Jump to content

Dwight

Members
  • Posts

    5,105
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Dwight

  1. If your local Tandy store is as good as the one in Columbus, Ohio, . . . that is the place to go. The clerks in there are super to work with, . . . they have leather working classes that only cost the materials you use, . . . They can also point you to the teachers in their groups, . . . boy/girl scout leaders, . . . and others who work with youth (using leatherworking for fun and/or therapy). You may want to check out your local adult learning centers or art centers for classes too. May God bless, Dwight
  2. I have not tried this, . . . but plan on doing it some time. Make 2 wooden boxes that have no tops, . . . 2 inches longer, wider, and thicker than your handgun. Fill each box with minimal expanding foam (about $5 for the can) and then cover each full box with a couple layers of saran wrap. Gently lay the handgun down on one box full of foam and press it so that it sinks down about half way, . . . press the other box full of foam down onto the first one so that the edges line up, . . . wrap the boxes with a couple rounds of duct tape, . . . set it up on a shelf, . . . come back tomorrow morning, . . . cut the tape, . . . extract the gun, . . . you have a mold. This is where it gets dicey, . . . I haven't found the hard plastic I would like to have for the actual gun copy, . . . gotta do some research on that, . . . but you need to take some #12 copper wire (it bends easily with pliers) and use them like concrete re-rod to strengthen your gun copy, . . . place them in each half of the mold. Pour each half of the mold up level with the top and allow it to harden, . . . sand the pieces, . . . glue them together, . . . voila, . . . fake gun. Again, . . . I haven't done this, . . . I hope to some day in the near future, . . . but right now it is hay time, . . . mowing time, . . . roof repair time, . . . and I'm helping a buddy put a sump pump into his basement floor. Good luck, may God bless, Dwight
  3. Az, . . . if you are truly dedicated to doing it in leather, . . . my best suggestion would be to cut a piece of suede the length of the tool handle, . . . wrap it around the tool several times to figure the depth (or thickness) you wanted, . . . cut it at that point. Then, . . . perhaps contact cement the thing to the handle, . . . using your hand held skiving tool to bevel the leading and trailing edges down to nothing. That way the "bump" would be minimized. I personally find that the shrink tubing and/or the rubber hose are both quick fixes, inexpensive to replace, and work very well. May God bless, Dwight
  4. Almost any large Christian book store will have the machine. It is a hot stamping machine where the letters are picked one at a time to make the name or phrase. A metal foil is placed below it, . . . the letters are heated up, . . . then forced down on to the object, . . . transferring the metal from the foil to the intended object. You might look on Ebay, . . . look for a hot stamping machine, . . . or maybe call or visit the local Christian book store, . . . get the machine Mfg. name, . . . try that on Ebay. I woudl be surprized if no one had one for sale there. It takes a little time and practice to learn how to do it, . . . but once done, . . . it is permanent (more or less). My Bible and ministry manual both have my name on them, been there for almost 30 years each. May God bless, Dwight
  5. This is a great idea, . . . just get it from a local electrical wholesaler, . . . tell them you want a product called shrink tubing. You buy it bigger than what you want to use it on, . . . slide it over the tool, . . . shrink it with a regular heat gun or a hot blow dryer. It comes in various sizes, some different colors, . . . and if you super glue the end of a small diameter cord on the bottom of the tool, . . . wrap it to the top, . . . glue the other end, . . . the shrink tubing will keep it on there basically forever, . . . it is a pretty secure gripping surface, . . . and you can make it almost any diameter you want up to about an inch. May God bless, Dwight
  6. You can go to almost any national brand auto parts store, . . . ask them for what is called an "inverter", . . . they start around $20, . . . go up to a couple hundred for the big boys. A small one, good for 1500 watts, . . . when hooked to a 12volt automobile battery, . . . will power 4 or 5 of the florescent "squirrely" bulbs (they look like they were wrapped around a cucumber when wet and allowed to dry), . . . for several hours. They can be mounted in any light fixture, . . . including auto mechanic drop light fixtures (buy at the same auto part store). You mount the inverter in your vehicle, . . . then run a regular 120 volt extension cord to the tent, . . . voila, . . . you have light. Just be careful not to put a bunch of other stuff on that circuit. Or, . . . just drag the battery and inverter to the tent on a 2 wheel dolly, . . . alligator clips on the inverter, . . . plug in the lights (inverters have a 120 volt plug in built into them most of the time), . . . and you are good to go, . . . no extension cords. May God bless, Dwight
