Dwight

I took the advice of someone somewhere (maybe on here) and made myself two fringe cutting templates. They are clear plexiglass, . . . with lines spaced 1/4 inch apart on one, . . . 5/16 on the other one, . . . lines scratched into the surface. In the center of the piece (about 4 inches wide, . . . 9 inches long) is a cut with a hack saw. I roll a rotary cutter down the hack saw cut, . . . move it to the left to see the cut line covered by one of the scratched lines, . . . and just keep rolling down. I have lines going across it to indicate different lengths for the fringe. Using my system, . . . it's pretty hard not to make good looking fringe. And yes, . . . fringe cutting is THE last thing done. Otherwise, . . . I'd somehow sew some of it up somewhere, . . . somehow, . . . cause I know me. AND, . . . it lets me know that the work is almost done when I'm doing the fringe, . . . I can chill and enjoy the experience. May God bless, Dwight

Chief, . . . you live up to your name. This little indian just does not possess your skill or patience, . . . really good looking. May God bless, Dwight

I had some cases some time back, . . . and I made a yellow pine insert for each one, . . . just the size for the inside, . . . but not too snug. I then added 1/16th inch by 1 inch flat stock steel pieces where the rivets would be set. I used a stick and grabber to stick the rivet in the hole, . . . slid in the insert, . . . set it on another piece of leather, . . . capped and whacked the rivet. Worked perfectly. May God bless, Dwight

I read an article the other day, . . . some gun mag, . . . all about the full shelves in the gun mfg warehouses. They have caught up, . . . maybe even running ahead, . . . and the stocks are full. One LGS i see occasionally has all but quit carrying long guns except for AR's and M4geries, . . . and a couple of shotguns. Lots of handguns though, still. My competition in this area is mainly a handful of people with stacks of kydex and a couple of toaster ovens. They hack saw off a hunk of tandy belly leather, . . . rivet a piece of toaster oven kydex to it, . . . smile and say "twenty bucks please". May God bless, Dwight

Ramrod, the center hole of the holes you punched is the "correct" measurement point. Go halfway around the belt from there, . . . perfect center point for that belt. May God bless, Dwight

The ONE tried, . . . true, . . non guessing way to do it , . . cut out the rough holster,. . . wet the leather, . . Mold the holster, . . . let it fully dry, . . glue the edges together, . . . mark and sew. Never fails, . . . period! And you ca forget worrying about leather thickness, . . . etc. May God bless Dwight

"Beautiful" does not do the work justice, . . . I think "Stunning", . . . kinda like Cinderella stepping out of the pumpkin coach that very first time, . . . describes it for me. Keep up the good work. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks for the good words, guys, . . . been putting it off, . . . finally just DID it. Be wearing them in the parade this weekend probably, . . . Always wanted a pair, . . . finally got em. . . . now to make another pair for weed eating, . . . but out of vinyl. May God bless, Dwight

First off, . . . my dying is limited to holsters, belts, mag pouches, an occasional purse. All kinda flat stuff, . . . all small, . . . and all easily handled. I have two 2 inch deep by 9 by 14 (more or less) cake pans. One is for black, . . . the other is for other than black. I pour a 50/50 mixture of my desired dye into the pan (50 dye/50 reducer), . . . . usually a good pint plus, . . . then begin inundating the item. I dip it straight into the liquid, . . . it get "baptized" so to speak, . . . but not left to soak. Its 4 to 5 seconds at the most. Pull out, . . . belts or long items get laid on their edge, . . . curled, . . . bottom edge down, . . . on a piece of cardboard. Holsters go on their back, as well as purses and knife sheaths, and mag carriers. Let em dry for 24 hours, . . . if they are brittle dry, . . . add a coat of neatsfoot oil to the hair side (thank you Lobo) and let that dry for 24 hours. Burnish as necessary, . . . finish 90+% of the time with 50/50 Resolene/water. The dye is for the most part very predictable, . . . and very uniform. Occasionally a piece will be darker or lighter, . . . but we are playing with leather from different cows, . . . different tanneries sometimes, . . . whatcha expect???? I'm happy as a fat rat in a cheeze factory with my process. May God bless, Dwight

