Dwight

Neatsfoot oil is about as good as it gets for your needs. Buy a pint of it . . . do not get the "neatsfoot oil COMPOUND" . . . get the genuine stuff . . . leather shops will have it . . . maybe a hardware store or hobby shop. Buy a little 20mm wide . . . pig hair or other bristle brush . . . they are the cheapest ones made usually . . . and use it to apply a light coat ONLY to the hair side of the leather. That is the shiny or slick side . . . the flesh side will be rougher . . . kind of like suede leather. Let it dry for 24 hours . . . if that didn't work . . . add another coat. Keep going until you get it where you want it . . . 24 hours between coats . . . but I don't think you'll need more than 3 or 4 coats at the most. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks Arkie . . . she showed me some of the stuff she had cut . . . and I'm wondering if I can't do it in a couple passes at the most . . . if nothing else . . . if it only leaves a thin bottom thickness . . . might just do that with a scalpel knife. I'm having to do something with the thick cutting . . . 78 yr old hands are rebelling against it. But if most of it is cut in a couple passes . . . me and the scalpel can do the rest. I'm really excited too because he basically threw in the air assist . . . which is supposed to make the cuts much cleaner. I'm gonna start with the pattern a tad big . . . glue it . . . sand it . . . and sew it . . . but will work my way down as I go . . . hopefully one day have them to just a light sanding. Anyway . . . I truly think you are right in that it will be a game changer. And if my wife figures out what I spent . . . oh, well . . . May God bless, Dwight

Went today and picked up a Ortur Laser Master 3 engraver . . . a 10 watt machine. It came with the air assist . . . and for lack of a better description . . . a bottle roller . . . it'll do glasses, bottles, other round stuff. Got it mostly for cutting my blank leather pieces for sheaths and holsters. Hands have given me fits lately as I try to cut pieces with a razor knife . . . This may not work as good as I want it to . . . but if it even comes close . . . I'll be some kind of happy. Plus I've got a little 3000 mw machine that I really like for engraving leather. Will use it to do the "pretty" work . . . the other one will be a work horse. Next thing I got to do though is make an enclosure for each . . . burning leather is one nasty stink. May God bless, Dwight

Nate . . . there is a thing called a Boss . . . made by Tippmann company in Indiana . . . I've owned one for 20+ years . . . made belts . . . holsters . . . knife / bayonet sheaths . . . purses . . . and some other stuff with it. Yes . . . it will sew 3/4 inch thick . . . but what I did with it when I needed to do that . . . I used it to punch the holes . . . then hand sewed the piece . . . as it gave me a neater looking piece. And no . . . did not do a bunch of them. 5/8 should be OK for you. A brand new one is a grand . . . it bolts to your table edge (I've always used a C clamp) . . . and each pull of the handle down and push back up will give you one stitch. BUT . . . the one really great feature . . . you can absolutely put that stitch where you want it. Takes a lot more "practice" to do that with an electric machine. I've done some small stuff like you are talking about . . . and for me . . . the Boss would be the best. There are a few out there that are used . . . they usually get a good price because they just don't wear out . . . and if something breaks . . . or screws up . . . Tippmann stands behind them almost as good as the Zippo lighter people used to do. PM me if you have any questions . . . be more than happy to help you out. ----------- EDIT (go to the bottom of the forum . . . sewing machinery for sale . . . used . . . there is a Boss for sale there . . . guy wants 1100 for it . . . they are sold brand new for 1000 . . . been sitting on his desk it seems . . . might get a deal from him) May God bless, Dwight

OK . . . go out into the shop . . . get the longest . . . skinniest screw driver you can find . . . OR . . . if you have something with a plastic handle and has a long hard rod coming out of it . . . Turn on the motor at it's slowest speed . . . put the metal end of the screwdriver or whatever else you have . . . and put the handle end up to the little flap that covers your ear canal . . . push that flap against your head . . . and listen. You want to stick the end of that screwdriver (or other tool) just above where the shaft comes out of the motor . . . and on the backside at the approximate same place. In the Navy . . . this is how we tested every bearing on the ship . . . and how we found out if one was failing. I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say you have a good bearing . . . but it was not greased from the factory . . . something that happens from time to time . . . and when they run dry . . . they make a very similar sound. Just wish I had a dollar for every bearing I've listened to since I started that back in 1964 . . . May God bless, Dwight

