Dwight

Can you show us a picture of the other side? It may take a special shaped tool, . . . need to see what we are up against. I've never really found a pair of pliers I would trust to set a rivet, . . . just cannot get enough force onto the jaws. May God bless, Dwight

Good looking saddle, . . . looks like a lot of effort went into that one. Oldtimer beat me to my question, though. May God bless, Dwight

Some people swear by a coat of neatsfoot oil before the final finish. Some people swear AT a coat of neatsfoot oil before the final finish. I've done it both ways, . . . and I haven't lived long enough to see what the outcome will be in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years. My decision is based on which stain I use. If it is an oil based stain, . . . I don't use the oil. If it is not oil based, . . . I "most generally" do give it a quick coat, on the hair side, one smooth pass with the paint brush, lightly dipped, . . . and leave it out to come back to the original color before doing anything else to it. In answer to your unasked question: yes, . . . too much oil can make the holster a throw away, . . . good for absolutely nothing. May God bless, Dwight

I just finished my first pair of chaps, . . . shotgun, . . . for a little 11 year old cowgirl. Her bigger sister had a pair someone had give her, . . . just used them for my pattern, . . . Learned a LOT !!! For the smile I got on her face when she put them on the first time, . . . I could have almost walked away without a check, . . . but I need to pay my bills. Can't see a lot of the details, . . . her mom wanted black on black (and I had a really beautiful piece of white buckskin), . . . but there they are. I have a whole folder, . . . maybe 50 pictures of chaps, . . . chinks, . . . etc. They are made just like the people who wear them, . . . all sorts of sizes, shapes, colors, and textures. May God bless, Dwight

That's a good looking rig you made there. I made one similar a while back, . . . it's traipsing somewhere out west now. I didn't like the way Will did the opening and closing of the belt, . . . so I changed it. The tongue that holds the buckle, . . . I used it to close the belt and keep it closed. I used two snaps on the back, . . . unsnap and pull it back through the slot, . . . dig out the cash, . . . re-snap and you're back "in the saddle" again. Either way it works out good, . . . mine was 5/6 oz rough out leather, . . . was made to imitate the rig the Duke wore in his last few movies. May God bless, Dwight

I make similar pouches to hold ammunition magazines, . . . riveted in the exact same way. First, . . . make a wooden insert that is 1/4 inch shy of the width of the pouch. Get a piece of flat stock steel 1/4 inch thick, . . . as wide as the pouch, . . . and the length is the same as the depth of the pouch. Put the wood in, . . . lay the steel on the wood, . . . set the pouch up on edge, . . . and hammer away. I always position the rivet so it is pointing out of the pouch, . . . and I usually give it one extra whack after setting it, . . . that flattens the inside, keeping items from catching on the rivets. Also, don't use a maul, . . . use a small ball peen, . . . it sets them better. You'll mushroom up the top of the setter, . . . but they come free in the big bags of rivets anyway from Tandy, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Looks good from this end, . . . Particle should be proud. May God bless, Dwight

Some day, . . . I am going to perfect my basket weave stamping. Probably right after I surf over Niagra Falls, . . . Good job, . . . my friend, . . . you have patience I only think about, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Leather is measured in ounces, . . . and those ounces translate each to 1/64th of inch. One full inch of 64 oz equals 25.4 mm. Breaking it down further, . . . 8 oz would be 1/8th of an inch or just a tad over 3 mm thick. Most of the leather sellers offer their leather in like a 7/8 oz or 6/7 oz, . . . which means it is not absolutely perfectly uniform from edge to edge, . . . some will be very close to 6 oz while the rest will be closer to 7 oz in the last example. If I made a suggestion, . . . it would be to go with a piece of 7/8 oz, . . . and order the piece called a "single shoulder" if your supplier offers it. Shoulder leather is good tough leather, makes good holsters, belts, cuffs, wrist bands, spur straps, . . . it usually tools nicely also. Back leather isn't usually as tough, . . . is softer, . . . belly leather is even worse. Good luck, . . . and welcome to the wonderful world of leathercraft. May God bless, Dwight

The main thing I saw missing was the sweat shield. There are too many rough edges, sharp corners, etc. on most semi-autos to not have a sweat sheild to protect the old body from rubbing and chafing. I'm not fat by anyone's standards, . . . but I have just enough of a "roll" that your holster would chafe my side, . . . Otherwise it looks good. May God bless, Dwight

Because it is two pieces of leather, . . . I stitch the outside edge of my holsters all the way around. The parts that don't become the folded together edge get stitched last. BUT, . . . I contact cement the pieces together, . . . I sand smooth the edge before stitching, . . . bevel both sides, . . . and stitch gouge both sides. It takes a bit of practice, . . . but it can be done, . . . and it protects the stitches a bit more. I then do whatever folding has to be done, . . . cement the edges after folding (also usually put in a welt for western holsters), . . . sand them smooth, . . . edge bevel, . . . stitch gouge both sides, . . . and sew. If I wander a bit on the backside out of the gouge (virtually never do) it is no big deal, . . . the rest of the stitches being protected is more important than whether I wandered 1/3 or 1/4 of the way out of the stitch groove. PLUS it is on the back side, . . . dyed, . . . finished, . . .and practically un-noticeable. Quite honestly, . . . if a customer did notice something like that and complained, . . . I'd hand him back his money, . . . . with a smile, . . . retrieve the leather goods, . . . and wish them a great day. Hand made leather goods will always have some sort of irregularity, flaw, mis-step, . . . that is what makes it personal and unique. May God bless, Dwight

