Dwight

You did not say how big the squares are. If they are 4 inches or less, a strap cutter will give you 2 perfectly cut sides, making your only task, . . . cutting the ends. My table has a 36 x 60 mat in one inch squares, . . . and it and a long ruler works for me. May God bless, Dwight

I don't do a lot of saddle or other hand stitching, . . . but when I do, . . . I cut off a 6 foot piece, . . . and go from there. It's fairly easy to hide a splice, . . . I only have to deal with 36 inches of thread on each side, . . . and if I do cut off a longer piece, . . . I usually wind up dragging it through something that will discolor it or get it dirty. And, . . . if there is any left over, . . . they go up in my thread cache, . . . pulled down later to hang pictures, . . . sew a short piece, . . . wrap a package, . . . or whatever, . . . it becomes my substitute for mom's ball of twine. May God bless, Dwight

Take the offending stamps to your local NAPA store, . . . they have rubber hose that will do the trick really well. I have several with it on them, . . . the ones I use the most, . . . and at a buck or so a foot, . . . it's about a quarter for each one done. Be sure to get hose that fits tight, though, . . . if it fits loose, . . . you'll hammer the tool down through it, . . . Different colors can "color code" them, . . . making the one you are looking for easier to spot, . . . especially background stamps, . . . basket weave, . . . etc. May God bless, Dwight

Go to the salvation army or goodwill, . . . buy one of theirs that has a hole in it for 59 cents, . . . carefully cut it apart, . . . it is a perfect pattern. May God bless, Dwight

If I may, . . . let me help you on this question. There are a lot of people who start out in leatherwork, . . . spend some good hard earned money, . . . and then leave for a myriad of reasons, . . . and this is no different in any other hobby. But in leatherwork, you can wind up with some money spent that is very hard to recoup. Let me suggest that "this time" you go to say a Tandy store if there is one near you, . . . buy kits for the billfolds, belts, and bags you want to do. Those kits can be turned into some very beautiful gifts in a fairly short time, . . . some of the work is already done for you, . . . and with the enclosed instructions, . . . you will not be saddled with haveing to peruse the forum to find out "how do I do THIS"??? Belts come pre-embossed if you like, . . . or just blanks. Saves several steps, . . . and can save you a belt blank if you make a serious mistake in finishing or punching it out. The same goes for bags and wallets. Buy only the tools needed to complete the kits, . . . and if you have something at home that you can substitute for now, . . . use it. I had a little mallet that I used for the first several years before I finally ponied up real cash for one. I still use my drywall knife to cut 90% of my leather pieces. Only if it has to be "exact" and has some serious straight lines, . . . will I waste my time with a round knife or a rotary cutter, . . . they aren't worth a dime on intricate pieces. And don't be too concerned about the quality of tools today, . . . a year from now if you are still with us, . . . yeah. Now, . . . seriously, it is not a good financial bet, simply because you do not know the direction you are going, and the tools you will need. You can also buy the kits and the tools "on line" as well as the dyes, finishes, etc you will need. That will also allow you more time to devote to actually doing the work, . . . which for me, always gives me a better and more beautiful finished product. Good luck. May God bless, Dwight

Thank you, . . . thank you, . . . I thought maybe that may be the deal, . . . but sometimes the obvious is not the right answer. When I made Tony's earlier this year, . . . I messed up the first one (punched a hole in the wrong place), . . . so I have a piece of leather hanging and waiting for me to decide to make mine, . . . and I just may do some tooling on it, . . . but it surely won't be as intricate as yours. Maybe a rose up at the top,.............. May God bless, Dwight

Brushpopper, . . . I don't use a scabbard like this, . . . so I have to ask the question: how do you secure the scabbard to the very left if you want to use it with your horse? The other two I figured out as there are loops for leather straps. But the one on the left is plain, . . . just need some guidance. And before I forget, . . . yes, . . . they are beautiful. The tooling patterns are definitely unique. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

