Dwight

Anybody wants the copy, . . . ciminod@midohio.net is the email. I can't send through here, . . . too big. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Cathy, . . . fellow buckeye here, . . . near the Marion area. I'm a holster, belt, scabbard, sheath, gun bag guy, . . . quit wallets after both of the first two were super successes. Ain't pushing that luck. Anyway, . . . welcome, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Mike, one of the "niceties" of vegetable tanned leather is that you can wet it, form it, and after it dries, . . . you can "work it" so to speak to loosen it up. Think about those round toed shoes us old timers used to wear. When we pulled em out of the box, they were stiff and if you weren't careful, you could wind up with blisters all over your feet. Once we wore them for a couple of days, . . . creases formed where our toes bent, . . . loosening up the leather. The same applies to any leather that has been water formed, . . . so don't worry too much about that. Make your shoes, . . . break em in later. May God bless, Dwight

Welcome to the forum, . . . you did some pretty good work there, . . . and yeah, . . . hand sewing a belt is, . . . uhhh, . . . well, . . . tough. I tell all my students that hands are for hamburgers, . . . sewing machines are for sewing leather. But anyway, . . . again good job, . . . just a couple critiques for you: I couldn't see where you burnished any of the edges. That is the first thing that separates the leather choppers from craftspeople, . . . the edges are an important part of your product, . . . it is to holsters what chrome trim is to an automobile. Secondly, . . . I took your pic and "modified" it a bit. If you make the top of your holster come across straight (see red line) or even arched up a bit, . . . it will make re-holstering in an IWB much easier. As it is, you will find it probably will get floppy, . . . and one day the muzzle will push the front side of the holster down and double it over. Adding a re-inforcement piece to the front also goes a long way toward keeping that from happening, . . . plus it keeps the front of the holster from collapsing. Many holster makers (I'm not one of them), and some very well known ones too, . . . put a piece of metal between the holster and the re-inforcement, again to keep the holster mouth open in case you have to do a one hand re-holster and cannot turn around and put eyeballs on the holster. I don't show anyone my first few attempts, . . . yours are far, far better, . . . keep up the good work. May God bless, Dwight

It would probably be easier to give you the engineering formula for getting 90 miles per gallon out of a 454 Chevy engine, . . . but we'll try anyway. If the choc brown is the finished color you want, . . . buy it, . . . also buy a quart of thinner. Take a glass jar, . . . add a specifically measured (liquid measure) amount of thinner to the jar, . . . then add 1/10 of that amount of choc brown. Try that on a scrap piece. If it is too light after it dries, . . . give it a second coat. If after a couple of coats, . . . it isn't dark enough, . . . throw that scrap piece away, . . . add enough dye to get about a 33% solution, . . . try that. Seriously, it sounds like I'm jerking your chain, . . . but I worked for 3 decades in the automotive refinish paint business, . . . color making, color matching, color imitating is all a trial and error business. Leather color is no exception. May God bless, Dwight

I'd stay away from tractor places, and auto parts, . . . most of their belts will be 4L or 1/2 in wide. What is the width at the top of your pulley? That tells you the width you need for your belt. Getting the length will be tricky, . . . it always is. If you have a mom & pop hardware store nearby, . . . that is where I would go. May God bless, Dwight

To me, . . . those both defeat the purpose of the Ipad, . . . to get disconnected from pen and paper, trash cans, envelopes, filing cases, erasers, staplers, rulers, protractors, . . . and all that other junk that resides upon, in, near, or alongside a desk. There is virtually nothing the pen and pad bring to the table other than a document that needs to be photographed by the Ipad, . . . stored, . . . and the paper tossed. YMMV, . . . but that is WHY I have one, . . . and, yes, . . . I love the freedom. May God bless, Dwight

I did this one for a guy who was involved in some kind of cowboy action shooting, . . . It was a fun diversion, . . . not sure I'd want to do a steady diet of them though. May God bless, Dwight

Sixer: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=26305&hl="hobby%20lobby"#entry165483 When you go there, . . . they have two tools, . . . this is the snap tool, . . . it is FABULOUS, and I'm trying not to shout. They also sell another similar tool that should be hanging pretty near this one, . . . looks a lot like it, . . . about the same price, . . . it does eyelets, smaller snaps, . . . For more info on this whole subject, . . . hit the advanced search button up in the right hand corner, . . . in the search window put "Hobby Lobby" (make sure you use the quotes), . . . down in the author, . . . put Dwight. There have been several threads on this and similar subjects. My tool works equally well on pull the dots and regular line 24. May God bless, Dwight