Probably if it were my project, . . . a set of plastic (clear) French curves, . . . and a hand stitch gouger would by my approach. Figure out which part of the curve to use for which lines, . . . lay out the start and end points for each line beforehand with a pair of dull dividers, . . . use a piece of masking tape at the beginning and the ending of each curve to mark where you start and where you end. Depending on the size, . . . that shouldn't take too long that way, . . . and following the French curve, . . . it's hard to mess that up if you take your time and really, really pay attention. Painting in the stitch gouges is kinda tricky, . . . but it would look really nice when it was done. I'd probably use a hypodermic needle and some really thinned down paint, . . . maybe have to do a couple of coats, . . . but just track through the gouge line, . . . emitting a bit of paint as you go. May God bless, Dwight

If you want to make it an easy process, . . . go to a local Tandy store, . . . they have large spools of thread from 346 down to I think 207. Or call Kevin up at Springfield Leather, . . . he'll help you in a heartbeat. May God bless, Dwight

C'mon, Red Cent, . . . you still can't out draw Matt................... And if you did, . . . Festus would get ya......... Not meaning any disrespect or add adverse feelings to anyone, . . . and I do know that sometimes they are probably necessary, . . . but the screw in the bowl washer, . . . with the rubber rings below it, . . . for tension, . . . it just throws the whole picture off for me. Kinda like watching some cowpoke riding along in his Hoss hat, . . . on a purty lookin' bay, . . . got his vest and his chaps on, . . . six gun at his side, . . . rifle in the scabbard, . . . rope hanging off the saddle, . . . saddlebags in the back, . . . and totin' a turquoise transistor radio with the antenna extended up 48 inches, . . . blaring out some old rock N roll Beachboy's tune. But that's just me, . . . probably don't have that effect on everyone. May God bless, Dwight

Been a while in the doing, . . . finally got my chaps ready for the parade this Saturday. 4/5 oz legs, . . . 2/3 oz accents, . . . 6/7 veg tan for all the other pieces. Cabbaged the pattern off a pair sold on Ebay some time back. Now if I can just get to the parade, . . . and back home, . . . without someone trying to buy them off me May God bless, Dwight

Actually a much different construction technique, . . . mine is wrapped around the trigger guard, . . . the other one is open. Mine is basically one piece of leather for the holster body, . . . theirs is multiple, . . . plus welts, . . . Mine is also TIGHT, . . . does not need a phillips head screw to keep the gun in. But from 30 feet, . . . they probably do look alike. May God bless, Dwight

1. I hate to hedge on the answer, . . . but the weight is dependant on the person, . . . use, . . . weapon, . . . suffice to say that most are in the 6/7 or 7/8 weights. If it is going to be worn outside the belt, . . . I go thicker, . . . an IWB gets thinner leather. 2. I use the Rhodesian style of holster mostly for small automatics, . . . (see pictures), . . . which seldom have belt loops, relying on a metal clip to hold them onto the wearer's clothing or belt. 3. A long time ago in my holster working, . . . I found that reversing the molding / sewing process, . . . would give me a better fit to the weapon. I know there will be those who argue, . . . but it works for me, . . . I know ABSOLUTELY, . . . EXACTLY, . . . where to put the stitch line, . . . and am confident that it will not come loose some day in the forseeable future. Folks who make the same holster day in and day out have the luxury of a proven, guaranteed pattern, . . . whereas a lot of my work is custom, . . . 1 of 1. That makes the process have to be different. I hope this helps. May God bless, Dwight

The only thing I would put in a welt for (only along the sight track) woudl be for a handgun that had a sharp & wide or tall front sight, . . . just go give it clearance. With the automatics, . . . the sewing creates a little valley for the sight, . . . no problem for it. May God bless, Dwight

When I do a Rhodesian, . . . I do not use welts. I lay out the pattern, . . . put on the clip, . . . stiffener (if needed), . . . decorative pieces, . . . etc, . . . then I get the whole thing real good and wet, . . . and fold and mold the holster to the weapon. The only sewing left to be done is the main seam that goes down the sight channel, . . . along the bottom, . . . and up to meet the trigger guard. I then hang it up to dry, . . . usually on a string through the channel that is the trigger guard. When it is dry (minimum 24 hours), . . . I remove the string, . . . insert the weapon, . . . close it back up tight, . . . check for fit, . . . glue the edges, . . . sand, bevel, and burnish, . . . sew, . . . finish, . . . done. May God bless, Dwight

