Dwight

I can cut, . . . glue, . . . sew, . . . mold, . . . dye, . . . finish, . . . burnish, . . . and don't feel at all undergunned doing those tasks. Basketweave stamping, . . . it just don't happen. But I surely do enjoy seeing someone having mastered it and liking to do it. I just flat do not have the patience, . . . Good job, Eaglestroker. May God bless, Dwight

James, . . . there can be many answers to "WHY?" what is happening, . . . is happening. Wet molding is far more than getting a hunk of leather wet and pushing it around an item. If it is too wet, . . . it'll lose the molding about as fast as you can blink. If it is not wet enough, . . . it won't mold tight. I usually take mine to the sink, . . . I dunk it in a full sink of water that I can just barely keep my hands in. Any hotter, . . . would be too hot. I bring it out to my forming table, . . . (sometimes to the hydraulic press), . . . and (sometimes to the vacuum bag), . . . and it doesn't make any difference, . . . press, bag, or fingers, . . . work it until you can look inside the holster and see good, sharp edged impressions. The next step is also very valuable, . . . be VERY careful of extracting the weapon. You can undo half your molding by yanking the gun out. EASE it out, gently. Next, . . . dry it with some heat. NOT A LOT, . . . ideally you should be looking for something in the 130 degree F range, . . . and err lower if you have to err. Next, . . . LET IT DRY, . . . I got in the habit early in my leather career of being too anxious, . . . messing with them while they were not fully dried, . . . and I had a pile of scrap for my effort. Could not figure what was wrong, . . . give it a good solid 24 hours, . . . more if you have a lot of humidity. Another thing is your stitch line and how you are putting them together. Are you cementing the pieces together? That is a for sure for me, . . . stitches on my holsters are really more of a decoration, . . . mine are cemented and you will tear the leather getting them apart. Your stitch line also needs to be CLOSE to the weapon. I cannot give you a formula, . . . but I can tell you when I sew a holster, . . . it is usually sewn very tight for the gun. I normally re-mold and re-bone my holsters if I do not have my "perfect" pattern for this weapon. That is because it is really tight when I get done with the sewing. Anyway, . . . try these, . . . they should help. May God bless, Dwight

That's what Kroger store sells Pledge wax for,.........protecting valuable guitars from sweat shop people. At least that is what happened to mine since about 30 years ago when I got my Ibanez Concord. But if you gotta have that thing, . . . Johanna hit it, . . . do the velcro thing, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Take a slow cooker, . . . turn it on high, . . . put a glass jar with equal WEIGHT parts of beeswax and neatsfoot oil, . . . put enough water in the cooker to float the glass jar, . . . let the wax melt into the oil, which won't take over a half hour, . . . mine runs about 12 minutes, . . . you get one of the neatest finishes you will ever find, . . . if you like old fashioned finishes. It is OK for edging, . . . but I prefer straight beeswax & water. A wonderful lady whose name I disremember, . . . from this forum, . . . gave me the recipe, . . . and I love it. Did my personal "Old West" single action six rig in it, . . . and am thrilled with the results. May God bless, Dwight

The best trick is a 1 inch by 20 belt sander. I use mine ($39.95 at Harbor Freight) to dress the edges of all my belts (all glued double layer). If for some reason one it a little wide, . . . that old sander puts them in their place in short order. THAT sander, . . . is a must have if you are doing holsters and/or belts, . . . in my humble opinion. May God bless, Dwight

Blazin, . . . uhhhh, . . . yes to both questions. Yes, . . . I use blue guns, . . . and some hand crafted wooden ones too. My 1911's and my SAA and Cold Det Spec would all come out and enmasse attack me if I used a blue gun for them. They enjoy the squeeze I put on em when I'm forming a brand new holster around em, . . . at least I always thought they did anyway. Seriously, . . . the only real danger is in using a press, . . . you could hurt some firearms with a hydraulic holster press. If I'm using the press, . . . no real guns, . . . period. Othewise, . . . I just wipe em down when I'm done with my old trusty wash cloth that's been oiled. May God bless, Dwight

Then they have changed, . . . we used to pull em off the old britches, years ago, . . . used em for sling shot pouches, . . . and they were most certainly leather back then. May God bless, Dwight

Just a suggestion: if I am picking out leather, seeing it before I buy it, . . . I'll go to Tandy's. If I have to buy it sight unseen, . . . I go to Weaver's in Ohio. They have always, . . . ALWAYS, . . . sent me good stuff. May God bless, Dwight

It is not very often that I send a customer to a gun shop for a pre made holster, . . . but this is one time I would most certainly do so. Last thing any custom maker needs is a customer looking for a reason to sue when the "custom" product doesn't deliver as he thought it should. Heck, . . . i might even print out Google directions for this guy, . . . May God bless, Dwight

1st and most important, . . . thank you for your service, . . . from an old Viet Nam era squid. 2nd it seems others have stepped up to take on the work, . . . if it doesn't work out, . . . hit my website and get hold of me, . . . you can see some of my belt work on my web site. May God bless, Dwight