I don't know if Lowes still does it . . . but they used to sell a half pint of "sample" paint of your color for like a buck apiece. Bought bunches of them for small church projects like Sunday school, etc . . . May God bless, Dwight

I found something similar on Ebay a number of years ago . . . about 25 pieces . . . 12 inches by 30 inches . . . different thicknesses . . . colors . . . paid 50 bucks . . . and have used them for all kinds of stuff. One of these days . . . I may make myself a "coat of many colors" out of them . . .

I would try https://www.tolindsewmach.com/ first . . . they are wonderful people to deal with . . . and I have no doubt they can fix your dilemma . . . May God bless, Dwight

If I can . . . let me toss a suggestion . . . Hang your leather. All of mine is hanging on a finishing nail thru one hole punched in the most unuseable spot I could find in that piece . . . really near the edge. I have it all in a 4 x 8 ft box . . . 1 ft deep . . . with a 4 x 8 door . . . allowing me to get in. I bring a double shoulder or a side home . . . punch it and hang it as soon as the one it is replacing gets used up. They straighten out in a couple days . . . and are so much easier to use than those I used to keep rolled up. You can see the 1 x 4's with nails in them . . . they swing out so I can access the panel behind it. These were taken shortly after I made the vault. Picture 1 shows the door, 3 shows the bars they hang on, 4 shows the swinging arms, 5 shows an assortment I have there, and 8 shows some "stuff" stored on the bottom of the vault. 8 also shows that the vault is basically a 2 x 12 box with a 4 x 8 OSB panel on the front and one on the back. It is much more full today . . . as these pictures were made right after I first put it into operation. May God bless, Dwight

Definitely a lot of us who think that way . . . Thanks, Sup May God bless, Dwight

If your resolene is cracking . . . you are doing it wrong. It needs to be diluted 1 to 1 with a good . . . clean . . . water. Mix it well. Then use a little 1 inch bristle brush and brush it on like it was a cheap paint. As you brush . . . you should have enough liquid to form a sort of bubbling foam . . . and you just brush that foam out . . . left, right, up, down, left sideways, right sideways . . . brush it until you have a semi dry surface. Do that on both sides of the belt . . . wait 24 hours . . . and if you want . . . Aussie wax will make it shine. There will be no rub off if you do it this way . . . and do it right. I've made and sold belts for 20 years this way . . . no problems so far. May God bless, Dwight

Late last year my standard sewing machine for very light leather and all materials just decided to roll over and quit. I shopped around and got a Singer 6800C . . . and I'm super happy with it. You have full control of the mschine at all times . . . and it will sew up to two layers of 3/4 oz veggie tan . . . plus all sorts of other thin leather. I use only carpet thread with it . . . a standard needle . . . and it's a great machine for me. On the side note . . . it also does all sorts of fancy quilting / stitching . . . options that are there but I don't use them. May God bless, Dwight

I did a special holster for a Marine . . . White paint was bought at Tandy . . . not sure of the name. Top coat is 50/50 Resolene and water . . . put on with a bristle brush. No problems for me. May God bless, Dwight

How heavy did you put it on? Did you dilute it before applying? How did you apply it? I've never had that problem . . . but I don't use a bunch of paint. May God bless, Dwight

That'll be a pain in the butt to replace . . . Just hope if it happens that Tandy picks up a decent line of dyes May God bless, Dwight

Looks good to me . . . I'm just not a fan of the scucide strap . . . much prefer putting a thumb break on a holster to help keep the weapon inside. Wish I had the skill to do the basketweave you did . . . my basketweave looks more like a basket explosion . . . lol May God bless, Dwight

Good job . . . I keep telling myself I need one of those pistols . . . and so far I keep losing the argument. Gonna be in the right place one day . . . and the price is gonna be right . . . and it'll come home with me Then I'll look back at this again and check out the holster . . . May God bless, Dwight

