Dwight

Out of the box, my machine sews 3 1/2 to 4 SPI depending on a few things. I've never had any issues with it, . . . though I only use 346 thread. A friend did a hand sewn pocket holster with something like 10 SPI, . . . and it just looked like the leather was waiting to be pulled apart at the perforation. I really think that the "norm" is what ever you are comfortable with. May God bless, Dwight

A customer brought me a similar problem a while back. I was fortunate in that there was a missing brass ball closure just below the lip of the front of it. I glued in a piece of raw hide, . . . set the brass ball closure, . . . and hand stitched the edge back together. It is very hard to see where he pulled his Puma from the sheath and ripped almost a 2 inch opening very much like this one. I really like raw hide for repairs if I can use it, . . . there just ain't much stuff out there that is tougher for the thickness. May God bless, Dwight

And what would we expect from Lobo but such a fine example of leatherworking? Good job, . . . I'd say he'll enjoy it, . . . maybe even do a bit of showboating with it. Heck, . . . I would. Actually, . . . come to think of it, . . . the whole thing strikes me as a BBQ rig. May God bless, Dwight

Skald, . . . your question is kinda like asking 5 fishermen what is the best bait on a given day. Likely as not, you'll get 6 answers:blush: But to your question: if you only want something that will protect, . . . be kinda generic, . . . and not too high tech, . . . mix up a 50/50 batch of bees wax and neatsfoot oil. You have to heat it in a double boiler, . . . (I put mine in a jar, . . . jar in a crock pot full of water), . . . let it set up, . . . it's kinda like a paste, . . . you rub it in and stroke it with a low setting heat gun, . . . keep going until you get the sheen you want. Buff it real good, . . . makes a "less than plastic" finish, . . . fairly durable, . . . easily repairable, . . . easy to make, . . . water repellent, . . . and looks good too. I'm doing a full leather load carrying gear set for myself, to carry several large high capacity magazines (I'll be carrying a total of 160 rounds of .308 ammo) and I plan on using the wax/oil for my gear. It is more flexible than Resolene, which I normally use on CCW holsters. When I use Resolene, . . . I brush on a 50/50 mixture, . . . bristle brush, . . . air dry and buff. May God bless, Dwight

Suggestions: (but first a word about the first time: really good for a first holster. I was doing a whole lot more before I was at your level of quality) Iimprove your edging and burnishing techniques, . . . Get the stitching closer to the weapon, . . . generally speaking, closer is better, . . . Avoid abrupt angles either outside or inside, . . . go more for rounded curving lines. They are much easier to sand and finish, . . . and at least IMHO are more esthetically pleasing. I may not have seen it right, but it also looked like you didn't do anything at all to the inside of the holster. Dye the whole thing, and whatever finish you use on the outside, . . . use it on the inside too unless you have created and want to maintain a soft inner lining like Katsass does. May God bless, Dwight

JC, . . . throw the paper away, . . . go to Office City and buy a box of 100 file folders. They are the perfect deal for patterns. John Bianchi showed us that tip making Western rigs. What I love about it is if you mark it, . . . cut it, . . . and then wish you didn't cut it there, . . . just take some 1 inch wide masking tape and tape the cut piece back into the pattern. Re-mark it where you want it and cut it again. With paper you have to start over. You can also just lay the file folder pattern down on your leather, . . . trace around it with a fine tipped ball point pen, . . . cut it out, . . . and you're good to go. Even if you cut a little off the line and leave ink on the piece, . . . when you edge the piece, . . . the ink goes bye-bye. Good job by the way. May God bless, Dwight

I've never quite gotten far enough up the food chain to use a head knife. I'm still doing all of mine with the standard old razor knife that drywall people use. BUT, . . . I take it to the old rosin strop and sharpen it first , . . . brand new razor blades are too dull for smoothly cutting leather. The key is not to cut the leather too small, . . . cut it a little big, . . . sand off and smooth out the outlines with a power sander. I got a $39.95 belt sander from Harbor Freight that I just love for leather work. The method Katsass uses is probably more exacting, . . . but I just don't have the patience it takes to cut it twice. Like him, though, . . . I also use file folders for all my patterns. And I cut them with the razor knife too. Hope this helps. May God bless, Dwight

