Dwight

I don't do a lot of bags, . . . etc. . . . but when I do, . . . they are contact cemented together. Trying to hold several pounds of leather, . . . keep the stitches aligned, . . . make sure you are doing it right, . . . it's too much for me if I'm also having to hold two pieces (or three or four) of leather in the right place. For me, . . . contact cement is as important as the sleigh is to Santa Claus. As for rubber cement, . . . over time, . . . it dries out, . . . turns loose, . . . doesn't hold any more. I've got stuff stuck together with contact cement that's been there over 20 years, . . . still holding on. Stitches can break, become worn & frizzled, . . . but if the CC is still there, . . . it'll keep it together. OTOH, . . . if you only need it to hold long enough to stitch, . . . go for it, . . . rubber cement is great for positioning and stuff. May God bless, Dwight

When I make them, . . . 1st thing, . . . ALWAYS contact cement the zipper to the leather. You will be more than unhappy if you don't, . . . or at least I was. 2nd, . . . because I have a Tippmann Boss that I use for such things, . . . I have to do it in a certain way. Looking at the gunbag, . . . zipper open in a big "V", . . . zipper tongue at the bottom of the "V", . . . I start sewing up in the right hand corner of the "V", . . . come down that leg, . . . sew over to the other side, . . . and go back up the left side. I do that so my spacing from the edge of the leather to the stitches remains constant, . . . and for me it reduces the option for the leg to "pucker". AND, . . . I don't use the zippers you described. I go buy an actual brass zipper the appropriate length for the bag. Good luck, may God bless, Dwight

I'm an old fan of the Lone Ranger, Tonto, Silver, and Scout, . . . and I just saw a left handed, female Kemosabe in the picture. I'm sure all the guys who played the Lone Ranger wish they had shooting skills like hers. That's all a really good looking bunch of leather work. May God bless, Dwight

Is her nickname "The Lone Rangerette" Sorry, . . . could not help myself, . . . bad jokes are worse for me than Snickers,........................ May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Jim, . . . I use a little different approach, . . . but it comes out the same. One thing I thought you probably should have added, . . . "Don't ever let the buyer TELL you what size belt he/she needs". Measure the belt he/she is wearing, . . . then ask them if they are going to wear the new one any differently than this one. One of my first belts was for a guy who wore 36 waist Levi's, . . . so he wanted a 36 in belt. His "want" was 36, . . . his "need" was 41. That and having made a gun / holster rig (53 inch belt) that turned out too small, . . . in the 30 days I took to get his order done, . . . well, . . . I had to add 3 inches to the belt. Have fun, belt makers, . . . Jim gave you all some really good tips, . . . use em. May God bless, Dwight

The resolene SEALS it, . . . in a kinda final way for the most part. I'm really not much on horse tack, . . . someone else can help you more there, . . . mosey down the forum lists till you get to saddles, . . . someone there can put you on THE stuff for your bridles. Make sure you PM me with the finished product, . . . I'd love to get into that stuff here, . . . but I live 40 miles from the center of Quarterhorse USA, . . . and for the most part, . . . tack is easy come by if you are willing to ask around for it. Just no real market for the custom stuff from what I've seen. May God bless, Dwight

Make it out of kydex. Seriously, Riley, . . . waterproof and leather are two terms that just don't go together unless you are talking about work boots and vaseline petroleum jelly. They can be come waterproof to the point that you can work outside all day and your boots stay dry. But for normal leather products, . . . I like Resolene, . . . it makes them water "resistant", . . . and I'm sure some of the waxes do too, . . . someone else will have to chime in on them. Another product is a cake made of 50/50 (by weight) virgin beeswax and neetsfoot oil, . . . blended together in a jar, . . . in a double boiler or a crock pot, . . . poured out into muffin cups. Apply it in a similar fashion to paste shoe polish. Again, . . . water resistant, . . . but not water proof. It is what is on the boots I have on my feet right now, . . . for going out in the snow. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, . . . I use water and a couple of electric burnishers for 99% of my burnishing, . . . and Resolene keeps the edges nice once I get them there. I had some issues with some edge coating things, . . . like gum trag, . . . finally settled on just plain water and friction, . . . it works, . . . Now if we were doing a super custom piece that someone is going to pony up several hundred / thousands dollars for, . . . we might re-visit this. As it is, my customers are practical, . . . down to earth people who appreciate a good looking product, . . . but are not all in a wad for perfection. Fact is, . . . most of em come to me for the hand made look that is different from the kydex or machine punched / mass produced junk you find at Walmart. May God bless, Dwight

Just remember (this is why I rarely if ever use it), . . . if you spill ANY gum trag, . . . or get it ANYWHERE you don't want it, . . . that piece of leather will NEVER in it's remaining lifetime allow any dye whatsoever to work on it. Gum trag SEALS the leather like a dungeon seals freedom. Just be warned if you use it. May God bless, Dwight

I would not be as concerned about burnishing those holes, . . . as just taking a spoon tool and rolling down the sharp edges with it. It would be a lot faster than burnishing, . . . get pretty much the same effect, . . . and once it is dried, . . . dyed, . . . and finished, . . . I doubt seriously if anyone would ever notice the difference. May God bless, Dwight