I've heard it called both a bleed knot and a blood knot, . . . and I have no idea which if either is correct. It is very simply done by making a slit in the bottom piece, . . . parallel to the edges, . . . just slightly longer than the width of the strap, . . . pull the top piece down through, . . . make the same type cut at about the same distance as the first cut, . . . but again in what is now the bottom piece, . . . pull the new top piece through it, . . . and you have the knot. Take a key ring, . . . put a strap of leather around the ring, . . . follow the above directions, . . . the first one will take you 20 minutes, . . . the second should take you 2 minutes. It's really that simple. May God bless, Dwight

I like to make sure I give my customer's their money's worth, . . . and sometimes it is just a little thing. On my belts, . . . I use one inch spacing, . . . and I give them 7 holes. Doesn't sound like much, . . . but a 5 hole belt at 3/4 spacing only gives that customer a 1 1/2 inch movement either way, . . . mine gives them 3 inches, . . . fully double. Just my way of doing things, . . . and not everyone will agree, . . . and that's OK, . . . May God bless, Dwight

If you have to do it, . . . end one thread and start the other between the layers. That is the only way of making it truly invisible that I know of. Sometimes a thread will break or I run out of thread in the bobbin, . . . and if it happens at the tongue end, . . . I'll camouflage it in the "going around the corner" of the belt. Otherwise I just pull it all out and start over. May God bless, Dwight

Camano Ridge has the way I do it, . . . and if they don't goof up the measurement, . . . it ALWAYS works. I knew a guy once who wore "36" trousers. When we measured HIM for the belt, . . . turned out to be a 41. He had worn those jeans enough to stretch them all the way out to where the 36 was just numbers, . . . nothing near a size. I just sent off a $200 belt rig, . . . measured Camano's way, . . . note came back with big thank you, . . . "It fit perfect". Try using some "formula", . . . make a couple of those $200 rigs that don't fit and you'll see that there really is a good way, . . . and it all has to do with measurement. May God bless, Dwight

Yessir, . . . I like those. That will probably be awful close to my pair when I get around to making them. Just finished these up for a cousin, . . . they'll be going home next week. I just wish the next two pair I have to do were as easy as this pair. These are just work chaps for around the old Ky hacienda. May God bless, Dwight

Personally, . . . I prefer to use the "extra" pieces from the exact same hide that I did the project with. That way, the dye is predictable (if you are dying it), . . . the color matches, . . . and overall I think it lends a bit of authenticity to the creation. I have cut fringe from 5/6 oz suede, . . . on down to verrrrrrrrrrry thin stuff. Just depends on the look you want, . . . the product you are making, . . . and the service required. Obviously, sleeve fringe on a Harley jacket is going to be more demanding that fringe on a white, lambskin clutch purse. These chaps went from leg leather to fringe, . . . with the cut of the knife,. . . 4/5 oz suede. May God bless, Dwight

Just a quick suggestion, . . . as I do this quite a bit. Get a 40 or 50% off coupon off the internet for Joann's Fabric. Go to the rear of the store where they have their canvas and vinyl, . . . some of their vinyl runs just shy of 20 bucks a yard, . . . you get a piece 36 inches wide and 45 inches long for 10 or 12 bucks. You can pattern a whole bunch of stuff, . . . and see how it works out, . . . without cutting leather, . . . and not having to put up with paper or manila folders. I did that especially for a couple sets of chaps, . . . paid off just the other day, . . . lady wanted to see a couple samples of my work, . . . I showed her my vinyl samples, . . . she came within an inch of wanting vinyl chaps, . . . but her buddy talked her out of it. I was hoping she would. Anyway, . . . that's how I would start out. May God bless, Dwight

Good looking first attempt, Tony, . . . Like you, . . . i'd be interested to know too, as the ones I build are pretty much only for show, . . . personal wear, . . . etc. They don't get much bush time. I also really like that old saddle picture you have on there, . . . is that an old Jumbo? My Jumbo looks a lot like it. May God bless, Dwight