Dwight

My biological father was an enigma of a man, . . . so great in many ways, . . . but not in others. I was given his billfold, that he made, by my half-sister, . . . she thought since I do leatherwork, . . . I should have it. Tempted to use it, . . . I resisted, . . . it's in a drawer right beside me right now, . . . it is my "link" to him. Just glad to hear that there are a number of us who share similar stories, . . . and I certainly hope you get yours "fixed". But remember, if you don't it can always go into a drawer, . . . be retrieved from time to time, . . . May God bless, Dwight

This one is about as easy as they come, . . . I've had it for so long, . . . don't rightly recollect when I did get it, . . . Have fun, may God bless, Dwight

Like Canadian Girl said, . . . mix 50/50 with water. I use a cheap bristle brush, . . . put a good wet coat on the belt (always start with the back), . . . and keep adding and brushing until I build up almost a bubbly lather. I then turn it over and do the same thing for the front. Come back to the back, . . . add a little more, . . . brush the bubbles left, right, up, down, crossways, . . . until they have been brushed out. Turn it over and do the same for the front, . . . Hang it up on a hook and very carefully make sure wherever I have touched it that it gets a good brushing of Resolene, . . . especially the edges. You really do want a plastic, or latex glove on the "handling" hand. That stuff won't hurt you, I don't think, . . . but it's sticky nasty, . . . kinda like a 1 year old handing you her sucker,.......... You also want to be sure to do all the bending necessary (buckle end especially) because when this hardens and dries, it can crack. Do the bending while it is still wet, . . . then touch up where you touched it bending it. May God bless, Dwight

Well, for starters, . . . you picked the one Feibings oil dye that I will probably never use again myself when my bottle is done. But, . . . you might just allow it to dry thoroughly and it will be OK, . . . it has done things like that to me. What are you using for the finish coat? Resolene has a habit of helping to smooth out what would otherwise look kinda blotchy for me. I use it almost exclusively on belts. Best wishes, may God bless, Dwight

There are some models of sewing machines, . . . that have enough neck to get down in the barrel of a boot, . . . and can sew on a patch, . . . or if the sewer is relatively inventive, . . . they may be able to add a floral or initial design for you. OR, . . . you can get an awl, . . . some needles, . . . and go at it if stitching will suffice for what you want to do. Best wishes, . . . may God bless, Dwight

Now, . . . I am going to be good, . . . I am not going to be a smart alec and say "Sew with WHITE thread". Though as the class clown years ago, . . . I would have. Actually, . . . every thing I make is contact cemented together, . . . in such a manner that the stitches are in some cases nothing more than decoration. But when I do white stitches, . . . EVERY THING ELSE is done first. The object is finished except for sewing and applying the top-coat final finish. THEN, I sew. All dying, edging, sanding, burnishing, polishing, . . . every bit of it is done, . . . including the stitch gouging, . . . which since I know is going to be done in white, . . . I do it even before I dye the leather, . . . as it makes a much better presentation. After I sew, . . . final top coat, . . . a little wax or polish sometimes, . . . look in the mirror and smile, . . . ya did good ! At least that is my process. May God bless, Dwight

Yee, Haw, . . . (couldn't pass up the old Hee Haw line), . . . looks real good, Josh. The light/dark mottling of the holster is an especially nice touch, I think. I did something similar to my personal Western rig, . . . but with black. Did you make that for youself or for a lefty customer? May God bless, Dwight

Actually, from what I understand, . . . the "Oz" stands for "ounces per square foot". So if you take a dial caliper and the leather measures between .094 and .109 and it weighs between 7 1/2 pounds and 8 3/4 pounds, . . . you got what you paid for. The lower weight would correspond to the thinner thickness, . . . the higher weight, . . . the thicker measurement. Some folks will tell you that it's all done by a laser and computer anymore, . . . and whether it is or not, . . . this is (I am told) supposed to be THE way to check out the sale, . . . period. At least try it, . . . see how close you came out. May God bless, Dwight

