Dwight

Hey, Shooter, . . . you're spending far too much time thinking about this my friend. Use a pie dough roller, . . . just don't let your wife catch you using hers. Seriously, . . . whoever told you that you have to whack it and beat it after you put it together just seriously does not know the product. I've been using Weldwood since the late 60's on furniture, cabinets, leather, cloth, and probably stuff I don't even remember. I just . . . NEVER, . . . EVER did anything more than push the two together with a rolling pin or something similar and have again NEVER had a customer complain. The word contact means touching, . . . not beating, . . . May God bless, Dwight

You can also soften most veggie tan leather also by taking a 1/2 to 3/4 inch rod and rolling it on the floor. Roll it around the rod, . . . making it do a 180 as you go from end to end. Do both sides a couple of times, . . . it softens up nicely. I do all my belts that way, . . . kinda breaks them in quickly. May God bless, Dwight

That would be one of the few places where I would break my # 1 rule: hands are for hamburgers, . . . machines are for stitching. Groove it, . . . mark it, . . . awl the holes, . . . and saddle stitch it. It will take a couple of curved & short needles at the start and the end, . . . but it is not out of the realm of possibility, . . . and the only other choice is to take a razor knife and cut the stitches under the barrel and trigger guard, . . . re=cement it, . . . and stitch it again. Get on your good glasses, . . . sharpen that razor knife until you can split the hairs on a spider's head with it, . . . and very carefully cut down between two of the layers. Assuming you put in a gusset piece in the bottom of the holster, . . . it should work out fairly easily. I have done the second option, . . . if you do it, . . . as you are putting it back together, . . . use two needles, one at each end, . . . to line up your holes, . . . otherwise you will be punching new holes in the back and will weaken that side of the holster with all the extra holes. More than one holster has left a shop here and there after having been done, . . . dissected, . . . and re-done. May God bless, Dwight Don't pitch it, . . . it's too easy to fix THAT mistake.

Contact cement on leather is kinda like your first kiss, . . . once it is done, . . . it is done. You just pretty much have to cut it off, . . . thereby probably ruining the project. Just learn to be a bit more careful with it. I have developed an "eye" for applying it that will not let me get all the way out to the very edge if there is a possibility of it showing. That of course prevents any problem with dyeing. Sorry I didn't have a better answer, . . . but it's just one of those things. May God bless, Dwight

I hate to "assume" but since there was no description, . . . it looks like you want to know how to achieve a black to fading into light tan color effect. Air brush, . . . dye, . . . and a lot of practice. The emphasis is on practice. May God bless, Dwight

Jack showed one of the best ways to do this, . . . it is one way I make my magazine pouches for hand guns. One thing to keep in mind though, . . . the corners cannot be abrupt, hard angles. Soften the end of that multitool blank you used, . . . round it on the corners both horizontally and vertically, . . . then use Jack's method, . . . you will probably really like the result. May God bless, Dwight

It's quicker if I just tell you how I make a belt. I don't do very many single layer belts, . . . but when I do, . . . this is the process. Cut the belt blank, . . . every supplier I've purchased blanks from were sorry, shoddy, and/or bum leather, . . . cut my own from a larger piece of leather. I use a strap cutter, . . . but a razor knive (think drywall knife) works well if you strop the blade first. Exacto knives are for making model airplanes. Cut the ends, . . . one is pointed (tongue end) the other is rounded (buckle end) Punch the holes for buckle on both ends. Sand all the edges with a belt sander. This gets rid of imperfections that originate in the cutting, . . . especially on the ends. You can sand down a real nice half circle, . . . but only about 1 person in 100 can cut a really nice half circle time and time again. Bevel the edges. Make the belt keeper. Dye the leather, . . . I personally only dip dye, . . . dunking it gets a really good penetration that cannot be matched with a dauber and an air brush just barely coats the outside surface. It is also more uniform. If you make a belt today, . . . and the guy wants one a month later for his lady to match his, . . . dunking is the one way that will come close to guaranteeing the color will match. All other ways I've tried are a gamble. Allow to dry for 24 hours. Burnish the edges with water and a slicker, . . . most edge paints will eventually flake off, . . . so use dye on the edge if you want to do a 2 tone. Finish the belt, . . . I use 50/50 resolene. Allow it to dry for 24 hours before messing with it any more. Put it together, . . . I use Chicago screws, . . . no snaps. Now, . . . for your list: Beveling tool OK, . . . get a # 4 wood or plastic edge bevel slicker OK rotary punch Nahh, . . . get a mallet and the two "Punch Sets", with the little replaceable tips. Fielbings professional dye OK, . . . just pick a oil dye color 2 belt blanks and two belt buckles I'd probably buy a double shoulder, . . . unless you need a really big belt, . . . a large double shoulder will give you enough length for most, . . . and some really good leather for other projects. If you buy their blanks, . . . make sure you turn them over and look at the backs. No dangly thingys hanging down, . . . even thickness from one end to the other, . . . even hardness from one end to the other, . . . if it is really soft, . . . it was cut from the sides and almost belly leather, . . . which makes lousy, stretchy belts. belt loops OK, . . . I prefer to make my own some sort of finish? Resolene edge kote? Nahh, . . . save your money May God bless, Dwight

