Dwight

I've had mine basically in my house for a number of years, . . . already mentioned are the big opportunities: leather dust / chemical fumes / cuts and pokes from those sharp tools we use. Dust can be minimized by dampening before sanding, and using a vacuum system to suck it away as it's made, . . . respirators will take care of the vapors, . . . but only your vigilance will keep you safe from the sharps. Quite honestly, . . . I own a head knife, . . . very seldom use it, . . . because truthfully, it scares me. I've always been a bit "phobic" about swords, knives, spears, etc. anyway, . . . and I am just not comfortable with that dude in my hands. I use rotary cutters and razor knives 99% of the time, . . . and it works for me. The one thing I would be most worried about as a young person is the possibility of carpal tunnel trouble, . . . and I would concentrate my efforts to relieve my hands of some of the strenuous effort that will bring it on. Several of my friends who were mechanics were bothered with it. May God bless, Dwight

I leave the leather shop, . . . change hats, . . . and go over to Dwight's model shop. I make a model, . . . change hats, . . . go back to the leather shop, . . . and make the holster. If I keep it up, . . . not too long from now, . . . more of them will be wooden than plastic. May God bless, Dwight

Your answer is similar to "Which is the best football team?" My answers would be Resolene and Pittsburgh Steelers, . . . but there are those who disagree. The steelers will break your heart sometimes, . . . and Resolene will darken your project a tad, . . . but both are still great, . . . and Resolene offers protection against UV which is important to me. May God bless, Dwight

I only use the center presser foot. I generally sew clockwise around the object I am sewing, . . . that keeps everything to the left of the needle, . . . and I can "guide" the flow with my left hand. I also have a home made table that is flush with the sewing surface, . . . they both exit onto my work table which is also flush with the sewing surface. That makes for easier alignment, feeding, directing, etc. I've often thought of my machine as though it were an Irish redhead, . . . hard to get to know, . . . persnicketty, . . . but loyal to the end once you make the connection. May God bless, Dwight

Troy has my process half right. I wet form the holster, . . . let it dry. When I say dry, . . . I'm talking DRY, . . . no less than 24 hours after forming. I then glue it together with contact cement, . . . by applying the cement, . . . letting it dry, . . . inserting the gun, . . . and hand clamping the holster around it so the cement makes contact. Pull out the weapon, . . . flatten the holster enough to sew where it needs to be, . . . reinsert weapon, . . . VOILA, . . . works every time. I kinda hand sew, . . . my Tippmann Boss is hand powered :-) May God bless, Dwight

Sometimes mine becomes slightly curved, . . . but I just bend it back straight. When I get a new awl, . . . I start out taking a file to it, . . . and I make it diamond shape if it wasn't before. I then use a carborundum stone to get a rough edge on it. Then go to my Dremel, . . . get out he polishing compound, . . . make it shine with it. I finish up the "blade" part of it with a little scissor sharpening tool I bought at JoAnn fabric. Little orange colored critter with a white ceramic stick in it, . . . set on the proper angle for a pair of scissors. I run my awl 10 to 15 strokes down that little rascal after all the other work is done, . . . yessir, . . . it is then "sharp". Don't wear sandals using one like that either, . . . you could really wind up sorry if you are a "dropper". May God bless, Dwight

Shhhhhhh,...........don't believe it. Three biggest lies: The check is in the mail,........... I'm from the government and I'm here to help,.............. The customer is always right,........... Oh, . . . and good job, . . . on all of them. May God bless, Dwight

Respectfully disagree, . . . customer has the money, . . . and the business, . . . but he is not always right, . . . and I'm not afraid to tell him so, to his face. Many have no real clue what will or will not work, . . . but want to be "different". I refuse to make SOB holsters because I hate seeing people in wheelchairs, . . . I also do not make horizontal shoulder holsters, . . . as I hate to see innocent people shot because they were standing behind trigger happy Tom as he pulled out his piece from his shoulder holster. This particular holster will fall apart with daily use in less than 6 months. Once a pair of 2 inch slots are cut in that leather, . . . there will be less than a 1/4 of an inch between the slot edges and the stitches, . . . the P229 is a heavy gun, . . . it will bounce around and will stretch the leather, . . . and it will fail. This is not to disparage the maker, . . . for an early piece, . . . it is good craftsmanship, . . . but design and craftsmanship are two totally different aspects. The most beautifully carved, stamped, edged, molded, dyed, antiqued, and bilnged holster ain't worth two cents if it was designed to be worn upside down hanging between your legs. This design if flawed in many respects, . . . and fortunately for the maker, . . . they are the early mistakes that we learn not to make later on. May God bless, Dwight

