Dwight

Tentman, . . . I'm sitting at my computer looking at my 15+ year old boots that got so scruffy as brown boots that I just up and dyed them black. They don't look quite so bad that way. Anyway, . . . they're work boots, . . . steel toed, . . . original soles, . . . original heels, . . . and I still love the things. I'd say I've had em on probably no less than 300 days out of each of those years I've had em. They're from http://www.georgiaboot.com/products/ and are a Wellington design. They also make those that are not steel toed. May God bless, Dwight

Of the ones I could get to without a bunch of hassle: 26", 28", 38", and 22". I guess the average of that bunch would be something around 28 1/2. May God bless, Dwight

Like the others have said, beautiful job. What did you use for the finish on the scabbard, if you don't mind sharing. May God bless, Dwight

I don't know of anyone that does anything like that. Line 24 snaps all have metal posts that I've ever seen or used. Most of us only put snaps where their backsides can be covered with another layer of leather. May God bless, Dwight

I like to use the little hand sewing tool that has a small spool of thread built into it. I don't use the spool, just the handle and the needle. Push it through and pull it back slightly, creating a small loop. Take the thread on the other side and loop it twice around the loop you made, pull it all tight, make the knot disappear in the leather. Doing this on 4 or 5 consecutive stitches makes a finish that almost cannot come loose. I tried putting a little drawing there to show it to you, . . . hope it works well enough for you to see it. May God bless, Dwight

The obvious of course, . . . is to turn the piece around so you are not back stitching, . . . but going forward. It can be a pain with some machines, . . . and some pieces, . . . but it should give you the finished result. Another trick I use on some special pieces, . . . I get to the end and on the last stitch, . . . I remove the product, . . . but before I do that, I pull a good 18 inches of thread from both the spool and the bobbin. I then hand stitch back 4 or 5 stitches. May God bless, Dwight

Our local Tandy store carries machine coded thread. A lot of folks like 270 for holsters and belts, but I prefer the next size up, 346. I use is almost exclusively. I'm working on a heavy duty set of leather gear, . . . it will probably have I believe 416 is the size, . . . but that is some heavy stuff. Lift up the black plastic spool, look on the little white tag on the underside, it will tell you the machine size of the thread if your Tandy salesperson does not know. The thread I get from Tandy for my sewing machine also works fine for hand sewing in my opinion. May God bless, Dwight

Big O, . . . I have taken small board scraps and made "imitation" belts and other tools around which I mold leather shapes. I like southern yellow pine the best as it sands easily, . . . is harder than regular pine or spruce, . . . and does not leave a grain mark on my projects. As for developing the "curve" for the body, . . . I laughlingly advise my customers to strap on the new holster, . . . insert gun, . . . get in the car, . . . drive about 100 to 200 miles to a really great restaurant, . . . come home. Unholstering and laying it on the night stand, . . . it will be properly curved. Don't laugh, . . . it works. May God bless, Dwight

I always admired the old Zippo lighter company, . . . their warranty was if it didn't work, . . . they'd fix it. I have run my leather business that way from day one. Yes I have been burned, . . . I expect to be burned again, . . . but I can honestly sleep at night knowing that I have done nothing illegal, immoral, or unethical and my business practices putting the customer first. I do not require any kind of deposit, figuring that even if I get stuck with the holster for a while, . . . I did at least gain another pattern or more experience making an old pattern. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Johanna, . . . thanks again, Paul, . . . seeing that was a great way to start my day. Oh, and yes, . . . I'd love to see more things like this. Just never know what you might learn. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks for the good words, Joel. He didn't want to do the expense of new latigo, and I got all the corners down a lot flatter than they were in the beginning, . . . but not "flat" flat. It certainly was a learning process, . . . looking forward to someday building one. It may wind up a living room decoration, . . . but I've done other things that didn't make even that much sense, . . . and it was good. May God bless, Dwight

I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who posted and helped on this project. He came and picked it up today, and I don't think many kids in a candy store were a lot happier than he was. I replaced the little "D" ring up by the horn, . . . both of the "D" rings for attaching the breast strap, . . . re-stitched the whole top of the saddle horn (after I took out the nylon monofilament fishing line someone previously used), . . . I re-sewed the outside edge just about all the way around it (all hand sewing, . . . ughhhh), . . . gave it a real good bath, . . . and oiled it lightly. The silver conchos were a pain to polish, got them done, . . . replaced the rosettes underneath them, . . . Most importantly, I learned a lot, . . . and a tip of the Stetson goes to "justken" who invited me to his saddle shop, . . . we looked the job over, . . . got a lot of good advice from him, . . . and during the process, made a new friend. I read each post and did most of what was suggested, . . . and again, . . . thanks to all. You've seen the "before" pics, . . . these are "during" and "after". May God bless, Dwight

