Dwight

I'm simply gonna go out on a limb . . . and say you need to learn how to set rivets. I've used a hammer . . . a standard setting tool . . . (cheap one at that) . . . and a little steel plate . . . or the reverse setting tool (depending on the effect I wanted) and NEVER have any problems with the rivets I buy from Tandy. NOW . . . I do like their all brass rivets better . . . truth be known . . . but the other ones work . . . never had a customer holler at me about his rivets popping off . . . been almost 25 years since I got involved in this. May God bless, Dwight

An old boy scout teacher . . . told us never to put rivets in hatchet sheaths or knife sheaths . . . UNLESS . . . the blade especially is protected by a substantial welt. As the leather gets older . . . it will always loosen up . . . allowing the blade to come into contact with the rivets . . . which will dull the blade in a NY minute. That advice is more or less 65 years old . . . I still do it that way. May God bless, Dwight

Never be ashamed of "missing something" . . . that's just life throwing you a curve to see if you can hit it. Sometimes we need a coach. I just purchased 1k$ worth of drone and accessories . . . am in the process of learning to use it. Bought an Ipad to control it . . . knowing that there are a small few of them that will not operate with an Ipad. After 13 days of trying unsuccessfully I was all set to return the Ipad the next day when my 14 day return policy would die. My youth pastor at church took a look at it . . . asked me if I had tried using both of my normal email addresses . . . and of course the answer was yes. Funny thing . . . when he tried the other one . . . drone started working. I simply must have mis spelled it or something. Feel dumb?? Sure did . . . happy I asked for help?? Sure was . . . but never ashamed of it . . . he and I hit that curve ball out of the park. May God bless, Dwight

OK . . . with baited breath . . . we ask the eternal question . . . Is it fixed? May God bless, Dwight

I have one about that size . . . USMC . . . and the only way I get a good impression on that is with my 6 ton press . . . going around it a bit at a time. A 1 ton arbor would probably only do very light impressions . . . unless they were very sharp edged . . . and I'd wonder about it even then. May God bless, Dwight

Good job . . . May God bless, Dwight

That's good looking work . . . May God bless, Dwight

And if you do that . . . it will leach out to the outside of the holster . . . making it soft as well. Besides that . . . conditioners will also shove moisture up against a metal weapon . . . rust and corrosion are then the problem. May God bless, Dwight

Excellent . . . lots of things I can do . . . that stamping ain't one of em . . . ya did great. May God bless, Dwight

Sand off the "big" pieces . . . then make sure the interior also gets a good coat of Resolene . . . Works for me. May God bless, Dwight

Some 25 years ago when I started in this "hobby" . . . I was given the advice to dilute both 50/50 . . . by men who have by now been in this for well over 50 years . . . or retired. I tried both full strength . . . did not like the results with either. Having said that . . . I dip dye gun holsters . . .belts . . . cell phone cases . . . knife sheaths . . . rifle slings . . . rifle scabbards . . . and everything else I do. Nothing is "brush" dyed . . . Everything will have at least one square foot or more of leather . . . and needs to be finished in an even looking manner. Having said that . . . I also add a coat of neatsfoot oil 24 hours before dying . . . and my dye jobs come out even from one end of a 3 inch wide . . . double layer . . . 56 inch western gun belt . . . all the way to the other end. That cannot be done with a brush . . . piece of wool . . . dauber . . . or any other way . . . other than an air spray gun . . . which lays a couple thousandths of an inch of dye on the surface that is scratched thru the first time the item gets any hard use. So in effect . . . I'm talking from hard won experience. May God bless, Dwight

I'm with you . . . veg tan is where I would go. I would probably buy a 7/8 oz hide . . . and make the whole thing out of it. AND . . . I would be very tempted to make a form and wet form the front of the front pouch . . . perhaps 2 inches dep . . . formed over a rounded over 2 x 10 or something thereabouts. As for the pistol . . . use a flat piece of leather for the back . . . fitted to that carrier portion . . . and form fit the pistol to it on the front of that piece . . . set in the direction you want it to be should you have to grab it in a hurry . . . use the hair side to touch the gun on both sides . . . you DO NOT want a full size 1911 flopping around in a loose pocket . . . it needs to be held down . . . and a really well formed holster like that will fix you right up. Looks like a neat project . . . make sure you pop some pics for us when it is done. May God bless, Dwight