  7. The proper name for the holster is a Pancake, . . . buckets are for feeding foals and calves, . . . but that is beside the point. I would not put the weapon in a baggy, . . . for two reasons. Every fold of the bag will also be reproduced on the inside of the holster, . . . and it is not necessary. If the weapon is properly cared for, . . . and wiped and oiled as needed afterwards, . . . you will get a much truer and better holster fit. And TwinOaks was very much correct in all the rest of the post, . . . May God bless, Dwight
  8. Angel (I like the name, . . . ), if you want this to be a permanent job, . . . I would very much recommend the contact cement. Step 1: Apply it liberally to the cedar, . . . but no puddles, . . . smooth thick coat, . . . and a good coat on the leather. Step 2: Let both pieces dry. This is EXTREMELY important. You do not want any parts to have any wet faces or wet spots. Step 3: Place waxed paper between the two pieces (or newspaper). Step 4: Slide a bit of the newspaper out as you watch the pieces and make minor corrections, . . . before a large part of the surfaces have contacted each other. Step 5: Use a rolling pin or something similar to "roll" it in place. Practice putting the leather down before you glue it, . . . and you shouldn't have any trouble. I do this with belts, holsters, pouches, . . . almost anything I make of more than one piece of leather, . . . is contact cemented with Weldwood from Lowes. Works great, . . . just remember not to use it in an enclosed area or near an open flame. May God bless, Dwight
  9. esantoro, . . . one of the most aggravating things about Weldwood, . . . you just mentioned, . . . wanting to put them together too soon. Our minds tell us we have to put glued stuff together before the glue dries, . . . and the truth is absolutely just the opposite of that when using Weldwood. Both surfaces have to be dry, . . . which can happen in 30 minutes under ideal conditions, . . . but I usually don't think of putting my projects together for at least a couple of hours. May God bless, Dwight
  10. You won't find anything any stronger or more waterproof than Weldwood Contact Cement. Lowes, Menards, or other lumber retailers have it, . . . Properly applied, . . . it makes your project the next thing to one piece once you stick them together. I like to use a rolling pin on it after I have stuck them together. It keeps it together. I made an IWB holster for a Bersa Thunder 380 a couple years ago, . . . only used this product, . . . no stitches, . . . still works. May God bless, Dwight
  11. I'm not a big guy in stamping, . . . prefer my leather more on the plain side, . . . but the last rig I did that had some stamping and carving, . . . I made the belt (cut, backed, sewn, edged, burnished, and buckled) before I stamped it. But then again, . . . the main rule is, . . . there ain't no rules, . . . whatever works best for you. I didn't want to have my belt "grow" as they can during stamping, . . . so I made the thing, . . . then stamped it, . . . so if it grew, . . . the whole thing had to grow. May God bless, Dwight
  12. In Texas a few years back, . . . flea market surroundings, . . . someone had taken some old holsters, . . . cap guns, . . . fake marshall badges, . . . fake handcuffs, . . . but had put them in a picture frame made from old grey barn siding, . . . velvet backing, . . . and had put a gun, a holster, a badge, some cuffs or fake cartridges, . . . with a bit of western painting (cactus, . . . windmill, . . . bull horns, . . . etc.) and made a fairly nice looking wall decoration with them. The asking price was in the $80 range, . . . I didn't buy one, . . . but one day, I may make one, . . . thought it was neat. Course, . . . that stuff is kinda a guy thing anyway, . . . May God bless, Dwight
  13. Troop, . . . go to the first pinned topic in this forum, . . . it has "cornfused" on it's title. Go to post # 8, . . . that is mine, . . . there are the pictures of a couple of Dremel tool type burnishers that work perfectly for my holster work. You need to burnish the mouth of the holster and the muzzle end also, before you sew it together. After you cement the edges, . . . sand them smooth, . . . bevel, . . . burnish, . . . and sew. It'll give you a very professional looking job. I often then go back and re-burnish, . . . as sometimes the pressure of the sewing machine will "unburnish" some of the edge for some reason. Anyway, . . . a friend put me onto the Dremel, . . . I love it. May God bless, Dwight
  14. It looks like you are putting a cap on a cylinder (or half cylinder, . . . ). The cylinder part can be molded to the roundness and the top edge turned down, . . . and you can make a jig that will then hold the cylinder at the exact correct angle while you press it up against a large circular disc sander. It will sand it down as exact as you make the jig. The same goes for the cap, . . . a jig to hold the cap onto a flat backer, . . . then the backer goes up against the same large sander and rotates 360 degrees, . . . giving you your bevel for the lid. Again, . . . your accuracy and repeatablity will be directly proportional to the accuracy with which you make this jig. I would suggest for the cap, . . . a round, flat piece of brass (aluminum or steel can leave discoloring marks on good leather), . . . with about 16 each 1/8" holes per square inch below the leather. Attach a shop vac to a flared vinyl plumbing coupling of the right size, . . . and the vacuum of the shop vac will most likely keep the leather from moving while you sand the edge of it. May God bless, Dwight