shug said: "I fancy making a western style gun slip for a 1/2 scale static Winchester I am making and would like pictures etc on how they were constructed,leather type and weight etc........" Well, . . . in the US, . . . a slip is either a receipt from some retailer, . . . or that silky thing your wife wears under her dress........... But I'm guessing you wanted information on a "rifle scabbard", . . . and while I don't have a lot, . . . I'll share this one with you that I made for a friend some time back. It is made of 2.5 / 3mm leather, . . . and has a very short sheep wool / skin lining. The wool itself was about 6 or 7 mm long. I would not normally put fringe on the bottom, . . . but the customer is always right, . . . so he got fringe on it. There is a sewn plug in the barrel end, . . . that is the only way I do these, . . . some will just sew it shut, . . . but that pinches the front sight and barrel, . . . and can cause abrasion which could cause "stuff" to get in the end of your rifle barrel, . . . which is not at all a safe thing. The actual scabbard itself is one piece of leather, . . . sewn together at the bottom. The lining is first contact cemented to the outside, . . . then sewn at the open end before the bottom was sewn together. The whole thing was finished in Resolene to help protect it from sweat and abrasion if it were ever actually to see use on a horse. Personally I think it will become a wall hanger, . . . but that is up to my friend. Most rifle scabbards will only show the last 30 or so cm on the stock, . . . protecting all of the metal parts from sweat of the horse and rider. On a lever action, I would cover the whole lever, . . . making even less of the stock show. Hope this helps, may God bless, Dwight

I have a 12 inch round flat sander, . . . a 1 inch belt sander, . . . and I waste 100 bucks on an orbital tube sander. The 1 inch belt sander was the cheapest, . . . smallest, . . . and hands down does the best job. I only keep the other two because they are handy for metal and wood work also. If I only did leather work . . . I'd sell em. May God bless, Dwight

I also buy cloth backed vinyl at JoAnn's fabric shop with their weekly 40% off coupon, . . . getting the equivalent of about a full side of leather for 10 bucks or so. It mimicks 2 or 3 oz suede or chap leather in the feel and way it lays or works. You can also practice your stitching on it, . . . getting the technique of awl punching, spacing, etc, . . . and it is a lot easier on your hands than leather. Like leather, . . . it is also very unforgiving on badly made cuts, . . . so there are lots of "learing apps" with it. Tandy sells a veggie tan leather that looks like that, . . . I forget what the other part of the name is, . . . maybe milled veggie tan, or something like that. It is quite soft and easy to work with, . . . I bought one piece once, . . . But anyway, . . . the stitching is very straight forward, . . . done on the reverse, . . . then turned inside out. I made one similar last summer, . . . turned out nice, . . . good luck. May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . vegetable tanned leather is the type you want for a belt. It looks from the description to be drum dyed, which is usually pretty thorough. The word that bothers me is the "bridle" description. That usually means that it has been given a thorough oily treatment to withstand the rigors of being outdoors. That would match the description below for suggested used. OTOH, . . . it says it is good for stamping, . . . so it may work out for you. I use a # 4 edging tool for my belts, . . . which would work for this, . . . and, yes, edge first, then burnish. Seeing as how it is pre-dyed, . . . once you have decorated it to suit yourself, . . . put a couple of coats of Kiwi shoe polish on it, . . . polish it really good, . . . you should have a really nice dress belt. May God bless, Dwight

When I finish a belt for a customer, . . . my micrometer says it is in the range of .180 to .220 as my desired thickness. Sometimes it may inch up a bit, . . . but I rarely let it go any thinner. Why, . . . my experience with thinner belts is that they simply do not last like a thicker one. The one I have on right now originally hit in the .245 category, . . . carries a full size 1911, . . . 1, 2, or 3 mags, . . . flashlight, . . . cell phone, . . . and just about anything else I want to hang off it, . . . yet is still elegant enough to wear almost anyplace. But that is my mileage speaking. YMMV May God bless, Dwight

Quite honestly, . . . the questions are not perfectly answerable on a forum like this. There are simply too many variables. What kind of leather is it? Was it spray dyed, or drum dyed? How thick is it? Does it have a finish on it? All these answers will lead to a "means" of giving you your answer. What I would do is take that strap to a cobbler shop or other leather worker, . . . let them look at it, . . . professionally advise you. Then get in the habit of finding out what you have, . . . it'll really help you in the long run. May God bless, Dwight

