Dwight

Russell, . . . an old tried and true pattern obtaining method: go to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army store, . . . buy a product that is very similar to what you want, . . . take it home, . . . disassemble it. Voila, . . . you have the best pattern you could possibly get for that project. It also allows you to try it on, . . . and if it is too long here, . . . cut it down, . . . too tight there, . . . add a little. It is also the lazy man's way of doing it, . . . but it pays good dividends. May God bless, Dwight

Some leather is sold by the square foot, . . . some is sold by the hide, . . . but there is a sneaky little way to beat both of them. Leather is generally measured as "Ounces", . . . 4/5 oz, . . . 6/7 oz, . . . 9 oz, . . . 12 oz, . . . etc. What that means is that if you cut out an exact square foot of that leather, . . . it would weigh that many ounces. Therefore, . . . if you get a $20 digital fish scale, . . . hang it up, . . . put a clamp on the bottom of it, . . . you can weigh your piece of leather you just bought from Ajax Leather Emporium, . . . when you cut off a piece for a project, . . . re-weigh the big piece, . . . subtract that from the original weight, . . . you then have a fractional figure you can use to comprehend how much this project is going to cost you, . . . down to the exact penny. It won't take long until you will have a fairly good handle on what it is costing you for each product you do. BUT, . . . the really big advantage is not in every day use, . . . it is in the "one of a kind" pieces you will do, . . . that take so much 8 oz, so much 4 oz, and a hunk of that 12 oz stuff too. The weight factor will nail your cost far closer than any other way. What Chief said is also good, . . . taking nothing away from his process, . . . but it is only applicable if you buy it by the foot. Weight will take care of all of it, . . . including different types of leather. I am in the process of finishing up a very special gun bag for a friend, . . . one which I am basically doing for cost. It has concho's, buckles, veg tan leather of two different thicknesses, chrome tan leather, and sheepskin is also involved. If I did these for a living, . . . weight would be the only way I could see for sure what my up front cost would be. May God bless, Dwight

Talc is used for a lot of things, . . . easy way to see it used, . . . put some Johnson's baby powder on your hands, . . . rub em together. Slick, . . . smooth, . . . that's what talc does (among other things). Also used in paint. May God bless, Dwight

The best way is with a punch, . . . you can use a clamp to squeeze it down and cut the leather. If you don't have a punch the right size, . . . get a piece of hard board or metal, . . . the size of the circle you want. About 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick is best. Clamp it to a table, . . . with a cutting surface under it, . . . your leather between the circle and the cutting surface. Strop your razor knife really sharp, . . . Run your razor knife around the outside. ONLY GO ONE WAY !! I know it sounds foolish, . . . but if you try going both ways, . . . most of the time you'll wind up with a "tail" on your circle. Going only one way erases that, . . . most of the time May God bless, Dwight

As always, . . . good looking stuff. You could call it eye candy. May God bless, Dwight

You may also have a "soft spot" in that blade, . . . that has now come up for air. Work on that tip with your stone and/or sandpaper, . . . if it is a soft spot, . . . a little farther back, . . . you should be allright. May God bless, Dwight

I have also used paraffin, . . . it works, . . . while I never have done a side by side test comparison, . . . my money would be on the beeswax for a harder hold, . . . it is a harder wax though not by a big bunch. Soy, . . . I haven't a clue............... May God bless, Dwight

Kansan, . . . generally speaking, . . . I do all the stitching and sewing except for the trigger guard seam(s), . . . and that is when I wet mold. Most of the time I just hand mold and bone it, . . . sometimes I do put it in my vacuum bag, . . . depends on the gun / customer / look I want to achieve, etc. Then, . . . after 24 hours of drying, . . . I contact cement the edges, . . . put the weapon back in there, . . . squeeze it together exactly where and how i want it to lay, . . . pull out the weapon, . . . sew and finish. Just my old redneck way of being different, . . . and it does take longer, . . . but when I get done with that final stitching seam, . . . it is right. Ummm, . . . well at least most of the time it is,................. May God bless, Dwight

I always put that piece out there, . . . and part of the reason is that it makes a wonderful place to add some personal touch: initials, . . . logo, . . . etc. I've even done a two tone by dying the holster one way, . . . the stiffener another. This was one I was especially proud of having made. May God bless, Dwight

I bought a spool of "made in India", . . . brown lacing to use on the occasional laced piece I do (maybe one every other year). It keeps "catching" in the lace holes and the side of it rips. Then it not only looks bad, . . . but will break in about two more holes or three, . . . and I have to hide another splice. I just got frustrated, . . . had to re-lace a 4 inch section of simple overhand looping, . . . 4 times because the lace ripped. Question: Is it bad lace? Am I doing something wrong (re-lacing an old purse, . . . probably 40 years or so old) ? Is there any "prep" to lacing other than setting up the needle and punching the holes? Honestly, . . . never ran into this before, . . . but again, . . . I'm a stitcher, . . . not a lacer. May God bless, Dwight

You don't say what it is you are making, . . . but FWIW, . . . I have had excellent "hardening" success by melting the wax and dipping the object in it, . . . allowing it to remain there, . . . fully submerged, . . . for several seconds, . . . pulling it out and letting it dry. I did that originally with a test piece of about 12 or 14 oz leather, . . . and wound up with a thin, leather colored "hockey puck", . . . it was HARD. May God bless, Dwight

Most likely the wax/oil, . . . but then again the answer is tainted as those are about the only two I use. Kind of an either/or situation. I have used bag kote and don't really like it, . . . the spray stuff doesn't do it for me either, . . . There really isn't anything that perfectly is water proof that I've found, . . . they all are "water resistant" to one degree or another. Both of these are pretty good. May God bless, Dwight