Mike, . . . if you have ever worked around metal or plastic casting, . . . you know they use a two piece mold, . . . one for the front, . . . one for the back, . . . I use that process for making the "front" for my "Fanceee" molded magazine carriers. Most of my customers are easily pleased with the ones I sew, . . . but occasionally I get one who wants something with a bit more finesse, . . . hence the molded mag carrier. In the picture you see both pieces, . . . I simply lay a flat piece of 6/7 vegetable tanned leather over the female mold, . . . force the two pieces together, . . . clamp with a couple of carpenter clamps, usually overnight, . . . pull it apart, . . . voila, . . . molded leather. Before I put that leather in the mold though, . . . it is absolutely, positively, surely, and completely SOAKED through with warm (not over 130 deg F). You should probably only need the inside mold if you are doing something generally round and not too complicated, . . . stretch it over the mold, . . . tack it down until it dries, . . . trim it and go for it. May God bless, Dwight

Looks really good to me. May God bless, Dwight

Of course you would forgive me if I said all you had to do was make a square one and sand off the corners, . . . but I won't say that. I've never gotten an order for one of those, . . . but if I did, . . . I would treat it the same way I treat handles like that, . . . I simply contact cement a piece of rope in the pre-rolled leather, . . . and I use a shoelace stitch to sew it all together. The thing that makes it fairly easy, . . . I remove the thread from my Boss, . . . use it to punch and space the holes for the stitching, . . . works every time. Honestly, if I had to awl-n-stitch them, . . . uhhh, . . . probably wouldn't happen. May God bless, Dwight

As I worked for several decades for a refinish paint mfg., I learned early on that several light coats of finish will almost always be better than fewer heavy coats. The same rationale works (for me) wiith resolene. I do not like the finish I get with the full strength stuff, . . . 50/50 is easy for me to control, . . . and it has just about a 100% satisfaction rate. It's very seldom that I look at it and just am not satisfied. May God bless, Dwight

The three things I find the best are: 1) For first patterns, . . . new patterns, . . . patterns that may not be used very many times, . . . good old manila folders. Manila folders, a pencil, masking tape, and a razor knife simply ARE my pattern making kit. 2) For a pattern that I anticipate using many times, . . . OR, . . . I am thoroughly pleased and happy with THIS pattern, . . . I'll transfer it from manila folder to the bag stiffener material sold by Tandy's. It surpasses cardboard like a Lamborghini passing a VW bug, . . . yet is not adversely expensive, . . . and is as easily worked as cardboard, . . . but will hold up many times the life of the cardboard I have gotten in the past. 3) For a pattern that has to have the "feel" so to speak of leather, . . . or the "body", . . . I keep cloth backed vinyl on hand. For instance, my chaps pattern is made of this material, . . . so I can "see" how they will hang, what needs to be adjusted, which way, etc. That doesn't work as well for me with paper or cardboard. I get the vinyl at JoAnns by watching the paper and using their 40 or 50% off cupon. For $8 I get a piece that is 36 by 45, . . . and you can cut several patterns usually out of a piece that big. May God bless, Dwight

I've never used it, . . . what little painting I do, . . . it's with EcoFlo, . . . and not much of that. I think I might be tempted, . . . at least I would try it, . . . first dye the whole thing to the color of red you want, . . . then go back like Cyberthrasher was saying, . . . with a sock or towel, . . . blacks cover stuff up pretty good (you don't need to ask me how I know that, either), . . . but again the Achille's heel is in the white. That would just be "Tedium Infinitim" for me, . . . the white painting. May God bless, Dwight

Just seeing that old belt was worth getting up today, . . . sometimes you hold something like that, . . . and just wish it could talk, . . . knowing the stories it could tell would make your day. Thanks for sharing. May God bless, Dwight

