Dwight

I have a 12 inch round flat sander, . . . a 1 inch belt sander, . . . and I waste 100 bucks on an orbital tube sander. The 1 inch belt sander was the cheapest, . . . smallest, . . . and hands down does the best job. I only keep the other two because they are handy for metal and wood work also. If I only did leather work . . . I'd sell em. May God bless, Dwight

I also buy cloth backed vinyl at JoAnn's fabric shop with their weekly 40% off coupon, . . . getting the equivalent of about a full side of leather for 10 bucks or so. It mimicks 2 or 3 oz suede or chap leather in the feel and way it lays or works. You can also practice your stitching on it, . . . getting the technique of awl punching, spacing, etc, . . . and it is a lot easier on your hands than leather. Like leather, . . . it is also very unforgiving on badly made cuts, . . . so there are lots of "learing apps" with it. Tandy sells a veggie tan leather that looks like that, . . . I forget what the other part of the name is, . . . maybe milled veggie tan, or something like that. It is quite soft and easy to work with, . . . I bought one piece once, . . . But anyway, . . . the stitching is very straight forward, . . . done on the reverse, . . . then turned inside out. I made one similar last summer, . . . turned out nice, . . . good luck. May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . vegetable tanned leather is the type you want for a belt. It looks from the description to be drum dyed, which is usually pretty thorough. The word that bothers me is the "bridle" description. That usually means that it has been given a thorough oily treatment to withstand the rigors of being outdoors. That would match the description below for suggested used. OTOH, . . . it says it is good for stamping, . . . so it may work out for you. I use a # 4 edging tool for my belts, . . . which would work for this, . . . and, yes, edge first, then burnish. Seeing as how it is pre-dyed, . . . once you have decorated it to suit yourself, . . . put a couple of coats of Kiwi shoe polish on it, . . . polish it really good, . . . you should have a really nice dress belt. May God bless, Dwight

When I finish a belt for a customer, . . . my micrometer says it is in the range of .180 to .220 as my desired thickness. Sometimes it may inch up a bit, . . . but I rarely let it go any thinner. Why, . . . my experience with thinner belts is that they simply do not last like a thicker one. The one I have on right now originally hit in the .245 category, . . . carries a full size 1911, . . . 1, 2, or 3 mags, . . . flashlight, . . . cell phone, . . . and just about anything else I want to hang off it, . . . yet is still elegant enough to wear almost anyplace. But that is my mileage speaking. YMMV May God bless, Dwight

Quite honestly, . . . the questions are not perfectly answerable on a forum like this. There are simply too many variables. What kind of leather is it? Was it spray dyed, or drum dyed? How thick is it? Does it have a finish on it? All these answers will lead to a "means" of giving you your answer. What I would do is take that strap to a cobbler shop or other leather worker, . . . let them look at it, . . . professionally advise you. Then get in the habit of finding out what you have, . . . it'll really help you in the long run. May God bless, Dwight

While I have no clue, . . . I'd sure like to know as well. May God bless, Dwight

Another poster said: "Ask him for the measurement from the hole he uses to the buckle hook on his old belt and you should be good to go." In all honesty, . . . if you do that, . . . he will bring the belt back, . . . complaining it is too small. For a cartridge belt (I'm assuming you mean a US Western style ranger cartridge belt, . . . like John Wayne wore and carried his six gun on it), . . . it has to be 4 inches longer than the belt he normally wears. Using the "Ask him for the measurement from the hole he uses to the buckle hook on his old belt and you should be good to go." formula will get you his dress belt size, . . . add 4 inches to that and you will not go wrong. That is not my advice, . . . John Bianchi made that pretty plain on his videos. Below you will see the pattern I use, . . . and pretty much how I do it. The overall blank is curved, making the top slightly smaller than the bottom, . . . making it hug the wearer's hips better, . . . the last pattern shows various end configurations you can use. Most folks only put 5 holes in their belt ends, . . . I give my customers 7, . . . gives them more "room" for versatility. So far, only one customer was less than happy, . . . it took me over a month to make his 55 inch + belt, . . . and he gained 3 inches in that month. Had to remodel that one. May God bless, Dwight