  15. justme, . . . I've not been around as long as many folks here, . . . but all my experience with deer leather, . . . it has been "buckskin" tanned, . . . or very much like suede cowhide leather. That gives it the properties you described. If I were you, . . . (and IFFF I understand exactly what you are doing), . . . I would first make a vegetable tanned "bracelet" using a buckle and strap made out of probably 5 oz vegetable tanned leather. Once it is finished (cut out, punched, edged, etc., and the buckle and keeper and associated snaps all done), . . . I would affix the stones to this piece of leather to a "flat" side of the stone, using contact cement. I would then very carefully cut a piece of the deer skin, . . . make holes for the stones to come up through, . . . be very sparing with the contact cement, . . . and cement it to the bracelet, . . . covering the top, edges, and back, . . . but not the area where the buckle and strap are. The vegetable tanned leather will give you a sturdy foundation, . . . and will allow you to make a very interesting and beautiful bracelet. Best wishes, may God bless, Dwight
  16. Lobo has some good points, . . . especially the shifting problem, . . . but I was successful in overcoming it without resorting to tie downs. The first shoulder rig I had, I bought, . . . and it had probably 1 to maybe 1 1/8 wide straps of 6 oz leather for the "X" strapping. I gave it away. I then used some of the ideas there to make my shoulder holster that I still have and use. It is a horizontal carry, thumb break, and I purposely pulled it up close under my left arm, and allowed the off hand to hang a bit lower (after trial and error, found this works well for me), . . . and the off hand is a double mag pouch that opens down and carries two ea. 8 rd mags. My straps are suede, . . . tend to widen at the top of the soulders to almost 2 inches and narrow as they approach the holster or mag pouch. I have never needed any kind of belt strap, . . . it does not shift or move, . . . and I carry a full size RIA 1911, all steel, w/9 rounds in it. I also used a round piece of 5 oz leather for my attachment point in the back, . . . using 24 line snaps from Tandy, . . . it has never come apart, . . . and swivels nicely as it needs to. I also did not mold the holster, but lined it with suede (sewn, . . . not cemented) and just "crumpled" the leather a bit before I put it all together so the holster leather is a bit softer and more pliable. Makes for easier holstering and drawing. May God bless, Dwight
  17. Nobears, . . . I make handgun holsters, . . . and often they are very carefully molded, and in very high detail. I only use the weapon long enough to get the shape, . . . extract the weapon, . . . and either lay in the sun to dry (through my kitchen window), . . . hang it over the wood stove (in the winter), . . . but I NEVER leave the item the holster for a prolonged time. Once the molding has taken place, . . . remove the item, . . . allow air to get to all sides. I also do as you did, . . . the big soak trick, . . . but I always allow it to do what I call "flash dry" by just letting it sit by itslef for about 6 to 8 minutes before the molding process starts, . . . and I get really good results. Often, my item is dry in less than a couple of hours. May God bless, Dwight
  18. I used to have (sold it, . . . UGH) a really neat cross draw, driving holster, . . . and I thought it was made by either Ross or Kirkpatrick. It is not in any of their catalogs. It worked with a flap that was attached to the "bottom" of the holster and kept the barrel at about a 30 degree angle, pointing down and toward the outside of the car. The flap came up behind your belt, . . . over the top of the holster, . . . and snapped along side the slide of the 1911. It was made for drivers, . . . not runners, . . . it did not conceal well when out of the vehicle, . . . but it put the old pistola right where one would have needed it for carjackers or other problems. Maybe someone else remembers it better than I do, . . . May God bless, Dwight
  19. When I was working for Uncle Sam (USN, . . . ) all sailors and wannabe sailors had two things for sure: a big "pocket" knife and a marlin spike. They don't make one a sailor, . . . but it kinda makes one look the part. If you are doing any serious braiding, or knot tying, . . . the marlin spike is darn near a necessity. They were both carried in a leather pouch on the belt, . . . the marlin spike had a braided leather "tail" on it, . . . Maybe???? Invest in some Case (two blade) or Buck (single blade) folding knives and marlin spikes to go with them. Offer "custom" belt sheaths for each/both. The knife blades should be in the 4 inch range. Just a suggestion. May God bless, Dwight
