Dwight

My gun belts are all of 7/8 oz leather . . . exactly 8 oz is 1/8 of an inch . . . so a double layer is 1/4 inch if both pieces were a full 8 oz. Usually the leather I get tends to be a bit shy . . . so my total thickness usually runs in the .200 inches or thereabouts. I generally cut both pieces from the same hide . . . if there are any small blemishes . . . they go to the inside. And yes . . . if the money belt were curved . . . it would fit better. The last couple I made were of 5/6 oz and I did them rough out . . . so they would cling a bit better to the wearer. Again I did not get any complaints . . . but I'm sure I know what happened . . . they cinched them up good and tight to start with . . . and the body heat and perspiration tended to re-mold them . . . similar to that which occurs with regular work belts. I've played a bit with using two different thicknesses . . . and never really liked the feel or the look . . . just one of those things on me. The big aggravation is that using a thinner lining . . . it will tend to bubble and buckle . . . looking wrinkled . . . I try to stay away from that look. May God bless, Dwight

It is probably the same product as Deanr mentioned . . . Tandy sells a "bag stiffener" . . . I've used it on numerous projects . . . strong, lightweight, not extremely expensive, cuts with a razor knife . . . It can go inside your liner . . . and / or can be fabric covered for a "different" look inside the bag . . . as well as making little pockets to attach to it for ink pen, scissors, compass, envelopes, credit cards, or whatever. May God bless, Dwight

I learned to make gunbelts and holsters from John Bianchi . . . a premier leather worker. I watched his lessons on making western drop down gun rigs . . . and while he told you how to do it . . . he did not supply any pattern ideas. I guess he figured if you were hoss enough to jump into it . . .you'ld figure it out. I had to do a bunch of "print screen" shots . . . then print them . . . and measure them and scale them . . . to figure out how to do a bunch of things . . . the belt curve was one. I made a pattern as you can see in the pictures . . . that will open up for bigger or smaller patrons. Look at the edge of the big picture . . . and you'll see the numbers that correspond to the size belt I'm making at the time. For your example . . . I picked a 42 inch belt . . . which is the gun belt size for a person whose normal belt size is 38. In the close up . . . you can see that there is a 4 1/2 inch difference on the curve. I have used this pattern for 20 some odd years now . . . never had anyone complain about it . . . And yes . . . you can save yourself some stitching by making money belts . . . and I've made a few . . . and the sorry things would never stay up like I really wanted them to . . . unless I put them on like a girdle trying to hide 50 lbs of pig fat. They are not one of my favorite items to make. You also have to glue the moneybelt layers together just like a regular gun belt . . . or otherwise it will roll and flop up and down if you are in a truck or car seat. Making a full open money belt might be "authentic" of a few folks from back then . . . but certainly not many. AND . . . I don't make gun belts that are anything but lined. I started that way . . . plan on continuing. May God bless, Dwight

You can do wallets and some purses with this . . . forget belts and holsters. It only takes a 17 needle . . . and 92 thread . . . holsters need a minimum of 207 thread . . . and that is the BARE minimum . . . I do 346 on both belts and holsters . . . as do others. You need a Tippmann Boss or whatever the Tandy Leather equivalent is for that . . . and you are basically looking at 1000 bucks new . . . and whatever used. They are both hand machines . . . one pull on the handle and the push back . . . gets you one stitch. A 40 inch belt at 6 stitches per inch will cost you 500 pulls and 500 pushes . . . and about 1/2 hour. 10 minutes per side with a 10 minute break at the tip of the belt. I did a bunch of em. The single most important question you need to ask whoever is selling you a machine is the maximum thread size . . . if your thread ain't big enough to do the job . . . you will just waste leather and time . . . get frustrated . . . and quit. Oh . . . both of these machines can come with a littl horse looking mount . . . takes up about the space of an end table . . . and none of your apartment neighbors would probably even know you have a machine in the place. May God bless, Dwight

Good job May God bless, Dwight

Never had that problem . . . I use a cheap 1 inch bristle brush . . . slop it on . . . brush it up into a bit of a foam . . . brush it left / right / up / down / crossways . . . until I've brushed out the bubbles . . . never have had any streaking on anything I've ever done. AND . . . I always use it reduced 50/50 with water. May God bless, Dwight

My heavens and OUCH . . . have to wait until I sell some more stuff before I can order it . . . May God bless, Dwight

You quit too early on the Resolene . . . I have armor for my Centurion of Capernaum and the Ceaserean Centurion both of which I built . . . and multiple coats of Resolene have protected both. I haven't had any real problems with either one. May God bless, Dwight

When I get done with a project . . . there will always be at least parts of it that need softened up a bit . . . Belts for example . . . get rolled over a dowel . . . and it usually only takes a couple of passes . . . the new owner always appreciates it being "pre" broken in. Straps on my shoulder holsters are another that get the same treatment . . . And no . . . I don't use chemicals . . . if I do, it is only neatsfoot oil . . . and that is in very very limited quantities. My holsters (pancakes) get the eyes worked over with a board I have that simulates an 1 1/2 belt . . . makes putting it on the first time and wearing it . . . make it feel more natural. It's fairly easy done . . . and works for me May God bless, Dwight