I do the same with Glocks and 1911's Had to kinda giggle though . . . you are the first one I've seen post something like it here. Good job . . . May God bless, Dwight

Yep . . . really good looking. I'm personally a big fan of what would be called "minimalist" stamping. You brought that out perfect for my taste. May God bless, Dwight

Generally speaking . . . a really good process is: Mark pattern and cut . . . dampen and mold . . . let dry . . . stitch / rivet / lace (as applicable) . . . OIL (real neatsfoot oil only . . . wet coat on the hair side only of the leather project . . . let dry for about 24 hours) . . . dye (let dry for 24 hours) . . . apply final coat of Resolene or other finish coating. Resolene is not only a sealer . . . it does not allow anything else to get in and do anything . . . at least for the first year or so. Have fun . . . may God bless, Dwight

I don't do masks . . . I'm ugly enough as it is . . . lol But I do do holsters . . . and I'm often tossed with "Can you make me a holster for ...........................??" My usual answer is "Yes" . . . they leave the gun or knife or ax or whatever . . . and I "make the model" I use two different mediums to create my pattern . . . manila folders . . . marine vinyl. The folders of course come from any office supply store or Walmart . . . but the thick and heavy vinyl I can only find at Joann Fabric shop. Fortunately for me . . . if you sign up with Joann . . . they'll send you their 40 or 50 or 60 percent off deal this week on certain stuff or maybe just one item of your choice. I grab the one item . . . buy two yards of the vinyl . . . which comes to a piece 72 inches long and I think 45 inches wide. LOTS of material to make models with. I just take a shot in the dark as to what I think something should look like . . . or I use my thumbs and literally "form" the manila folder around a gun or knife . . . take the scissors . . . cut out the rough shape . . . go from there. Either medium can be taped on the back to add where you cut off too much . . . then re-cut to the right shape. Hope this helps. May God bless, Dwight

Jump on up to 346 and you can forget all them there worries. I did. May God bless, Dwight

Grampa Joel . . . you figured out how to turn on your computer . . . get to a search engine . . . call up Leatherworker.net . . . Believe me . . . you are well on your way to being tech savvy enough to run a laser thingy. I got one for 50 bucks . . . long story . . . it is basically only for decorating wood and leather . . . will not cut out patterns . . . make wood projects . . . etc. All you have to do download LaserGRBL . . . free software . . . and basically anything you can turn into a *.jpg . . . you can put on the leather. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 . . . another free program . . . make it all there . . . copy / paste to another "Laser" file . . . and I've got it. The two things you have to understand is the power you are telling the laser to use . . . and the speed you want it to go. When I have something I think "might" be what I want . . . I toss a piece of flat cardboard (the kind they make bigger boxes out of) . . . and engrave it first. It'll show me if I'm too powerful . . . too slow . . . whatever. There is a bit of a learning curve there . . . but after a couple days (laser burning takes forever) . . . you'll get a feel for it . . . and it's fun. Amazon and Ebay have em out there starting at 150 bucks or so . . . which is what mine was originally I think. You have to watch one thing for sure when purchasing one . . . sellers lie to you . . . tell you the machine is 40 watt or 50 watt or something like that . . . when they are in effect telling you that it consumes that power. What you need to see is the OUTPUT power . . . and while mine is small . . . my next one will be in the 5 to 7.5 watt output. That will be a bunch faster I'm told. Anyway . . . think about it . . . but don't ponder forever. While you were pondering . . . you coulda been playing. May God bless, Dwight

If I could make a suggestion . . . that type machine was not really intended for that thin of thread. Kinda like a Cadillac Escalade carrying coal for a coal stove. Move up to at least 207 or 277 thread . . . you'll find you will be getting much better results most likely. May God bless, Dwight

It actually was not painful . . . felt as though I had a piece stuck on my tooth . . . went to the mirror to see . . . chunk of the tooth was gone . . . Doc put a corral around the tooth . . . filled it with his magic potion . . . let it dry . . . sanded and ground it down to where it was needed . . . told me to see the receptionist . . . she handed me the bill. THAT WAS the painful part May God bless, Dwight