Once you punch your slots, you will probably find in about a month or two of wearing, . . . there is not enough leather to hold together for such a large and heavy gun. Secondly, . . . your stitching needs to get closer to the weapon, . . . it will loosen up pretty quickly. Third, . . . super softy will degrade, . . . scruff up fairly quickly with repeated holsterings and unholsterings. Another layer of veggie tan is far superior as a liner. Fourth, . . . the sweat shield should never be behind the actual handle of the gun, . . . it makes accessing the weapon a pain if it has to be done quickly. Most of the time, a proper grip will not be made, . . . guns go flying, . . . not a pretty sight. Now the good news: the leather work looks good, . . . stitching is REALLY good, . . . from what I can see of the edges, . . . that too is good. You do want to be aware, though, of any sharp corners. Those two pointy corners on the outside of the holster will become ratty real quick, . . . it is just one of those things that occurs with leather. Round all corners is the "rule". May God bless, Dwight

I guess I do belts a bit different: for dying, . . . I pour about a pint of dye into a 11 x 14 cake pan, . . . and snake my belt through the liquid allowing it to remain perhaps 5 seconds in the dye, . . . always face up throught the dye, . . . then hold it with both hands and watch the excess dye on the top of the belt migrate down into the leather. I then lay the belt on a piece of cardboard, . . . in a 20 inch or so circle, . . . resting on the bottom edge fo the belt. About 20 minutes later, . . . I flip it to the top edge, . . . give it another 20-30 minutes, . . . hang it up by the buckle end to finish drying. It hangs for the balance of 24 hours. I wish the best to any and all who are thinning their dye with water, . . . the dye is basically a petroleum based product, . . . the oil simply will not mix with the dye, . . . and the same goes for wetting down leather before dying it. The water displaces the dye, not allowing it to penetrate, . . . thereby giving a blotchy result. May God bless, Dwight

