Dwight

One thing you can do is go to JoAnn's, . . . take their 40% off coupon, . . . buy two yards of their cheap vinyl, . . . should be enough there to cut out all three patterns, . . . or at least pretty close to enough. You can trace through the paper onto the vinyl with a blunt stylus, . . . it leaves a sort of a groove, . . . so you can see where to cut. Works for me anyway. May God bless, Dwight

I use the mag, . . . May God bless, Dwight

That nasty old Tippmann Boss of mine does something between 4.5 and 6 SPI, . . . depending on how she feels on a given day. They all work for me. May God bless, Dwight

OK, Folks, . . . need some help on this one. I've got a "charity" job coming up, . . . a 9 year old girl and her 11 year old sister. They ride like a couple of little pro's, . . . and are just as sweet as they can be. I'd like to make a pair of chaps for each of them, . . . on the QT, . . . But I've never made a pair for someone that small, . . . and I am wondering if there are any special pitfalls to be careful of. Any and all advice is requested. May God bless, Dwight

Bob, . . . a very good place to start is the nearest gun show, . . . with a bunch of crumpled up ones in your front pocket. Take both your guns, . . . and wander around the tables, . . . looking especially for the guy who is selling sockets on one end, . . . rusty shotguns in the middle, . . . and has a box or two of used holsters on the other end. He'll usually take a few bucks for one of them. Try the holster, . . . make sure it fits your gun, . . . buy it, . . . take it home, . . . cut the stitches, . . . take it apart, . . . then hand sew it back together. It's fun, . . . educational, . . . and you get a useable holster out of a day's entertainment. May God bless, Dwight

Uhh, . . . I never got the note about not using waxed thread. And, . . . uhh, . . . that's about all I use. White stitching WILL GET DIRTY on a belt or a holster, . . . but it is then the customer's responsibility, . . . just like it was when the customer made the decision. I buy my 346 thread from my handy dandy Tandy store, . . . and every now and then, . . . I take 10 minutes to pick the gobs of wax off different parts of my machine. May God bless, Dwight

I'd just hang it in the closet until someone wanted one that I could cut from that size. Be a real kicker to cut it to 38, and the very next customer needs a 42. May God bless, Dwight

The easiest trick for you would be to go to flea markets, gun shows, or look on Ebay, . . . get a used one similar to the one you would like to have, . . . buy it, . . . cut the stitches and rivets off, etc, . . . unfold it, . . . and you have a pattern. Then you get the practice of finishing it, . . . by stitching and putting it all back together. By then, you may have talked yourself out of wanting to continue, which would be a good and cheap lesson, . . . but if not, . . . it could be the cheapest beginning anyone ever got to a fun business. Don't laugh, . . . you would be totally surprized at the number of people making holsters who got their first lessons in that exact manner. May God bless, Dwight

Thong, . . . put wax on it if you are going to put it in a display case. If you are going to use it, . . . again I say USE it, . . . try either Bag Kote, . . . or Resolene. Bag Kote is diluted 25 % (an 80 / 20 mixture, . . . 20 being tap water) and will produce a good protective finish that is somewhat soft. Resolene is diluted to a 50 / 50 mixture with tap water. It produces a hard finish that also has UV protection built in. Both finishes are water based products. I disremember who it is, . . . but one of the regulars on here swears by Mop & Glo, . . . they'll need to chime in with all the particulars for it. May God bless, Dwight

There are a couple things you can do, . . . One, . . . get it WET, . . . not just damp, . . . in water that you can just barely stand to have your hands in, . . . insert the gun (don't cover it with a plastic bag or saran wrap, . . . just the gun), . . . and mold it as tight as you possibly can to the gun. VERY, . . . gently extract the weapon, . . . and push down on the area between the ejection port and the trigger guard. Generally, it likes to lift when you pull out a 1911. Don't push it down too far, . . . just about 1/8 of an inch of so below where it would be if there were no gun in the holster. Dry the holster with a little heat, . . . try to get it at about 130 degrees, . . . and leave it there until it is absolutely hard rock dry, . . . minimum of 16 hours. Mix up a solution of 50 / 50, Resolene and tap water, . . . apply liberally, . . . inside and outside, . . . brushing until you get a bit of a foaming action, . . . then brush out the bubbles. Use a wool dauber to fully coat the inside. Dry this, . . . again with a little heat. You will most likely get it to where it provides friction against the weapon. NOW, . . . if you have someone who is a wood worker, . . . who has a vacuum bag used for veneering, . . . you can use the vacuum bag instead of the hand molding, . . . it will do a better job than hand molding of getting it pulled up tight to the gun. (Pick up the directions above and follow every thing else in the same order.) Anyway, . . . best wishes. May God bless, Dwight

JRC, . . . I'd be more than happy to help you out. I use a Tippmann Boss machine, . . . 346 white thread (too cheap to buy the colored stuff). Depending on the "complexity" it shouldn't be over $15 plus shipping. See my WWW address below for examples of my work. May God bless, Dwight