He said it well, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I wanted a Western rig like that for myself, . . . my formula was 90% Feibings thinner, . . . 10% black oil dye. It makes a very dark charcoal grey, . . . but it also does not fully cover in 1 dipping. I was looking more for a "worn" look, . . . weathered, etc. Got what I wanted. The picture here was just after I got it done, . . . the oil in the finish I use darkened it some, . . . that has since gone away, . . . it's a real nice dark charcoal now. May God bless, Dwight

Good looking work, . . . simple, graceful, elegant. May God bless, Dwight

I don't carve much, but I also don't have the patience to pound, stamp, hammer, and decorate like that. Great job, . . . it would take me a week, . . . pound of coffee, . . . 4 dozen dougnuts, . . . and a trip to the Dr for blood pressure meds. That's why I do plain Jane's, . . . but your's is indeed fantastic. May God bless, Dwight

John Bianchi left a little tip on making this type of holster out of two pieces. Cut both pieces to size, his example used 7/8 oz leather if I remember correctly, . . . take the INSIDE PIECE and determine the 1 inch wide area that would be the front of the holster, . . . where the sight track would be. Skive that area down about 1/3 to 1/2 its normal thickness, . . . skiving out of the flesh side. Then, . . . glue or contact cement the two together, . . . flat, . . . and allow it to dry for 8 to 16 hours. You can then wet it and form it any old way you would like to do with it, . . . no puckers / no wrinkles / just a very good looking holster. I really can't remember how many I have made this way, . . . every one worked like a champ. The vas majority of them were Western type cowboy rigs. May God bless, Dwight

Leslie, . . . I suspect you are using a tool not really designed for copper rivets. The rivet setter and anvil on the left in the picture is made for little metal capped rivets and is often given away inside big bags of Tandy rivets. It is really hard to use for copper rivets. The tool on the right is the copper rivet setter I use and it works fantastically. Look in the end of it you will see a hole on the left and a domed impression on the right. The hole sets the copper washer down on the rivet, . . . snip off the extra copper with a pair of side cutters, . . . peen it a little bit with a small ball peen hammer to get it started, . . . then lay you work on a solid metal plate. DO NOT USE your marble slab, . . . the force needed to dome the rivet correctly will crack your marble slab. The domed impression is where you make the pretty little ball on top of the rivet. On that steel plate, . . . you don't whale it, . . . just tap it real good, . . . 10 to 15 times, . . . you are literally forming the little ball on top of the rivet above the washer, . . . and it takes a bit of practice, . . . and you will eventually harm your maul. Get a ball peen hammer, . . . works better for this. I have a piece of 1/4 inch steel that is about 12 inches square that I usually use under my copper stuff. Works great. Hope this helps. May God bless, Dwight

Lobo, . . . looks like no one else out there, . . . give him my email, . . . ciminod@midohio.net. I've made a couple using wooden models that I made from drawings, . . . worked well enough to satisfy the customer. Worst thing that would happen, . . . I've got another "model". Be more than happy to try it. May God bless, Dwight

I use it 50/50 with water. Brush it on with a cheap bristle brush, . . . put enough on to get a simulated lather as you brush. Don't be an artist with the brushing either, . . . sorta like brushing a fence, . . . hit it and get it. Brush left, right, up, down, oblique left, oblique right, . . . NO SWIRLS, . . . just keep brushing until all the little bubbles are gone. Lighten up on the stroke as the bubbles dissapear. Best thing to do, . . . cut a practice piece, . . . dye it half brown, . . . half black, . . . play with the instructions, . . . Yes, . . . you can add coats of the stuff, . . . but there is a point where it becomes so thick that it WILL crack, . . . and you will be unhappy. Yes, . . . you can wax over top of it, . . . just give it 48 hours or so to cure before waxing. For my holsters, wallets, belts, etc. Resolene is the last step, . . . when it's done, . . . I'm done. May God bless, Dwight

Woodyrock, . . . got any pictures you would care to share? I'd personally appreciate it. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

If I make a large sheath for a knife, . . . especially if they want a buckskin or suede one, . . . I line it with rawhide, . . . and like you said, . . . incredibly strong and durable. This pic is my first one, . . . talking about a pain to sew, . . . but I was really glad how it turned out, . . . customer loved it. I also have a set of batwing chaps I have to make some time this summer, . . . will probably use it there. I saw a pair of old chaps on Ebay some time ago, . . . they were batwing / working chaps, . . . used snaps and "D" rings, . . . gonna try a little 2013 re-creation on that pair. May God bless, Dwight

It'll cost you a 20 maybe more, . . . but a good pair of Klein lineman's pliers will chop them babies right now. I used to do electrical work, . . . kept the tools, . . . you don't need to guess what I use. You also may be using them wrong, . . . you need to get that rivet down as far into the cutting slot as you can. Your max pressure is down there. The "ideal" tool is a pair of angled side cutters, . . . also made by Klein, . . . but unlike the pliers, you would only use them for rivets, . . . the pliers would have a few other uses, . . . side cutters, not so. May God bless, Dwight

Stunning, beautiful, well done. May God bless, Dwight

I would not do anything more than one stitch every 10mm, . . . saddle stitch should be fine, . . . if you want to preserve it for an extra long time, . . . take the thinnest leather you have, . . . use it in the inside seam and the outside crease. Personally, . . . I'd use nylon, . . . but that is what I use all the time anyway. May God bless, Dwight

You would be well served to use the search window on this forum, . . . it will give you many more answers to your question, and proably help you more. May God bless, Dwight