Dwight

Gosut . . . try this: 614-781-1700 is the phone number for the Columbus, Ohio Tandy store. Call it up . . . ask for Scott . . . he's the manager. Ask him if he has 15 minutes to chat with a newbie . . . who needs some help. Odds are he will have . . . and I don't know all his schedule . . . other than he is not there on Tuesdays. Tell him what you want to do . . . what your budget is . . . what kinds of tools you think you need . . . ask him for recommendations. Scott will not sucker punch you . . . he is top notch honest . . . and tell him I sent you. Your shipping for whatever you buy will be a bit more than one closer . . . but you can take heart in knowing you are getting good stuff . . . and if you have some kind of ID number that identifies you as a true business . . . you'll get a price break that will help with the shipping costs. He's never sold me any junk leather . . . if I got any . . . I picked it out myself. And any time I've said hey Scott . . . how do I do this . . . he showed me right then and there . . . he's just good people. May God bless, Dwight

You can chalk that up to almost any repair work for today. The greasemonkeys working on cars today go sit down and say "Google . . . why won't my 2013 Toyota lights come on" . . . and either Google or the Toyota website gives them 13 possible reasons . . . with a "More Reasons" below them to click on. Sadly . . . many other repair and maintenance work has tried to go that way . . . with far less success than the auto industry. And guys are buying a 150 dollar set of stickers to apply to their cars to advertise what they do . . . with a bag of tools from Harbor Freight . . . a laptop computer . . . a cell phone . . . and an embroidered ball cap. Adding to the fact that most of the stuff is either totally made to be tossed when it quits working right . . . OR . . . it is component based . . . where you cannot buy just that little spring that broke . . . you have to buy the whole secondary component . . . remove one wire and 3 screws . . . put the new one in and you are ready to go again. Yeah . . . I was one of the best maintenance men in the business 25 years ago . . . they don't make em like that any more. May God bless, Dwight

I don't think it is as much old vs new . . . as it is the X craftsman vs the Y craftsman. You cannot buy a 1920 era 1911 that will outshoot my Springfield Armory 1911 None of the old 03-A3's will outshoot a brand new Browning. The new frames for saddles are fiberglass now . . . as opposed to rawhide and wood a hundred years ago . . . so I'd give the edge to new ones . . . IF . . . and again IF the new craftsman is equal or better than the old fellow from back then. We have sewing machines that will do a more even job . . . the thread used for sewing is much better than the old cotton . . . I think personally you are barking up a tree with no squirrels if you truly believe what you will use today will be better if it was made 100 years ago. Just my opinion. May God bless, Dwight

Limited business with Springfield . . . but it was good. Tandy is my go to shop for just about all I really need . . . 40 minute drive . . . and it goes right by a Dairy Queen Weaver is just to jacked up in their prices for me . . . as well as the last side of leather I got from them almost needed a band saw to cut it. I kept it and used it for certain stuff until I've got it down to a few square feet left . . . supposed to be HO . . . and I didn't use any of it for several weeks after I bought it . . . so I just swallowed hard and have gone on. They are stuck in the middle of Amish country (may be Amish for all I know) . . . and lemme tell you . . . everything you go to buy around there is jacked up in price and I think it has rubbed off on them. I drive up that way occasionally . . . don't bother to stop in. May God bless Dwight

That was always a problem with me and and my holsters . . . I had to sometimes stitch one piece of the holster . . . stop . . . turn it over . . . and stitch another piece . . . so when it was done, the stitching ALL looked right from the "used" point of view. Guess I'll try this next time . . . after I finish getting my 4500 settled on 6 stitches per inch. I don't know how it happened . . . but somehow it got to where it was doing almost 9 . . . and I had not done any adjustments. I ruined a belt I made for a young lady from Hungary . . . had to make her a second one . . . Thanks Bruce for another bona fide "tip" that helps out. May God bless, Dwight