A pair I had was not particularly expensive, . . . and the heels were simply nailed on down through the heel. I assume they were also glued, . . . but they got to the point that it was hard to tell much at all about em before they went bye bye. I'd probably use veggie tan, . . . contact cemented together as a stack, . . . put in a carpenter vice for 24 hours, . . . and sanded down to the shape you want. Just be sure to bevel out a place in the heel for your heel on your foot, . . . I do know that the old heel was coutoured down in and not flat. May God bless, Dwight

I have a case I made for my I-pad mini, . . . I call it my "shoulder holster" for it, . . . as I detest carrying things in my hands. BUT I digress, . . . It is made of black, drum dyed, 8/9 oz leather, . . . and it more than adequately protects it, . . . and of course it slides in and out real easy. Being veggie tan leather, . . . I made it the "right" size, . . . got it wet, . . . and forced a wooden mockup of my I-pad into it to shape it. The mockup was very slightly over sized so the case would be slightly over sized. Really easy construction, . . . top / bottom / stacked leather pieces around 3 sides to add rigidity as did the video. Contact cement the pieces together, . . . sew, . . . burnish the edges, . . . done. May God bless, Dwight

I have some closed cell polyethylene foam that would be just wonderful for that project. I have used it for so many different things in the past 20 years that it beggars description for all of its uses. On "leatherworking" use for it, . . . it holds all my leather working tools. It does not flake off like styrene foam, . . . floats, . . . is readily cut with a razor knife, . . . and is virtually silent in about all it's uses. May God bless, Dwight

Surely not, . . . forgetting something as basic and needful, . . . I wish I had a jar and had put a dollar in it everytime I've had to pull something apart, . . . remove a part, . . . or disassemble something because I forgot a step. I'd buy me something nice with all that cash. May God bless, Dwight

Right now, I'm basically shut down, . . . remodeling the shop, . . . and only doing "what has to be done". But generally, I look at my calendar (having programmed everything I'm doing out to a last date on the last project) and add whatever time is needed for that piece. Belts I'll add usually 1 day to my schedule, . . . IWB or pancake is 2 days, . . . western gunfighter is 3 or 4 days. So far it has worked out fairly well for me, . . . and I know not everyone has my problem, . . . but if I cannot viually interpret it, . . . see it on the wall in a calendar, . . . wellllllllllllllllll, . . . it may as well not exist. My calendar is my scheduler, . . . can't live without it. Learned that in a factory I worked for 30+ years. May God bless, Dwight

You are over thinking this project. They are all sewn flat, . . . then dunked, . . . twisted, folded, bent, formed, . . . or whatever is needed. Don't think about it, . . . just sew it and do it. May God bless, Dwight

Put the thing in front of a fan, . . . and leave it for 24 hours, . . . alone, . . . Your answer will be sitting there then, . . . and in all honesty, . . . it's probably scrap, . . . but you might get lucky. Pictures would help. Lesson learned, . . . always let the project get DRY before trying to finish it, . . . and use thin coats. May God bless, Dwight

A lot of military badges, awards, etc use that arrangement to be worn on the uniform. If I was going to do that, . . . my first thought would be to ask him if I could just increase the size a bit, . . . then carve / stamp the design into the stiffener, . . . and appropriately paint it so it seriously copies the original design. I saw a holster picture a few years ago where a guy did that for a policeman in Alaska, . . . and it was really sharp. The "Badge / Shield" was very faithfully carved into the leather, . . . painted, . . . buffed, . . . it almost looked like a real badge. But if you have to have the "real thing", . . . JB weld or some other epoxy and the Chicago screw would be my choice too. May God bless, Dwight

