Dwight

Well, . . . I built my own house from the dirt up, . . . 2600 sq feet, . . . 16 x 32 shed, . . . 22 x 45 car port & leather shop, . . . have been the family photographer & videographer for about 45 years, . . . spent 4 years in the Navy, so you can forget painting. I'm just one of those guys that gets bored easily with the same old stuff, . . . gotta be playing with "new" stuff from time to time. BTW, . . . main computer is down or I'd show pics, . . . for leather storage in my shop, . . . I just made a stand up box, . . . 4 each 2 x 12's in a box, . . . 4 ft x 8 ft, . . . hinged the front 4 x 8 of OSB, . . . nailed the back piece on, . . . put in some rods, . . . and I have a leather vault, . . . 32 cubic feet, . . . allows all my leather to hang straight (gets rid of most of the curls) and I can just open the door, . . . take quick inventory anytime. Beats the devil out of drawers, rolls, boxes, etc. at least IMHO. May God bless, Dwight

wig190861 and I use similar methods. I put the rivet through the hole(s) and lay it on a small piece of scrap steel about 2 inches by 4 inches that I basically only use for rivets, . . . it's just a piece of clean carbon steel flat stock. I put on the washer, . . . then use the hole in the end of my setter, designed for that purpose, and tap the washer down with the setter and my 10 oz or so, little ball peen hammer. I then cut it about 1/8 of an inch above the washer, . . . and begin the shaping process with the back side of my ball peen hammer. I end up with a couple of good strokes on the "rounder" indentation in the foot of my setter, . . . and I'm done. Again, as mentioned above, . . . don't be afraid to waste a dozen rivets and some scrap leather doing a little practice. It will pay great dividends in the long run. May God bless, Dwight

If I had done it, . . . the ends would be inside, . . . well glued, . . . If you look carefully at the top piece, . . . you can see where it was seriously folded backward by the crease line between the two stitches. In all probability, . . . the whole thing was pretty loosely sewn, . . . until all the stitches up there were in place, . . . then tugged and tightened, . . . the ends pulled down into the void between the pieces, . . . clipped, . . . glued, . . . and done. At least that is how I would do it. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, . . . all in all, . . . good one for the first try. Your panels look really good, . . . and I still cannot do basket weave. May God bless, Dwight

I use a bag punch, . . . it's about 3/4 of an inch long, . . . after I punch out the one full length punch, . . . I add about another half, . . . so in all it is about an inch and 1/8 or an inch an a quarter, . . . I test it by folding it over, . . . straightening out the buckle, . . . lifting up the tongue. For me it needs to go straight up with no problem, . . . if not, . . . I whack it again until it does. But with my little template I made, . . . that isn't very often, . . . just maybe when there is a new style buckle, . . . but even then, not very often. May God bless, Dwight

Like all hobbies, . . . when we get to be ground temperature, . . . it won't affect us as much any more, . . . but until then, . . . ya just gotta give in and have at it. My wife thinks I have too many hobbies, . . . I'm still looking around to see if there is anything I am missing May God bless, Dwight

When I am making a pattern for chaps I've not done before, . . . I get my handy, dandy JoAnn Fabric coupon (presently either 40 or 50% off on one item, . . . one cut of material is one item) and I go back to the back where they have their heavy duty vinyl with the canvas back. It closely approximates about 2 oz leather in feel and function. It's now around 20 bucks a yard, . . . and depending on your husband's size, . . . you'll need 1 1/2 to 3 yards. I'm 6 ft 1 inch and 185, . . . I make my size patterns out of 1 1/2 yards. That turns out usually to be about $15. The coupons can be found on line, . . . and once you get signed up, . . . if you want, they'll put you on THE LIST and send em to you every now and then. If I was making woolies, . . . I'd start with Bob at klendasaddlery, . . . I got his patterns for both Arizona styles, . . . and I would think the #33 might be OK, . . . he has another one that he does not show a pattern for, it's a #6503, . . . call him up and talk to him, . . . he's a super guy. http://www.klendasaddlery.com/chaps.htm May God bless, Dwight

