Dwight

Actually, Eric, . . . I don't like it as well as I thought I might. Don't get me wrong, . . . it is a good holster, . . . works well, . . . and Thad's design has some real advantages. My "problem" is that the portion of my body where that dude hangs, . . . is really pretty skinny, . . . maybe boney would be a better term. That makes it kinda rub the wrong way some times. The holster in my avatar is for a 24/7 carry, . . . more comfortable, . . . but the Ribka flavored one is really great for grabbing my 1911, . . . going to the bank, . . . heading in town for a gallon of milk, . . . and it is the one I usually use when I'm on my Kubota zero turn, . . . doing my mower thing. May God bless, Dwight

Because you have the suicide strap across the top, . . . I wouldn't worry too much about retention, . . . I'd stretch it. One little "cheating" way you could easily overcome it is to go into the holster a bit below the belt width you want, . . . put a Chicago screw through the holster coming out of the back and through the loop. Looking at the holster itself, . . . it looks like you actually could put one on each side, . . . and both would miss the weapon itself if you drew them up tight. But, . . . you did good, . . . I'm an old softie, personally, when I look at personalizing a piece with something as you did with the collar device, . . . and I really like that touch. May God bless, Dwight

I've never used a sponge for Resolene, . . . I buy cheap ($.22 each more or less) from Harbor Freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of-36-1-inch-industrial-grade-chip-brushes-4181.html I've never had an issue with my Resolene, other than sometimes if I get in a tad of a hurry, . . . I have left streaks with these. I just wash it out after use with soap and water, . . . hang it up to dry. I'll put on a "coat" and brush it around until I get almost a lather look out of it, . . . then I'll quit adding material, . . . just brush out those little bubbles, . . . I really like that finish myself. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, WinterBear, It's good to know what brand the beads are that I have left. The place I used went under when the economy went to Florida a few years ago. Funny you mentioned graph paper, . . . I started to use that, . . . wound up using Microsoft Excel instead, . . . for the USMC logo I did for the gun bag. First one turned out to be out of proportion, . . . went back and re-did the Excel, . . . voila, . . . second one wasn't perfect, . . . but it worked quite well. It is really easy to use, . . . make the whole page the main color, . . . then change the individual beads to give you the pattern you want. Anyway, . . . just passing on my little bit of knowledge, . . . maybe you or someone else will be able to use it. May God bless, Dwight

A little bird must have whispered in your ear, . . . "he likes to read", . . . I do, . . . and WOW, . . . I didn't come up for air for about 2 hours, . . . only when I sent to Amazon for a book, . . . I thiink I'll find what I'm really looking for in it, . . . if not, . . . I'll go under for another hour or so. Thank you for the effort, . . . I really think this might turn out to be one fun project, . . . at least I've got some better ideas now. It was really fun reading about "Wampum", . . . which I had heard about but never really understood. Gonna have to get me some purple and white wampum beads and see about starting my first wampum belt one day this January when it is just too doggone cold to do anything but sit near the fire. Thanks again, Chuck, . . . have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May God bless, Dwight

My blood pressure usually takes an uptick when this discussion, delivery to wrong address, comes up. Several years ago I bought a high end video camera on Ebay, . . . paid with the church's credit card, . . . and expected delivery on I think a Friday. Anyway, . . . delivery day came and went, . . . no package. Later that weekend, . . . a black pickup and a bunch of unknown folks comes into my driveway. They asked for me by name, . . . and something about the tone just didn't set right. When he said he had something for me, . . . and started looking on the other side of where he was sitting, . . . I was getting this "fight or flight" feeling coming up. Lo and behold, . . . he had my box, . . . with the video camera, . . . UPS had simply sat it on the porch and left. Didn't ring the doorbell, . . . knock on the door, . . . nothing. Marked it as delivered, . . . and went on his merry way. Half of me wanted to shout halleluia, . . . the other half wanted to wring a UPS driver's scrawny neck. It all worked out, . . . but there certainly was potential for otherwise. May God bless, Dwight

Good work as usual, . . . Keep inspiring the rest of us. May God bless, Dwight

Big Red, . . . stop what you are doing, . . . and GO, . . . RUN if you have to but go get the tests. Take it from a person who has allergies run in his family like black in a coal mine, . . . all over the place. Believe me, . . . you don't have to have the money, . . . there are clinics, . . . foundations, . . . all sorts of places that will do something to help you find out EXACTLY what this is, . . . and that is what you need. Failure to do so just might land you in an ER with a doctor shaking his head, . . . and you really do not want that. True allergies will generally give you a sample warning, . . . and if you do not heed it, . . . the next time it can come on you with a vengeance worse that living in the same house with 3 ex mother in laws. Do it. May God bless, Dwight

