he sneezes wearing a hog leg. I pretty much make all of mine 2 1/2 wide, . . . everyone seems to like that the best. I've made some 3 inch, . . . they are a bit wide. I made my template, . . . using a string, . . . pencil, . . . and a needle. Needle is the center of the arc, . . . string holds the pencil, . . . make a big arc for it. Then I cut the template, . . . made markings on it to make a 34, 35, 36, 37, etc inch belt just by sliding one end around. You might look down in the holster and belt forum on here, . . . some excellent tutorials there. May God bless, Dwight

Looks like black to me.............. May God bless, Dwight

If you want the rig to carry that cannon, . . . better do the belt 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. This is ONLY done on the outside piece of the belt, . . . NOT on both pieces. 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 have no experience with pleather, . . . but I would not hesitate for one instant: getting together the facts and figures about the manufacture of pleather, it's contents, it's toxicity, . . . as well as pointing out that the leather most of us use is a by product of meat growers, . . . and by using the "cast off's" of another industry, we are indeed being better stewards of the planet. But then again, . . . she'd a nut case, . . . and will most likely twist and spin the whole topic until you become Attila the Hun / Jeffery Dahmer. Good luck. May God bless, Dwight

I had made one identical for it for my XD, double stack, that I did not keep very long. Must have traded off the mag carrier too. At any rate, . . . this is how I did it, . . . you can see that the front piece, . . . and both straps are cut from one piece of leather, and the back is a second piece. I made my template using yellow manila folder material for the pattern, . . . then cut the leather and simply stitched it together. I then wet them real good, . . . jam the mags in to do the forming, . . . allow them to set for a couple hours, . . . gently tug out the mags, . . . let them finish drying for a day or two. I then dip dye them, . . . resolene coat them, . . . apply the snaps, . . . and we're good to go. Here are some picture of the single stack rig. May God bless, Dwight

That'll usually work, . . . or, . . . depending on how you plan on finishing the wallet, . . . if you plan on adding any oil, . . . this is a good itme & place to do it, . . . let it set for a day, . . . work it slowly, . . . I've also done it with other final finishes, . . . used them to dampen the leather, . . . bend it, . . . the do a nice final on the areas I handled in the bending routine. May God bless, Dwight

I am not certain on the website, . . . I don't think so. But this whole western belt and holster rig was done with it, . . . it is my personal "parade" rig, . . . so to speak. It is a product of the John Bianchi video's, . . . and the 50/50 mix. Pardon the scratches and digs, . . . it happens when you use a piece of equipment, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I have that situation when I make a western gun belt, . . . it has a 2 1/2 inch wide belt that needs a keeper on the underside to hold them together up front, . . . along with the buckle and billet. I put the keeper in the bottom of the belt, . . . in the exact position it belongs, . . . and using my Boss, . . . I sew across the keeper, . . . about 4 stitches before it and about 4 stitches after. BUT, . . . I don't thread my machine at this point, . . . all I'm doing it making holes. I then pull the keeper out, . . . put it in the proper location at the top of the belt, . . . thread the machine, . . . and sew, . . . starting in the last hole I made in the belt. I sew all the way around the belt, . . . including sewing the keeper on the top side, . . . and when I get back around to the keeper on the bottom side, . . . I sew up to within a couple stitches of it, . . . pull off 20 or so inches of thread from my bobbin and my spool, . . . and sew those last 12 to 15 stitches by hand, . . . including the keeper. If you did not see me do it, . . . you would swear it was done by a very tricky machine. This is also the way John Bianchi shows to do a Western belt in his holster videos. Hope this helps, . . . May God bless, Dwight

My first choice of course you are already doing, . . . line it with suede. I personally will not make it any other way for my own use, . . . But if someone insisted, . . . my choice would be several applications of an old fashioned product: 50/50 virgin bees wax and neatsfoot oil, . . . weigh them out on a scale, . . . equal weights of each, . . . put them in a jar in a crock pot or a pan on the stove, . . . melt them together. I pour it out into a muffin pan that has muffin papers in it, . . . makes little waxy muffins. THEN, . . . rub the hardened wax/oil product across the back and front, . . . like you were using a piece of chalk and trying to color it. Next, . . . hit it with a heat gun set on low or med, . . . you want to melt the wax, . . . and get the oil to penetrate with the melted wax. It'll take several coats, . . . you just play with it, . . . you will find the place you like it. It will buff up to a nice shine if you want, . . . or you can leave it kinda dull, . . . I basically use that product for all my "special" holsters, knife sheaths, etc. for those who want the old fashioned look and feel. BUT, . . . it is a great product and a great finish. It does however, . . . make you have to sand that flesh side if there are bad sections, . . . you want it smooth to start out with. May God bless, Dwight

Waldo, . . . says hello,........ Scotty at Tandy will treat you right, . . . Over there on Morse Road May God bless, Dwight

I've never had that problem, . . . but after about 3 or 4 editions of it, . . . I'd probably have a little bad boy hissy fit. Then, . . . I'd take off the spool of thread, . . . take out the bobbin, . . . take out the needle, . . . I'd wipe down and clean all those parts I could get to, . . . doing a "tear apart, . . . clean, . . . oil, . . . grease" type PM on the machine. Next, . . . I would put in a new needle, . . . different bobbin, . . . and a different spool of thread. If that did not solve it, . . . off to the sewing machine fix it shop it would go. Through 55 or so years of working with mechanical "stuff", . . . I've learned most importantly, that most problems are common problems, . . . everyone has the same ones, . . . they are even somewhat predictable. BUT, . . . every now and then there is this other one, . . . and yours seems to be in that category, . . . and the process outlined above I've used on guns, sewing machines, cars, trucks, tractors, and even people to a certain degree (I'm a pastor also). May God bless, Dwight

OK, . . . I didn't catch that on the first go around. You are using a very thick piece, . . . and a very thin liner. I use two pieces (usually out of the same hide, . . . cut back to back) of the same weight. I generally use 6/7 and follow the instructions from John Bianchi's old VHS tapes, . . . and sometimes I will get a few wrinkles in the fold over for the belt slot, . . . but that is usually all. Try using two pieces that are closer in thickness, . . . you just might get rid of the problem. May God bless, Dwight

I've never had any real problem with wrinkles in my lined holsters. I lay down both pieces on a flat surface, . . . cover both with a coat of Weldwood contact cement, . . . put em together, . . . roll em with the rolling pin or something similar, . . . fold as needed, . . . cement the edges, . . . sand, edge, sew. I use a Tippmann Boss machine. I then wet form the holster to the weapon, . . . voila, . . . when it's dry, . . . it's done. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Chuck........... May God bless, Dwight

Good looking job, . . . but way too big for this old hillbilly to carry. You do great work my friend.......... May God bless, 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