Dwight

I don't make that style holster, . . . but thanks for the heads up, . . . never know when the request will come in with the next email. May God bless, Dwight

I know this will sound silly, . . . but believe me, . . . it works. Stand up and cut. Sitting down and cutting leather with a razor knife is a sure fire way (for me at least) to get a whole hand full of angled cuts. Standing up, . . . for some reason, . . . my cuts are virtually all 90 degree dudes. And, yeah, . . . use those punches for the tight cuts. I use a punch almost every time I have to make a hard turn, . . . including all 90 degree intersections, . . . I just do not do a square cut inside corner unless it is some kind of something special. May God bless, Dwight

JLSleather, . . . when you use your air brush for dye, . . . do you first thin it down, or do you just go it straight? I'm currently using Feibing's oil dyes for just about everything, . . . and I bought an inexpensive air brush package mainly for my finish coating. I ask the dye question as I have seen some really imaginative dye jobs done, and thought I might add some of that to my line, . . . but it'll be pretty basic stuff. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

I have friends and customers who would do a "So what?" and go on down the road with it, . . . gladly wearing it. In that case, . . . I would do a price adjustment, . . . and all would be happy. A new customer, . . . especially an out of state customer: do over, . . . keep the other one for the flea market table, . . . no sense in pitching perfectly good items that someone can use. But then, . . . most people know me more for my practical side. Good work, . . . keep it up. May God bless, Dwight

Paul, It depends on what you define as a "dome". If it is a little cap kind of like an old fashioned "beaney", . . . it can probably be done. If you want a full fledged half a sphere, like cutting a basketball in two, . . . that is going to be pretty tough. You will need a mold for certain, . . . of the size and shape you want the thing to finish out as, . . . stretch it over the mold, . . . fasten it to a board under the mold, as close as you can to the mold, . . . let it dry... When you wet the thing, . . . soak it in hot water that has had just a few drops of dish washing liquid mixed into it. Don't get it too hot to handle, . . . but as hot as you can handle, . . . it'll stretch a bit more that way. Look straight above these posts, . . . there is a pinned article on "wet formed bag tutorial",........... you need to see that. Best wishes. May God bless, Dwight

It's all vegetable tanned, . . . depending on what is going on, . . . I either go and hand select the better grade stuff from Tandy, . . . or Weaver's. I'm fortunate enough to be an hour's drive from either, . . . and have occasion to be in their areas often. I have also used ST leather in St. Louis, . . . and have never been disappointed in their leather. May God bless, Dwight

An elderly lady needed a cover for her Bible, and I decided to do a bit of decorating. I'm kinda happy with this, but I know there are things that would have made the end product even better. Please share your thoughts on it. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

I use double shoulders exclusively, . . . except when I get a request for a Western Gun Belt that has to be upwards of 56 inches long, . . . then we head for a side of beef leather. May God bless, Dwight

Your experience may vary, . . . but I have the privilege of having two really knowledgeable people working at the local Tandy Leather Factory store in Columbus, Ohio. I have successfully stumped them one time, . . . and it was only on a preference thing, . . . which product to use for a certain application, . . . If you have one available, . . . I would go there first, . . . get a kit of something you would like to have for yourself, . . . do it, . . . using their advice. May God bless, Dwight

I use Weldwood contact cement, . . . never, . . . never, . . . never needs thinning, . . . at least in my applications, . . . belts & holsters mostly. I try to only buy the "Gel" formula, . . . it works the best, . . . I leave it in it's original can, . . . pop up the paint can type lid with a metal opener, . . . use what I want with a disposable acid brush, . . . pitch the brush, . . . close the can, . . . no fuss, no muss, . . . May God bless, Dwight

JC, . . . from what I have read, many of them were a two layer belt, . . . folded, . . . stitched on the edge. I would use 4/5 oz, . . . veggie tan. May God bless, Dwight

If I remember correctly, John also made a line along the top of the loops, . . . one at the bottom of the loops, . . . and he used them to reference his stopping and starting. You don't have to worry about the line either, if you use a stylus to make it, . . . the area in question will all be covered or something when the project is in use. May God bless, Dwight

I have a high density polyethylene cutting surface on my work bench, . . . 1/4 in thick, . . . $40 out the door and it is great. I punch on it, . . . cut on it, . . . no problems with my tools. It is not perfectly self healing, . . . but it comes fairly close. May God bless, Dwight

It'll be hard to beat Frank's idea, . . . especially if you use a clamp on each end. You can then mosey down the full length at your leisure with a razor knife, pocket knive, round knife, or any other cutting instrument you desire to use. Clamping it down will make your edge straight. May God bless, Dwight

A lady on here some time back gave a tip on wax etc. that I have used and I like it's effect on certain items. Take an old crock pot you don't use for food, . . . fill it half way with water. Put a jar in it that you don't need, . . . put several ounces of pure, virgin bees wax in the jar, . . . and the exact same weight of pure virgin neatsfoot oil also in the jar. Turn on the crock pot, . . . and let them melt together (takes about an hour at my place), . . . remove the jar. Pour the liquid into some sort of mold, to harden. You can then use the cake of wax/oil to rub over your project, . . . then using a soft cloth, or just your fingers, . . . rub it in deep to the project. I won't use it on a holster, but on some of my other projects I have found it works really well, . . . I like the look and the feel of it. It can take several coats to get the effect you desire. She made a ver strong point about it, . . . if something happens, . . . it is real easy to restore the original. May God bless, Dwight