From what I could make out of it, . . . I would make it from 8 or 9 oz vegetable tanned leather, . . . it looks to be about 1 to 1 1/4 inch wide. You can go to a Tandy leather shop and get a 2 inch belt blank or a 3 inch strap blank used for saddle work. That piece can then be split into the proper size blank you need, . . . and you won't have to buy a full side or double shoulder. Stay away from the latigo leather, . . . if you want to paint it the same colors. If I were making you one like it, . . . I would first impress the letters very heavily using an arbor press, . . . and tool in the logo. I would then dye the whole thing black using Feibings pro oil black dye and thinner about a 2 thinner / 1 dye ratio. Next I would paint the red letters with Tandy Eco flo paint, . . . then come back with their same paint in white for the outline work. If you have never done that, . . . it is TEDIOUS and nerve wracking, . . . to say the least. I would then finish the strap with an old fashioned finish, . . . beeswax and neatsfoot oil. It would take at least 4 applications, . . . and can be a pain to get it right, . . . but with some elbow grease, . . . it would look every bit as good as the one you have, . . . it is darn near waterproof, . . . and if it gets a bit scuffed up, . . . you have the finish right there, . . . it's kinda like polishing your shoes, . . . just a whole bunch harder. May God bless, Dwight

I love the tennis ball idea, . . . but never tried it. A piece of old carpet WILL deaden the noise, . . . flip it upside down and it will be easier on the finish on your desk. May God bless, Dwight

I have had real good luck with some of my home made punches, tools, etc. You can easily make one just for that job, . . . or similar ones. I start with a piece of galvanized EMT tubing (electrometallic tubing, . . . or conduit as it is called in the electrical trade), . . . comes in 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1 1/4, 1 1/2, 2 inch. I sharpen the outside of it by holding it up against a disc sander, . . . then cut, bend, form, . . . whatever necessary to get the shape I need. They sharpen fairly easily with a file & sandpaper, . . . putting a piece of scrap leather under the piece I'm punching helps safeguard the cutting edge, . . . and while you may not be able to make it a "perfect" shape, . . . at least it will always be the same imperfection, . . . and you can "fix" it from there. I use a piece of steel, . . . a pair of pliers, . . . end of an anvil, . . . first one thing then another to get the shape the way I want it. One of my favorite successes is in the upper left corner, . . . it makes an oval, but doesn't cut it completely out. I make two parallel cuts from the opening of the oval, . . . about 6 inches long, . . . it puts a tail on the oval, . . . makes a gorgeous hammer thong for Western holsters. Another one in there is only 1/4 of a circle, . . . makes the slickest rounded corners around (no pun intended), . . . and in the total, . . . I've probably got a $2 cash investment. May God bless, Dwight

Just holler if you need a more detailed diagram. May God bless, Dwight

This can be made out of a couple of 2 x 4's a couple bolts, and if you have any kind of shop at all, . . . about a half hour of work. Basically, . . . the brown leather is placed on the mat, . . . the red imprint is made by pushing down on the handle. It wouldn't take too long to figure out about how much pressure, . . . and once you get that "touch", . . . they should all be pretty much uniform. Approximate cost: $5 May God bless, Dwight

Manny, . . . what are you going to do with the strap? What size is the strap, . . . long vs wide? That can make a difference. May God bless, Dwight

Actually in one of John Bianchi's videos, . . . he put the whole holster and belt down in a heated oil bath, . . . pulled it out, . . . let it dry. I've always been under the assumption that the oil is often bleached out of the leather by the molding and dying processes, . . . so I add some to most of my stuff to keep it from drying out, cracking, and prematurely ending it's useful life. So far it has worked for me, . . . one light coat with a paint brush, . . . go over it once, . . . get away from it, . . . let it dry, . . . add the finish. Others do it differently. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Benlilly, . . . I went through a bunch of electronic devices before I settled on the Ipad mini, . . . and I actually wish it was just a bit smaller. I'd love to put it in my suit coat, sport coat, or shirt pocket. The shoulder holster was just my way of compensating, . . . I totally detest carrying things in my hands, . . . mostly because I lay them down and leave them. This allows me to carry it under a vest, jacket, whatever, . . . handy to get to, . . . but not in my hands. I also used 9 oz drum dyed leather, . . . I think it could take a 6 foot fall to the concrete and not hurt it. May God bless, Dwight

Yessir, . . . good looking work. May God bless, Dwight