Dwight

If I was going to attempt it . . . I would do a simple hydraulic cylinder to pull the lever down . . . and a spring to return it back to the top. Actually it would be an "air over oil" cylinder . . . the foot pedal would control the air supply . . . that forcing the oil into the hydraulic cylinder . . . Using an air cylinder by itself might work in most situations . . . the problem is air collects against pressure and when it overcomes the pressure . . . the speed is unpredictable. You get rid of that by using air over oil. Best wishes on the project. May God bless, Dwight

Looks good to me . . . Sewing the patch on the hat looks like a trick though . . . May God bless, Dwight

I would do "what ya gotta do" in order to kill the mold. I understand that borax is also a mold killer . . . and being a dry powder like chemical . . . "may" do less discoloration. Then dye the thing dark enough to overcome any discoloration. May God bless, Dwight

I've read of different accounts . . . even one where the guy had laced loops and no lining . . . they were loose . . . if he took out a few and took off his belt . . . the rest of the bullets fell on the ground . . . . it was laced so loose. I've sewn and laced . . . gave up sewing . . . laced ones are far more accurate and I think they look better. Customers get laced or go somewhere else. May God bless, Dwight

Well . . . I do have two machines . . .one is a Tippmmann Boss . . . and a Cowboy 4500. Thousand bucks for the Boss . . . around 3500 for the Cowboy The Boss will some day go on the auction block . . . and they will be getting a good machine. I've had a few squabbles with it . . . but it always worked out . . . could not tell you the belts, holsters, and other stuff it has made in the 20+ years I've had it. I did just enough hand sewing to know I was not doing that for any length of time. And as far as starting a business . . . there is no big deal on that . . . at least in Ohio. I can make and sell 199 items per year . . . and the only one thing I have to handle is defining the "profit" made from the 199 items and including it on my long form federal income tax. And that is handled for a hundred bucks using Turbotax. More than 199 items . . . I have to have a vendor's license . . . collect sales tax . . . file a tax report twice a year . . . but even that is no big deal. Now if you get big enough for employees . . . that's a whole "nother ball game. May God bless, Dwight

Well . . . I do have two machines . . . so there would be none of that hand sewing I used to do. As a rule . . . I use an old formula from back in construction electrician days. I basically price out the material . . . including scrap . . . dye . . . thinner . . . and multiply that by 3. One third of course is "parts" and two thirds is labor. This does not always work out for me . . . and would probably do less for you having to hand stitch them all. But it is a "starting point". If you lived close enough to "drive over" . . . I'd offer you the use of either machine I have . . . or I'd offer to sew them for you for say 5 bucks apiece. My cowboy 4500 makes short work of knife sheaths. More time messing with starting and stopping and trimming than actually sewing. Best wishes on your endeavor my friend. May God bless, Dwight

You got a thumbs up from me . . . May God bless, Dwight

Not only is the holster first rate . . . I love those grips. Just have to wait for my rich uncle to get out of the poor house . . . he promised me a pair . . . May God bless, Dwight

Awww . . . c'mon Doc . . . that boy looked like a typical downtown San Francisco merchant . . . I admit . . . his girl friend didn't . . . but maybe she's from over in china town. May God bless, Dwight

I would love to be able to do something just near that beautiful. Been talking to Bert03241 about lasers . . . getting ready to jump in . . . will have to be diode only as my cash is not far enough the ladder for a CO2 job. Gotta take the wife on a short trip . . . will be mulling over the laser question . . . hopefully make the jump the next week. Do you have that cowboy scene where you could send me the JPEG of it . . . or whatever your initial image was. I'd love to mess with that . . . plus got a David and Goliath scene I want to do. But seriously . . . love your work . . . keep it up . . . you're doing great. May God bless, Dwight

My mother named me . . . Ike was winning the war in Europe . . . she liked him . . . end of story. But glad to see we are not the only ones with that great name. May God bless, Dwight

Certainly different . . . May God bless, Dwight

Depending on how well you want it to fit . . . a light coat of paint . . . like air brush . . . really thin . . . will work. You'll get better looking results if you do the mask first . . . get it all edged . . . lined . . . cut out . . . etc. Then paint the thing. Everytime you wet and try to mold veg tan . . . it remembers some of the time before . . . so if you want it to really fit right . . . mold it first. May God bless, Dwight

I've seen hundreds of them made from inner tubes and whatever worn out tire was available. Plus . . . you can have a lot of fun with conversations started just by wearing them. May God bless, Dwight

