Dwight

Weaver's and others will make them. Maybe try Tipmann in Ft. Wayne . . . they make some . . . IIRC Ching chong chinamen will also make it . . . look on Ebay for them . . . May God bless, Dwight

Or over the phone the customer repeats the name of his son Ephan . . . E P H A N You confirm . . . yes . . . E P H A N Customer comes to pick up order . . . That name is misspelled . . . its E T HAN Still have a little black belt . . . about a 28 inch . . . waiting for EPHAN to show up needing a belt. May God bless, Dwight

Go back to Etsy . . . these are crafters here . . . not puddle monkeys. May God bless, Dwight

I have a Boss and a Cowboy 4500 . . . will one day in the near future sell the Boss as I've just about learned all the old tricks I did with the Boss . . . now on the Cowboy. Belts with a Boss. . . you betcha . . . about 10 minutes each side . . . vs 2 1/2 hours per side hand stitching. Boss was the best 1K I've spent in all my money making ventures of 78 years . . . not as much fun as some of my toys . . . but my toys are not money makers . . . the Boss is. To top it off . . . Tippmann has been great to work with as far as problems are concerned. Great people to work with. Toledo sales did my Cowboy . . . have nothing bad to say about them either. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks Simplejack1985 . . . May God bless, Dwight

Wood putty you can use for a gouge . . . an inadvertent saw cut . . . a hole drilled in the wrong place . . . a corner broken off . . . It would be nice if leather workers had such a product . . . Been almost in tears at times over a stupid mistake . . . did one the other day . . . but I'll get by on this one. Was stamping serial number on a piece . . . doggone stamp bounced . . . got a lighter second stamp above and sligtly to the right of the original. If this was wood . . . open the can . . . get out the putty knife . . . smear it down flat . . . sand it smooth . . . dye it . . . re stamp it . . . Ain't nothing in the leather goods you can do that with. May God bless, Dwight

The folks who made wood putty in a squeeze tube made a fortune . . . Somebody making leather putty in a squeeze tube could follow suit . . . maybe they could golf together in Miami beach May God bless, Dwight

Glue it together . . . put a string in the back . . . tie it on your head . . . Grab a 30 inch broadsword . . . Buy into that mounted warrior play acting stuff . . . May God bless, Dwight

My 20+ yr old double layer belt that is roughly .200 inches thick . . . was grooved on both sides . . . with a "then new" groover . . . and the 346 thread that went into those grooves is basically flat against the leather. I wear a large cell phone . . . and a 3 pound firearm . . . have never had a problem. Cannot tell you how many belts I've made and sold . . . have never had a "groover" complaint. May God bless, Dwight

You did a good job there . . . just add a few comments on those I do. Between the holster and the shoulder holding strap . . . slip a folded piece of thin leather with a 1 inch wide rectangular metal ring. That allows you to attach and detach a belt holder . . . which will stabilize the holster much better . . . especially for drawing. Elastic bothers me . . . so I use a 1 inch by 7 oz by about 48 inch leather strap . . . chicago screws . . . and one folded keeper . . . works out real well for me. May God bless, Dwight

Well . . . I'm going to be the outsider here . . . I use resolene on most everything I do . . . 50/50 with water . . . applied with a cheap 1 inch pig bristle brush. I slop it on with the brush . . . then brush it left right up down and both ways of the X . . . and will make sure that there is enough on there that as I start the brushing sequence . . . I get a little foam bubble stuff going on. If I don't . . . add more liquid until I do. Take this to the bank . . . I have NEVER . . . EVER ONCE . . . AT ALL had any bleed off from any belt, sheath, holster, shield, armor, spur strap . . . or ANYTHING else I've made. And the vast vast majority of my stuff is all dyed with Feibings Pro dye or in some rare cases USMC black. A sponge will not put on a level coat . . . neither will a piece of wool . . . that's a pipe dream to think it will. May God bless, Dwight

Good lookin stuff . . . May God bless, Dwight

You're on the right track . . . just need a pocket container for mint chocolate chip ice cream . . . and a Bible. I traded fishing for ice cream and church. May God bless, Dwight

