Dwight

The one word answer is "NO". In fact, . . . in the last few years, . . . virtually all of my weldwood stuff gets a "hot foot" treatment, . . . i dry the weldwood with a heat gun in about 10% of the time it used to take waiting for it to air dry. AND, . . . it may all be in my mind, . . . but it seems to stick better. Belts, holsters, mag carriers, purses, wallets, . . . all get the same treatment, . . . and it works for me. Putting the holster in an oven will not do anything but make it harder, . . . quicker. Unless, of course, . . . you put it in a microwave for 45 seconds, . . . and you really don't want to know how I am absolutely certain that one should never do that (a line from the short movie "Younger and Dumber"). May God bless, Dwight

A couple of 100 watt light bulbs with a line control thermostat set at 130 degrees, . . . in a large cardboard box should do the trick. May God bless, Dwight

The suggestion I would make: don't do what you said you were going to do. Plan out a project, . . . wallet, . . . bag, . . . sheath, . . . and buy the hardware you will need for THAT project and others like it. For instance, . . . line 24 snaps are useful on sheaths, dress belts, some holsters, . . . but get the project in mind that needs it before you order them. By ordering what you need, . . . you should always have on hand those things necessary to complete any order that comes your way. If you don't, . . . you will wind up like many leatherworkers, . . . they quit, die, or move on, . . . and a thousand dollars or more of "inventory" gets thrown into a couple of boxes by the auctioneer, . . . sold for a couple of bucks. May God bless, Dwight

Getting my post in here to get any new updates, . . . fascinating subject. May God bless, Dwight

For both squaring and cutting a straight line, . . . I have my work table covered in a 36 inch by 60 inch plastic top that was designed for ladies who sew a lot. It is marked off in 1 inch squares, . . . with 1/8 inch gradations, . . . and it makes cutting a straight, square, or even angled cuts "piece of cake" easy. I also have the aforementioned large aluminum ruler, . . . together they make big cuts, . . . long cuts easy. The cutting surface came from JoAnn fabrics, . . . with their 40% off coupon it was only like $25, . . . which to me was a super bargain. It is "attached" to my table top by double faced carpet tape, . . . so if it becomes damaged, . . . it is easily replaced. May God bless, Dwight

I would be very tempted to also punch about a bazillion 1/4 inch air holes in the cuff for circulation. You can punch a whole big bunch of holes in the thing and not do any serious damage to the structural strength of the leather. If I were making them for myself, . . . I would buy these and use this material for the lining: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Armour-Heatgear-1-Pack-Coyote/dp/B004QB8MLI/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1400205202&sr=8-11&keywords=moisture+wick+socks You can seal the cuff (Resolene) completely by dipping it in a 50/50 mixture for about 10 seconds, . . . shake off the excess and hang up to dry. Do a second coat for kicks and giggles. Then use contact cement to line it with the cut down sock material. May God bless, Dwight

If you make a surface that the Weldwood can adhere to, . . . nothing is going to break that chemical bond between the two layers of Weldwood. OTOH, . . . if you do not have a surface to which it can adhere, . . . you are trying to climb the proverbial greased pole, . . . since it has nothing to grab, . . . it slips off. I took a piece of Kydex some time back, . . . scratched it up seriously with a wire brush, . . . put the Kydex and the leather together with Weldwood, . . . and when I decided that it would not work, . . . well, I worked to get that leather off the Kydex. There are many, many little pieces of leather still on the Kydex. May God bless, Dwight

Try three things, . . . first reduce the dye 50% with thinner. Secondly, . . . allow it to dry for 24 hours, . . . grab a terrycloth wash cloth that you never want to put on your face again, . . . and begin to buff the leather. Every so often, . . . rub the leather with a white paper towel, . . . folded up. When you see very little pigment coming off the item, . . . you can quit buffing. Most people have no idea how much physical effort is required to buff out the extra pigment the dye leaves behind, . . . and the darker the dye, . . . the worse it is. USMC black is the absolute worst of all. And don't forget to do both sides,.............. And, third, . . . you said you are scratching the finish with a rock. Atom wax is a "genteel" finish, . . . not designed to even think about enduring that kind of abuse. If you want to protect it that well, . . . move up to Resolene, . . . or at least Bag Kote. May God bless, Dwight

If you are using regular veg tan leather, . . . you can use an orbital sander on the flesh side, . . . and you can smooth it down very nicely, . . . if you take your time and you are careful. Try it on a piece of scrap first. Or you can cut the pigskin lining so it just comes up to the stitches, . . . into the seam, . . . but is not stitched. Again, a process that requires planning, and careful execution, . . . but yields good results. Contact cement will hold the liner in place probably far longer than the person will keep the bag. Just a personal thing, . . . I don't like to line purses and bags, . . . my wife has one I purchased for her some 40 + years ago, . . . it still is beautiful inside as well as out, . . . made out of about 12 oz leather, . . . oiled finish, . . . and had it had a thin lining, . . . it would have long ago been cut up by keys, pens, and other stuff put in the purse. May God bless, Dwight

If you had a drawing, picture, or something of that nature, . . . it would help us all help you. May God bless, Dwight

The first word, you of course anticipated, . . . that is simply: practice. Practice makes perfect, . . . always has, . . . always will. But to add to that, . . . try using a modeling spoon, . . . a butter knife, . . . the edge of a screwdriver, . . . after the stamping is done, . . . crushing down the fibers of the leather, . . . another tool can be dragged along the line, . . . smoothing out the minor inconsistencies. At least that is what I do, . . . and it gives me very satisfactory results. May God bless, Dwight

