Dwight

Any one of my 5 sewing machines will balk if it comes into contact with a piece of metal, . . . and I'll balk if it comes into contact with my finger, . . . but glue???? Not in the 50 years I've been sewing. But then again, . . . I use Weldwood carpenters glue, . . . Elmer's white glue, . . . and Weldwood contact cement, . . . nothing else. May God bless, Dwight

Private Message Sent May God bless, Dwight

Very simply, . . . black USMC ruboff is created by lack of serious buffing. I can buff off a belt, . . . and a pancake holster, . . . wear em all day, . . . zero rub off, . . . but only because I am serious about buffing. Also, . . . dilute the USMC dye 50/50 with Feibings thinner. It will still dye as dark, . . . but will only have about 1/3 of the surface pigment to buff off. And give up the dauber dyeing, . . . dip dye it, . . . use a 9 x 13 cake pan. My favorite USMC finish is made of 50/50 (by weight), . . . virgin bees wax and neatsfoot oil, . . . heated and stirred, . . . then allowed to solidify. I use cupcake wrappers in a cupcake pan, . . . the product goes on like paste shoe polish, . . . use a low setting heat gun or hair dryer to melt it into the leather, . . . let it dry overnight, . . . buff the next day. It will take at least a couple of coats, . . . but I love the finish, . . . it is an "old fashioned" finish that can be turned almost as glossy as you are willing to work it up to. May God bless, Dwight

I'd joke with you Josh because you made it wrong handed (as opposed to right handed) but that would be the only thing I found that would make me not want it. Looks really good, . . . but then again, . . . 1911's and saddle tan are a couple of my favorites anyway. You certainly have much more patience than I do, . . . that tooling is about 3 times my attention span, . . . and it looks really good to me. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Jim, . . . nobody else may be interested, . . . but I am. If you have the time, I'd love to see how that one is put together, . . . fact is, . . . I've even got a hide in mind that should work pretty good for it. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

In answer to your final question, . . . look at this: The picture of the holster is a fairly close copy of the Duke's rig, . . . and is typical of what I produce, . . . just FYI. May God bless, Dwight

Take a look here, . . . scroll down to tinker tailor's post, . . . I make all of my own bag punches similar to this, . . . but I can do one in all of 15 minutes, . . . and eat a cinnamon roll at the same time. May God bless, Dwight http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=62446&hl=%26quot%3Bbag+punch%26quot%3B#entry403971

Welcome, . . . from next door, . . . Ohio. May God bless, Dwight

I have one machine that does 95% of everything I want. Haven't trained it to fry a bologna sandwich yet, though. Seriously, . . . I use a Tippmann Boss, . . . and someone will be getting a sweet machine when I wake up dead some morning, . . . because my wife won't mess with it, . . . and I doubt my son will. I've done chaps, chinks, sheaths, holsters, belts, suspenders, pouches, wallets, . . . . and that's just the leather stuff. But, . . . I digress. All of my gunbelts, . . . generally hit in a combined two layer thickness of something between .160 and .220, . . . and most of that depends on the length. Longer belts start out thicker, . . . shorter ones tend to be thinner. But that's the way I do it, . . . YMMV. My old beat up CCW belt I've got on right now is closer to .250, . . . but I surely would not want it any thicker. Personal preference is the reason. May God bless, Dwight

I've used Resolene for however many years, . . . have never had a problem like that. Here is my process: 1. Cut the resolene 50/50 with water, . . . stir it well, . . . keep it in an air-tight container. 2. I use a cheap, 1 inch bristle brush from Harbor Freight, . . . and while I do not put it on "sparingly", . . . I don't "slop it on" either. Maybe kinda like painting with water colors??? 3. I have enough of it to brush it around, . . . and create a bit of bubbles, . . . sort of like a froth, . . . just not too much. 4. I then brush it back and forth, up, down, left, right, etc, . . . till the bubbles disappear. 5. I hang it in a warm spot to dry, . . . and I'll go in and mess with it in sometimes a couple of hours, . . . sometimes it takes a bit longer, . . . depending on weather and humidity. I always flex it back and forth within 6 to 8 hours, . . . found out that will prevent any cracking. Hate it when that happens. 6. FWIW, . . . I did have a belt crack badly on me one time, . . . and I did a little "experiment" so to speak. I took an old piece of a tee shirt, . . . got it wet in acetone, . . . and rubbed the whole belt like I was buffing the black after dyeing it. It took some of the resolene finish off, . . . and I was able to re-coat it and save it. I think part of the success might have been that I got to it before it got fully cured, . . . but at least in that one instance it did allow me to salvage an otherwise candidate for the round file. Have not tried it since. It does not leave a Fashion 500 finish, . . . but it is a good finish, . . . sometimes there are some little streaks, . . . but they are indentations in the finish, . . . not color changes like the OP had up there. BUT, . . . resolene DOES darken every thing you put it on, . . . except black. It is a predictable darkening after you've worked with it a while, . . . but it is not a neutral finish, . . . it WILL darken the piece you put it on. I've tried a bunch of others, . . . keep coming back, . . . have never had a customer give me the business over the finish. May God bless, Dwight