You must have missed them: pages 107 and 278. May God bless, Dwight

The most important thing is not "what do I take", . . . but rather "what does the market want". My market is simply the folks with CHL's who need a belt, a holster, and a mag carrier. I haven't been to a show for a couple years, . . . but when I went, that's what I took. Finished belts, finished mag carriers, finished holsters. Most of the guys in my target market seem to run in the 38 to 44 inch belt size, . . . they like plain belts, . . . black and brown, . . . and I would have 6 or so belts with me that met those requirements, . . . along with several holsters for 1911, Glock, and snubby .38 revolver. I did not ever clean my table at the show, . . . but I had sales, . . . and made contacts. Sometimes the latter is more important. Yes, . . . making stuff up ahead of time can be discouraging when it does not sell at the show, . . . but for all that, . . . we have Ebay, . . . and I have sold just about everything I've ever put up there or on Gunbroker. Anyway, . . . go do some "market research", . . . it'll pay off. May God bless, Dwight

Can you put a picture up, . . . with a ruler for comparison? "Very Small" to a saddle maker has a different meaning than "Very Small" to a watchmaker. May God bless, Dwight

Try these folks: https://www.ohiotravelbag.com/ They have always been super to work with, . . . but I don't know about your specific item. Check their search. May God bless, Dwight

The shaft size was 1/8 and the tip size was 1/16, . . . those were the smallest I could get then. May God bless, Dwight

A friend made himself a K-Bar, . . . about 4 inches longer than a standard. He asked me to come up with something for him. It's not finished yet, . . . but I always like the look of the product just before it goes into the dye tank. . . . and here it is. It was a fun project. May God bless, Dwight

Riley, . . . thanks, girl, . . . you made me go out and get my machine cranked up, . . . I'd been putting it off. My Singer 111W155 had to have a new motor, . . . and some "tender loving care", . . . and if you hadn't asked the question, . . . it still would be sitting out there rusting. But what I did was go out and scrounge up some scrap leather strips, . . . contact cemented them all together, . . . then sewed them together. I started out with size 108 thread, . . . and it did not work too well. Both of the outside tracks of sewing are the 108. The center track is the 138 pre-lubed I just bought a couple days ago, . . . and it looks a whole lot nicer. Now the overall thickness of the three pieces was .312 inches which rolls out just over 7.9 mm thick, . . . which is plenty for what you were talking about doing. If you get a machine, . . . make sure you get one with a servo motor on it, . . . or some type of gear reduction that makes it go slow enough for you to sew 15 stitches per minute. You will never really need it that slow, . . . but it gives you the slow speed needed to negotiate corners, etc. My original motor would slow down to about 150 stitches per minute, . . . and no more, . . . so I had to come up with a servo motor, . . . which thankfully I could get just 200 KM away, . . . drove up and back the same day. There are many other machines that are actually clones of the 111W155 from what I'm told, . . . and here in the states, . . . machine / motor / table and all can be had for a few hundred bucks. AND, . . . yes, . . . you really should get a walking foot machine. Do a youtube search on it, . . . somebody will have an example for you to view, . . . it is THE leather worker's tool. Good luck in your search, . . . may God bless, Dwight

Uhhh, . . . that was almost a year ago, . . . when we traversed the "shop" from the house to the actual shop built for that purpose. That is actually the first belt I did out there laying on the table at the sewing machine. And, . . . well, . . . it looks "different" now But thank you for your kind words, . . . there is enough "Destroyer Navy" influence out there that it is at least organized, . . . though maybe not painted and the deck swabbed. May God bless, Dwight

Riley, . . . First, . . . where are you located, . . . we may be able to point you to someone close. Second, . . . you mentioned at least 4mm thick, . . . the most important thickness is the other end, . . . the thickest. I have three machines, . . . one will barely sew 2mm, . . . another will do about 8mm, . . . and the big boy will do about 18 mm. The middle one is a Singer 111W155, . . . and is an old war horse of a machine, . . . but it works. May God bless, Dwight

When I get this, . . . it is 9 tiimes out of 10 the leather, . . . or something on/in the leather. Good luck, . . . This is one of the few things I detest about leather work, . . . just every now and then you get a piece all done, . . . anticipating a beautiful finished product, . . . and the leather itself lets you down. May God bless, Dwight

Go on line, . . . get the 40 or 50% coupon for JoAnn fabric, . . . go to the store, . . . their 36 x 50 is in the neighborhood of $55 before you use the coupon. I have one on my table, . . . has been there only a little over a year, . . . but I love it, . . . like BDAZ said, . . . the lines help immensely. I put mine down on a plywood top with double faced tape, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . you didn't say if it was a double stack 50 cal semi auto, . . . or a 17 double barrel derringer, . . . so it's hard to say for sure. But, . . . I've made several in my wood shop, . . . make the general shape, . . . take it to the sander, . . . knock off the rough edges, . . . do a little judicious chisel and carving work, . . . it'll do for holsters. Most challenging was a S&W model 29, . . . And, . . . yes, . . . they're pretty much all out of southern yellow pine or white pine 1 by,.............. May God bless, Dwight

Popeye would be proud of you,.................. And I'm sure the bos'n will enjoy all the ribbing he'll get with it. May God bless, Dwight

My first instinct would be that you "hung" it after you sprayed it, . . . I always lay my holsters down flat after dying, . . . otherwise I get exactly what you got, . . . light on the top, . . . dark on the bottom where the stain migrated. I learned about that several years ago, . . . made a bunch of belts, . . . all the same day, . . . had my brain dis-engaged, . . . only the black ones were up to par. All the brown ones were very dark at the buckle end, . . . light at the tongue end, . . . cause that was the way I hung them when I drug em through the dye tank. I'd just dye it black, . . . put a coat of Resolene on it and sell it, . . . it should look real good then. May God bless, Dwight

Most of the time I used the 1/16" bit. The shaft of the bits on my machine were all 1/8, . . . but the cutting end was a different size, . . . and the 1/16 was the one I'm pretty sure I used. For leather, . . . it has to be sharp, . . . and you have to go slow. May God bless, Dwight