Mike, . . . you didn't say what type tools you are using, . . . or at least I didn't see it. If you are using (what I call a sail needle) the needle kit that has a wooden handle and the little spool of thread, ........ that is the culprit was my experience. I pitched the spool, . . . use a cut piece of thread that I measure out at least 3 times the length of my stitching, . . . put it through my awl hole, . . . pull half to the other side, . . . and go from there. With the spool in place, I was keeping the working piece of thread short, . . . and it got dirty quick. I figured it out when the back side was really clean, . . . and the front looked groady and grubby. Anyway, . . . hope this helps. May God bless, Dwight

S-T has always been good to me too, . . . but since I found Weaver's in Ohio, . . . they are my source of leather I can't pick out myself. And of course, . . . sometimes I can pick it out as I drive there (over an hour away) twice a year or so. But the others are right, . . . most kit leather is truly less than optimal has been my experience too. May God bless, Dwight

Most of the folks on here who have commented in the past about spraying Resolene, . . . first do the 50/50 mix with water. I do the 50/50, . . . but I brush it on. For the few times that I go back for a second coat, . . . I do it within a few hours at longest, . . . and have never had a problem with it. Thanks for the tip on the air brush, though, . . . I've been playing with that idea for a while, . . . just haven't "bit the bullet" so to speak. May God bless, Dwight

For an IWB, I don't use anything but a product called Resolene. I buy it at my local Tandy store. The way I apply it is really simple and works great for IWB holsters. Take a small container (I like an empty Skippy Peanut Butter jar best) and put about 4 oz of Resolene and 4 oz of cool water, . . . shake a bit to mix em up. Then, using a 1 inch natural bristle paint brush (it's the cheap $ .59 one at the hardware store) I start on the back side of my holsters, this is almost always a flesh side, . . . but I start there anyway. Dip the brush and cover the back side, . . . stroking back and forth, up and down, zig-zag, etc, . . . working up a little froth with the brush, . . . once you get a little froth, . . . quit adding liquid to the brush, . . . just brush until the bubbles are all gone. I then go to work in the inside of the holster, . . . using a wool dauber and/or bristle brush, . . . whichever works best on that holster. Do the same type of application as the back. I then use a rod, . . . my fingers in a rubber glove, . . . or some thing to hold the holster up by having something lodged where the gun goes. That allows me to do the finish on the front of the holster without touching it. After applying to the front, . . . I put a second coat on the back, . . . making it a thinner coat than the first one, . . . then add a second coat to the front. Hang it up by a wire in the gun belt slot or one of the belt loops, . . . touch up any place you handled it last, . . . let it dry a minimum of 24 hours before messing with it. That is the finish that is on my belt and holster in my avatar, . . . and on all the holsters and belts on my website. May God bless, Dwight

I normally use my sewing machine for everything I have to sew if it is at all possible, . . . but at time, I have to resort to hand stitching. My motto there is "Hands were made for hamburgers not for stitching", but be that as it may, . . . sometimes stitching needs a hand (no pun intended). If it is a new project, . . . I like to use a stitch gouger first, . . . then mark my holes, . . . then use an awl to punch the holes, . . . then use what I've always known as a sail needle (it has a wooden handle, a little spool of thread, and a needle out front), . . . and a standard sewing needle to finish the job. 1. Gouge out the stitch line 2. Mark where the stitches go 3. Awl punch the holes (I usually stand up to do this, punch absolutely 90 degrees straight down so all the holes line up on the other side correctly,........ this can also be done with a small drill press, . . . not running of course, . . . with a needle chucked up, . . . it makes really nice, straight, perfect holes for stitching) I cannot stress to greatly how important this step is to be done correctly. If it is not done right, the back side of the project will look like a drunk on meth with a side order smack did the stitching. 4. Go through the awl hole with the sail needle, . . . pull the cut end of the thread through the hole, . . . pull enough thread to go the length of your stitching and back to the starting point. 5. Thread the extra standard sewing needle with the cut end, tie a knot in it so it won't come out of the needle. 6. Pull the sail needle out, move it to the next hole, punch through the awl hole, pull back slightly, drop the extra needle through the loop on the grooved side of the sail needle, . . . pull the sail needle back through the hole, . . . grip both strings and pull the knot back and forth until both strings are taught, . . . center the knot between the pieces being sewn. 7. Finish up by doubling the drop of the second needle through the loop made by the sail needle for your last 4 or 5 stitches. (see the enclosed rough sketch) May God bless, Dwight

FWIW, . . . I saw one put together by a fellow for his father for a gift. I was not impressed, . . . period. If you have any mechanical or design ability, . . . you should be able to go on line, . . . look at some designs there, . . . and play around with it enough to get yourself a better idea than this thing. It's design is to mount a basic belt holster on the "arrow" part, . . . and for me leaves a lot to be desired. But, . . . I've only seen one, . . . YMMV/YOMV May God bless, Dwight

Adding just a little to Lobo's information: when you sandwich two pieces of leather together, flesh side to flesh side, it becomes much stronger as both faces (inside and outside) are now the hair side of the leather, . . . which is the strong side. I also personally detest a belt with a suede liner, . . . the darned thing will not slide like I want my belts to all do, . . . ugggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! I usually start out with a 8/9 piece of leather for the outside, . . . hit it with the calipers, . . . then find another one that will get me in the .210 to .240 area of thickness, . . . just under 1/4 inch. I also set my strap cutter to 1 7/16 inches for the reasons Lobo mentioned about width. May God bless, Dwight