I'll be the first to say it was a freak accident, . . . one in a million at least, . . . but it happened. An elderly guy had a striker fired pistol, . . . and a badly worn leather holster. He sat down in his car (passenger side) and somewhere in the wiggling around getting seated and getting the seat belt all cinched up, . . . a piece of the worn holster slipped into the trigger guard and fired his weapon for him, . . . while he was seated. IIRC, . . . he was lightly wounded, . . . hole in the seat, . . . hole in the bottom of the car. Literally hundreds of thousands of those weapons are used each day around the world without incident, . . . but there is the opportunity, . . . much worse than say a Python (revolver) or a 1911 (pistol) as other examples. That is why I am extra careful around striker fired weapons when I make a holster for one. May God bless, Dwight

When I bone a striker fired pistol, . . . I never go as deep in the trigger guard as you did. That looks like an XD which also has a grip safety, . . . but the Glocks and others don't, . . . and anything in there, including an errant piece of the holster, . . . can trip the trigger, . . . and that will ruin the whole day. But, . . . that's just my policy, . . . if the buyer wants something else, . . . I send him somewhere else. May God bless, Dwight

The advantages to this method: a more uniform dye job overall, . . . the colors from item to item come out closer than other ways (at least I think so). May God bless, Dwight

In the "old" days, . . . bees wax and / or oil alone were the only things that could / were used on leather by the majority of makers. Bees wax and neatsfoot oil make a wonderful paste that I use by itself, . . . even with black, . . . had have had no real serious bleeding problems. That is not to say it will never happen, . . . and I wouldn't wear that black belt for at least the first 10 times with a pair of white pants. But my "cowboy" holster is made that way, . . . no problems. My "recipe" is a 50 / 50 mix of neatsfoot oil and virgin bees wax, . . . measured by weight, . . . boiled together in a jar suspended in a crock pot of hot water until it all liquifies, . . . pour it out in muffin papers, . . . use it like Kiwi shoe polish. But if the item will allow it, . . . I prefer Resolene, . . . it is my first choice. May God bless, Dwight

I would ask him first, . . . he has asked for raw, . . . that is what I would give him, . . . After a few gigs on a Milwaukee stage, . . . it ought to have it's own personalized color bands May God bless, Dwight

When I get in a pickle like that, . . . a wool dauber, . . . resolene, . . . finishes off the pickle. May God bless, Dwight

If it were mine, . . . I would cut the pieces, . . . they look to be about 3 inches wide, . . . dip dye them, . . . buff them like there is no tomorrow, . . . burnish the edges, . . . and apply a light coat of Resolene, . . . cut 50/50 with water. Then I would weave them onto the chair, . . . I'd also make a little grabber out of two small pairs of vice grips, . . . and a turnbuckle in the middle, . . . they will pull it every bit as tight as you could ever want it. Truth be known, . . . you CAN put the leather on there wet, . . . and when it drys, . . . it will be taut, . . . but the first time anyone who is, . . . uhhh, . . . ummm, . . . "not undernourished" sits in the chair, . . . all that special planning and stretching will be for naught. It will loosen up and sag a bit, . . . that is the nature of leather. May God bless, Dwight

In the chap work I've repaired and fixed in the last couple of years, . . . the upholstery thread sold at JoAnn's fabric shop has been super. A spool of it is only a couple of bucks, . . . and it comes in many different colors. May God bless, Dwight

Weaver Leather in Berlin, Ohio can make the cutters for you, . . . they will cut the shape out to the "zinth" degree from what I have heard. They are not cheap, though, . . . I have also heard. THEN, . . . go to the stamp, . . . have it cut from delrin or another plastic, . . . line up the stamp, . . . press it, . . . you should be done. I believe delrin is the name of the plastic I have for my maker's stamp, . . . it has held up well for the 5 or 6 years I've been using it. May God bless, Dwight

Having worked in maintenance at a production factory for many years, . . . I can see where you would really like to have this machine / tool. BUT, . . . having said that, . . . I also know it would be a pain to produce for a decent price, . . . and the eventual sharpening of it would be another troublesome spot. Think in terms of having the design pressed into the leather by a "stamp" that has outside dimensions of the final product you want. If the leather blank was as wide as you wanted it to be, . . . one end squared up, . . . when you "pressed" in the design, . . . you would only have to make one knife cut, . . . along one side, . . . and you would not only make that one piece but would prepare the leather strip for the next one, . . . which again would only take one 4 inch knife stroke to finish the piece. That design would be far less costly than an "all in one" and because no blades are involved, . . . also much less dangerous. Presses that cut and / or shear material are absolutely notorious for also doing fingers, hands, arms and anything else which gets in their grasp. Think about not putting yourself in that opportunity for disaster. May God bless, Dwight

The most important thing you can do right now is learn how to use the tools you already own. Expansion of the tools will not make you a better leather worker any faster than sleeping in the garage will make you a better driver. Learn the basics, . . . carving, stamping, shading, beveling, burnishing, sewing, lacing, etc. . . . and figure out what you want to do, . . . and what you do not want to do. I love making belts and holsters, . . . and I have no desire to become an expert at stamping and decorating them. I also do not do hand stitching any more than I absolutely have to. It took me some time to decide all these things, . . . so if you take your time, . . . you also will find where YOU belong, . . . in the leather working world. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks Kai1865, . . . my thoughts exactly. Several different sizes, . . . some with ridges to keep it from sliding around while putting it together, . . . I had to laugh too, . . . I was just trying to put the words together, how I would say it, . . . there was your post. May God bless, Dwight