Dwight

Personally, . . . I'd love to see the back side of that rucksack. I can imagine what I think it should be, . . . but I'd still like to see it. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Sylvia, . . . I don't play a guitar, . . . in the words of a former pastor, . . . I beat it into submission. Anyway, . . . it was really neat to hear a real pro hit those licks. May God bless, Dwight

The first thing on the agenda, Karen, would be several close up pictures. Someone here may be able to discern from them, . . . but without them, . . .???? Take a look at this Gunbroker link, . . . is this the proper holster? If so, . . . the pictures look like there are no hidden stitches, . . . everything goes through to the inside. http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=287627402 May God bless, Dwight

Well, Bill, . . . first off, . . . I don't do a lot of fringe. IWB holsters for 1911's and their associated belts and mag carriers are my stock and trade for the most part, . . . and they are kina "fringe less" so to speak. If you look on my website, www.dwightsgunleather.com there are a couple of fringed pieces I did. Both were done with a stainless steel ruler that has a cork back, . . . and a drywall (razor) knife that had been worked over on my razor knife strop. Again, . . . I don't do much, . . . that gets me by, . . . As I said earlier, . . . I like your idea, . . . but I've owned my rotary cutter for about 5 years now, . . . never needed to change the blade, . . . just don't use it much, . . . and yeah, . . . I am actually scared of the thing. Same way with my round knife, . . . Anyway, . . . may God bless, Dwight

I couldn't tell, . . . did he order pepperoni or anchovies? Thanks, . . . but no thanks, . . . I did one of those for a friend with his Colt full size 100th anniversary edition, . . . rail, . . . lazerlyte, . . . We never could get the lazerlyte to "zero". He traded it off, . . . then I made him a pancake for his Colt, . . . he loves it. May God bless, Dwight

Dave, . . . Weldwood contact cement does not work as well on the harness leather as it does on veggie tanned leather. Graduate over to veggie tanned, . . . most everyone finds it a better raw material because you can do so much more with it. One thing you CAN DO WITH IT is use rubber cement, . . . the stuff kids in school use for glue. It is not permanent, . . . but it will hold two pieces together long enough to stitch them. Oh, . . . and if you are using contact cement, . . . let me suggest you do not try to put them together until both sides are dry to the touch. I often use my 1100 watt heat gun to assist the cement to dry. And as mentioned earlier, . . . you DO WANT to see a bit of a shine where the glue is, . . . paraphrasing Charlie Chan, . . . "No shiney, . . . no stickeee". May God bless, Dwight

I like that trick, . . . but I really don't like those rotary cutters. Just one of those personal things, . . . have visions of fingers falling to the floor every time I use mine. May God bless, Dwight

An alternative option for you: re-design the shape on the trigger guard side of the holster. Move the stitch line in to where it is really close and follows the contours of the gun. You will probably have to make at least one that you put up on a shelf, . . . just to get the EXACT measurement needed. When you get that pattern perfected, . . . cut the stitches, . . . roll it back out flat, . . . and use it for the pattern to cut your new "pretty" one. Tool it to your hearts content. Let it dry, . . . absolutely, completely, 100% DRY. Glue, edge, burnish, and sew it together. Then, . . . being very careful, . . . spray the INSIDE ONLY of the holster with water that is hot enough that you don't keep your hands in it long, . . . but not hot enough to actually burn you. Use an old Windex spray bottle or something like that. Then be careful, . . . and with a pair of brown jersey gloves on your hands, . . . form and mold the holster around the gun. The forming and molding won't be perfect, . . . but it wil be much better than the loose bag holster you have now. And do not put the gun in Saran Wrap, a plastic bag, or anything like that. It only makes the holster bigger. You can wipe that little bit of water off the weapon later on. After you have molded it (should not take over about 5 - 7 minutes, . . . slip the weapon out, . . . gently squeeze the holster back so it is just a tad tighter than the width of the weapon, . . . hang it up in front of a fan to dry. If you have access to a heat box that you can predictably make at 130 deg F, . . . dry it in there. This process is about the best of both worlds, . . . having a holster that is both formed and tooled. And it is only a good compromise to both. May God bless, Dwight