I use the same as Katsass, . . . Weldwood. They have a new product, . . . a gel version. I've used it for a couple of months now, . . . it's good. But even it won't hold velcro, . . . just gotta sew that stuff, . . . or put some camoflaged or covered rivets in it. May God bless, Dwight

You did a great job on that one Lobo, . . . thanks for sharing, . . . it's always a treat to see your leather work. May God bless, Dwight

There may be a better way, Lurker2, . . . but so far I have not found it. I've tried just about the best contact cement I've ever seen and even it would not hold it like I wanted it to. I made a couple of special cell phone (I phone type) holders for a unique situation, . . . needed flap over the top, . . . velcro to keep flap closed, . . . that was the order. I wound up contact cementing the things on there, . . . then stitching them. If I was doing the belt you mentioned, . . . contact cement first, . . . then sew the edges, making it appear decorative. May God bless, Dwight

This is a personal experience, . . . based on one incident, . . . I used Eco Flow Black on a rough out shoulder holster some years ago. I decided to forgo the usual Resolene treatment, . . . wanted to keep it really soft and pliable. Rubbed it down really good to get rid of the powdered residue after it dried. Wore it a few days later to a funeral. It ruined my tee shirt, got black dye all over me. Yeah, I was unhappy. Gave away the bottle of dye, use only oil based dyes now. Have not had any other similar incident. May God bless, Dwight

You may have some luck if you wet it down again with very hot water, . . . and heat/force dry. Stay below 130 or so degrees though. Sometimes it is just enough shrinking to make the project work again. Sometimes it don't work. Sometimes it ruins the project beyond salvaging. May God bless, Dwight

Sorry, Ann, . . . I should have mentioned that you lay the ruler down on the table on it's edge, . . . that gives you the first curve which will become the top edge of the belt. The pencil compass/dividers then scribes around the ruler line to give you the proper curve for the bottom. Take a look at the enclosed sketch. May God bless, Dwight belt pattern.bmp

Take a flexible aluminum 48 inch rule, . . . bend it so it flexes about 6 inches in the middle (looks like a 48 inch Robin Hood bow). Tape a string to it at each end so you can keep the bow in it. Trace that bow on a large piece of brown wrapping paper or something similar. Set your pencil divider/compass at the width of the belt and trace outside of the first line the width of the belt, . . . cut this out and see how it fits for your pattern. You may have to flex it deeper than 6 inches or less, . . . to get the effect you want. This is the John Bianchi technique for getting the right cut on one of his Western gun belts. May God bless, Dwight

Take a piece of 3/4 inch EMT (that's thinwall electical metallic tubing, . . . pipe) about 8 inches long. Take it to a sander and very carefully roll it around against the sander (keep dipping it in water to keep it cool) until you have a fairly sharp edge made on the inside circumference of the pipe. You should have a long, slow taper to the sharp edge. When you are done it should look like figure 1. Next, . . . place it in a vise, . . . sharpened end straight up, . . . and cut directly across the full diameter with a hack saw. Make this cut about the depth of the width of the hacksaw blade. Decide which of the two halves has the better looking edge, . . . cut the other half off at about the depth of the width of the hacksaw blade. Looks like figure 2. Now comes the fun, . . . you have 180 degrees or a half circle of cutting edge left over. (This makes a wonderful punch for round ends for straps, etc, . . . so you may want to make another one.) I digress, ................... NOW, . . . very gently and very carefully measure and mark off 3/8" on each side where you will cut the pipe twice, once on each side. These cuts will give you a couple of wings on your 90 degree corner cutter. Fold out the wings so they look like figure 3, but also have the basic shape of the little circle (unlabeled figure 4) above figure 3. Lay those wings against the leather corner on the outside at a slight angle, . . . rock it back, . . . mallet the rascal, . . . perfectly formed corner, . . . every time. May God bless, Dwight cornercutter.bmp

Try a Google search on Weaver Leather, . . . they're in Amish country, Ohio, . . . Berlin or New Berlin, . . . don't remember which for sure. They'll do your lace for you, . . . and they do great work from my experiences with them. May God bless, Dwight

THAT is one fine looking saddle. You certainly have much more patience and skill in tooling than I have. If I may ask, . . . when you ordered your tree, . . . what specifically did you ask for. I was looking on their website, and couldn't figure out which tree you ordered. I especially like the upswept and high rear seat. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