While I have no clue, . . . I'd sure like to know as well. May God bless, Dwight

Another poster said: "Ask him for the measurement from the hole he uses to the buckle hook on his old belt and you should be good to go." In all honesty, . . . if you do that, . . . he will bring the belt back, . . . complaining it is too small. For a cartridge belt (I'm assuming you mean a US Western style ranger cartridge belt, . . . like John Wayne wore and carried his six gun on it), . . . it has to be 4 inches longer than the belt he normally wears. Using the "Ask him for the measurement from the hole he uses to the buckle hook on his old belt and you should be good to go." formula will get you his dress belt size, . . . add 4 inches to that and you will not go wrong. That is not my advice, . . . John Bianchi made that pretty plain on his videos. Below you will see the pattern I use, . . . and pretty much how I do it. The overall blank is curved, making the top slightly smaller than the bottom, . . . making it hug the wearer's hips better, . . . the last pattern shows various end configurations you can use. Most folks only put 5 holes in their belt ends, . . . I give my customers 7, . . . gives them more "room" for versatility. So far, only one customer was less than happy, . . . it took me over a month to make his 55 inch + belt, . . . and he gained 3 inches in that month. Had to remodel that one. May God bless, Dwight

You do not want to pound on em, . . . and JoAnn also has a bigger one in white, . . . 36 by 60, . . . it's on my work bench. Put a piece of marble on it, . . . pound to your little heart's content, . . . You can see it behind the Boss. May God bless, Dwight

This is my favorite: Only two pieces of leather, . . . less than 100 stitches, . . . two snaps. May God bless, Dwight

For holsters, . . . 50 / 50 mix of Feibings pro oil dye, . . . and Feibings thinner. Pour it all into a 8 x 14 x 2 inch cake pan, . . . dip the holster, . . . and roll it around in the liquid until it is all covered. Pull it out, . . . hang it up to dry, . . . Finish with a 50 / 50 Resolene and water mix, . . . applied with a cheap bristle brush. Works for me. May God bless, Dwight

It's been my experience that I can find cheap surgeons, . . . cheap lawyers, . . . and even cheap politicians, . . . but a cheap splitter, . . . ain't never seen one. But that's just my experience, . . . YMMV Whatcha needing to do hockeyspikey? There is probably a work around, . . . fill us in on the details. May God bless, Dwight

Now that's creative, . . . looks like the colors match too, . . . Is that a palomino stitcher, . . . or a golden palomino? May God bless, Dwight

Zayne, . . . contact Weaver Leather in Berlin, Ohio, . . . they can make you one, . . . it's called a clicker die, . . . If they are too expensive for your budget, . . . a piece of galvanized, . . . 4 inch electrical conduit will be 4.026 inside diameter, . . . and if you sharpen it so that it is the outside edge that is sharp, . . . it should be very close to your 4 1/8 inch need. Just look up an electrical contractor in your area, . . . we literally used to throw away pieces of that stuff after a job. You couldn't keep the stubs, . . . they just got in the way, . . . and were always 3 inches too short for the next job if you did keep them. For my work on something like that, . . . I would lay down the leather, . . . flesh side up, . . . use an ink pen to outline my pattern, . . . rough cut them with a razor knife, . . . then take them to my sander, . . . and finish "rounding em out" on the sander, . . . flip em over so they are hair side up, . . . run an edger around the top, . . . done, fini, complete. And with my little $50 belt sander, . . . I'm no more than maybe 30 seconds on each one, . . . rounding em out, . . . another 30 seconds on marking and cutting, . . . maybe a full minute on edging them, . . . May God bless, Dwight

One thing you can do, . . . determine what it is you want to put on the jacket, . . . buy enough corresponding vegetable tanned leather, . . . cut the pieces to the shapes you want for your jacket. You can then tool, . . . stamp, . . . paint, . . . stain, . . . whatever you want for your jacket, . . . to your heart's content. THEN, . . . get those pieces sewn onto your jacket. Virtually all motorcycle folks, . . . military folks, . . . and others wearing "stuff" on their leather jackets have also done it this way. May God bless, Dwight

The last one I built, . . . Resolene, . . . 50/50 with water, . . . it was about 8 oz over a beautiful 1/4 inch long lambs wool lining. I was very happy with the result, . . . but I seriously doubt if it will ever see any hard use, . . . most likely a wall hanger. But knowing that, . . . I still used Resolene, . . . it is very water repellent, . . . goes on easy, . . . and has a UV blocker which will stop sunshine from discoloring the item. May God bless, Dwight

What are the needs as far as leather is concerned? May God bless, Dwight

Where are you located? I ask only because I would not do it unless I could see and talk to you about exactly what you wanted, . . . May God bless, Dwight