Uhhh, . . . that's some kind of misunderstanding, . . . when Dwight uses neatsfoot oil on a project, . . . the first thing is he determines that something in the process may have displaced the original oil, . . . OR, . . . the leather seems dryer than usual. He then uses a small brush, . . . and very lightly adds a coat of oil to the HAIR side of the leather. May God bless, Dwight

Truthfully, . . . the jury is still out on whether an addition of neatsfoot oil is needed after making something of veggie tanned leather: by cutting, forming, sewing, and dying the project. Some do, . . . some don't, . . . some do some times. Personally, I'm wearing a double layer belt that I have worn now for right at 5 years. It has never seen neatsfoot oil, . . . was dyed with Feibings British tan diluted 50/50 with solvent and finished in Resolene. It's been worn to cut the grass, dig post holes, put down roof shingles, preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, bake pies, and a host of other things we do in our lives. It is not cracked, dried out, or falling apart, . . . and is still quite firm though supple as a proper belt should be. The addition of neatsfoot oil is in my opinion over rated by those selling it, . . . and mostly over done by those using it. Lobo is a contributor here, . . . and his technique is the only one I use, . . . when I use it at all, . . . which is a quick once over on the hair side only, . . . after dying and before final finishing. May God bless, Dwight

If I understand what I am seeing, . . . everything except most likely, attaching the handles is done and then finally, . . . the bottom is sewn onto the rest of the bag. It seems to lay over the sides and ends as opposed to being a "folded together" seam. I would either have to hand stitch it (ain't gonna happen either), . . . or turn it inside out, . . . slip one side under the foot of my sewing machine, . . . and looking down inside the bag, . . . sew the bottom onto the rest of the bag. It would be a real trick with my stitcher, . . . and someone would pay some serious coin to get me to do that May God bless, Dwight

If you use a good slot punch, . . . the slots are easy to make, I got sick and tired of bad looking belt slots, . . . built a punch out of a piece of conduit, . . . sharpened the edge on an electric sander, . . . pounded it down to a 5/16 by almost 1 1/2 inch slot, . . . I've used it for 5 years, . . . looks ugly, . . . but it works. May God bless, Dwight

Most of my leather items are belts, holsters, wallets, knife sheaths, magazine carriers, and a very occasional wallet or purse. I use Feibings oil dye on almost all of them. I use Resolene as the final finish, again, on almost all of them. The exception is usually a period piece, deemed to look like it is much older, . . . on it I will use a blend of beeswax and neatsfoot oil. The Resolene is always mixed with water in a 50/50 concentration, . . . applied with a cheap little bristle brush. Hope this helps. May God bless, Dwight

Many people put them in plastic "freezer" bags, . . . I don't have that problem, because once I start, . . . I don't quit until it's done. Probably a big part of why I don't do a lot of tooling. May God bless, Dwight

May God bless, Dwight

A strong belt is the first thing I would look at, . . . mine are 1 7/16 wide, . . . and anywhere between .180 and .250 thick, . . . depending on several factors I take into account in the belt process. Secondly though, . . . will be a serious critique of the holster design. Quite frankly, I would consider it a bad, poorly thought out design. Your holster should come up (on the top of the slide) to the front of the rear sight at least. For a VERY secure holster, . . . cover the rear sight also. It should also come up almost to the grip, . . . covering the trigger guard. I realize that you are trying to stay clear of the mag release, . . . and that can be handily done with some interior work. Personally, . . . I would not carry a pistol in a holster of that design. The center of gravity for the weapon is way too high, . . . it WILL flop back and forth, . . . and it will come out, . . . and if Murphy gets in there, it will come out when you least need it to do that. Making that style for a full size all steel weapon would be in my opinion, and exercise in futility. And the reason I feel confident in my opinion, . . . I envisioned a similar style holster some years back, . . . and after some wasted leather and effort, . . . I said to heck with it, . . . went back to what works. May God bless, Dwight

It's a lot better than my first IWB, . . . Keep up the good work. May God bless, Dwight

I used a press for some time, . . . then got to getting a lot of plastic fantastic shooters, . . . got afraid I'd over press one, . . . bust it, . . . so I went to a vacuum system. I made my own bag from some vinyl bought at JoAn's fabric shop, . . . and it works great. Actually, I like it better than what I got with the press. May God bless, Dwight