Dwight

You ARE a brave man Luke Hatley,................... May God bless, Dwight

Head out to a Walmart of JoAnns Sewing place, . . . They have books and books of patterns, . . . each can be "adjusted" if you are willing and competent. AND, . . . they are fairly cheap May God bless, Dwight

I don't do a lot of what you are asking, . . . but when I do, . . . I make a "half moon" shaped piece of manila folder and lay it on the blank, . . . lightly outline it, . . . sew over the outline and finish the job. May God bless, Dwight

I've used a number of different finishes, . . . I have 3 I really like. 50/50 by weight, . . . virgin bees wax and neetsfoot oil, . . . melted together in a crock pot of water (wax & oil in a jar), . . . applied like paste shoe polish, . . . takes a lot of work, . . . makes a very beautiful, soft, durable finish, . . . if scratched, . . . is easily repaired. Bagkote, . . . it is a good finish, . . . use it for a softer finish on holsters and sheaths. Applied with a brush, . . . watered down to the max, . . . I think it is 40% water. Resolene, . . . prime choice for a high gloss, hard finish. Applied with a bristle brush, . . . liberally brushed on, . . . 50/50 cut with tap water. Has a UV blocker, water repellent, scratch resistant, my favorite. May God bless, Dwight

I am no expert on this stuff, for sure, . . . but I haven't yet found a holster that needed 3 coats of resolene. I use 1 coat, . . . hand brushed, . . . 50/50 cut with tap water, . . . never had a problem with any of them. I'm tempted to say you put in on too thick and too quickly. The stuff needs something in the neighborhood of 36 hours drying time before it is even close to being fully cured (unless you use some kind of drying oven, .............). May God bless, Dwight

No real secret, . . . if I drop a stitch, . . . it is usually when I am daydreaming as I work, . . . plus my machine is run by hand, . . . and you kinda "feel" what you're doing, . . . Usually it is early in the belt, . . . but either way, . . . I have an old Tandy modeling tool, . . . small spoon on one end, . . . rat tail on the other, . . . I use the rat tail end, . . . pul up the top thread, . . . rat tail the bottom out of the loop, . . . do it again, . . . and again, . . . and again, . . . and again, . . . and again, . . . and again, . . . Course, . . . I just may have more experience on you in dropped stitches, . . . one of those things that you really wish you were not experienced in, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I use a Tippmann Boss for all my stitching. Losing a stitch on the above belt would probably cause me to be really unhappy for a few minutes, . . . then I would get a cup of coffee, . . . cut the thread, . . . and begin unthreading the belt. Yep, . . . the whole thing. It will take me 10 minutes to unthread the belt, . . . and another 15 to 20 to re-sew it completely, . . . and my customer will have a finished product he/she will hopefully wear for many happy years. My customers are my business, . . . If I did not do it that way, . . . I'd throw it in the scrap can and start over. But that is my process, . . . others probably do things in other ways. May God bless, Dwight

Use Weldwood contact cement (follow the directions on the can) to put the two pieces together, . . . then treat them as though it was just one piece of leather. Remember though, . . . after you have tooled the holster, . . . you need to be very careful about what ever molding you try to do. You can very easily ruin a whole afternoon of tooling by trying to mold it closely to the handgun. Tooling and closely defined molding for me are almost mutually disqualifying: in other words you can have a real good job of one, . . . but only without the other. May God bless, Dwight

Because each gun is thicker / thinner / wider / or something than all others, . . . each one needs a different "offset". I cured that conundrum with one simple step. After making the basic back (outline including wings and sweatshield), . . . I make a front panel that I know is extra long. The front wing is perfected, . . . the front wing is sewn together, . . . but no belt hole punched yet. I just douse that extra long front panel (keep the back panel dry), . . . fold it over about 120 degrees so I can lay my gun down on the back panel exactly where it will ride once the holster is finished, . . . and I begin to slowly but surely fold the front panel over the handgun, . . . molding it as I go, . . . about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch at a time, . . . doing as much detail molding as I can using only my fingers and thumbs. That is my simple step. Once the handgun is molded, . . . I very gingerly remove the handgun from the "half wet" holster, . . . hang it over a string through the sight channel, . . . let it dry overnight, . . . glue the back wing, . . . trim, edge, burnish, sew, . . . and finish it up. I like it better only because for me, . . . it is more comfortable. A fully enveloped pancake is easier and quicker for me to make, . . . but again, . . . I'm an old guy, . . . and comfort means a lot to me . May God bless, Dwight

Tyree, . . . your question, . . . is similar to the one "Is the glass half full, . . . or half empty?" The pancake holster can and is made both ways, . . . by serious holster makers, . . . and beginners alike. Personally, . . . I make my back virtually flat, . . . it is more comfortable to me like that. If you PM me a regular email address, . . . I'll send you my "pattern", . . . it's about a meg, . . . can't get it through here. May God bless, Dwight

Many holster makers routinely make "rough out" holsters, . . . the two reasons are 1) as an In the Waist Band (IWB) holster, it will not move around as much as one that has the hair side out, . . . 2) it provides a smoother surface for the handgun, supposedly to cause less wearing on the blueing. If you do not want to do that, . . . cover the flesh side with a thin coat of contact cement, . . . do the same for a another piece of leather big enough to cover your first cut out piece, . . . when the pieces are dried (about an hour or so) stick em together, . . . roll it with a rolling pin, . . . then go ahead and make your holster out of the new piece of bonded leather. Treat it the same as you would if the bonded leather were just one piece, . . . FWIW, . . . the holster that Clint Eastwood made famous in his "Spaghetti Westerns" was a rough out holster, . . . I have one more or less just like it, . . . and I love it. May God bless, Dwight