24 hours before you do your dye job . . . take a cheap pig hair bristle brush (I use one app 2 cm wide) . . . give the HAIR SIDE a light coat of neatsfoot oil. Put enough on that it turns really dark . . . but not enough to soak it . . . just one good light . . . smoothed out coat. If you are doing a 40 inch belt . . . it will start to lighten up on the beginning end . . . by the time you get to the other end . . . that is what you want. Lay all belts and similar large objects on their edge or back to "dry". Come back in 24 hours . . . and dye. I use Feibings oil dye . . . and I use the dip dye method. One quick . . . THOROUGH . . . dip in the dye that has been EXACTLY diuted 50 / 50. In other words . . . I used 4 oz of dye . . . and then added 4 oz of thinner. I do not change that ratio unless the customer demands it . . . and they will pay full price for the demanded dye. I have found this will get rid of 90 to 95% of what I call "blotchy" places in a dye job. May God bless, Dwight

Add a real good shot at that reel . . . including model number and mfg . . . I use a cowboy 4500 for almost all my work . . . but would like to be able to fall back occasionally on the Boss for special products. This would make life a big bunch simpler when I do that. May God bless, Dwight

You are a genius my friend . . . Now . . . where did I put my fishing equipment . . . May God bless, Dwight

Take a look at this May God bless, Dwight Or here . . . May God bless, Dwight

How many are you wanting? May God bless, Dwight

Guess I'm the odd ball. Used pencils for long time . . . 80 year old eyes got where I could not see it as well as I wanted to. Started using ball point pen on flesh side . . . made too many mistakes of cutting it backwards. Said to heck with it . . . use ball point pen on hair side . . . ink gets cut off in the edging process . . . AND . . . I can see what I'm cutting May God bless, Dwight

"(giggle)" . . . thanks Bruce . . . I just never could get any results I liked with blue jeans . . . gave up on the idea before I got the "blues" May God bless, Dwight

I always (well . . . 95% of the time) . . . oil every project BEFORE dying. I find it gives a more even dye result. I use a 1 inch bristle paint brush (Harbor Freight . . . about 50 cents each) . . . and I give the HAIR SIDE only a wet coat. Not a saturating coat . . . just a even wet coat . . . it will turn the leather almost dark brown as you put it on. Let it "dry" for 24 hours . . . do not hang belts long ways . . . lay them on their side . . . put all projects on flat surface . . . hair side up . . . not in front of a window near sunlight. This has worked well for me for a long time . . . my specialties are belts, holsters, slings, knife sheaths . . . etc. May God bless, Dwight

And you are right on that bet . . . it really does not go anywhere other than a little slip / slide back and forth on the belt . . .and that is not much May God bless, Dwight

Got a request for a cross draw for a Hellcat with a laser and an optic up on top . . . talking about a challenge. The Hellcat is one "little" gun . . . But we managed to get it done for him . . . he was thoroughly tickled with it. I can make two holsters for an Anaconda or a 1911 while trying to make one of these. . . . May God bless, Dwight

I have always followed John Bianchi's pattern . . . two layers . . . resulting in a belt that is basically 1/4 inch thick (they run from .200 to .240 inches thick . . . depending on the leather I have available . . . The key to keeping it from slipping from around your waist . . . is to make it on a curve . . . if you can vision a bow the length of your belt . . . having about 6 inches from the bow to the bow string . . . dead center of the bow. That is about the curve you want for a 40 inch belt. You wear the curve so the longer side is the bottom edge of the belt. Always measure the gun belt to be 4 inches longer than the belt that holds up your britches . . . . And yes . . . double layers are always stronger . . . simply because you have two "hair sides" of the belt. The hair side is the strength side . . . one 16 oz belt will be no stronger than a belt made of two 6 oz pieces . . . glued flesh side to flesh side . . . and stitched around the whole edge. But now comes the best information . . . Madmaxx got you started . . . trim the belt (sand the edges on a belt sander if you have one . . . they're 50 bucks at harbor freight . . . mine is 20 years old . . . then stitch groove both sides . . . get your 6 stitches per inch or 5 stitches per inch . . . whichever you want to use . . . buy some 346 waxed nylon thread . . . and get a couple of size 22 needles for production sewing machines. Lay a piece of 1 by 4 on your drill press . . . put the 22 needle in the drill press . . . drill a 1/4 inch hole in the middle of that 24 inch 1 x 4 . . . about 1 1/2 inches from the edge . . . and with the drill bit in that hole . . . c clamp the back of the board to the drill press . . . take out the drill bit . . . put in the needle . . . unplug the drill press. Use the drill press to make your stitch holes . . . and I'll guarantee you there are very few people who can use an awl and get their holes as perfectly up and down as you will with the drill press. If they are not 90 degree . . . your back side of the belt will have stitches wandering like a drunken Marine (sailors don't stagger . . . just Marines) Punch the holes down thru the outside finished face of the belt. Next . . . take a couple of 1 x 2 boards . . . about 6 inches longer than the belt . . . sandwich the belt between the 1 x 2's . . . leaving about 1/2 inch of the belt sticking out . . . the part you are stitching . . . c clamp them to the edge of your work table . . . turn on your favorite John Wayne western . . . and start stitching . . . this will go faster than any other style other than machine stitching. One good John Wayne . . . and one Marshall Dillon should be enough to get you at least mostly thru the belt. Have fun. . . may God bless, Dwight