It IS that time of year, . . . somehow Christmas seems to bring out the best of the best, . . . and the other guys too. I do not always do it, . . . but if it is possible, . . . and I have even a moment to think about it, . . . I'll take the high road. The last thing I want is my name rubbed in the dirt with the likes of Yugo, Ponzi, Amway, etc. I like to think of my business as being a lot closer to Zippo. If the Zippo don't work, . . . they'll fix it (actually they just put new guts in it), . . . and I really always did like it knowing that my investment in Zippo was a good one. Don't smoke any more, . . . but that's another story. Anyway, . . . hope things work out, Andy, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Stop right there my friend. We don't BOIL the leather. All we do is dunk it in hot water. And the water should NOT be hot enough to burn your hand. It should not be over 130 degrees farenheit. Do all the construction work, . . . sewing, buckles, rivets, cutting, . . . . get all that done first. THEN, . . . dunk it in a big pan of really warm water. Using 4mm leather, it should probably be in there about 30 seconds or so, . . . you want to make sure it gets water all the way through, . . . not just the surface. Then, . . . carefully hand mold it to the final shape you want it to be. Be very careful to roll out the edges of the neck hole and arm holes, . . . it will cut down on chafing later on, . . . as well as rolling up the bottom edge a bit. That will add immense strength to the bottom panels of your armor. AFTER you have molded it to the shape, . . . put it in front of a fan or lay it where there is a lot of good air circulation. You want to leave it alone for at least 24 hours, . . . LET IT DRY. Moving it about while it is drying will result it a less than satisfactory product. After it is dry, . . . you can stain or paint it to your heart's content, . . . AND, . . . don't forget to bring pictures back here and let us see the final product. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, . . . that should be fairly simple to make. It looks like the builder sewed a cloth backing onto the leather, . . . and may have riveted the whole thing together, . . . If you look at my image, . . . make the pieces in the order of the numbers, . . . 1, then 2, the 3, etc. Make each one an inch taller and an inch wider than they will show when finally done for pieces 1, 2, and 3. Number 4 needs to be longer than shown so it can be sewn onto 5. Then sew 2 onto the top of 1, three onto the top of 2, both 4's on the sides, both 5's on the top, and complete with # 6. Or you an rivet them together in the same sequence. You could make this from thin leather cut with scissors to really thick stuff for wooden sword competition. I'd also buy pre dyed leather for this, . . . saves a lot of work. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Chuck, for the quick response. I'm not looking to make anything all flashy or anything, . . . but I would like it to have at least an authentic flavor. Long story short, . . . this is a special coat, . . . I'm making it for me, . . . but sized up one as my only son will some day have it. The leather came from my favorite old uncle, . . . deer he killed in Wisconsin, . . . and again, . . . a randevous flavor, . . . some fringe, . . . bone buttons, . . . a sash belt, . . . possibles bag, . . . and I wanted to dress it up with authentic beading. Many people laugh when I tell them this part, . . . but it is true, . . . I am a 13th generation direct descendant of Pocohontas. She was from the Wensauke (spelling????) tribe, . . . of which I never was able to find a whole lot. I have heard that many times the decorations of the brave's shirt, . . . or beading he wore, . . . could sometimes tell a story something like looking at a soldier's ribbons, . . . if you know what they stand for you understand, . . . if you dont, . . . it's just so much fruit salad decoration. Again, . . . I'd like for it to be at least somewhat authentic. The store I got my beads from before has gone under, . . . the label says they were size 8/0, 8-404 OP Yellow, . . . is the one description. I want to stay with that size, etc. as I still have a bunch of them left over. Anyway, . . . if there is any direction you can point me, . . . again, I'd sure appreciate it. I've still got a half dozen rolls of dental floss to use up, . . . and I'd sure rather bead it up than work on my teeth with it. May God bless, Dwight

That is what I did with the pink spur straps, . . . and she loved them. The pink was the paint sold by Tandys, . . . final finish was Resolene. On the underside of the straps, . . . I experimented, . . . found out how much pressure, . . . where to lighten up. Some of the burnishing became a bit brown as I got it hotter than I wanted, . . . but again, . . . customer was happy, . . . and I've learned to keep my mouth shut when a 13 year old is ecstatic over what you did. May God bless, Dwight

No, . . . no saddle soap, . . . just clean water. I actually do this on a lot of my holsters and belts, . . . water only, . . . after sanding the edges very smooth, . . . and beveling them. I then moisten the edge with clean water, . . . burnish until dry and shiny, . . . then I rely on the actual "finish" to hold the fibers down. May God bless, Dwight