Ya did a good job on that billfold . . . and you took care of my only criticism . . . the corners. They'll get dog eared in a hurry. A number of years ago . . . fellow asked me to re-create a billfold he had had since his daughter was very small . . . and he could not find one anywhere like it. I told him the only way I could do that was if I had the old one to go by . . . he started pulling cards . . . cash . . . pictures . . . yanked it all . . . handed me the old one and asked how long. A short time later it was in the mail . . . and he loved it. This was my practice piece I did first . . .to see if I had it all "right" . . . before I made his and shipped it. I had asked him if he wanted any changes and I got a very quick "NO" . . . so I left the corners square like his original. May God bless, Dwight Dwight

I generally do the key fob thing with my scraps . . . If it's too small for a key fob . . . I don't have much else I can do with it . . . but thanks Bruce . . . the zipper pull thing I never thought of . . . basically because I don't use them. Never have big enough scrap for coasters . . . except for one job that I did 3 times last year . . . and hung on to the 1st two sets of pieces . . . they'll turn into something some day. Like every one else mentioned . . . thanks Bruce . . . we need your expertise. May God bless, Dwight

Forget the idea of only 2 pieces. Cut 3 pieces . . . front . . . back . . . and one piece which is the bottom and both sides. Stitch the edges . . . or lace the edges . . . makes a pretty bag. May God bless, Dwight

Not in my lifetime. May God bless, Dwight

Thank you Sir . . .

Thanks, Bruce . . . could not find anything on Ebay . . . and Amazon listed them but "out of stock" . . . Was just hoping someone here had em. Thanks again . . . Dwight

I'm looking for a set of DVD's (or VHS) on John Bianchi's "The Art of making Western Holsters" If you have them and would like to sell them . . . let me know. May God bless, Dwight

What he ^^^^^^ said May God bless, Dwight

If you are using Feibings oil dyes . . . 24 hrs before using the dye . . . a light coat of neatsfoot oil on the flesh side . . . and laid out flat to absorb the oil evenly . . . will just about guarantee a very very smooth and even dye job. Also cut the dye 50/50 with thinner . . . That is especially with some of the lighter tans . . . saddle tan being one for sure. Took a long time to catch on to that trick . . . but it is one that virtually every time works. May God bless, Dwight

Not sure who encouraged the hot water before dying . . . never heard of that idea before. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks maggie . . . it is as a matter of fact . . . . May God bless, Dwight

Since I only dip dye . . . I settled on 24 hours back years ago . . . and follow thru. Makes for easy planning on my work load. One thing you HAVE TO DO is make sure it is dry enough that you can buff off the excess dye pigment. And, . . . yes . . . there will always be some. That is what makes for a really nice looking piece of finished leather. Folks who do not buff off that pigment leave a grainy . . . ugly piece of leather work that will always feel like it has sand glued to the top of it. THAT is the dye. Buffing too soon can streak it . . . so wait until it is completely dry. May God bless, Dwight

Those are absolutely beautiful . . . and far beyond my capabilities . . . I'm using strips of the same leather used inside for the panels . . . using that as strips for my zipper. Yeah . . . brass zippers for sure . . . I plan on David's Bible cover most likely outliving his Bible. We do dumb things to books as people . . . and finally wind up wrecking them. But the other thing in that picture . . . the laced one !!! Never . . . and I mean never. I did a wallet one time . . . laced it around . . . decided then and there that if I ever . . . EVER . . . got that thing done . . . I would never . . . ever . . . do any more. I've kept that promise too. Got several pieces of that stuff hanging in the shop . . . I look at it and laugh at it from time to time. May God bless, Dwight

JR . . . from making holsters . . . I learned early on that a pattern of what you want to put in leather . . . makes making the leather a whole BIG bunch easier. I have a wooden "model" of David's Bible . . . with the added amount it will take to allow the Bible to rest in there without the edges becoming cramped or bent. A lady ruined my personal Bible when she made one for me and it was too small. Ignorantly at the time . . . I tried to use it anyway . . . ruined the spline. Long story short . . . I'm not familiar with Stohlmans book cover stuff . . . other things yes . . . that . . . no. But this fellow here on Leather Makers Supply . . . makes it so it is almost impossible to screw it up. Once you have the zipper on the interior (pulled around your pattern and "taped" together . . . you can open and close the zipper . . . telling you how hard or easy you will have it later. You then just add the outside cover . . . unzip it . . . turn it so the outside is facing up . . . start on one end of the open end of the zipper . . . sew up around it . . . come back on the other side of the zipper . . . do some lock stitches . . . cut the thread . . . you are done. I'm also going to add a couple card pockets . . . and a small triangular pocket like the fellow did on his sample he showed us. Looks like with the covid doing it's thing against me . . . probably be at least a few days . . . but I'll pop up pictures as I go . . . unless I forget. May God bless, Dwight

That's cool . . . quick . . . simple . . . and tastefully done . . . Make the next one green . . . looks better in a fly fishing setting . . . May God bless, Dwight