Different customer, . . . but same idea. Here's what I did for him, . . . it's suede outside, . . . rawhide inside, . . . the hilt has a bump area to be pulled through, . . . will not fall out if held upside down. He loves it. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Compound, . . . woo-hoo, . . . and thank you. I've been using a dial caliper for any number of years, . . . and sometimes it is just a pain. Can't get over "there" where it looks like it is a bit thicker, . . . and won't find out until you cut it. I've got a sneaking hunch that sometime this year, . . . me, . . . my welder, . . . some technical tools, . . . will all come together to make one of those. I have 3 or 4 dial indicators out in the shop, . . . one of them will take care of this job for sure. And when I do it, . . . I'll make a new face that reads out in oz's. Thanks again, . . . and as has already been said, . . . thank you for giving new life to an old tool. I totally detest people who just toss stuff cause they don't know how to use it or it isn't "new" and fandangled enough for em. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, . . . No, . . . whatever is not absorbed by the leather (you don't allow it to take a nap in the dye, . . . just a few seconds to get a good, deep penetration) is then poured back into the bottle. I mix my dyes up by the quart, . . . when it gets about half empty, . . . mix up another and finish filling the jug, . . . so most of the time I have at least one full quart on hand. I use one brown pan, . . . one black pan, . . . and I have a spare that I would use for "others". I average using something in the neighborhood of 3 oz per holster, . . . or belt. But remember, . . . that's kind of a rough figure. The most important part, . . . my dying is uniform, . . . and anyone who is in the business of satisfying the public will tell you your product has to approach uniformity. May God bless, Dwight

I am not certain about the UK, . . . but here in the states, . . . it is way cheaper to just go buy the single phase motor. The added benefit, . . . it doesn't take an engineer or even a highly trained tech to troubleshoot the single phase setup. But the 3 phase setup will require someone nearby who understands the thing when you get into technical difficulties. May God bless, Dwight

You are off to a good start. Dying is one of those "to each his own" things, . . . but I've found that making the holster, belt, bag, purse, . . . whatever, . . . first works best for me. Once it is dyed, . . . and you start stretching, molding, cutting, fitting, etc, . . . you wind up with a bunch of areas that either fade out or need touched up, . . . and touching up can be one livid pain. Adding oils before dying also acts as a blocker to a certain extent, . . . not allowing the dye to penetrate fully. And you may want to consider dip dyeing. It will get rid of the un-dyed portion of the black holster under the belt loop. I do mine in a 9 x 14 by 2 inch deep aluminum cake pan, . . . pouring the dye over the holster as I pour it into the pan. That way the color is fully uniform, . . . something I never was satisfied with using daubers, brushes, etc. Then after you have dyed it, . . . hang it up somewhere to fully and completely dry. Leave it alone, . . . 100% until it is dry, . . . then add the oil, . . . just remember to be sparing with it. Too much oil and you have a floppy, greasy, dog's chew toy. May God bless, Dwight

I don't have the article, . . . but I read once where the rig the Duke carried in several of his last westerns, . . . was a folded over, rough out, money belt. I made one once, . . . had a lot of fun with it, . . . just might make another. Good job, Cogs, . . . your customer will be proud of that for years to come. I didn't get an exact copy of JW's rig myself, . . . but I was happy with how it turned out. May God bless, Dwight

For manually setting rivets, . . . quite honestly there is a little tool that comes in one of the bags of rivets sold at Tandy's. It is about 3/8 of an inch in diameter and has a domed face for doing rivets. I find that it is more than adequate, . . . does a good job, . . . and doesn't deform the rivets. I put a nail clipper in the picture, . . . gives you an idea of the size of the pieces. You use it in conjunction with the anvil that came in the same package, . . . it is about 3/4 inch in diameter. It also has a domed face. Top of the rivet lays in the anvil, . . . through the leather, . . . put on the bottom, . . . and I tend to "tap, tap, tap" instead of "WHACK", . . . when I'm setting rivets. Just looking at your belt, . . . I'd say you laid the rivet heads on something flat and hard, . . . and in setting the other side, . . . this side is deformed. The little anvil in the bag of rivets prevents that. And I don't think the mallet makes much difference, . . . using a metal one will deform most leather tools over time, . . . that is why most leatherworkers tend to use a plastic or rawhide mallet. May God bless, Dwight

Mike, . . . I very seldom have 3 layers of 8/9, . . . and I use 346 almost exclusively, . . . but quite honestly, old gorilla arms here will normally break the doggone thing long before it gets dull enough to need changing. Look on Tippmann's website, . . . get the phone number, . . . ask for Ben, . . . tell him the details, . . . if anyone can answer your question, . . . he be da man ! May God bless, Dwight

Here is one way to skin the cat, . . . The upper drawing is what the inside would look like showing where the pieces all join up. The lower drawing shows the outside of it, with the decorative pieces on the back. May God bless, Dwight