I certainly would not know how to go about it, . . . but whatever leather Levi's uses for it's patches on their britches, . . . I've seen the patches still be good, . . . but the jeans were not worth wearing. If you could find out what they are using, . . . you should be home free. May God bless, Dwight

Whenever I do a weapon for the first time, . . . it is never glued or sewn until I do a "trial"fitting. The holster is made, . . . with a little "extra" on the outside, . . . then wet down enough to do some molding, . . . and the gun is molded into the holster exactly where it will sit when the job is done. The weapon is then very gingerly extracted so the molding is not messed up, . . . and the holster is hung out to dry. After it dries, . . . I can clamshell the thing together with the weapon inside, . . . see where the glue line needs to be, . . . and determine the proper stitch line. This has never failed me yet, . . . when I have done it right. May God bless, Dwight

I made a tool holder (250+ holes) by drilling holes in I think, pine lumber some years ago. It was for a widow lady in our church. I decided I didn't need that hassle when i did mine. I sharpened the inside edge of a piece of 3/8 inch copper tubing, . . . put it in my battery drill, . . . "drilled" a couple hundred holes in a block of foam. Personally, . . . I like it better, . . . but that is just me. Foam drills a whole lot easier, . . . May God bless, Dwight

A couple of years ago I got a recipe, . . . 50/50 beeswax and neetsfoot oil, . . . by weight, . . . heat em up slowly in a double cooker. I use a glass jar in a crock pot about half full of water. Remember the old saying: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. That recipe works super well, . . . don't have any idea why anyone would want to add something to it. You could try olive oil, . . . I cannot speak good or bad about it, as I don't know. May God bless, Dwight

Malabar, . . . I come from old school military, . . . your weapon and you are one, never leave each other, tighly knitted, . . . etc. This type holster will IMHO in time become somewhat floppy, . . . the normal nature of leather, given time, . . . and the back will begin to flex to where the gun will not be as securely held in as it was when the holster was new. A pancake with belt slots OTOH, . . . holds the back of the holster from moving on the belt, . . . something I am not sure this design would do. Call me a bit paranoid, . . . I just refuse to put something out there where I can see myself, . . . a propensity for future problems. Take as a case in point the fellow a few months back who had a Glock in an older, floppy leather, holster. He sat down, . . . started to buckle in the passenger side of his car, . . . shifted his butt a bit, . . . BOOM. His holster had become old, floppy, and he didn't properly observe what was going on. As a result, he shot his own rear/leg, . . . a hole in his car seat, . . . his floor board, . . . and has been the "butt" of many jokes since. I try to look ahead, . . . anticipate those type of problems, . . . head them off at the pass, if I can. ANY holster I make for a Glock or similar striker fired weapon has a fully enclosed, . . . hard formed, . . . trigger guard, . . . or I don't make it, . . . and I won't sell it. Just like also, . . . Small Of the Back holsters, . . . I don't make em. Anyway, . . . that's just me, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Malabar, . . . I come from old school military, . . . your weapon and you are one, never leave each other, tighly knitted, . . . etc. This type holster will IMHO in time become somewhat floppy, . . . the normal nature of leather, given time, . . . and the back will begin to flex to where the gun will not be as securely held in as it was when the holster was new. A pancake with belt slots OTOH, . . . holds the back of the holster from moving on the belt, . . . something I am not sure this design would do. Call me a bit paranoid, . . . I just refuse to put something out there where I can see myself, . . . a propensity for future problems. Take as a case in point the fellow a few months back who had a Glock in an older, floppy leather, holster. He sat down, . . . started to buckle in the passenger side of his car, . . . shifted his butt a bit, . . . BOOM. His holster had become old, floppy, and he didn't properly observe what was going on. As a result, he shot his own rear/leg, . . . a hole in his car seat, . . . his floor board, . . . and has been the "butt" of many jokes since. I try to look ahead, . . . anticipate those type of problems, . . . head them off at the pass, if I can. ANY holster I make for a Glock or similar striker fired weapon has a fully enclosed, . . . hard formed, . . . trigger guard, . . . or I don't make it, . . . and I won't sell it. Just like also, . . . Small Of the Back holsters, . . . I don't make em. Anyway, . . . that's just me, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Sixer, . . . If I'm doing that holster (I don't, . . . don't like the design, . . . personal flaw, I know), . . . first you cut out 5 pieces: back, front, left loop, right loop, and front vanity piece. Cut the straps purposely at least one inch too long. Sew the vanity piece on. Wet the front, . . . lay it on the gun, . . . laying on the back, . . . mold the front, . . . let it dry. Cut the front to match the back, . . . back to match the front, . . . whichever works for you. Punch holes for the snaps in the FRONT piece of leather only, . . . then punch the left/right straps. Mount the male piece of snap to the strap and the front piece, . . . hammer/peen in place. Glue, . . . sand the edges, . . . stitch gouge, . . . sew, . . . dye, . . . burnish, . . . final finish, Put the thing on, . . . pull straps over and under the belt, . . . with the inside of the strap very lightly moistened, . . . squeeze it together, . . . you have the impression of where you need to punch the hole for the female and decorative part of the snap. Mount rest of snap, . . . bag, . . . sell, . . . spend profit on ice cream. May God bless, Dwight PS: Whoops, . . . forgot about the sewn edges of straps, . . . you'll have to modify that measurement process, . . . do it earlier. Just don't put the outside parts of the snaps on before you dye and finish, . . . dye and finish CAN make the pretty part of the snaps not look so pretty.

