Dwight

You can also buy the sheet plastic transparency stuff, . . . I used to use it all the time when we used overhead projectors (before PowerPoint), . . . wasn't that expensive as I recall. Saves going to Kinko. May God bless, Dwight

Now I know this may sound silly, . . . but if you take a 3/8 inch dowell, . . . run a slot up in it, . . . put a paper clip up in the slot so that the smaller curved section is at the end, . . . like the drawing. It makes a neat stylus, . . . takes a bit of getting used to as you have to turn it, . . . but you can use it on almost any surface and not worry about snagging or tearing anything. May God bless, Dwight

This particular product is very, very easy to use. AND, . . . you use it after you have done any dyeing, . . . but it takes the place of Sheen, Resolene, Atom Wax, Mop & Glo, . . . all the other "finishes". One minor caution, . . . it does darken the leather a bit, . . . something on the order of the darkening you would expect from a dose of just neatsfoot oil. I apply it kinda like the old Kiwi shoe polish, . . . with a rag or with my fingertips. DO NOT use water with it. On raw leather, . . . I'll rub it in, . . . using 3 or 4 applications, . . . then just touch, . . . and I mean gently touch it with a heat gun set on low, . . . watching only for the wax to liquify, . . . then pull the heat off. Let it cool for a couple of minutes and buff it out with a soft cloth. For example, . . . I'll start applying it at one end of a belt, . . . turn it over and apply to the back side, . . . turn it back, . . . give it another coat, . . . turn it over again, . . . etc. until I have 3 full coats on it. On with the heat gun, . . . buff, . . . inspect, . . . go from there. I do have one advantage over most folks, . . . my beeswax is free from my beehive, . . . but even if I had to buy the wax, . . . it is something near about 1/4th or 1/5th of the cost of some of the packaged finishes. The added benefit is that some of the package finishes can be a bear to "re-do" if the product gets a real good scuff or scrape. This just re-finishes almost as good as new. If you are willing to take the time, . . . you can bring it up to a spit polish like we swabbies used to do for our inspection shoes, . . . or you can drop off somewhere in between "spit polish" and "flat". I did the gun holster in the pics with it, . . . and I was very, very satisfied with the end result, . . . which was to make it look "old westerny" and "old" but yet not look distressed. I think I accomplished my goal, . . . and it is my personal "Let's dress up like cowboys" rig. May God bless, Dwight

Just a suggestion, . . . try the 50/50 beeswax/neatsfoot oil combination first. It is a really good finish just like that, . . . but also you could then see if there is something missing from what you want. You can then begin to add lanolin to it a little bit at a time, . . . and since we are talking of a mixture here, . . . not a compound, . . . it should mix in easily, . . . until you get the product you are looking for. May God bless, Dwight

I use an old fashioned recipe: 50/50 by weight, . . . beeswax and neatsfoot oil. Use a scale, . . . equal weights of each. I put em both in a jar, . . . jar goes into the $10 used crockpot I bought just for this, . . . just enough water to float the jar, . . . put on the lid, . . . come back in a little while, . . . all is melted, mixed, and ready to be put in molds. Pour it out in muffin cups if you like, . . . works great. I put it on with my fingers, . . . kinda like I used to do with Kiwi shoe polish when I was in the Navy, . . . rub it in, . . . on new leather, . . . add a LITTLE heat to kinda melt it in, . . . it works beautifully in my opinion, . . . but then again, . . . I'm kinda opinionated. May God bless, Dwight

If you have access to that specific quiver, simply measure it with a set of calipers. You'll have to convert the decimal fraction into 1/64ths of an inch, . . . each 1/64 is equal to 1 oz of leather. For example: .250 inches is equal to 16 oz, . . . and .125 is equal to 8 oz leather. I would be surprized if the quiver in the picture were any thicker than 8 oz. May God bless, Dwight

