Dwight

1911 5 in, 1911 4 in, 1911 3 in, Glock 21, 5 shot 38 wheel gun would be my list. After that it goes all sorts of directions, . . . including Colt SA Army. May God bless, Dwight

Yep, . . . unh-huh, . . . thass the one, . . . fer shore !!!! May God bless, Dwight

For the long term, . . . this I believe is the better way, . . . just happens to be the way I do mine also. I ride my Boss's foot right up next to the clip, . . . and they turn out good and solid. May God bless, Dwight

When I got my Boss, . . . seems like right after me and Noah got done with some flooding, . . . it only had the original "Y" foot. I guessed on the center presser foot as the one that would do more for my work: belts, holsters, wallets, etc. I guessed right. It has worked for everything I have ever asked it to do, . . . and your formed cases don't seem like they would be any different. I have even used it occasionally as the 'width" gauge on setting the stitches the right distance from the edge on some "not too critical" projects. FWIW, . . . It is about all that is ever on my machine. May God bless, Dwight

Dustyn, . . . the stitching on the edges of course needs to go through both layers. Decorative stitching only needs to be on the outside. Saves time, . . . saves thread, . . . and though I hate to admit it, . . . it can also save your sanity. Nothing will frost your gills much worse than getting a belt darn near all done, . . . (like it would be if the stitching was done through both layers), . . . only to find out there is a mistake in it that cannot be undone or covered. In other words, . . . that piece of leather is trash or a training aid, . . . if it is only one layer, . . . lots of labor and also one layer of leather saved. That's good ! May God bless, Dwight

I'll join the chorus of "good job". Quite honestly, . . . you are a credit to the craft. Keep it up. May God bless, Dwight

jk215, . . . quit beating yourself up. Seriously, . . . I've been doing leather work for a number of years, . . . and have come to the conclusion that it just IS NOT intelligent to try to cut two pieces of an old dead cow's hide, . . . even if you punch them out with a press, . . . and expect them to line up perfectly. Leather moves around in the cutting process, . . . Cut one of the two as near as you can where you want it, . . . cut the other a little over (both should be a smidgeon over anyway), . . . glue em together, . . . even em up with a belt or disc sander or with your Dremel tool. That is the way I do ALL, . . . EACH, . . . EVERY ONE of my belts, holsters, wallets, etc. They come out even, flush on the sides, smooth, and acceptable. The first holster I did, . . . without a sander, . . . I was hours on end trying to trim the edges with a razor knife, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Dustyn, . . . Something that will help you, . . . first, . . . definitely get the overstitch wheel, . . . and use the 5 stitch wheel, . . . makes a beautiful belt. I use size 346 thread on my belts, . . . not too thin, . . . but doesn't look like rope either. If you use decorative stitching, . . . do it only on the outside layer, . . . Definitely use contact cement, . . . Weldwood is a good brand, . . . flesh to flesh, . . . use a belt sander to even up the edges. Finally, . . . if you own or can borrow one of those little 5 speed, . . . $50 cheapo drill presses, . . . mark your leather with a stitch groover, . . . then the overstitch wheel, . . . then use the drill press to punch the holes with an awl blade you can buy at any Tandy Leather shop. Saves a lot of time, . . . makes "hand stitching" a lot easier. I'll close with the line I always tell my holster class students, . . . "Hands are for hamburgers, . . . Sewing machines are for stitching". May God bless, Dwight

Uhhh, . . . no, . . . I have never done vinegaroon, . . . talked to Will Ghormley about it, . . . after all the info was digested, . . . said to heck with it, . . . bought another bottle of Feibings black oil dye, . . . that is what I use 99% of the time. Still have a bottle of USMC black I'm trying to use up, . . . just hate the buffing it requires. Katsass gave you the skinny on the construction method, . . . 2 layers made each one out of 2 pieces of thinner leather, . . . cemented flesh to flesh, . . . makes one super hard holster. The outside pieces were dip dyed, . . . dried, . . . then cemented to the inside pieces. And yes, . . . inside is very smooth, . . . although it didn't quite "form" as tight as I really wanted it to be. BUT, . . . it is a really good knock around holster, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I have never used Aussie Wax, . . . so I cannot speak for the product good or bad. I do know that if you finish a belt in Resolene, . . . a 50/50 Resolene/water mixture, . . . the dye has never leaked out of any of those I have done in the past 5 or 6 years. Another product is BagKote, . . . and I believe the ratio there is 60/40, . . . 40 being the water portion. It keeps the dye in also. Since that piece of leather is basically a waste of time and effort so far, . . . don't be too concerned about ruining it, . . . as it is right now it belongs in the round file. A last shot, . . . if you don't like either of those ideas, . . . a 50/50 mixture of beeswax and neetsfoot oil (equal weights, not equal volume), . . . warmed together into a paste, . . . then applied like good old Kiwi shoe polish, . . . it has also done the same thing. My black cowboy belt is done with it, . . . never had any problems. As a parting comment, . . . the most important thing you can do before you "finish" a belt, . . . take a wash cloth you do not ever want to use on your face again, . . . rub the belt (that was recently dyed) with it until the belt shines and there is not more residual pigment coming from the leather. That means front, . . . back, . . . and edges, . . . and if you don't work up a sweat and/or your heart kick up 20 or so beats a minute, . . . you don't have enough effort going into the project. Work it !!! May God bless, Dwight

