Dwight

Nahhhhh, . . . that's not ADD or OCD or any other alphabetically concocted malady, . . . it is indeed "condition normal". Or at least it is in my family, . . . all my brothers & sisters (5 bros / 4 sisters), . . . my wifes family (5 sisters / 3 bros), . . . mom's family (4 sisters / 3 bros). I would go out the door a screaming bonkers whooooo-dooooooo if "normal" was putting everything back in it's place as soon as I'm done with it, . . . OR, . . . if there was no "place" and everything just always got left where it was last used. Right now I'm a bit overwhelmed, myself, with "where is it", . . . as we have been building our carport / garage / leather shop for the past 16 months, . . . and the "putting stuff away" has kinda not been done, . . . but it will be. Either I'll do it, . . . or just before the estate sale, . . . my executor will see it's done, . . . after I'm ground temperature. And I don't get all wrapped around the axle worrying about which way it will turn out. May God bless, Dwight

For what you are doing, . . . some home machines will do it. Go to JoAnns fabric and buy their upholstery thread, . . . set you stitches for as long as your machine will make them to start with. You also will need a #18 or so needle, . . . ask them at Hobby Lobby for leather needles. I have two machines that will, . . . two that won't. May God bless, Dwight

Looking at it with 70 year old eyes, . . . it looks like it is hand stitched, . . . and the stitches look rather good from what I can see. But you probably did not glue the two together before you started sewing is my guess. I machine sew, . . . so I don't have any choice but to glue first and sew later, . . . and it works for me. No puckers. May God bless, Dwight

No, . . . the mask is only required if you are subbing as a terrorist while the glue dries. May God bless, Dwight

I have never used Tanners Bond contact cement, . . . but I have used others for the last 50 years, . . . and if Tanners Bond acts like everyone has said above, . . . it is junk and should rest easy in the local land fill or city dump. Weldwood is what I use on my holsters, belts, purses, sheaths, straps, . . . shoes, shoe soles, etc. I have shoes I wear that have new soles applied with Weldwood, . . . never sewn, . . . ABSOLUTELY no problem. A friend has a .380 holster that was put together with Weldwood, . . . never sewn, . . . ABSOLUTELY no problem. Weldwood is applied to both pieces, . . . and dried until it is DRY to the touch. Not tacky, . . . not wet, . . . DRY. It is then positioned and placed together, . . . then pressed by hand, by a rolling pin, by a wall paper roller, by thumbs, . . . and some even put weights on it if the application allows it. I actually dry most of my pieces with a small, low wattage heat gun, . . . then put them together. May God bless, Dwight

From north / central Ohio, . . . welcome, . . . grab an old dead cow and set a while,............ May God bless, Dwight

It only takes over the whole house long enough for you to build a separate building for it. That only took me 5 years, . . . and about 3 grand. Oh, . . . and that word you used, . . . uhhh, . . . "Expert", . . . well, ummmmm, . . . money doesn't buy that. You can become really good at one or two things in a couple of years, . . . but even then, . . . "Expert" is a long way down the pike. I'm 70, . . . been messing with leather on and off for almost 60 years, . . . and will be ground temperature long before someone tags me with "Expert". Very few attain that status, . . . and that is not meant to dissuade you, . . . just inform you. May God bless, Dwight

Bob, . . . I only use Resolene on my belts, . . . unless it is an "old" looking one, . . . which gets beeswax/neetsfoot oil compound. I like Resolene, as it is one tough finish. And, yes, . . . I use it on the whole belt, . . . both sides, edges, . . . the whole thing. The flesh side still maintains a bit of a rough texture which is important for some of the things I do. May God bless, Dwight

Don't laugh, . . . but I have what would easily pass for a shoulder purse, . . . that I made especially for blackpowder hunting. It holds all the "stuff" needed to keep old Betsy ready out there in the field. That (and the fact that my wife has a shoulder bag she has had since about 1972) both convinced me. Mine has a very light coat of Resolene (cut 50/50 with water), . . . my wife's purse seems to be oiled only. Both work very well. Sealing the fibers down is a moot point, really, if you start out with a really good piece of leather for the strap. Those fibers will be down, . . . and will stay down. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, TB, . . . how many do you need? May God bless, Dwight