Unless I am mistaken, . . . suet and tallow are pretty much the same product. You can buy suet any place you can get bird feed seed. When you do the melting thing, . . . put them all in a jar, . . . put the jar in a crock pot with just enough water to float the jar off the bottom, . . . put on the lid, . . . doesn't take too long, . . . I make a finishing product using equal weights of beeswax and neatsfoot oil, . . . May God bless, Dwight

2007 Bareback Riding Champion This is "Bazooka" font from Microsoft Word, . . . one of my favorites for signs, . . . handouts, . . . etc. It's not perfect, . . . but pretty close I think. May God bless, Dwight

Can you post a picture of it? We're always open to looking, . . . probing, . . . delving, . . . and just every now and then, . . . fixing. A picture often times is the only reason it can happen though. May God bless, Dwight

If you will show us a drawing or picture of your dilemma, . . . it will be easier to address that way. May God bless, Dwight

If I'm doing a stitching line such as the outside line on your holster, . . . I will always use a stitch groover, . . . because I want my stitches to lay down in the groove and be protected from abrasion,etc. If I'm just putting a second "decorative" line, . . . mostly I use a pair of dividers that I took to a piece of sand paper and permanently dulled the ends so I get a rounded groove instead of a pointed slash/groove that a sharp divider end will do. But in your case, . . . and please don't take offense, . . . from what I could see, . . . it just looked like you got in a hurry, . . . especially up over the top outside piece of the holster where the cylinder is. Whenever you are grooving or putting in decorative lines, . . . always, . . . always, . . . make sure your leather is fully flat, . . . and the surface under it is flat. Pull in only one direction, . . . pull with the same hand, . . . and take your time. Again, . . . take your time. Also, . . . I learned a long time ago that sometimes looking at the raw leather, . . . it looks kinda bad, . . . but after all the finishing touches are done, . . . and it is finished, . . . it looks a whole lot better. Those double lines at the holster mouth will disappear during sewing, molding, dyeing, and finishing. Another thing, though, . . . you should have put your holster together, . . . sanded the edges, . . . edged it, . . . before you grooved the seam side. Sometimes it doesn't quite line up perfectly, . . . when you sand it smooth, . . . if the groove lines are already there, . . . they can then be "off" because of removed material. Now!!! After all the criticism, . . . let me say good job on the carving. I envy you guys who have the dexterity and patience for that, . . . it just doesn't happen with me. Too old, . . . too shakey, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Here is the one I made, . . . Needs a lot in the looks department, . . . but it is fully functional. (It actually is better than this picture, . . . I've since added springs to auto-return it when I release the jack) It also has one other layer of gum rummer not needed in this picture, . . . but sometimes used above the weapon. May God bless, Dwight

That is exactly the same way I make mine. I do always line the belt back, . . . and when the lining goes on, . . . I contact cement it to the other belt piece, including the cartridge straps. Here is a little drawing that may also help. May God bless, Dwight

Go down to the local Salvation Army store, . . . part with $10 for a used crock pot. Also get a wide mouth pint jar if they have one, . . . or something similar. Put your parrafin and beeswax into the pint jar, . . . put it into the crock pot, . . . add enough water to the crock pot to float the jar about 1/2 inch off the bottom, . . . put on the lid, . . . turn it on high, . . . go get a doughnut and a cup of coffee, . . . sit on the front porch and eat the doughnut, . . . drink the coffee, . . . comment on how lovely the birds are singing today. By then your beeswax and parrafin should be SAFELY melted, . . . just pour them into any container that is tapered out from the bottom, . . . after it cools, . . . you can usually shake it out. This also works for mixing wax and neatsfoot oil, . . . 50/50 by weight with beeswax, . . . makes a cake of some of the lovliest leather finishing product you have ever used. May God bless, Dwight

Matt, . . . for the most part, . . . tooling on holsters and molded holsters are kinda like the power vs speed thing with engines. You can always have either one, . . . but it is really hard to have both. The best way I have found for the few I have done, . . . take a pattern you KNOW IS CORRECT. Do all your tooling on the piece of leather you want tooled. Let it dry, . . . bone stinking dry. Put the holster together, . . . stitching, edging, all that sort of stuff, . . . Lightly dampen the inside of the holster with a wash rag or something like that, . . . DO NOT GET THE OUTSIDE WET. Force the gun down into the holster and very gently add some molding details with your fingers. This is about as good as it gets from my perspective. Others may have better advice. May God bless, Dwight