Retired LE, . . . here's another view of the fitting. May God bless, Dwight

Retired LE, . . . I looked back at my paypal list, but could not find the supplier. I found them on Google, like I do most every thing else I need. They were a small company, . . . associated with vinyl veneer bags used in the wood veneering business, . . . and if I remember correctly, they also offered bags for sale. I only bought the bag fitting, . . . price was in the $15 to $20 dollar range, . . . Ordered it, . . . punched hole in the bag, . . . screwed it all together, . . . VOILA, . . . it worked. The bag itself is .015 thick. Hope this helps. May God bless, Dwight

I bought a piece of vinyl at JoAnn fabrics, . . . folded it over, . . . contact cemented the edges, . . . I roll the end & put it into a piece of 3/4" pvc that has a slot for it, . . . thread a 1/2 in rod in to hold the vacuum, . . . turn on the pump, . . . watch the vac work, . . . Bag cost: about $15. May God bless, Dwight

Matty, . . . PM me with a normal email address, . . . I'll send you the info I share with my students in holster making class. May God bless, Dwight

You did good, grasshopper,............. Seriously, Mike, . . . good work, glad you are enjoying your toy. May God bless, Dwight

Having owned both, . . . done both, . . . I can personally attest that you will get a much tighter fit with vacuum forming. My press has an 8 ton hydraulic jack, . . . and a couple of 12 x 12 x 3/8 inch steel plates, . . . and I used the aforementioned 40 durometer rubber. My vacuuum outfit is a pump from Harbor freight, . . . and a $15 piece of vinyl from JoAnn fabrics turned into a bag. The first holster I made with it, I eased the 1911 out of the holster, . . . let it dry for a couple of days, . . . had to force the gun into it to test the fit, . . . thought I would have to cut it off to get my gun back. For holster work, . . . fingers are actually faster than the press or the vac, . . . for me. May God bless, Dwight

Yessir, . . . Mike, . . . the back looks every bit as good as the front. Did you have Hershey Bar fingers on the back (chocolate is a great bug attractant,...........lol)? Keep up the good work, . . . and don't let those youngster naysayers grump you out, . . . you are still above ground, . . . prairie dogs don't deliver your mail, . . . lotsa good reasons to be happy. May God bless, Dwight

Mike finished his new plain jane holster probably a day ahead of my latest plain jane. It is my ver first 4 ply holster, made of 4 layers of leather as Mike does his, and I am very surprized at it. I could lose my gun, . . . and as long as I have this holster and a piece of string, . . . I've got a weapon It is much stiffer than I had anticipated. It will be very much used, however, as I needed a good "mowing" holster, . . . May God bless, Dwight And this is the back side,.............

Yessir, ya do good work. Get a chance, . . . flip that burger over, . . . let's see the other side. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, when I am making a pattern that needs a certain degree cant, . . . I do the exact same thing as TwinOaks, . . . AND, . . . I slip it just a little bit off to the right hand side of middle on my paper, . . . it becomes the sewing line for the top (sight tunnel) of the weapon. Those three lines: the horizontal, the perpendicular, and the cant line, . . . are always my first three lines, . . . and when the cant line is established, . . . that is the first line on my new holster pattern. Every thing is measured and/or drawn from that cant line. That will always properly orient the weapon to the desired cant. Works every time. May God bless, Dwight

I've never done embroidery thread, . . . but waxing thread for hand sewing is fairly easy, . . . just set your block of beeswax in your stitching pony, . . . pull the thread through the wax, . . . VOILA, . . . waxed thread. I would pull it through twice, . . . left to right, . . . then right to left. May God bless, Dwight

My double layer, . . . 3 inch wide, . . . with buckle, . . . Western gun belts, . . . with 20 loops: $125, . . . holsters are $80 each. These are all plain jane, . . . black or brown, . . . nothing fancy. We're probably comparing apples to oranges here, . . . but I thought you might be interested as a frame of reference. Personally, . . . dude goin' off to Africa, . . . he's gonna be huntin' stuff that may decide to hunt him, . . . I would not have wanted to take on the responsibility of making something that critical to keeping all of ones' parts and pieces where and how they belong. May God bless, Dwight

In John Bianchi's videos for making cowboy gunleather, . . . he never advocated a stitch groover, . . . dividers was his schtick, . . . works for me. I do use a groover only because it puts them down deeper than the dividers, . . . but sometimes I do use the dividers, . . . but I would never use a swivel knife. The swivel knife actually cuts a slice into the leather, . . . repeated pulling on the stitches will pull them right on through if the leather is not quite thick. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Treed, . . . I guess from what you posted, . . . that is why I have seen so many different looking "examples". Do you have any pictures you can share of actual boots used, . . . say in the 1860's thru 1880's? Would appreciate it if you did, . . . am curious about mainly the shape of the toes and height of the heels. Anyway, thanks, . . . may God bless, Dwight

Mop & Glo = final finish. Everything else is done, . . . After the M&G, . . . you can add shoe polish, neutral or colored, . . . but the M&G, . . . IS the finish, . . . the polish just makes it slick and purty. May God bless, Dwight