As rawr66 said above, . . . from the buckle at one end, . . . to the "most used hole" on the present belt they wear. And YOU measure it, . . . otherwise you will "re-do" about every other one or every third one. I had a "client" who wore 36 inch Wranglers, . . . and wanted a 36 inch belt. When I finally got his old belt to measure it, . . . turned out he really needed a 41. His Wranglers had slowly but surely stretched as his girth did, . . . so he never really paid attention I guess. Anyway, . . . measure it yourself, . . . personally. Also, I think it is a better deal for my customers to give them 7 holes, . . . but that is something you will have to work out for you and your customers. And, from the last hole at the very end of the belt, . . . add 3 1/2 inches to the tongue, . . . out to the end of the belt. May God bless, Dwight

i've done it both ways, . . . and it's kinda like twins, . . . they get old at the same rate, . . . get wrinkled and ugly about the same too. But then again, . . . I dip dye, . . . so my dye is a bit deeper penetration than some of the surface dye jobs I've seen. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks for the giggles, Lobo, . . . sometimes something is said that takes us back to our "voice of experience" lessons. Your last line above is a sure winner in that department. May God bless, Dwight

The last one I did like that, . . . I dip dyed the two outside layers in black before assembly, . . . made one purty, purty holster. My only "mistake" was the leather I used was just a tad on the heavy side, . . . actually wound up with a holster that could be used as a weapon, . . . it is so stiff and hard. But it shore is purty. And, . . . yes, . . . as mentioned earlier, . . . a good coat of neetsfoot oil will do good for both the holster and the gun inside it. I also do not put any finish on the insides of those holsters. May God bless, Dwight

Salvation Army, . . . Goodwill, . . . any place that sells used stuff, . . . sometimes see a football i there. May God bless, Dwight

Go ahead and use the eyelets, . . . just put a "tongue" under them, . . . like in a shoe. Make it big enough that the panel hides the stitches, . . . and you'll have to make it kind of "T" shaped, . . . with the trunk of the T going up under the panel, . . . then the top of the T being the actual tongue itself, . . . allowing the laces to rest against it. The other thing you might do, . . . Velcro, . . . it's wonderful stuff. May God bless, Dwight

Pretty much the same as wig190861, . . . except I have a punched out template made many moons ago from a manila folder. I lay it on the top of the belt, . . . pencil, pen, nail, punch, . . . use something to mark the front to back location of the holes. Then I lay it on the table, . . . belt point looking directly at me, . . . lay my hole punch back side on the mark I made, . . . adjust it left or right as my eyes tell me what is centered, . . . punch it. I learned a long time ago, . . . if I cannot see any error in the location, . . . nobody else will either. I just eyeball and punch. May God bless, Dwight

Potato, . . . potahto, . . . potatoe, . . .

It's a long crazy story how I ended up with mine, . . . but it was brand new, . . . still in the box. And, . . . yes, . . . there is a learning curve with it, . . . but it was not really hard for me, . . . I've been messing with mechanical junk for 50+ years, . . . learned how to use a treadle Singer when I was probably all of 8or 10 at the oldest. The pros for the Boss: A relatively simple machine, . . . if it breaks, you can take it apart and put in the parts yourself Hand operated, no power needed The factory is in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, . . . their "fixit" people, mainly Ben, are wonderful to work with Needs only to be solidly anchored, . . . mine is with a "C" clamp on my bench's end The cons for the Boss: It does not make a "pretty" backside stitch It is sometimes difficult to get started: lifting the foot, holding the strings, placing the piece to be sewn, getting started in "THE" right place. Doing a 55 inch belt takes a cup of coffee, one doughtnut, and a lot of patience so you don't have a "do over" to contend with It can try your patience As for thread, . . . I buy 346 thread at Tandy's, . . . it has some kind of lube on it, . . . works really well, . . . but I do sometimes have to clean a goober or gob of the stuff off my needle'e eye. I've tried 207, 277, and 406, . . . none of which works as well for me as the 346 from Tandy's. You will want to build a table that lays to the left of the machine, . . . and a surface directly behind it for the parts & pieces to rest on while stitching. You won't always use it in that configuration, . . . but for most of what I do, . . . it works the best. May God bless, Dwight