In one of John Bianchi's videos . . . he finished up a single holster cowboy rig . . . He had not dyed it yet . . . just finished the construction. His final "construction" step was to dip it in a stainless steel container of neatsfoot oil that was in his statement . . . warmed. Quite honestly . . . due to his overall success at selling hundreds of thousands of leather products . . . I just think I'll believe him before some internet cowboy who may have made a belt and wallet. He considered his leather products worth the few extra pennies to use the real stuff. Maybe being cheap is more important to other folks. May God bless, Dwight

Another weldwood guy . . . peanut butter jar . . . if you keep it 75% full it stays better longer. White kids glue or any carpenter glue is also good . . . just takes too long to set up for my processes. May God bless, Dwight

Remember the word "compound" . . . it's got some neatsfoot oil in it . . . but the rest is just what ever was around at the time the order needed to be filled. I'd pour it on the saddles and in the tanks of a bunch of bikers I don't like . . . that's the only use I have for it. May God bless, Dwight

I actually got out my computerized bully club . . . threatened it severely . . . finally got it. Thanks fredk . . . it's gonna be a while . . . but I'll pop the results in a couple months. I actually have an M14 rifle I have to build first . . . And right after breakfast today . . . gotta put on my all white robbing suit . . . lift the lid on my beehive . . . rob the ladies of about 25% of the work they did this summer. That and getting it all in the jars and on the shelf . . . shoots a cannon ball sized hole in my Monday. Stinking goldenrod usually doesn't hit full bloom here until the 10th or 12th or so. It's there today . . . it'll ruin the honey if I don't get it now. My wife has some chipping and painting she has laid out for me . . . have slid around it all summer . . . am about to get nailed I think. May God bless, Dwight

Cowboy 4500 . . . not even one hesitation. May God bless, Dwight

The download said "saddlebag pattern pack" . . . and was 921 kb in size. That was the generic Tandy one . . . just showing a typical bland saddle bag building. It wouldn't tell me anything more. The second one . . . 15mb size . . . had all the designs / flowers etc . . . I got out my bully club and made it down load . . . The third one . . .11mb size . . . said it originated from off leatherworker here . . . and either the info was moved . . . or one of us did not have permission to view it . . . I'm good with the other two I think . . . May God bless, Dwight

Got it . . . Saw three different offerings . . . don't know why but my computer balked at two of them . . . some silly excuse "Cannot be downloaded" But one came thru . . . and it seemed to have everything. Thanks again . . . may God bless, Dwight

If my mother . . . the quilt maker was here . . . she would fix you right up. I'm into quilts as well . . . but she made em . . . all I do is sleep under them. Check around . . . find a quilt maker . . . she'll help ya out. May God bless, Dwight

I have a pair of these . . . one glove stays in the kitchen . . . the other in my leather shop. In either place . . . it is used on the left hand. In the leather shop it is put on most any time I get out my super sharp leather cutting knife . . . round knife or draw knife. Same for my rotary cutter . . . Either one can take off a finger . . . I've never had an "accident" while wearing the glove . . . where a finger or hand could have been seriously hurt . . . but I don't get those nasty little cuts and knicks that I might otherwise get without the glove. They seriously do have my recommendation. May God bless, Dwight