I use a regular groover and a freehand groover, . . . just like I was going to hand sew the thing. I use the grooves to show me where to put the stitches. Without the groove, . . . the stitches tend to weave left and right , . . . but with the groove, . . . it stays nice and straight (most of the time anyway). May God bless, Dwight

Can / will you share a sample, . . . it may be easier to visualize and/or suggest alternatives. I'd like to see what you are working on if you wouldn't mind. May God bless, Dwight

Weaver says it will work from 1/2 to 3 inch straps. How many belts are you doing these days? Is it something that is keeping you from production? May God bless, Dwight

Shaunny Rotten, . . . would you do us all a great big favor? Take a pair of calipers and gauge the thickness of the material used in the bag. I'm thinking that my bag is much thicker than yours, . . . would like to know for sure, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I don't usually do different colors for edges, . . . but when I do, . . . pull off a piece of Bounty paper towel about 2 inches wide, . . . 4 inches long. Fold, re-fold, re-fold until it is about 1/2 wide and 2 inches long. Grab the "open" end of the fold with a spring clothes pin, . . . dip the folded over end down into the dye or edging, . . . use that folded paper towel to color the edge. Like I said, . . . don't do it much, . . . don't like to do it, . . . but this is the safest system I have developed. Hate having to do a project over because the edging didn't turn out right. May God bless, Dwight

Sylvia, . . . this is the tool I told you about. Weaver's part number is a 65-6185 and my catalog says $35. As you can see, . . . it adjusts to whatever width the belt or strap is, . . . centers the hole, . . . and you can use the little steel length gauge to set the spacing on the holes too. I do all mine by hand, . . . but may have one of these in my future. May God bless, Dwight

I just googled "concealed carry purse pattern" and got this: http://www.thebagladyoftulsa.com/Gun-Purses.html Got some good lookin' stuff there. May God bless, Dwight

If you send an email to Weaver Leather Co, . . . explain it all to them, . . . they may still be marketing a little tool they had up there a year or so ago. It literally "centered" your punch for you on various widths of belts, straps, whatever. I looked at it, . . . decided that if my eyes ever got bad enough, . . . I'd make me one of them. May God bless, Dwight

I have found that if I want a brown to be consistent, . . . even, . . . etc, . . . the ONLY way for me is to do the dye job first. Pour the dye into the 11 x 14 baking pan, . . . drop in the leather, . . . turn it over, . . . pull it out, . . . lay it flesh side down on newspaper for about a half hour, . . . then grab a corner with a clothes pin on a string over my wood stove or a register (hang in the window for sunlight in the summer), . . . let it dry for at least 24 hours. Lou Alessi told me before he passed on that he always dyed his holsters before he did any of the forming stuff, . . . and it was always dip dyed. I like dip dyeing better than anything else because you get a deep color, . . . tried the air brush and found out it is only a light surface color, . . . not what I personally wanted. YMMV. May God bless, Dwight

This is exactly what I use, . . . I run my belt blanks from right to left, . . . letting the belt "finish" the work on the left edge of the sanding belt, . . . against the metal backing plate, . . . feeding it with my right hand, . . . and using my left hand as the guide for the belt blank. I get beautifully sanded edges, . . . very little work to burnish them smooth, . . . use a # 4 edger just before I burnish, . . . to me it makes a beautiful edge. Yes, . . . there usually is a little flap on the bottom side after the sanding, . . . but that is why I also use the edger, . . . it cleans that off right now. You might take your strap cutter, . . . make a 20 inch or so couple of pieces of leather 1 1/2 wide, . . . glue em together for a belt, . . . practice sanding em off. It won't take long to get the hang of it if your hands are steady at all. May God bless, Dwight