For a panel like that, . . . 6/7 ounce should be plenty, . . . and if you skive the edges of the back side, . . . cement it down real good, . . . then sew it near the edge, . . . it will look really nice and be less prone to damage. Now you've got me thinking about one for my rifle, . . . but I'll have to build in a cheek piece, . . . ahhh, . . . life is fun and full of suggestions / ideas / projects. Don't forget to share pictures with us when it's done. May God bless, Dwight

I'll tell you up front, . . . the hardest part is the zipper. Lay your weapon down on a yellow manila folder, . . . so the whole thing is laying on one half of it, . . . fold the other half over it, . . . push down with your fingers to find where you can make the folder pieces meet, . . . mark and cut that, . . . straighten up the lines so it looks more like a big blunt ended teardrop, . . . cut that line, . . . you have your pattern. Then all you gotta do is sew the zipper on. Take your time, . . . it'll work out. I only do those for special people. May God bless, Dwight

I'm pretty much a "cut the other one big, . . . you can always trim it" type of guy. Holsters, belts, sheaths, . . . whatever. If gluing is involved, . . . there is always the risk of bad position ruining a project, . . . sanding or cutting off a bit of extra leather is a whole bunch easier and cheaper than trying to "cut to fit", . . . in my opinion. May God bless, Dwight

Looks good Mike, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Jason, . . . now I'm no expert, . . . but after about 40 years of using a product, . . . you kinda get a feel for how to use it. Let it dry, . . . completeley, . . . thoroughly, . . . 100%, . . . dry ! Yes, . . . you can use a heat gun on it, . . . that will quicken the process. Do not slop it on like making a peanut butter sandwich, . . . you want a thin, but even coat every where. Part of the key to that is to use a bristle brush, . . . and go back and forth over it so you are evening out puddles you made. OR, . . . try the gel formula. The only time I have ever had it not hold to the point of tearing the leather, . . . is when I've glued the hair side. That has to be scratched up, . . . I use a wire brush, . . . and don't be gentle with it, . . . you'll never see it again once it's glued, . . . so scuff that surface really good. Next step is to make sure the bond is made, . . . pressure is the key, . . . your hands, thumbs, rolling pin, piece of marble on top of it, . . . something to force the two pieces together. And if you can, . . . leave it for a while before you mess with it. NOW, . . . I don't do that, . . . I stick it together, . . . sand & burnish, . . . and sew, . . . then allow it to finish the bonding process after I have sewn it. My initial contact bond is always strong enough to hold it while I'm sewing it, . . . but then again that is my process. Like it was said earlier, . . . if you can pull it apart after it was bonded, . . . YOU did something out of kilter, . . . it ain't the glue's fault. As a test, . . . I once made a little holster for a .380 Bersa Thunder, . . . carried it for I don't know how long, . . .not one stitch in the thing, . . . only Weldwood, . . . got rid of the gun, and gave the holster to a friend. Far as I know, . . . it's still useable. May God bless, Dwight

You could try this, . . . inexpensive, . . . quick, . . . unobrusive. May God bless, Dwight

Go to a welding supply shop and tell them you want a piece of soap stone and a holder for it. You'll be out about 3 bucks. Mark your line just to one side or the other to your sewing line, . . . to the shoe edge if you are using a machine. It makes a nice grey mark on almost any leather, . . . buffs right off, . . . but won't blow off, . . . and doesn't scuff the leather. Works on most material too. May God bless, Dwight

I'm with Red Cent, . . . not enough information to understand exactly what is wanted or needed. Can you do a picture or a drawing??? May God bless, Dwight

That is what is known as a Monte Carlo comb, . . . as often as not just an added decoration to add a bit of price to the product, . . . but can aid in aligning the eye to the scope. Having said that, . . . I would most likely opt for a 3 oz piece, . . . see enclosed drawing. May God bless, Dwight