Dwight

Take a look at this information, . . . it may help. http://www.saddlebackleather.com/Leather-101 May God bless, Dwight

Use contact cement to put the edges together first, . . . then sand the edges perfectly smooth, . . . then punch the holes, . . . then put in the rivets. Secondarily, . . . I find it always works best if the punch I use on rivets is just a tad smaller than the rivets. I like to put them in the hole, . . . turn the piece upside down, . . . and none of the rivets fall out. May God bless, Dwight

Chaps, . . . moccasins, . . . draw string bags, . . . floppy hats, . . . vests, . . . clutch purses, . . . shoes, . . . Think more about what you would like to have, . . . and make some thing(s) that YOU want, . . . in most cases, each of us is our own worst critic, . . . therefore if you are satisfied with the "possibility bag" that YOU made for YOU, . . . a customer may also be happy with it. May God bless, Dwight

TexasJack said it well, . . . My Western rig holster is very similar, . . . May God bless, Dwight

If you go here http://www.joann.com/coupon/?cm_mmc=Google-_-Brand+-+Coupons-_-Coupons+%28E%29-_-joann+fabrics+coupons_Exact&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=joann+fabrics+coupons&utm_campaign=Brand+-+Coupons&002=2365735&004=2391430203&005=519662829&006=9023000643&007=Search&008=&025=c&026=&gclid=CjgKEAjwkpacBRCNlprWw-u-nBwSJACwHiw-QjeattOCeT_cbTVsDQ4IqlW8u7jLI3rwDIhELEXlX_D_BwE you can print out a 40% off coupon, . . . if I remember correctly, . . . mine cost about 26 or 28 bucks. It is self healing, . . . has a 36 x 60 grid pattern, . . . overall is about 39 by 63, . . . and I just used double faced carpet tape to put it down on my table top. I love the thing. May God bless, Dwight

Just listen to papaw, . . . Oh, . . . yeah, . . . and practice, . . . practice, . . . practice. Seriously, . . . take some scrap leather, . . . cut some lines in it, . . . and go at it. I also found that if you go to an auto parts store, . . . take a couple of the most used tools you have (bevelers and shaders come to mind), . . . buy some thick, black, rubber tubing that will slip over the shaft of your tools (maybe put on some masking tape first to build it up a bit). Cover the whole shaft down to about 1 inch above the stamp itself. The rubber is easier to grip, . . . turns easier as you walk around the curves, . . . and is 10 gazillion % easier on your fingers. May God bless, Dwight

The backsides of all my IWB holsters get a double coating of Resolene as a deterrent to the sweat migration. I've never had a problem myself, . . . nor had a customer complain. I did toy one time with the idea of gluing and sewing a 10mil plastic sheet between two thin backside pieces, . . . it would protect the weapon from sweat migration, . . . but I never followed through on the idea, . . . so I don't know how or even if it would work. May God bless, Dwight

Yessir, . . . good looking work, . . . always like to see something different for the 1911, . . . and that one is one. May God bless, Dwight

Just for the record: Birthdate, . . . US Navy, . . . October 13, 1775 Birthdate, . . . USMC, . . . November 10, 1775 May God bless, Dwight

What is the model number, . . . name of it. I think they carry more than one. May God bless, Dwight

This will sound silly, . . . but it works, . . . that is what is important. For your grid, . . . make a piece of paper or cardboard with the size of squares you want on your grid (1 inch, . . . 1/2 inch, . . . 3/4 inch, . . . whatever) and make that grid paper at least 2 or 3 inches bigger on all 4 sides. Take a couple of blocks of wood, . . . drive nails in them, . . . stretch a string across the leather, . . . just above the leather, . . . and you have a line. When you are done with that line, . . . pull the blocks down to the next line and start again. If you need the other line, . . . make one the other way also. What I do when i need something like that, . . . is set up say the "horizontal" line, . . . then for vertical spacing, . . . use a set of dividers to make a light mark along the horizontal line, . . . one that will be stamped out of existence in the stamping process. Works for me. May God bless, Dwight

Some folks only bevel on cased leather, . . . it saves them from re-sharpening so often. I'm not one of them, . . . as I have scratched up a couple of pieces that way. If I do it dry, . . . the scratches don't show, . . . or not as much. Sometimes I qualify for a Dr. Klutz award, . . . so I gotta be careful how I do, . . . what I do. And, personally, . . . I'd never groove anything cased, . . . for the same reason. May God bless, Dwight

If you happen to know anyone who does excellent body work on cars, . . . he is familiar with paint and colors. I spent 30+ years in a paint factory, . . . we had guys and gals who could look at one sample, . . . and the desired sample, . . . and just babble off "add 1 x amount of blue, 3 x amounts of yellow, 1 x amount of black, . . . that'll do it",...........and it was so uncanny that they were right. Take your shoes to one of them and the closest dye you can find, . . . let them advise you, . . . color is color, . . . whether it is on shoes, firetrucks, or women's hair. May God bless, 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