To start with . . . you should never use Feibings dye straight 100% as it is in the bottle . . . always thin it down . . . most do a 50 / 50 dye and thinner. Second . . . apply neatsfoot oil before you dye the project . . . and dip dying is far superior to brush or dauber or sponge or any other way. Third . . . if you are using Resolene . . . give it a once over quick rub off . . . apply Resolene (also a 50 /50 mixture with water) . . . and go on with life. Rub off will not come thru Resolene if it is applied right. Basically you did a lot of work for nothing. May God bless, Dwight

This may sound funny . . . but I go to Harbor Freight . . . they sell little 1 inch wide boar hair brushes . . . that are absolutely perfect for Resolene jobs . . . big or small. You cut the Resolene 50 / 50 with water first . . . stir it up good . . . then just dip the boar brush in it . . . and swirl it around on the project . . . making sure you "bubble up" the liquid . . . and then brush it all down. Never have had a problem with doing it this way . . . brushes will last thru 5 or 6 projects . . . more if you rinse them out real good after each project. May God bless, Dwight

I did that once . . . had just dyed I think 6 belts for a show . . . 5 of the 6 were very dark at the bottom and lighter at the top where I hung them. Ever since . . . I lay the belt on the top for about 5 minutes after I "dunk" dye the belt . . . I then flip it over . . . allowing it to finish drying laying on the bottom edge of the belt. Have never had any problem doing my belts that way . . . all are "dunk" dyed . . . and I only use a certain set of colors . . . works really great for me. I have sat the belts in the garage . . . wood shop . . . leather shop . . . just wherever I have time and place to put them for the night. All my dying is done just before bed time . . . and are dry by the next evening. May God bless, Dwight

Toledo Sewing Machine . . . He's one of he sponsors here. May God bless, Dwight

Obviously it was done "by" or "for" AR . . . and quite honestly . . . my guess is out of a 1 to 10 scale (1 beginner . . . 10 top expert) . . . this maker was at best a 5. The loops were not professionally done. The stamping and tooling was very inexperienced at best . . . Lacing was probably the most well done . . . Something some guy made in his basement over a winter. May God bless, Dwight

Generally speaking . . . I cut a mirror image of the outside . . . glue the two together . . . they become the holster . . . both pieces from the same cow . . . same hide . . . usually right next to each other. Suede liners tend to pick up oil and grease from the gun . . . then grit and dust from the air . . . become sandpaper inside the holster. Don't use suede. May God bless, Dwight

A 50 / 50 bees wax and neatsfoot oil mixture works wonders for softening veg tan leather . . . and vaseline should only be put on winter boots when going out into the snow . . . and you really don't care how they wind up looking . . . so your feet stay dry. That is the ONLY use for vaseline and leather together. I've used the combo it on shoes, belts, billfolds, all sorts of stuff . . . just be careful and don't go crazy with it. Once you've added the mixture to the leather rubbed it in and let it soak overnight . . . use a thin dowel . . . 1/4 inch or so . . . lay it on the leather . . . roll the leather over it . . . (not around it) . . . both with flesh up and with flesh down . . . and you will probably really like the results. May God bless, Dwight

Go to Salvation army or other "giveaway" store . . . you'll get the pattern you want . . . right size . . . etc . . . plus the liner . . . for just a few bucks. You'll not buy actual patterns that cheap . . . May God bless, Dwight

I build steel lined belts . . . and I would have no doubt my steel lined belt would do your job . . . and do it quite well. I wear one often . . . carrying a 48 oz pistol . . . 2 magazines . . . and a cell phone. The steel lined one is the black one . . . the lining runs from the inside most screw down the length of the decoration. The brown belt is a simple double layer gun belt used for the same purpose. I have a friend who has worn one of my steel lined belts for several years now . . . and loves it. Honestly . . . I would hate to have someone take theirs off and use it on me in a skirmish. May God bless, Dwight

I got sick n tired of sewing belts with a Boss . . . started saving up for a 3200 . . . and long story short . . . a "blessing" came my way. I was easily able to buy the 4500 instead . . . and am seriously glad I could. Now if I could just get over this covid and get some work done. May God bless, Dwight

And there is the proof in the pudding . . . the cylinder is covered . . . triggerguard is covered . . . and even though there is not a lot of wet molding . . . it stays put. Thanks Pastor Bob . . . good lookin job there. May God bless, Dwight

Here in the US . . . everything Ikea sells . . . comes with screws that don't fit . . . and generally one broken piece. May God bless, Dwight

For revolvers like that . . . your front piece was way too small. It needs to go up to the back side of the cylinder and 3/8 to 1/2 inch above it . . . and the trigger needs to be covered. When you do that . . . the friction of the molding . . . will make it a really good holster Slick bald sold you a junk pattern. It should look a lot more like the image here. May God bless, Dwight