Send him my way if you would, Sixer, . . . ciminod@midohio.net, . . . tell him if he has any questions he can see some examples of my work on my web site. I have a friend why used to be a patrol officer, . . . mags just kept jabbing him in his thigh or his gut, . . . I made him two that he wore horizontally on his duty belt. He loved them, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Willy, . . . what is the Singer machine? I am only familiar with a couple and this isn't one of them. May God bless, Dwight

Marty, . . . I truly hope someone comes to your rescue on this. I don't know of anything short of a very, . . . very, . . . sharp razor knife, . . . just barely slicing off the area that has the contact cement on it, . . . then dying and finishing and hoping for the best. May God bless, Dwight

For anyone thinking about a data base, . . . let me just say that Microsoft Access is a keeper for a data base that YOU can manage, . . . YOU can make, . . . You can fix, etc. I started working with it almost 20 years ago, . . . knew nothing at all about it, . . . took a 1 day class from a woman who didn't know much about it herself, . . . but it did get me started. I wound up peddling my ability into a full time job that kept be righteously employed for over 15 years, . . . when I could easily otherwise have been looking at disabiility retirement. Two things to remember: 1) purchase the "Dummy" book, . . . Access (insert latest edition here) for Dummies. Read it, . . . follow the instructions, . . . set apart a 4 hour block sometime in the week, . . . do the next chapter each time AND 2) tables are the secret to Access. Queries give you info, . . . Reports tell you what you got, . . . but if it is not in the table, . . . the query cannot find it, . . . and the report won't print it. You almost cannot have too many tables. Also, . . . make the tables simple, . . . too many people want to make one table have all the information, . . . and it becomes a nightmare trying to insert, edit, change, etc. Whereas if it is a simple table, . . . it is easier to mess with. As an example, . . . use a specific Customer ID number for each of your customers, . . . it can be fixed in Access to add it in for you, . . . making sure that there are never two who are the same. It is easy to get two Bill Smith's, . . . and sending the wrong Bill Smith the holster for a 1911 when he wanted a bridle for his Palomino will cause headaches. We use Access for our church, . . . tithing, income, expenses, checking acct, bills, employees, virtually everything is in that one little data base, . . . and it was built one piece at a time, . . . took about an hour each, . . . May God bless, Dwight

You can do the buckle hole (oblong slot) by doing a round hole at each end, . . . cut out the middle with a razor knife. Just remember to cut from both ends, . . . toward the middle, . . . otherwise you will go too far, . . . and slice the other end of the slot. Trust me on that one ! For the ends, . . . I just razor knife them, . . . take them to the belt sander, . . . make em pretty round or pretty pointed or pretty whatever, . . . but I do it on the sander. I also us the sander along each side to even everything up. It was $39.95 at Harbor Freight. May God bless, Dwight

Tacky: I do all my billing, . . . scheduling, . . . tax records, . . . on one little computer program: Microsoft Excel, . . . but I have about 20 years experience at it, . . . and judging from your picture, . . . you probably don't. Be that as it may, . . . you can use Excel as a calendar, . . . and as you get orders, . . . put them into the calendar. Only load up say 6 hours a day, . . . that gives you the ability to do 2 things: one, you can have a "cushion" of time, . . . just in case stuff goes South, . . . and two, you can visually see where you actually are. It makes all the difference in the world when you are first trying to get stuff together. You can also print it out in the morning, . . . make pencil changes during the day, . . . correct and re-print tomorrow if pencils work better for you than a keyboard. I couldn't post an Excel sheet on here, . . . but I did a screen save/convert to *.jpg so you could at least see what one looks like. PM me if you want to look at something more elaborate, . . . I can help you there possibly. "Organization is the KEY, to production, to profitability, and believe it or not, . . . to sanity". Not an old saying by any means, . . . but I live and believe every word of it. May God bless, Dwight

This one is a 56 or 58, . . . don't remember for sure, . . . but that is why we have Tim Horton's close by, . . . get to the tongue, . . . lay her down, . . . do a doughnut and coffee, . . . ready for the next one Notice in my hand, . . . one side is stitched, . . . we're doing the other side. May God bless, Dwight

4/5 cowhide with chap suede inside makes a good holster, . . . especially if you put a small mouth reinforcement piece on it. May God bless, Dwight