Mike, . . . You will never be able to "beat" the Walmarts of this world. Don't bother with trying. Your product is in the fact that it IS a quality product, . . . you stand behind it, . . . it is "custom made", . . . and your buyer knows you, . . . all made from quality raw materials, etc. etc. etc. Like everyone else, . . . starting out, your price will be your "drawing card" to a certain extent. If you flub the dub on a holster or belt, . . . you can easily say excuse me, . . . fix the situation, . . . and go on with life. If you are John Bianchi, . . . you cannot flub and no one expects you to, . . . and he gets top dollar. I am considered by many to be a tightwad, . . . so I use it to my advantage. Would I pay that $$$ for that item? If I would not, . . . then I get it down to where I would, . . . and there is the price. But again, . . . I use my little formula first to set the price point. On thing I will guarantee you, . . . if you are too cheap, . . . they'll break down the door to get there, . . . and you will be busier than Santa on Christmas Eve. It is OK to use price to ease your work load. Making one holster for $75 is a whole lot easier than 3 for $25 apiece, . . . and you'll probably have to make 4 at the $25 mark, . . . to see the profit of the one at $75. And while no one but me is willing to say this, . . . I don't want to work for people who do not think my work is worth my price. They have already devalued me in their opinion, . . . I'm not going to devalue myself just to keep up with them, . . . and that is what you do when you allow yourself to be beaten up by the price game. At a gun show, . . . I sat across an aisle way one time, . . . a guy had a toaster oven, some scrap leather, and was making CCW holsters "for your gun" on the spot for $20 each. They looked it too. No edging, . . . junk leather, . . . kydex riveted to a piece of leather, . . . couple of belt loops to hold it in place. I didn't sell as many as he did, . . . but I am pretty sure I took home more cash that day than he did, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Stomper, . . . Well, . . . my labor cost as well as my profit, . . . comes out of that 2/3 of the overall price. It becomes an incentive to learn how to do things as well but quicker. I'm not bragging, . . . but every where I have ever worked, . . . people have always been impressed with my ability to delete extra steps, . . . buy or make a tool to do things better / quicker, etc. Your tooling question is a good one, . . . easily answered, . . . I don't do very much tooling at all. If it is a simple stamping, . . . say 3 initials, . . . it's free gratis, and builds customer relationship, . . . doesn't cost anything, . . . but can be a deal maker down the road, . . . especially when they ask someone else who charges $7.50 per initial. One of the biggest mistakes young business people make is not looking at their product through the eyes of the customer. An involved, researched, practiced, special tooling addition is one thing, . . . a few simple stamps is something else altogether. And the customer can see that 99% of the time. Anything "decorative" or above and beyond the simple form, . . . is an additional cost, . . . as it then becomes a really custom job. It will generally command about $40 an hour for the last, final, finished carving / stamping work. My health insurance, utilities, etc. are virtually no change for me whether the business thrives or starves, . . . they are built into my "living" budget from other income sources. The only tax is sales tax, . . . charged to the customer as applicable. I have a chart I made up which tells me how much I'm spending for leather, dye, finish, conchos, etc. Thread, needles, machine repair all comes under THIMS. It's not a perfect system, . . . but it is a good skeleton from which I've been fairly successful since 1968, . . . lost my kiester on a few jobs, . . . but then so did Edison, . . . I just count myself to be in good company. The real key, though, is finding a system that works for you. Mine has worked in plumbing, electrical, carpentry, leather, and all kinds of other work I've done down through the years. May God bless, Dwight

Pardon the pun, . . . but the saddle looks like it was made for them, . . . Good job, again, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Weldwood contact cement has nothing to beat it. Some sort of equal it, . . . but that's about it. For fabric, . . . put it on thin, . . . otherwise it'll soak through. May God bless, Dwight

Years ago, . . . with some help from my friends in the electrical construction business, . . . I developed a little "standard" that has worked for me for almost 50 years. Find out the gross parts price: parts, plus tax, plus any out of pocket extra expenses to get them, such as postage or shipping & handling by the supplier. Once I know what it is going to cost me to do the job: multiply it by 3, . . . that is the finished price, . . . Add 10% for THIMS (things.... I.....missed) Add delivery There is the price. I have always been pretty much amazed at how well it works in about 90% of my different work projects, . . . to be about the same as the "professionals" who have a full accounting and marketing staff to arrive at their price point. May God bless, Dwight

Customer service has always been a tricky thing, . . . because the receiver and the doer always have a different perception of problem and solution, . . . to say nothing of price. Back when I was a kid, . . . I had a Zippo lighter I sent back for "repair". All they did was pull out and throw away the insides, . . . slid in a new one. I wanted it "REPAIRED !!!" It took me a few minutes to calm down, . . . but once I did, . . . it taught me one of the most valuable lessons of life in that "perception" thing. I now follow Zippo's lead, . . . if I made it, . . . I'll make it right. I've lost money over the years, . . . and not every customer is happy, . . . but I'm sure more went away happy than cursing the day I was born. Recently had a fellow with a belt problem, . . . made exactly to his numbers, . . . and he measured it right. Old belt was sloppy, . . . went around him like a latex glove, . . . new one didn't. He sent back the one I made him, . . . I sent him a new one, . . . I charged him the shipping, . . . everyone is happy. Uhh, . . . anybody want to buy a 34 inch black, 1 1/2 inch wide dress gun belt? Almost brand new ! And, . . . Hellcat, . . . I think you did it right. Oh, . . . and, . . . ummm, . . . (did you ever consider the fact that you were doing what you could to make the man happy, . . . and his wife resented that?? , . . . just may be a lesson in there, . . . I've seen stranger stuff as a pastor). May God bless, Dwight