I can't tell you his name, . . . but there is a fellow who makes a style of holster called a Rhodesian. It is always made that way. I got my inspiration from that style, . . . as it gets rid of everything under the handle, . . . something necessary when dealing with a pea shooter. I use this style from the Keltec .32 on up to S&W 9mm Shield. My version is called a "butterfly" because when you first cut the pattern, . . . that's what it looks like laying on the work bench. May God bless, Dwight

A number of years ago I did a glass bead facsimile of the USMC globe, eagle, and anchor. I'm getting ready to make a jacket for myself, . . . kind of a "Randevous" type, . . . suede buckskin, . . . fringe, . . . all that. I wanted to add some Native American style beading, . . . but wanted it to be germain to my own situation if possible. Does anyone out there have an insight into the "meanings" or "interpretations" of the various patterns used by them when they did their designs. FWIW, . . . I have Winsauke heritage, . . . May God bless, Dwight

That's OK, Jim, . . . thanks for the post, . . . I'm in the process of building a new shop, . . . hope to open it after the first of the year (so far only 90 days behind the original schedule,........), . . . and rivets & snaps will be one of those things I'll be "upgrading" in my way of doing things. I presently do them all by hand, and am "satisfied", . . . just want to do it a bit better. Thanks again, may God bless, Dwight

Very good, Tuan, I cannot say that I have ever seen that design, . . . but I like it. I noticed your location, . . . your weather is certainly warmer than ours. I left your fair city one time, . . . well over 100 degrees at the airport, . . . it was almost zero when we got home. Anyway, . . . may God bless, Dwight

Whatever tool you use, . . . it will have to be cleaned first, . . . no residue, . . . and I would start with water only, . . . If you are using a Dremel, . . . turn your speed down also. Take slow passes, . . . light pressure. I had a similar situation with a pair of pink spur straps a couple of years back. Nerve wracking ! May God bless, Dwight

What can I say, . . . the centurions of that day were a strange lot, . . . just following in the footsteps,................ Actually, . . . I modeled it somewhat after Ceaser Augustus statue, and a couple more I saw here and there. The "up and over" inverted C above the abdomen was a piece of rubber hose I had laying around, . . . needed something there to add a little rigidity, . . . it worked. Anyway, . . . most of the folks are too fascinated with all the other accouterments, . . . the armor gets a pass. May God bless, Dwight

This is where I have gotten all of mine, . . . They have always treated me right, . . . best price I could find too. http://www.letargets.com/estylez_ps.aspx?searchmode=category&searchcatcontext=~080000~080200~080202 May God bless, Dwight

The last holster went out last week, . . . last two belts went out today, . . . I'm left with re-covering 3 bar stools, . . . got two of the bottoms done, . . . should finish it all up tomorrow, . . . will then be able to concentrate on getting the new leather shop finished. Glad to hear I'm not the only one quitting early. I remember my first retail job I worked, . . . 6:00PM on Christmas eve, . . . my boss, Gene, closed the front door, . . . locked it, . . . and said "We're done!". I haven't been in that situation since, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Gloves at Harbor Freight are about $5 a box if you use their cupon, . . . makes em a nickel apiece, . . . and sometimes they can be used several times. They'll keep your hands clean, . . . but as for bottles of dye, . . . pouring, . . . mixing, . . . blending, . . . re-pouring, . . . I have a funnel that keeps all that spilling down to a mild roar, . . . rinse it after every use, . . . sits in a little glass jar when not used. My sink in my dye area is black, green, brown, white, blue, purple, pink, red, . . . and maybe several shades of other colors. It's a plastic sink, . . . some day when it gets so groady that even I cannot stand it, . . . I'll replace it, . . . and work on decorating the next one. They're in the $50 range and change out in an hour or so. I always do my glueing and dying work over that sink, . . . on a piece of cardboard or corregated PVC, . . . which gets hidden beside the sink when not in use. You have to be a clean freak to not have some evidence of dye process in the area, . . . and I'm not against that, . . . I just have higher priorities than all that. May God bless, Dwight

Absolutely, . . . you can dye vegetable tanned leather or you can paint it. I have done both, . . . Depending upon the color you want to finally wind up with, . . . it should not be terribly expensive. One quart of dye is about 30 dollars US, . . . and will easily do the whole armor that Renee did for her husband. You can also buy drum dyed leather if you can find the color you want. That is what I did for my armor. Renee (it looks like) also added different colored strips to both her husband and daughters armor, . . . which is a technique I prefer, rather than trying to make the same piece become different colors. That works very well when you are not doing delicate or intricate designs. What "period" of armor are you attempting to duplicate, . . . or is it just open imagination? May God bless, Dwight

As always, . . . excellent work, . . . excellent execution. But from one who has "visited" your lovely state many times, . . . that weather you have could make someone truly want to develop an indoor hobby. Thanks for posting, . . . always a joy to see them. May God bless, Dwight