You my fried are brave . . . a I am not so. Like you . . . I've had a leather jacket . . . typically known as a "bomber jacket" for at least the last 30 years . . . and love the way leather keeps out the cold wind. Added I to it a leather full length rain coat for doing funerals in the winter (I'm a pastor) . . . and a couple of just leather jacketes. Saw what is known as a "cafe racer" leather jacket . . . decided I wanted one. Unlike you . . . I passed the buck on making one. Found one on line made of sheep skin . . . for less than I could have bought the leather . . . to say nothing of the zippers, lining, etc. Be that as it may . . . you certainly have my congratulations on a job well done . . . Look into using lambskin or sheep skin for the next one if you want a lighter weight one. May God bless, Dwight

I would not even think of spending that kind of money for those bellows. Now a professional set . . . like I saw a few years back . . . they were something near 5 ft . . . maybe more . . . in diameter . . . and were a good foot thick in the air pocket. But this was in an operating . . . historical . . . blacksmith shop Those look more like a part time use . . . like a farrier may take with him on the road or something. Offer him 50 bucks . . . and when he says no . . . ask him how long it has been since he had another offer. Reminding him that better moving items could be using his real estate . . . may get him to move. May God bless, Dwight

This old sailor says thank you . . . and good job. May God bless, Dwight

If I am understanding . . . and looking at it correctly . . . you can forget creasing the leather for that top part of the box cover. You will continue your process for the magnets. 1. For the top . . . you make a box . . . exactly the size of the top of your card holder. 2. You then make a cover for that box that is the same dimension as the top of your card holder . . . PLUS the thickness of the leather used on the inner cover piece. Wet your leather really good . . . put it over the box and force the cover down over it . . . leave it for about 20 minutes . . . gently pull them apart . . . lay your leather out to dry some place where it is not too hot . . . let it dry out slowly . . . this will be the inside piece 3. Then you make a box that is the dimension of your card holder . . . PLUS the thickness of the inner leather piece 4. Then you make a cover for it that is the dimension of # 3 . . . plus the thickness of the second leather piece Wet your leather really good . . . put it over this box . . . force the cover down over it . . . leave it for about 20 minutes . . . gently pull them apart . . . lay your leather out to dry some place where it is not too hot . . . let it dry out slowly . . . this will be the outside piece. 5. Then take super glue to your magnets . . . glue them in place in the inner piece of leather. Put your leather "inner top" on the first box . . . smear it real good with Elmer's white carpenter glue . . . do the same to the inside of the "outer top" piece . . . and slide them together . . . take pieces of thin wood you have made exactly for this box . . . the outside dimension of the leather put together . . . put a piece of wood on each side . . . hold them in place with some rubber bands . . . lay a block of wood on the top of it . . . put a brick on the piece of wood . . . and go do something for 24 hours. When you come back . . . you will have a very nice box. You probably will want to cut the dimension of the outside piece about as exact as possible . . . the inside piece a little big. Then when all is dry . . . you can fit a block of wood inside the cover and use a razor knife to trim the inside . . . and the top should then be ready for assembly. May God bless, Dwight

I'm going to have to go against the grain here . . . that leather is 1/4 of an inch thick . . . which in my opinion is not thin leather. Bending it over to go into a buckle while it is dry can cause the front to crack . . . and then you are in deep doo doo . . . might as well toss the collar if the front face of the leather cracks in the bend where the buckle goes. For all my belts and stuff like that . . . I do not bend it until I dye it . . . it is really wet then and will bend without any possibility of cracking. Just my way of doing things that prevents problems down the road . . . and 1/4 inch leather on a dog collar will not stretch enough to make any kind of difference . . . so just pass up any worry about it stretching. May God bless, Dwight

I actually have one here at the house . . . it was my mom's . . . and may have belonged to my grandmother . . . I don't know for sure. It only has one drawer on each side . . . and the center drawer for all the attachments is still there . . . attachments gone . . . but their home stayed. I learned to sew on the thing . . . mom gave it to me after she got her electric machine . . . I put an aftermarket motor on it . . . sewed a bunch of stuff with it. It's going to my niece . . . I'm 78 . . . starting to part things out so I make sure someone who will care for it . . . gets it. She's a sweetheart . . . just got engaged . . . Anyway . . . have fun with your invention . . . looks like a lot of fun to be had there. My next tool I'll be making will probably be a 60 inch sheet metal brake. May God bless, Dwight

If we was close enough . . . I'd offer to make you darn near any kind of table you wanted for that invention of yours . . . in trade for the Singer. May God bless, Dwight

That's a cool looking gizmo . . . May God bless, Dwight

I think most of the folks here are more than willing to "help out" with a question . . . and I'm not really sure any that I run with have a "holier than thou" attitude . . . or if they do . . . I haven't yet found it. But again . . . let us help you . . . holler when you have a question . . . we'll see what we can conjure up for you. May God bless, Dwight

Hmm . . . I got two junk machines out in the garage . . . may look into that idea May God bless, Dwight

I got two . . . (I think) . . . Whatcha doin with one if you had it? May God bless, Dwight