You do not want to pound on em, . . . and JoAnn also has a bigger one in white, . . . 36 by 60, . . . it's on my work bench. Put a piece of marble on it, . . . pound to your little heart's content, . . . You can see it behind the Boss. May God bless, Dwight

This is my favorite: Only two pieces of leather, . . . less than 100 stitches, . . . two snaps. May God bless, Dwight

For holsters, . . . 50 / 50 mix of Feibings pro oil dye, . . . and Feibings thinner. Pour it all into a 8 x 14 x 2 inch cake pan, . . . dip the holster, . . . and roll it around in the liquid until it is all covered. Pull it out, . . . hang it up to dry, . . . Finish with a 50 / 50 Resolene and water mix, . . . applied with a cheap bristle brush. Works for me. May God bless, Dwight

It's been my experience that I can find cheap surgeons, . . . cheap lawyers, . . . and even cheap politicians, . . . but a cheap splitter, . . . ain't never seen one. But that's just my experience, . . . YMMV Whatcha needing to do hockeyspikey? There is probably a work around, . . . fill us in on the details. May God bless, Dwight

Now that's creative, . . . looks like the colors match too, . . . Is that a palomino stitcher, . . . or a golden palomino? May God bless, Dwight

Zayne, . . . contact Weaver Leather in Berlin, Ohio, . . . they can make you one, . . . it's called a clicker die, . . . If they are too expensive for your budget, . . . a piece of galvanized, . . . 4 inch electrical conduit will be 4.026 inside diameter, . . . and if you sharpen it so that it is the outside edge that is sharp, . . . it should be very close to your 4 1/8 inch need. Just look up an electrical contractor in your area, . . . we literally used to throw away pieces of that stuff after a job. You couldn't keep the stubs, . . . they just got in the way, . . . and were always 3 inches too short for the next job if you did keep them. For my work on something like that, . . . I would lay down the leather, . . . flesh side up, . . . use an ink pen to outline my pattern, . . . rough cut them with a razor knife, . . . then take them to my sander, . . . and finish "rounding em out" on the sander, . . . flip em over so they are hair side up, . . . run an edger around the top, . . . done, fini, complete. And with my little $50 belt sander, . . . I'm no more than maybe 30 seconds on each one, . . . rounding em out, . . . another 30 seconds on marking and cutting, . . . maybe a full minute on edging them, . . . May God bless, Dwight

One thing you can do, . . . determine what it is you want to put on the jacket, . . . buy enough corresponding vegetable tanned leather, . . . cut the pieces to the shapes you want for your jacket. You can then tool, . . . stamp, . . . paint, . . . stain, . . . whatever you want for your jacket, . . . to your heart's content. THEN, . . . get those pieces sewn onto your jacket. Virtually all motorcycle folks, . . . military folks, . . . and others wearing "stuff" on their leather jackets have also done it this way. May God bless, Dwight

The last one I built, . . . Resolene, . . . 50/50 with water, . . . it was about 8 oz over a beautiful 1/4 inch long lambs wool lining. I was very happy with the result, . . . but I seriously doubt if it will ever see any hard use, . . . most likely a wall hanger. But knowing that, . . . I still used Resolene, . . . it is very water repellent, . . . goes on easy, . . . and has a UV blocker which will stop sunshine from discoloring the item. May God bless, Dwight

What are the needs as far as leather is concerned? May God bless, Dwight

Where are you located? I ask only because I would not do it unless I could see and talk to you about exactly what you wanted, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I believe most of the ones I've made have been maple, . . . but in reality, . . . it is what was sold to me at the hardware store, . . . for a hardwood 1/2 inch wood dowel. May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . I'm not sure I'd want a reinforcement piece out of 11mm steel either. That's something near 44/100 of an inch, . . . Of course, . . . I doubt if it ever would get "bent out of shape", . . . provided of course, . . . it could ever get "bent into shape". May God bless, Dwight