I'm with Luke, . . . I'd like to know too, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I wanted an authentic looking, black cowboy rig. I also wanted an authentic finish. This one has it: 50/50 beeswax and neatsfoot oil, . . . hand rubbed, hand buffed. When you use the word "favorite", . . . this is my favorite finish. May God bless, Dwight

I once had a holster that was just a teeny-tad oversized for the 1911 that I carried at the time. I thought I would just get it wet, . . . let it dry, . . . maybe it would "shrink". Got it wet, . . . got impatient, . . . got in a hurry. DID NOT KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING Stuck it in the micro wave, . . . When I took it out, . . . it looked more like a cud of chewing tobacco some cowboy had spit out on the sidewalk than a leather holster. Uhhhh, . . . didn't do that one again. May God bless, Dwight

It would take me more than a weekend to do one that good, . . . Real good job May God bless, Dwight

The best thing you could do for yourself, . . . is go to someplace like Tandy's (1st choice) or Hobby Lobby (2nd choice), . . . buy some of their patterns for things you would like to try to make. You will then get proper "Patterns" to show you how to make patterns. There are no "magic bullet", . . . "one step" answers to your questions, . . . and the nearest thing you might get to that would be to find a local leather worker, . . . and apprentice yourself to them. In exchange for lessons and knowledge, . . . you might sweep and paint the place for them or something like that. May God bless, Dwight

I do it both ways, . . . on a pattern that I do a lot, . . . have a lot of familiarity with, . . . wet molding is the last thing before dye and finish. On a pattern that I have never made or only a couple of times, . . . wet mold first, . . . allow it to dry thoroughly, . . . glue, trim, edge, sew and finish. Wet molding first generally adds one full day to my production time, so I try to kind of avoid it. May God bless, Dwight

From the pictures, it's kinda hard to tell, . . . but the first two things I would look at, . . . pull your rear slot closer to the gun, . . . I'd come awful close to a full slot on the one you show in the picture. Another thing that makes a gun ride tighter, . . . more cant. Tilt that puppy forward a bit more, . . . Those two things should bring it in good, . . . but remember that if you get it in too tight, . . . as high as that is riding, . . . it could chafe the old rib cage real bad. You've got a good start on your holster making skills there, . . . keep it up. May God bless, Dwight

Without seeing the holsters, . . . my first guess would be that you did not position them correctly when you did the molding. That "position" thing makes the final determination as to how the butt points, . . . and my guess is that you just put the gun in the wet leather, . . . laid it down on a table and began molding. That will force the butt out most of the time. That rear flap on the avenger style has to be up and off the table when you are molding the holster, . . . directly in line with the handle of the weapon. Hopefully, you can see what I mean in the little drawings. May God bless, Dwight