A few years ago, one of my church's elders was in a nasty accident, . . . van VS trees, . . . trees won. His Bible got slammed around real good, broke the spline cover and messed up the front & back covers real bad too. They were really thin vinyl like leather over cardboard. He was going to toss it when I offered to try & fix it. I contact cemented the pieces of the cover back together so at least the cover was all one piece. I then covered the outside of the book cover with contact cement. I also covered a piece of 3 oz veggie tan with contact cement. It was cut so that it was substantially bigger than the outside of the Bible. I laid one side of the Bible down on the leather and rolled it (while it was closed up) across the back onto the other side. I then used a rolling pin to make sure the contact cement all held good. I then took some really painful long time as I went around the outside of it with a super sharp razor knife and cut the leather just to the edge of the old cover. After stamping a rose petal billfold pattern and his name onto the front cover, I presented it to him, and he still carries it. If I do say so myself, it turned out really good. May God bless, Dwight

There is another little trick I sometimes use on a special holster for a special gun. In your case, it is especially relevant for pancakes. Cut out a piece of leather for the front and one for the back, making sure the back has enough extra for a sweat shield if you are so inclined. Cut the leading edge on both pieces, mark the angle you want for any cant you are adding to it. Make that line for the angle, about 2 inches back from the back side of the front belt slot. Cement the front of the holster together from that cant line to the front of it, . . . cut it out, . . . shape it, . . . punch the belt loop, . . . and sew the front of it together. Wet both pieces real good, . . . form them around the weapon. Lay some where to dry, . . . after it is dry, . . . trim the excess of the back and the front, . . . mark your rear belt slot, . . . glue and sew the rear part of the holster, . . . edge, burnish, and finish. Any customer wanting a pancake and who is willing to leave me their weapon can get their pancake in about 72 hours this way. May God bless, Dwight

Long gun bags are pretty much a piece of cake, Steve, as long as it is just a simple bag. a gun bag.doc

Some folks may have good results with water based dye (Eco flo among others), . . . but I gave away the first and last bottle I owned. The first project I did, . . . ruined one of my shirts from the dye bleeding out, . . . it was black dye at that, on a white shirt. I have done "who knows how many" leather products with Feibings oil dye and Resolene, . . . have never had one bleed dye yet. FWIW May God bless, Dwight

The US military used to do the "spit polish" thing too, . . . I think that it has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur with all the new digicamo, . . . rough out boots, . . . etc. But if you want that polish, . . . want it quick and dirty, . . . clean up your leather real good, get all the dirt, dust, mud, hairballs, etc. ALL OFF the leather to be done. Mix up a 50/50 solution of Resolene and tap water, . . . apply with a real "bristle" brush ( a 1 inch or 1 1/2 inch wide one ) in a slathering motion of left-right-up-down, repeat, repeat and build up a thin lather of bubbles on the surface. Once you get the thin lather, . . . quit applying liquid, . . . keep brushing until ALL the bubbles are gone. Hang in the sun to dry. Let it dry for about 48 to 72 hours. THEN, . . . get out your KIWI shoe polish (it is THE shoe polish) for this job, . . . follow the Aussie DI's instructions. The Resolene will super significantly reduce your polishing time, . . . it will be easier to "fix" when you scuff it up, . . . and the DI and his water bottle won't bust you May God bless, Dwight

The "trick" is that the pouch is sewn like you said, inside out, . . . then the liner is slipped into it (probably by a machine that forces it seriously back into the recesses of the bag and fills in the voids, . . . the liner also probably swabbed with a quick drying glue, . . . and last but not least, . . . it is stitched around the mouth. I don't understand why you want to turn yours inside out, . . . but if you do, . . . the liner is smaller than the outside, . . . so the outside will krinkle when you do. Otherwise you would need to cut the stitches at the mouth and fish the liner out, . . . then turn the bag inside out to get to the stitches. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Steveh, thanks for the information. I've got a buddy who has several horses & saddles, . . . I never really thought of him, . . . but I think I'll mosey over his way, . . . take my measuring stick, . . . and put his info together with yours, . . . may get something really promising going that way. Next question: does anyone out there have any "how to" videos or books for sale? May God bless, Dwight