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with not using the flesh side. Go to any large store that sells leather purses, . . . even high end, . . . EXPENSIVE, . . . purses have the flesh side revealed on many of their straps. If it is properly sealed and dressed, . . . and you start out with a top grade piece of leather, . . . it will be a plus for the strap. Flesh to flesh veg tan straps are very slick, . . . tend to slide around on shoulders, etc, . . . flesh side has a little purchase power and will be less apt to slide off. May God bless, Dwight

Several coats of resolene on the edges alone might do that, . . . but it also might produce an edge that will cut you, . . . it's pretty hard stuff. May God bless, Dwight

No, . . . neetsfoot oil is not for the dying process. It is basically a preservative / conditioner. You may use many other things, . . . nothing will beat it for preserving your glove. After the dying process, . . . the glove WILL BE dried out of some of the natural oils that produced a natural suppleness before you dyed it. The neetsfoot oil restores that. That is where I told you to make the decision, . . . is it too dry? Without it, . . . it will be. The Aussie or Atom wax are more a finish than anything else, . . . kinda seals it up, . . . makes it ready to use. May God bless, Dwight

It would take some elbow grease and some luck, . . . staple a triple layer of canvas to a 4 or 5 inch slab of 2 x 4, . . . on the edges is where the staples go. Lay the belt on the edge of your work bench with a board on top of it, . . . let it protrude over the edge by just enough to know it's over, . . . dampen, . . . burnish, . . . add a little bees wax, . . . burnish. It looks really nice at first, . . . but it gets ragged fairly easy. That is only for a "saturday nite special date" belt. May God bless, Dwight

I have three blue gun 1911's, . . . full size, commander, and pip-squeek size. Which ever is needed is the one I use. Of all I have ever done, . . . my worst one was a Springfield, . . . I was told it was an older model "loaded", . . . stainless steel, full size, single sided safety. The slide was just enough bigger that it simply would not fit anything else I had, . . . But it was the worst. May God bless, Dwight

Two words, Bobby: Good Luck,........... Actually, I said that with a smile, . . . because your project is not that hard, . . . and can be done. You will want to clean the glove first, . . . get the dirt, trash, oil, grease, wax, . . . all that stuff off it. Good old cheap rubbing alcohol will do that, . . . put it on a wash cloth, . . . rub the glove, . . . but since you are going black, . . . just get the dirt, . . . don't get all deeply involved in this part of the task. Next, . . . let it dry, . . . at least one full 24 hour period, . . . maybe in front of a fan, . . . but no extra heat. Buy Feibings pro oil dye, . . . and a package of their large wool daubers, . . . looks like a little wooly pom-pom. Mix the dye with Feibings thinner, . . . 2 thinner to 1 dye should work, . . . and start daubing it all on. Unlace your fingers, . . . and the pocket, . . . also the cuff, . . . dip the lace, pocket, etc. into a little pan full of the dye. Just keep going over it, . . . first few times it will look like a muddy zebra, . . . but it will come around after several coats on each area. Make sure you are wearing rubber or vinyl gloves, . . . this dye doesn't wash off, . . . but it will wear off in 6 or 8 days. Again, . . . let the glove fully dry, . . . then put more vinyl gloves on, . . . grab a washcloth you never want to use on your face again, . . . and buff the glove, the pocket, the laces, . . . buff it like you are wanting it to shine, . . . which IS what you want it to do. Apply a good coat of neetsfoot oil with another "never to be used" washcloth, . . . over the entire surface that was dyed. Let it dry another 24 hours. Here, . . . you will need to make a decision, . . . is the leather still dry???? If it is, . . . add a second coat of oil. When it dries, . . . give it a coat of Aussie wax or Atom wax, . . . I'm not into ball gloves, so I don't know for which of those would be best, . . . ask at the store. Don't try to dye the inside, . . . and if there are stitches that did not like the dye, . . . finish the whole product with a Sharpie, . . . it'll blacken the stitches, . . . etc. Again, . . . Good luck. May God bless, Dwight