Weldwood contact cement is all I have used for 20+ years . . . never had a problem with it. Just know that it is a little "airy" . . . I usually coat both pieces and then take them to the garage or something to let the glue dry and leave the fumes out there. Buy the quart can . . . have your wife save you a glass jelly jar . . . put some in the jelly jar . . . seal up the quart can . . . use it out of the jar . . . when it gets half empty . . . fill it again. That's my procedure . . . holsters, belts, sheaths, mag carriers . . . works for all them things. May God bless, Dwight

That's beautiful . . . Reminds me of a friend . . . his 80+ yr old father went out in the shop one day . . . came back with a full size one made of wood . . . His daughter in law commented "It's really large" . . . couple days later ne came in with one about 1/4 that size. She laughed at it and called it tiny . . . Few days later he came in with another one smaller yet. Her comment was that was really small. His last one was about 2 inches square . . . and rather than take a chance on a smaller one she just praised that last one greatly. His glasses were really thick . . . shaky hands . . . but he was a craftsman . . . and this truly reminds me of his work. Thanks for posting. May God bless, Dwight

Not sure of the needle number (if it slides nice and threads easily . . . I use it) My thread I've used for 20+ years has been 346. Makes a bold and satisifying look on the belt as far as I'm concerned. Typically use about 6 stitches per inch. Never have had a customer comment badly about the stiching. May God bless, Dwight

No . . . fredk . . . that is nothing near what is needed for an American one star general . . . it's got way too much whoop-te-do around it . . . and the interior of that star is all wrong . . . needs to be just plain flat. Military folks are pretty picky on making sure what they have conforms to "protocol" and uniformity. May God bless, Dwight

Buddy of mine I've known for over 70 years . . . looking for a holster for his P 365 LX . . . I made several of these slip cakes for S&W Shields . . . it works for the Sig maybe even better. Anyway . . . just hope he likes it. May God bless, Dwight

Yes . . . beautiful work . . . and it is good to see that level of expertise being applied. I noticed your location . . . found out a few years back that Mom was wrong . . . my pedigree is not German, Dutch, English, and Irish . . . rather it is Scotch, English French, and Welsh . . . with Welsh being the surprise. Guess that and YOUR grandfather's teaching (my grandfather taught the same line as an old fashioned Baptist minister) . . . kinda makes us cousins or something. Anyway . . . have fun . . . and remember there is room for both lines of products. I do two lines myself . . . the double layer belts and western gun belts . . . with associated holster . . . AND . . . the single layer that is not as long lasting durable . . . not as good looking overall . . . but is quicker to produce . . . thereby making for a less expensive product. I do both . . . and my customer base is happy . . . life is good. May God bless, Dwight

Depending on your "budget" . . . you have a lot of options . . . I started out with a Tippmann Boss . . . which I still have . . . and if I was buying another machine of the similar line . . . it would be the one I'd buy again. A 42 inch belt takes me 20 minutes . . . about 8 or 9 minutes per side . . . with a coffee and arm stretch break when I hit the tip of it. I've got a Cowboy now . . . and we're down to something like 6 or 8 minutes on them now . . . just taking my time . . . I hate "do-over" jobs. May God bless, Dwight

Ummm . . . just between you . . . me . . . and the gate post . . . I do like that saddle. I could get right real happy hopping up on El Diablo . . . and heading for the back 40 on that. May God bless, Dwight

You did good my friend . . . better than I for sure . . . If I had to hand sew belts . . . I'd go back to concrete work . . . never did one that way . . . don't plan on it. May God bless, Dwight

I've had fairly good success with it in the few times I've used it. It's very similar to the dye used by a bunch of cheap leather makers. Local guy had me make him a new belt . . . he outgrew his old cheap belt . . . he passed before he ever came to get it . . . so I got his ammo from the old one . . . plus two belts one day I'll put on Ebay and sell. His old one was that color . . . new one matched the holster really well. May God bless, Dwight

Y'all aint never gonna see my first one . . . May God bless, Dwight

Belts is a "to each his own" . . . which incorporates the customer as well. Many of mine carry heavy guns and other stuff on those belts . . . they don't want them bending and twisting out of shape . . . and the bulkier belts make that happen longer than a fat single layer belt . . . or a thinner double layer . . . at least that has been my experience. Plus I also make a steel lined belt that is even more adept at not bending and twisting . . . May God bless, Dwight