I don't do a lot of it, . . . mostly small logo's, etc, . . . but when I do, . . . I finish the holster, dyed, sewn, burnished, and the final finish (usually Resolene) applied. THEN, . . . I paint. As I understand it, . . . the paint and the Resolene are very similar, . . . so when the paint dries, . . . I'm done. I use the paints from Tandy Leather. May God bless, Dwight

And there most certainly is a difference. My first vacuum formed holster was for a 1911 commander out of 6 oz veggie tan. Since I knew the pattern well, it was all sewn up, . . . gun stuck in, . . . vac formed. I pulled it out to let the holster dry, . . . couple days later went to put the gun in for a trial fit, . . . it was "TIGHT". After I got the gun in the holster, . . . I had serious thoughts about taking a razor knife to get it out, . . . lol. A little "working" finally got it out, . . . and years later, . . . it is still the tightest holster I own. May God bless, Dwight

Vacuum bag 101: I bought my vacuum pump from Harbor freight, . . . they sell two models, . . . being the cheapster I am, . . . I bought the smaller one, . . . basically $100 a few years back. I went to JoAnn's fabric and bought some clear vinyl, . . . 30 inch by 45 or 48 (whatever the width is), . . . folded it in the middle, . . . contact cemented the edges for the first 2 inches or so, . . . came up with a bag that basically is about 26 by 22 inside (with the coupon, think it was $10 or so). Piece of rubber hose from my automotive pile of spare parts. Quart of Vacuum pump oil from McMaster Carr. Found the vacuum bag fitting on a website that sells vacuum bags & stuff for people doing wood veneer work. It was about $15 plus p&h. I wet the cut and sewn (except for the last edge under the trigger guard) holster piece, . . . wrap it around the gun or blue gun, . . . mold it a bit with my fingers just so it knows where it is supposed to be, . . . close up the bag, . . . turn on the pump, . . . let it pull down, . . . then most of the time, turn it off, . . . let the pressure equalize, . . . then hit it again. About 10 to 15 seconds each time is plenty. May God bless, Dwight

FWIW, . . . the info I got years ago was to get Gum rubber, . . . 40 durometer, . . . and I got mine from McMaster-Carr. It worked great, . . . until I got to doing a lot of plastic fantastic bang sticks. Since they belonged to the customer, . . . I could not see breaking a $400 gun in a press to make a $60 holster. I quit using it and sold it, . . . use a vacuum bag now, . . . actually prefer it twice over the press. Press is great for doing bearings though, . . . lol. May God bless, Dwight

Dye is pigment is a liquid suspension medium (cliff notes version). When you dye something, . . . pigment lays on the top, . . . and out of the top 10 offenders in this problem, . . . black is by far the worst offender. You should have taken a used wash cloth (or piece of a terry towel) and just buffed it, . . . buffed it, . . . and buffed it until no more pigment comes off. That would have ended the problem for the 95% most part. To end it, . . . 100%, . . . you have to put on some kind of sealer. Yes, . . . it will eventually quit rubbing off, . . . but by buffing the heck out of it, . . . you can make it happen quicker. May God bless, Dwight

Email out !

Q1: can you use acrylic paint? It colors really well and I've never had to us more than 2 coats. Q2: is it water base, oil base? I'm thinking if it is oil, . . . it should dry and not be a problem. May God bless, Dwight

No, . . . but it wouldn't be any big trick to rig up a test piece, . . . paint it up, . . . put on the finish, . . . your answer will lay right in front of you. I also have no idea what you call a "candie" color. May God bless, Dwight

Rob, . . . the old fashioned 50/50 (by weight) neatsfoot oil and virgin beeswax, . . . melted together, . . . will give you a really nice shine, . . . but the trick with it is that you have to work to get that high polish, . . . and it is a fragile finish, scratches fairly easy. If you are thinking show collar, . . . on for the ring, . . . then back in the box till the next show, . . . with a little buffing in between, . . . it should work for you. But, again, the initial "shine" takes some elbow grease. I cut the time a bit when I use it by rubbing it on, . . . going over it with a heat gun to melt the wax into and on the leather, . . . buff, . . . add some more product, . . . more heat, . . . more buff, . . . till I get it where I want to quit. May God bless, Dwight