That's good looking, Stacy, . . . keep it up. May God bless, Dwight

When I was in the military, . . . we had our handy dandy, flap over, push the button through the hole, leather holster for our 1911's, . . . that were older than most of us and weighed almost as much as did the pistol inside it. One hand re-holstering???? You must be kidding, . . . unless you have 3 or more extra appendages on that one hand doing the re-holstering. Fast forward to civilian life and a CHL: Get up in the morning, . . . put on clothing, . . . add holster, . . . get ready to meet the day. Go to town, . . . maybe stop at the post office, . . . maybe visit your kid's school to watch a practice or a game, . . . stop at any one of a half dozen government buildings for licenses, license plates, election posters, etc. I do this at least once a week, . . . sometimes more often, . . . and I have a few places I shop that do not allow handguns. No, . . . I am not going out into my shop and create some dufus looking wannabe holster that requires two hands, 13 fingers, and the ability to bend over completely backwards and kiss the floor just to put my 1911 back in my holster. I want one that creates, . . . exemplifies, . . . allows, . . . and promotes one hand re-holstering. Why? Because I am lazy for one thing (I freely admit that, . . . ) and except for the first time in the morning, . . . standing beside my bed, . . . all the other re-holstering opportunities are in my vehicle, . . . sitting in the driver's seat, . . . and it is really hard to pull my left arm around my body, . . . past the steering wheel, . . . over the seat belt, . . . so it can hold the holster open while my right hand inserts the weapon. THAT, . . . is the reason I designed, . . . created, . . . and manufacture a holster that "creates, . . . exemplifies, . . . allows, . . . and promotes one hand re-holstering". It is not necessarily, . . . "tacti-cool", . . . but it is "practi-cool", . . . and it makes life just a little bit easier. May God bless, Dwight

That's a good one, . . . BUT, . . . cutting up furniture in my wife's house, . . . ummm, . . . probably not a good idea. But, . . . the creativity is outstanding,.................A+++++ all the way. May God bless, Dwight

If you have the 2 inch or so round one, . . . don't do it. The edge speed will still be too fast to burnish, . . . it'll just burn, . . . no "ish". Rather, . . . take a 1/8 inch drill bit, . . . put it into a drill, . . . drill down through a 2 inch length of hardwood 1/2 inch dowel, . . . glue the drill into the hardwood, . . . put this contraption into your Dremel, . . . then take files and cut grooves into it, . . . put some bees wax on it, . . . and it will make a really good burnisher. I've made a number of them for friends and students, . . . they work great. May God bless, Dwight

FWIW, . . . all my pocket holsters will fall off the gun if held outside the pocket, . . . this doesn't seem like it would. Personally, . . . I would also never make a pocket holster with a forward cant, . . . getting to a weapon under stress is bad enough without the forward cant. Third, . . . I would put a cover in front of it, . . . probably not in jeans, . . . but every pair of my dress pants, . . . that thing would print worse than a $5 computer printer bought at a yard sale. Last, . . . it is obviously for a right handed person, . . . who now has to shift the weapon to his / her left hand so they can extract the extra mag, . . . so they can swap the two during an encounter, . . . while trying to watch bad Bob, . . . reload, . . . etc. This will sell on Etsy, . . . but in the practical world, . . . and please don't take this personally as though I'm really whacking you, . . . but the idea is just not well thought out, . . . IMHO. May God bless, Dwight

I took some thinner, . . . wet down an old rag, . . . rubbed down my brown boots, . . . let em dry, . . . now I got black boots. You need to get the wax off for sure, . . . and I had plenty on there, . . . plus whatever was the original factory finish, . . . it all came off with the thinner. May God bless, Dwight