Rooster, . . . you need two things: 1) a piece of 2 inch, galvanized, electrical metallic tubing, commonly known as EMT or thin-wall conduit, . . . and 2) a piece of flat stock steel, 1/2 inch thick, . . . 2 inches wide at the top, . . . 1 inch wide at the bottom, . . . and about 5 or 6 inches long. Look at the drawing, . . . on the right, . . . take the conduit to a belt sander and sharpen it like the image at the right, . . . Next take the flat stock steel, . . . round the long edges on a grinder or belt sander so they also have a 1/2 inch radius, rounded edge. Put the sharpened end of the EMT in a vise, . . . start squeezing it down, . . . insert the steel piece and keep moving it in as the conduit takes on an oval shape. When you have almost gotten it done, . . . take the pipe, . . . lay the punch end on an anvil, . . . have someone hold the other end, . . . while you continue hammering and forming the punch end, . . . using the 1/2 inch piece of steel to keep it from collapsing. Keep it in the punch and hammer with a flat faced steel hammer. I've made a number of punches this way, . . . for different sizes, . . . the one you want should come out very close to that size with 2 inch EMT. Takes about 1/2 hour. May God bless, Dwight

SteelcityK9Cop gave you the best answer. Especially with all the different 1911 makers, modifiers, and aftermarket stuff, . . . some safeties have an arm on them that has to be almost 2 inches long, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Welcome aboard, . . . from the Buckeye state May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . I built my own house from the dirt up, . . . 2600 sq feet, . . . 16 x 32 shed, . . . 22 x 45 car port & leather shop, . . . have been the family photographer & videographer for about 45 years, . . . spent 4 years in the Navy, so you can forget painting. I'm just one of those guys that gets bored easily with the same old stuff, . . . gotta be playing with "new" stuff from time to time. BTW, . . . main computer is down or I'd show pics, . . . for leather storage in my shop, . . . I just made a stand up box, . . . 4 each 2 x 12's in a box, . . . 4 ft x 8 ft, . . . hinged the front 4 x 8 of OSB, . . . nailed the back piece on, . . . put in some rods, . . . and I have a leather vault, . . . 32 cubic feet, . . . allows all my leather to hang straight (gets rid of most of the curls) and I can just open the door, . . . take quick inventory anytime. Beats the devil out of drawers, rolls, boxes, etc. at least IMHO. May God bless, Dwight

wig190861 and I use similar methods. I put the rivet through the hole(s) and lay it on a small piece of scrap steel about 2 inches by 4 inches that I basically only use for rivets, . . . it's just a piece of clean carbon steel flat stock. I put on the washer, . . . then use the hole in the end of my setter, designed for that purpose, and tap the washer down with the setter and my 10 oz or so, little ball peen hammer. I then cut it about 1/8 of an inch above the washer, . . . and begin the shaping process with the back side of my ball peen hammer. I end up with a couple of good strokes on the "rounder" indentation in the foot of my setter, . . . and I'm done. Again, as mentioned above, . . . don't be afraid to waste a dozen rivets and some scrap leather doing a little practice. It will pay great dividends in the long run. May God bless, Dwight

If I had done it, . . . the ends would be inside, . . . well glued, . . . If you look carefully at the top piece, . . . you can see where it was seriously folded backward by the crease line between the two stitches. In all probability, . . . the whole thing was pretty loosely sewn, . . . until all the stitches up there were in place, . . . then tugged and tightened, . . . the ends pulled down into the void between the pieces, . . . clipped, . . . glued, . . . and done. At least that is how I would do it. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, . . . all in all, . . . good one for the first try. Your panels look really good, . . . and I still cannot do basket weave. May God bless, Dwight

I use a bag punch, . . . it's about 3/4 of an inch long, . . . after I punch out the one full length punch, . . . I add about another half, . . . so in all it is about an inch and 1/8 or an inch an a quarter, . . . I test it by folding it over, . . . straightening out the buckle, . . . lifting up the tongue. For me it needs to go straight up with no problem, . . . if not, . . . I whack it again until it does. But with my little template I made, . . . that isn't very often, . . . just maybe when there is a new style buckle, . . . but even then, not very often. May God bless, Dwight

Like all hobbies, . . . when we get to be ground temperature, . . . it won't affect us as much any more, . . . but until then, . . . ya just gotta give in and have at it. My wife thinks I have too many hobbies, . . . I'm still looking around to see if there is anything I am missing May God bless, Dwight