  20. If I were doing this, it would be with two pieces of hard wood that make a mold. It looks like there are three separate impressions, . . . so it would be made to do all three at the same time. The flesh side would be the male of the mold, . . . having raised portions of wood to imitate the 4 points of the cross. The finish side would be the female, . . . having hand carved and sanded depressions to receive the leather being "formed" into it by the male mold. Wet the leather and let it flash dry for a few minutes, . . . apply the mold and a bunch of clamps (or a long clamp/vise jaws). The trick in this kind of molding is the female portion, . . . it has to be basically super smooth so there are no blemishes left. As said before, . . . for strength, . . . leather dust and glue can be mixed to fill in the voids in the flesh side. It takes a steady hand and a real patience to make those kinds of molds, . . . the male parts being first formed individually, then bonded to a blank board to put them in place. The female is hand gouging, chiseling, and sanding. Ugh!!! May God bless, Dwight
  21. Lee, . . . you can do one of two things, . . . one is easy, . . . the other is easier. If you want the "wire" swivel that kinda looks like a bent coat hanger and goes on to a green military belt, . . . simply cut an appropriate length of coat hanger wire, . . . sand the ends smooth, . . . and bend it to form with a couple pairs of pliers. I have made untold numbers of these things when I was in scouting and in the military. Don't use fence wire, . . . it is too soft, . . . you may lose your holster. Heavy coat hanger wire is perfect for this job. A better deal I think though, . . . go to a local military surplus store, . . . tell the clerk you want a couple of sliding clasps that go over the military belt and hold stuff on. He may not have the clasps by themselves, . . . but you can buy a cheap ammo pouch for 5 bucks, . . . it'll have two of them on the back. Just make sure you work them back and forth to see they're not rusted shut. The wire hanger is great for a holster, . . . but if you are going to have pouches (ammo, first aid, compass, canteen, possibility bag, etc. . . .) you probably want to use the sliding clasps on them. The wire hanger has a tendencey to bounce up and down, . . . especially if you are running, . . . makes bunches of noise, . . . and can become un-comfortable. While you are there at the military surplus store, . . . have him show you a nylon butt pack and a pair of "Y" suspenders. I still have mine, . . . use them most any time I go for a "hike" in the woods, . . . got other stuff for hunting. The belt, suspenders, and butt pack make a good foundation for a solid hiking rig. May God bless, Dwight
  22. The belt I am wearing right now is made of two 7 oz blanks that were contact cemented together, . . . and the edges sewn all the way around. It is 1 1/2 in wide. I prefer a Western buckle, . . . and it is attached by folding back the outside layer and snapping it just like a standard one layer belt. I carry a full size, all steel, 1911 on that baby, . . . and after about a three week "break in" period, . . . has been comfortable as possible. Any of my customers wanting a "gun belt" get this same treatment for theirs. May God bless, Dwight
  23. Personally, . . . I think this whole topic reminds me of a Democrat in congress, . . . inventing a problem so he can take credit for the "solution". I don't know how many IWB holsters I have made in the last 4 or 5 years, . . . but I have yet to put any steel, aluminum, kydex, or anything else around the mouth as a stiffener, . . . except leather. And no one has brought the thing back saying it collapsed and wouldn't stay open. Not saying that no one wants the end product, . . . I just think that the "need" is very much over rated. May God bless, Dwight
  24. Ya got a bunch of good points there, Lobo, . . . but I done bought my rubber pads, . . . got my 6 ton jack, . . . got the steel backer plates, . . . just haven't welded up the press so I can give my old thumbs a rest. Yeah, . . . I do it like you do, . . . haven't had anyone send one back yet, . . . saying he wanted his professionally cut with a clicker press, . . . May God bless, Dwight
  25. I have to do this at times, . . . I sew down the front of the holster, setting the cant for the rig. I then SOAK the outside piece, . . . and I mean SOAK. After allowing it to drip & flash dry for a few minutes, . . . I position the weapon where I eventually want it to lay, . . . and begin to mold the outside piece of leather with my fingers and thumbs, . . . and a few other tools as needed. Most of the molding is done in less than 90 seconds with my fingers and thumbs, . . . then the outside piece is marked so I know exactly where to put it back down, . . . it's lifted up and the weapon extracted. Move the holster back together and lay aside for 24 hours or so to dry, . . . cut to size, cement, stitch, finish, . . . voila, . . . cash!!!! May God bless, Dwight
×
×
  • Create New...