I don't remember the number of experiments Thomas Edison did before he succeeded with the electric light bulb, . . . but it was a bunch. The success at the end of the line, . . . erased the failures. Nobody in history class moans or complains about how badly #17 went, . . . or the problems with #35, . . . or the technical obstacles that ended #56, . . . they only remember the last one, . . . as they flip the switch and the light comes on. No matter how bad the screw up, . . . something can be learned from it, . . . or, . . . in some "leather" projects, . . . the original idea can be abandoned, . . . and the pieces used for a different project. I've done that with holsters, . . . and belts. I've even got a holster in my drawer, . . . waiting for a customer. I started making it, . . . got it in the 90% done stage, . . . when I realized my customer was left handed, . . . and I had created a right hand holster. Hang in there. May God bless, Dwight

Paint em, . . . 2.5 oz is just too thin for that big a letter / number. Emboss em first to get the outline, . . . then either paint just the outline, . . . or the whole interior. At least, . . . that is what I would do. May God bless, Dwight

Looking on Google, . . . there are several Tandy stores in the Northern Minnesota area, . . . grab a snow shovel and head over there. Seriously, . . . they can tell and show you more stuff in 10 minutes, . . . than you can read and digest in an hour here, . . . much less the typing required. You also may look up at the right corner of the main web page, . . . the little star wheel is a search function, . . . use key words, . . . you should find lots of good advice there. May God bless, Dwight

I don't make many shoulder holsters, . . . but when I do, . . . they are more or less custom fit to that person who is receiving it. And I don't use sliders, . . . Chicago screws only. I put it on them, . . . adjust it, . . . put the screws in place, . . . we walk, talk, sit, etc, . . . until he/she gets a real feel for it, . . . re-adjust as necessary. Have never had one come back yet. I also did my personal one this way, . . . have never needed to re-adjust it. Holes in the straps are 1 inch apart, . . . giving them a 1/2 inch adjustment for every hole they move. May God bless, Dwight

I've made some for kids, . . . I get em up in the chair, . . . slip the spurs on their boots, . . . take my garment tape measure, . . . and measure pin to pin what I have to make. I then "scale down" some of the dimensions of length / width, . . . to make em look esthetically pleasing. Whatever it turns out, . . . I give them 5 total holes for adjustment, . . . measured to fit on the center one, . . . Haven't had any return but one, . . . she wanted me to "Re-pink" her pink straps that had turned ugly from being worn in the barn. Obviously, . . . she just got a new pair. May God bless, Dwight

Not picking on you Red Cent, . . . just making an observation. When you said laminated, . . . I'm thinking the "Katsass" process, . . . one I use occasionally, . . . cementing two thin pieces flesh to flesh, . . . then treating it as one thicker piece of leather to make holsters. It is an absolute pain to take one of them apart and put it back straight, . . . and that was what I had in my mind you were referencing. Anyway, . . . good luck. May God bless, Dwight

You didn't say what kind of holster and/or pistol, . . . but I'd be taking some "stretching" tools to that holster long before I would take it apart and try adding a welt. It is really a tough process to add a welt after one is finished, . . . and make the final finished product look as good as the oiginal. John Bianchi took a regular claw hammer handle, . . . polished that dude up real nice, . . . and he uses it in his video to open up the inside of holsters for SAA and clones. I use the exact same type tool, . . . found it in a yard sale for probably $.50, . . . it has a special "Don't touch this" space in my tool drawer. Besides that, . . . it is real easy to put too much of a welt in that holster, . . . then it looks like something made by the local prison on craft and show day. May God bless, Dwight

As mentioned, . . . stitch lines leave too much space away from weapon. But, . . . secondly, . . . get rid of the square corners. Inside or outside corners on leather projects need to be rounded. Look at the leading edge of the little black holster, . . . about half way down there is a jagged corner jutting out, . . . sand your edges smooth, . . . graceful lines, . . . all the way around. Inside corners that are square cut are an invitation for the leather to crack, break, and undo there, . . . outside corners that are square become dog eared VERY quickly, . . . and it looks like it was cut from a cardboard banana box. Thirdly, . . . I could not get a real good look at the edge work, . . . but what I saw didn't look like you spent a lot of time on it. THAT is the one place the hand crafter can shine 100% over the Walmart imports and the leather chopper down the street who is just cranking the stuff out. If your edges are beveled, polished, and burnished well, . . . a bunch of other stuff can almost be forgiven. May God bless, Dwight