Punched holes will always look nicer, . . . because the leather is all removed, there is a taper to the hole, and it is a clean cut. Drilling with a drill press will give you a clean hole in wood and metal, . . . but not in leather, . . . unless you use a leather punch. You can also sharpen the end of metal tubing, . . . us it in the drill press, . . . it will give you a pretty nice hole. A drill bit will always make raggedy holes. May God bless, Dwight

A little practice will go a long way, . . . Use a tongue depressor type stick (popsickle sticks work good too), . . . put the glue on it, . . . and spread it from end to end in one swipe if you can. OR, . . . go to a hardware store and buy some plumbers acid brushes. They're cheap, . . . metal handles, . . . natural bristles, . . . they work good too. I do avoid thin material if I can, . . . and prefer wool or cotton or linen, . . . man made fibers are a pain for the most part. Cotton is the most preferred. May God bless, Dwight

Half inch Arrow staples work real well. Haven't lost a belt yet with them. May God bless, Dwight

My main comment would be the belt. I see only 4 holes. I really don't know too many guys who could wear that belt out, . . . as there is not enough room to expand or contract (depending upon the local doughnut supply among other things). Seriously, . . . I do 7 holes for all my customers, . . . measuring the belt length for the center hole. That way they have plenty of room to "move" as needed. That is especially necessary if you produce IWB holsters to go with the belts. Other than that, I also don't see too many others making the tongue of the belt so long, . . . but with the extra keeper, . . . it should work. You definitely are on your way, . . . keep up the good work. May God bless, Dwight

Ryan has the most important part of it. I've used both Weldwood Contact cement and Elmer's white glue, . . . and the results with each were satisfactory. You also want to use it sparingly, . . . enough to do the job, . . . but not too much. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Folks, . . . got an order for several military type slings (double row of holes all the way from end to end). I need a supplier for the frogs and rectangles to make em with, . . . anybody got a good source? I found em on Ohio Travel Bag, . . . but no prices, . . . and if I can find em, . . . I'll order them this weekend if the price is any where near good. Oh, yeah, . . . no steel or aluminum, . . . gotta be brass. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

This is how I do it. May God bless, Dwight

I need to watch this so I can get some ideas............ May God bless, Dwight

I don't have a lot of experience, . . . but what I have done seems to be working out. Here's an example of acrylic paint on veg tan, dyed with Feibings British tan, . . . then a coat of resolene, with the paint applied last. It was also carved and a little stamping done, which is not really apparent in this picture. May God bless, Dwgiht

I have not done a lot with pigskin, and haven't done anything for a couple of years. BUT, . . . like the old thread said, . . . it works. The key is first getting the contact cement DRY, . . . if you can touch it and feel any sticky or liquidity to it, . . . it is not dry yet. I have a heat gun I use when I'm in a hurry, . . . that will work too. I also think it works better because of the heat, . . . but I don't have anything but my own experience to bolster that. AFTER it is dry, . . . put em together, . . . put a pillowcase or something similar to that type of material on it, . . . roll it with a rolling pin, . . . and let it set for 6 to 10 hours, . . . by then you will have 99% or so of the bond you are ever going to get. If you did it correct, . . . the only way it will come apart is where the leather separates internally. The glue will not give way, . . . or at least that has been my experience with contact cement for the last 50 or so years. Chief and Katsass both make holsters that way, . . . I make a few that way, . . . made one some time back, . . . laughingly call it my spare round. That thing got so hard after molding that it could easily be used as a weapon, itself. It's my "out on the property" holster, . . . no worries about it ever getting hurt. May God bless, Dwight

I personally have always thought that while that design may have it's uses, . . . lovers, . . . etc, . . . I'd never be one. To me, . . . it looks like something that Mickey Mattel would make for his Moon Warrior Phaser pistol. May God bless, Dwight

I have two cheaters, . . . a template, . . . I made it myself. AND, . . . the punch has a line scribed in its top (where the mallet hits it) and all I have to do is orient the line parallel to the belt, . . . comes out OK every time. BUT, . . . I've also punched a bunch of leather with it, . . . lots of practice, . . . that too will help. And, yes, . . . go with the oval punch. Personally, I think it looks far more professional and "correct" than a funky old round hole, . . . but that is just one opinion among many. May God bless, Dwight

I'm afraid I'd have to walk around the outside of my house 5 or 6 times in a foot of snow to cool off after getting that shipped to me. There is no excuse or reason for that. Personally, . . . I wouldn't mess with the store, . . . I'd go straight to the top of the Tandy food chain, . . . pull on the big dog's collar. They should send you the proper item, . . . and refund your money as a way of saying they are sorry. May God bless, Dwight

Malabar, . . . Just for kicks, . . . I checked Ebay, . . . this is like the one I had: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bianchi-FastDraw-Left-hand-Black-Leather-Steel-lined-Holster-Cowboy-Western-SASS-/251520540033?pt=US_Holsters&hash=item3a8fcadd81 As you can see, . . . lots of steel molding must be done before the leather goes on it. I don't remember the guys name, . . . but he is the one who always beats Marshall Dillon to the draw on Gunsmoke, . . . he is the "grandfather" of the steel lined fast draw holster. May God bless, Dwight