Thanks Johanna, . . . right now I have a Tippmann Boss, . . . and it is a great machine, . . . but I need something to do production with, . . . and the Boss is more for one of a kind stuff. I just drove it 135 miles one way to the Tippmann factory, . . . sat it on Ben's desk, . . . a little over an hour later, I'm out 40 bucks and some change, . . . got 10 new needles, 6 bobbins, and a machine that just got a professional tuning. Lot's of folks badmouth the Boss, . . . but I'd have to give up leatherwork if I had to hand sew all the stuff I do. Anyway, . . . thanks again, . . . I'll give them a call soon as I get a chance. May God bless, Dwight

It's a trade off, really. If you dye first, depending on the type dye you use, . . . can become less responsive to water forming. I am not a chemist so I cannot tell you why that happens, . . . but you are right, . . . it does happen. If you cut, edge, sew, and mold first, . . . depending on how you edge, your edges may not look the way you want them later on, . . . and you run the risk of some inadvertant contact cement or glue getting on the product, . . . preventing it from taking on dye like it should. The old master, Lou Alessi, told me himself that they always cut their pieces out and then and there threw them into the dye process. He made a lot of holsters that way, and most of his customers were happy ones. In this, . . . there is no "right" way, . . . just the way that works best for you. May god bless, Dwight

Does any one know of a sewing machine manufacturer in the Toledo, Ohio area. I talked to a sales rep from that area a couple years ago, would like to get that conversation on a new machine going again. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

Sam, . . . can you post a picture of each? I make almost exclusively IWB, . . . have never had one come back for that reason, . . . perhaps we can see something collectively here that would make a difference. And, . . . yes, . . . I have a couple of, . . . uhh, . . . umm, . . . larger customers. They all like my holsters, and while the mouth is reinforced, I have never found a need for the steel addition. Anyway, . . . looking forward to seeing pics. May God bless, Dwight

That's an easy one, . . . lay your vegetable tanned leather face down on the work table. Do the same with your pigskin lining. Now cover the back sides of each with Weldwood contact cement, available at any local lumber and most hardware stores. When it is dry, . . . about an hour or so, . . . can be done sooner if you are very careful in using a heat gun, . . . lay the veggie tan glued side on top of the pig skin glued side, . . . cover with a pillow case or something to protect the face of the veggie tan leather, . . . roll it with a rolling pin. You now have basically one thickness of leather to work with, . . . make your ipod case from it. We do this all the time making holsters. May God bless, Dwight

I'm taking a break right now from hand sewing the front back together. Most of it had cotton or linen thread and it had rotted and come apart, especially up front, . . . I had to replace the "D" rings for the breast band and the little "D" ring up by the saddle horn. All were rusted or the wrong gear. A board member invited me to his saddle shop a hundred miles away, . . . took the trip, . . . learned a lot, . . . It's a "bit of a piece" from being done, . . . will post pics when I finish. Thanks so much for all the encouragement and kind words. This is a great place!!! May God bless, Dwight

Works for me too, . . . except my lines are on the front. I don't have enough time left in my life to worry about a stray ink pen line here or there. I'll use that piece of leather with a stray line on something, some day, . . . meanwhile, . . . I don't see a pencil well enough, . . . stylus lines or scratch awl lines are as dangerous as are ink lines, . . . so why go to the effort? May God bless, Dwight

Thanks for the information, hidepounder, . . . I had it thought out that way, . . . but not being a cowboy, . . . ya just gotta ask the question if you want the answer. May God bless, Dwight

Tim, thanks for the post & pics. They reminded me of a question I had. We watched our annual "Horse Parade" last Sunday, it is a lead in for our local county fair. There was a group of gals (apparently a riding club of some sort) and all but the rear most two were wearing chinks. So were a couple of guys in the parade. All of the chinks seemed to end right at the knees or maybe 2 inches below, with only the fringe hanging below that. Question: When, where, and why would a person wear chaps, . . . and why would they change to chinks? Anyway, just curious. May God bless, Dwight

The quick one word answer is "No", . . . The welt is sewn as close to the weapon as I would sew if there were no welt. The danger of using a welt that I often see is the maker used too many layers of welt, and the holster edge looks like it could become a weapon itself. I only use a welt on my revolver holsters, and then mostly only if they are for SAS or CASS. May God bless, Dwight

In John Bianchi's VHS video, . . . he said take the belt the guy wears now, . . . measure it buckle to most used hole, . . . add 4 inches. Make that measurement the gunbelt length from buckle to center hole on a 5 hole belt tongue. DO NOT ask him what size belt he wears, as most people do not know. Believe me, . . . measure em. May God bless, Dwight

Making a flat backed pancake is, . . . a piece of cake. To make it ride high, take the integral belt slots straight down in the design. A fleece backed holster would allow the weapon to flop back and forth far too much for my liking, and I would not make one for a customer. If it has to be more comfortable than my IWB or OWB, . . . then someone else will carry it for them. May God bless, Dwight

Opinion 101: The only thing I let out of my house to hold a handgun that is not molded, is a suede "possibilities" bag. Everything else gets molded. Otherwise it is just a generic bag, and those come free with groceries at WalMart. May God bless, Dwight