I very seldom get a request any more for a suicide strap or a thumb break. When I do a thumb break, . . . I use the front holster "stiffener" or decoration piece as the thumb break also. It allows me to put the strap exactly where it needs to be so that it is between the hammer and firing pin. One thing I learned early on with those, . . . do not put the snap on the strap until the holster is completely finished, . . . and tested for fit and tightness. Get all that correct, . . . then put on the strap snap. You can then give it just enough slack that it does not get pulled down tight, . . . but also will not allow the weapon to inadvertently fall out of the holster. Like I said, . . . I don't make many of them, . . . and could not find a really good picture for you, . . . I'll keep it in mind for the next one, . . . put pics up. The other thing to do to preclude safety problems, . . . in the molding process, . . . mold in an indent for the safety, . . . laying in there, . . . it defies movement. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, . . . it doesn't hold very much at all, . . . I have to go back for more, . . . I found that applying a "liberal" coat first, . . . swishing it around, left, right, up, down, . . . working up a lather of bubbles, . . . then slowly but surely in varying strokes, . . . brushing out the bubbles, . . . gives me a nice single coat, . . . that holds up well. I've taught this in leather working classes, . . . most folks catch on pretty quick, . . . dye some scraps black, . . . buff the heck out of them, . . . then try this on them. Any streaks will show up really quick, . . . and you'll be able to see how well it's doing. ALWAYS make sure your item is dry, . . . and it should be dry to use in 6 to 8 hours. May God bless, Dwight

Or you can do what I do, . . . I use a 1 inch bag punch, . . . make the first hole, . . . carefully re-position, . . . and make the hole a bit longer. Takes a bit of practice, . . . and care, . . . secret is to put the end down in the already made hole, . . . and "tap, tap, tap", . . . until you get it enlarged. Works for me. May God bless, Dwight

You don't say what kind of bags or how big, . . . world of difference between a possibilities bag and a golf bag. I do holsters, purses, belts, . . . and I brush it on with a cheap, 1 inch, bristle brush bought at harbor freight. I have also sprayed it on using an air brush. Whatever you do, . . . be sure to cut it 50/50 with water first, . . . and don't get in a big hurry. May Gob bless, Dwight

I've never used the tool you have, . . . but I have this one, . . . and it does ALL my extra grooving that my two edge groovers are not suited for. I've made some interesting free hand stitch patterns with this. http://www.tandyleather.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/88074-11.aspx May God bless, Dwight

You didn't say how long the sides of these were, . . . I'd opt for some clear plastic French Curves, . . . lay the groover next to it, . . . do one side, . . . flip it over, . . . do the other side. May God bless, Dwight

He said he used 5.5 oz oil tanned leather for his. Go back to the picture in the thread, . . . then read down several posts, . . . lot more info there. May God bless, Dwight

I'd second that, . . . beautiful design, . . . beautiful execution too. Sad to say, . . . I just do not have the patience for the brown one, . . . the black one I can do, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Show me what you want the mold made for, . . . I have made several for other leather projects. May God bless, Dwight

I do it the simple way: 1) prepare the belt, . . . sewing / tooling / stamping / and dress the edges with the proper edging tool 2) burnish the edges with water and a wooden burnisher on my motor or with my dremel 3) dye the belt, . . . dip dyed in whatever solution I choose for the product, . . . if it is Feibings oil dye, . . . it is generally cut 50% with thinner, . . . let dry 24 hrs, . . . lay on bottom edge of belt in a circle on cardboard for 10-20 minutes, . . . turn it over, . . . leave on the top edge for an hour or so, . . . hang up by one end. If you hang it up right out of the dye tank, . . . dye will migrate to the lower end, . . . giving you a dark end / light end / multiple shades in between. 4) apply 1st coat of Resolene, . . . cut 50/50 with water, . . . applied with cheap 1 in bristle brush, . . . flesh side, . . . then top, . . . hang it up, . . . touch up edges where you handled it 5) re-burnish the edges / add hardware / if I want it to have a high gloss finish, . . . 50/50 mix of neatsfoot oil and bees wax applied to the outside and edges with my finger, . . . let dry, . . . buff, . . . kinda like using shoe polish. That's my way, . . . works for me. May God bless, Dwight

Another voice saying Thank You,................... May God bless, Dwight

I use a ball point pen on the hair side. I fooled around for a long time, . . . trying not to "make cutting mistakes" by just lightly marking on one or the other side, . . . made more mistakes that way than I am now. Besides, . . . marking the flesh side makes you slide it around on the hair side, . . . too much chance of creating a burr, scratch, etc. I figure if I commit to doing it, . . . well, doggone it, . . . do it, . . . do it so you can see it, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Quite honestly, . . . constructive notes, . . . if you wear either of these daily for 2 months, . . . the gun will probably fall out of either of them when you lean back in your recliner. The artwork is good, . . . stitches are definitely passable, . . . and while the molding is more than I prefer, . . . it's good. Where you missed it is the single most important part, . . . your stitch lines are in Mississippi, . . . the gun is in Alabama. Tighten those stitches all the way up to the edge of the molding. If you don't, . . . because the holsters are outside the waist band, . . . there is nothing to "hold them steady", . . . the butt of the gun will rock back and forth as you walk, turn, sit, or otherwise move. It will waller out the excess you left and make it more of a bag than a holster. But, . . . this is the fun of learning a new craft. You are on your way, . . . looking good so far, . . . just tighten em up. May God bless, Dwight

You need to determine if it is the leather or the finish that is cracking. Then, . . . dampen the leather before you dye it, . . . and make the fold, . . let it dry, . . . dye it. That should take care of the cracking either way. You didn't say what you use for the final top coat, . . . finish, . . . and since I don't deal with pinks, . . . I have no real suggestion, . . . but you might try out some Resolene, . . . two very light coats, . . . 50/50 mix with water. The only pink I have done lately was a very special pair of spur leathers for a very special little young lady, . . . I used Resolene on them and was satisfied with the result. May God bless, Dwight

Simple answer, . . . don't oil it. I almost never oil my products, . . . unless the leather feels extremely dry. Most of the leather I work with is acceptable without the oil. For something as artistic and delicate as you are doing, . . . as they would say in Joisey, . . . fugeddabouddittt. May God bless, Dwight