All of my students would have helped you out there: "Hands are for hamburgers, "Sewing machines are for stitching. May God bless, Dwight

You can also use a pair of dividers, . . . takes a while, . . . but they WILL BE evenly spaced if you do it correctly. May God bless, Dwight

Sitting here tonight, . . . right shoulder telling me I'm not going to sleep well tonight. Cranked up the old Tippmann today, . . . 40 inch gunbelt, . . . 40 inch dress belt, . . . and a 50 something dress belt. Went through 3 bobbins of thread in one sitting. Need to seriously think about an electric machine, . . . or a cheap laborer to pull the Boss handle Anyway, . . . thankful for living in a land where I can do that, . . . thankful for all you folks on this forum, . . . makes me glad I came this way a few years back. Happy Thanksgiving to you all, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Do a search: look for Cheap Holster Press It's mine, . . . it works, . . . plus I didn't have to do any welding. May God bless, Dwight

You can also use a vacuum bag and mold to achieve the same basic results, . . . in many cases. May God bless, Dwight

I've never used it on a watch band, . . . but I often use an old fashioned finish: 1/2 virgin beeswax and 1/2 neetsfoot oil (by weight, . . . not volume). Put them in a quart jar, . . . put it in a crock pot of water, . . . allow them to melt together, . . . pour out into little cakes. Rub it on like shoe polish, . . . add a little heat from a hair dryer or heat gun on low, . . . keep adding until you get the finish you want. It can be built up to a really nice shine or you can quit while it is semi gloss. It takes a little playing around with it to learn how to use it, . . . and it seems every piece takes it a little different way, . . . but mess with it a while, . . . you just may really come to like it. I know I did. I did my personal "retro look" wild west rig in it, . . . looks like it came right out of Dodge City about 1886 or so. May God bless, Dwight

I'm afraid I'm going to have to seriously disagree with the final comment. All sewing machines use a lock stitch, . . . and the vast majority of commercially produced holsters are done on sewing machines. In modern holster making, . . . in many cases, . . . the stitching can be just so much decoration on top of a properly molded holster that was cemented together and will only come apart under severe duress. Hand stitching, using a saddle stitch, has it's place, but to infer that it is vastly superior to machine stitching is simply not a valid comment. May God bless, Dwight

I cannot find the address right now, . . . but there is another source besides Weaver, . . . and a whole lot cheaper. Seems like they are a contributor here on this site, . . . I briefly chatted with them through a couple of emails a year or so ago. Their products are all laser cut plastic, . . . which has held up for me quite well. My maker's stamp is laser cut plastic, . . . works great. You may also try Brenda at info@lasergiftcreations.com "][mailto:info@lasergiftcreations.com] she did my maker's stamp. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, . . . if your Al Stohlman book is like mine, . . . that pattern is not correct. The proper military holster has the flap and the holster body being made from the same uncut piece of leather. The belt loop is sewn on the back, . . . with the wire hanger as well. There is another "piece" to the military holster, . . . a shim on the inside of the holster that causes the handgun to be canted away from the person carrying it. I have always assumed this was to make it easier to draw, as the handle was more "grabbable". Personally, . . . I don't mess with them, . . . they're $20 on the internet. May God bless, Dwight

I cannot speak for the Tandy glue, . . . but Elmer's works pretty good. Titebond wood glue also works pretty good. The problem with the glues, . . . they take so long to dry. You may also want to try some just plain old rubber cement, it will not hold up in the long run like contact cement does, . . . but to just hold it together while you are stitching it, . . . it'll work fine. Push come shove: use a heat gun, . . . warm your leather with it, . . . put on the contact cement out in the garage, . . . use the heat gun to dry the contact cement, . . . take it back into the house. I am forced to do that occasionally during the winter if I have a larger project. I haven't had any problems at all with doing it that way. It may make a difference if you are using something else, though, . . . because I only use Weldwood. It works this way. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Ramrod, . . . thanks, . . . come to think of it, . . . MANY thanks. That doesn't look like it would be too difficult to build, . . . and since he is going to use it for his own three horses only, . . . it should work well. Now, . . . just got to secure the order,............................. May God bless, Dwight

I have a fellow who wants a farrier's apron made, . . . and I have no idea of what one looks like. If someone has a picture of one, . . . or better yet, . . . a pattern, . . . or can point me to a pattern, . . . I would surely be grateful. May God bless, Dwight

Chris, . . . welcome to retail sales,.......... You now have been initiated into the brotherhood of conscientious craftsmen who serve a NON conscientious buying public. Of all my "problems" I encounter with products, . . . it is the belts that seem to cause the most quandries. The reason for it is that people in general do not "think" about the belt. They think that because they bought size 36 jeans 8 years ago, . . . they still wear a 36 belt. I had one good friend insist he had not gained any weight at all, . . . yet the 2 belts I made him were now 3 inches too small. Funny, . . . they both fit the day he picked them up. I "fixed" both problems, . . . but it just spotlights the problem that belts make. I really don't know of any foolproof way to fix the belt problem, . . . just have to roll with those punches, . . . May God bless, Dwight