First, . . . you will have to make a choice: forming VS tooling. Simply put, you cannot have both and expect either of them to be real good. Tooling adds designs to the leather, . . . forming, . . . if done correctly, . . . will destroy many of those designs. That is why most very closely formed holsters have very little if any tooling on them. Tooled holsters are minimaly formed at best, . . . a general forming for the basic overall shape and nothing really beyond that. Having said that, . . . take a piece of scrap belly leather, . . . cut it into the rough design of a wrap around holster, . . . and don't worry about the details, . . . you are going to toss this anyway. Immerse it in a sink or pan of water that is just above body temperature, . . . warm enough to feel warm, . . . not any where near feeling hot. Hold it a good 15 or so seconds under water. Lay it down, . . . flesh side down, . . . on newspaper or a towel, . . . and just leave it until it really starts taking back the original color, . . . or pretty close. You don't want to mess with it while it is that dark, wet, soppy brown, . . . let it lighten up and almost feel dry to the touch. It can then be fairly easily manipulated with your fingers and your thumbs. You do not need to wrap your gun in a bag or Saran Wrap, . . . just don't take all day to do this. Stand the unloaded handgun in the middle of the leather piece, . . . where the sight track should be, . . . grab the two flaps and pull them up on each side, . . . hold them in your left hand, . . . securely. Adjust the gun in the "holster" so it is laying correctly. Begin with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand to pinch the leather into the cracks, crevices, crannies, of the handgun. You want to force it into every void you can find. Once you have a pretty good form made with just the thumb & forefinger, . . . lay the thing down on the left side, . . . then use both thumbs to further force the leather into the crevices, . . . then turn it over and do it on the other side. Finish up by one more trip through the "thumb forming" with the left side being down. Gently lift upone side of the leather, . . . extract the gun, . . . lay the leather back from where you pulled it up, . . . wipe down and oil the gun, . . . hang the "holster" up on a string through the sight channel, . . . and let it dry. DO NOT mess with it for at least 24 hours. Once it is dry, . . . you will be able to see why you could not tool it and then form it. You will also be able to put the gun back in it, . . . and mark where it needs to be sewn, . . . sew it within 1/4 inch of the actual gun itself. Once you have the sewing pattern, . . . cut off the excess outside the stitch pattern, . . . sand it, . . . bevel it, . . . stitch it, . . . admire it, . . . throw it into a drawer and say "Good job, now I can do a real one." May God bless, Dwight

I'm not a lot into the 200 years ago stuff, . . . but if I was, . . . I'd use the old fashioned 50/50 beeswax and neatsfoot oil (done by weight, not volume). Veggie tan takes this finish very well, . . . which would end your chrome worries. It makes a paste similar to Kiwi shoe polish, . . . put it on in a similar fashion, . . . would have been similar to what was actually used back then (I've been told, anyway), . . . and after a couple of skirmishes, some rain drops, maybe a snow squall, . . . your period piece actually looks period, . . . instead of New York Tiffany. May God bless, Dwight

Have you been to Tandy? They have some good looking "plain Jane" stuff, . . . and none of my customers has ever mentioned that it didn't serve them well. May God bless, Dwight

From what I could see, . . . it looks like a variation of a "clinch" knot or a "half blood" knot. In smaller line, they are used to tie off rings, eyes, and even fish hooks. I'd say google clinch knot first, . . . there are more than likely several youtube's on the subject. May God bless, Dwight

Shooter McGavin has the answer I would use, . . . and the first place I would look is http://www.brownells.com/ The old one should come off with a little elbow grease and a 1 inch wide wood chisel, . . . drill the thing, . . . epoxy in place, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I sharpened the outside edge of a piece of 1 1/4 inch EMT, . . . hammered it flat over a piece of steel, . . . have a really good oval punch that makes really nice holes, . . . 5/16 wide, . . . 1 9/16 long. Cost: about 20 minutes in my metal shop. May God bless, Dwight

Go into your kitchen, . . . look for one of those plastic cutting boards. Put it under your leather. Then, . . . pierce the front and go through the leather until you can feel it hit the plastic. Turn it over, . . . finish your awl hole punching from the back. Works for me. May God bless, Dwight

For holsters, I very seldom use any thing other than Resolene, . . . 50/50 mix with water, . . . brushed on, . . . sometimes 2 coats. First, it has a UV blocker, so I know my product will not be adversely affected by sunlight, . . . and secondly, it adds a bit to the rigidity of the holster. I have an IWB holster here made of 5/6 leather, . . . Resolene coated, . . . it is almost as hard as a Kydex holster. I do prefer Bag Kote for billfolds and purses. (Maybe that is why they called it "Bag" Kote) Matter of fact, I did a very different billfold a few weeks back for a new customer, . . . sent it to him, . . . he was absolutely thrilled with it, . . . and of course it had Bag Kote as it's finish. I don't use BK on holsters though, . . . because it is not as rigid, and does not have the UV, . . . but that is just me, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I just may have to look into that, Ken, . . . my local Lowes doesn't always carry the jell Weldwood (I like it the best), . . . and I suppose I would use less brushes. Thanks for the tip. May God bless, Dwight