It's almost uncanny, . . . just the other day I was talking with a customer, . . . how black does not lend itself as well to figure carving (and people appreciating it) as does the browns and tans. We both kinda comiserated about it just being that way, . . . and whooeeee, . . . here we have a brand new idea. I can see a couple of holsters, . . . at least one belt, . . . that is one great idea. Thanks for the thread, folks. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, you do not need a federal tax ID number, . . . just your vendor's license number. In Ohio you can pick up a county one in your parent county, . . . or a traveling one from the state, . . . I did mine on line in all of about a half hour. May God bless, Dwight

Woo, . . . hoo, . . . Great tip for the OVAL punch, . . . it's a booger to do without some kind of template or other "liner upper" May God bless, Dwight

By the way, Luke, . . . just had to comment that you also have one fine looking 1911 in that brown holster. I'll most likely never own a high end piece like that, . . . but I sure do like looking at em. Thanks for the eye candy. Here's my version for a LCP. It's just a prototype, . . . but I love the design. May God bless, Dwight

Take a look at my products on www.dwightsgunleather.com and www.m14magbag.com , . . . everything there (best I remember) was done on my Tippmann Boss. And their service is second to none, . . . I am extremely happy with mine, . . . but I would not buy a used one off Ebay. The prices they are getting for one someone did not want, . . . just doesn't warrant missing a brand new one for a few bucks more. May God bless, Dwight

I have experienced the same problem at times, . . . and scrapping a double layer gun belt because of an off center hole, . . . well, . . . it won't "make your day". I messed around with different techniques until I discovered it laying right on my desk. I use a "template" for all my hole punching routines. The trick is to remember that the "template' is seldom made perfect enough to use "as is". For example, . . . my belt billet template is used to mark the holes for the belt billet. I lay it down on the cut, sanded, edged, and burnished billet, . . . use a soft lead pencil to outline inside the holes. The template is made of manila file folder material, meticulously cut to exact dimensions and standards. It is then punched as close as I can humanly do to exact, . . . but is never dead on. After I mark the holes, . . . I flip the template 180 degrees and re-mark the holes. If there is any "difference" in the two markings, . . . I just "hit the middle" and all my holes for my belt billets come out very acceptable. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Luke, . . . that IS the one. I owe you one for sure, . . . and that IS one good looking holster. May God bless, Dwight

With time, . . . a little practice, . . . a couple ruined projects, . . . and a small box full of wasted/broken/folded/spindled snaps, rivets, etc, . . . you can learn to use the tools sold at Tandy's. For line 24 snaps, . . . go to Hobby Lobby (they have it on line also, but you'll have to call their 800 number to order it as it is hard to find in that Pakistani web site of theirs), . . . they sell a blue handled snap setter for around $23.00, . . . it is head and shoulders above the Tandy tool. You'll find it on the wall where they sell their sewing tools (scissors, tapes, needles, rotary cutters, etc). The SKU number for that tool is 733006. They also have another hand tool in the same price range that is supposed to do smaller snaps, grommets, etc., but I don't own it, . . . cannot comment on it. May God bless, Dwight

Several months back, . . . probably late at night (like tonight), . . . I was surfing around on the net, . . . perusing if you will, . . . and I saw a very unique looking holster. Instead of being folded around the top of the barrel, . . . stitched under the trigger guard, . . . this was folded at the trigger guard, . . . stitched above the barrel. Seems to me there was some kind of an East African connection to the name of the design, . . . but so help me, . . . I have been unable to re-find that design. If you have a suggestion, connection, idea as to where I could find that again, . . . I'd surely say thank you, . . . in all caps. May God bless, Dwight

My hands only fit hamburgers, hotdogs, books, and an occasional keyboard. I use a machine, . . . I use 346 size thread bought at a local Tandy Leather store, . . . others use slimmer thread down to 207 size. You get a 1 pound spool at Tandys for $25 +/-. What little hand sewing I do, . . . I use it also for it, . . . don't have any trouble at all. May God bless, Dwight

JS, . . . if you are talking Weaver Leather up in Berlin, Ohio (Amish country), . . . all you need is a vendor's license (if you are in Ohio) and a credit card. I have bought from them for years, . . . and my only big gripe is that if I order less than $100, . . . I get hit with a $15 shipping fee. Call em up, . . . tell em what you want, . . . they're some really easy people to deal with. I make every excuse in the book to get there any time I am near. May God bless, Dwight

If it was for me, . . . I'd make the top edge of the opening of the sheath conform to the angle of the handle. 1) I think it would look better 2) Because of the angle, . . . it would naturally lay against the top of the knife blade, . . . keeping the sharp edge from the welt and stitching. THAT could become an esthetically pleasing project, . . . not all do. May God bless, Dwight

With time, . . . a little practice, . . . a couple ruined projects, . . . and a small box full of wasted/broken/folded/spindled snaps, rivets, etc, . . . you can learn to use the tools sold at Tandy's. For line 24 snaps, . . . go to Hobby Lobby (they have it on line also, but you'll have to call their 800 number to order it as it is hard to find in that Pakistani web site of theirs), . . . they sell a blue handled snap setter for around $23.00, . . . it is head and shoulders above the Tandy tool. You'll find it on the wall where they sell their sewing tools (scissors, tapes, needles, rotary cutters, etc). The SKU number for that tool is 733006. Rivets, . . . the Tandy tool is fine. Grommets, . . . Harbor Freight is your store, . . . have a salesperson show em to you, . . . everything from the little string grommets with about a 3/32 hole, . . . up to the big brass ones for tarps. May God bless, Dwight

I use a method similar to John Bianchi's method. I also only use latigo leather for the hammer thong. If the holster is lined, it goes between the two pieces of leather on roughly the angle you see in this drawing, but if not lined, . . . like the drawing. May God bless, Dwight