Dwight

If you are making a specific item (plain jane belt for example) . . . Ebay is a good place to start. You photograph each item several times . . . put it on it's own page . . . brown on one page, tan on the next page, black on the next page . . . and you are done. You don't have to have it made if you tell them up front that you don't . . . and if you build in a shipping cost . . . folks flock to "free shipping" . . . Second thing it will do is begin to build a customer base . . . they will come back looking for other things if they really like your work . . . or you can put a flyer in the box with the first item . . . telling them about other items. I will be going back on there later this fall . . . the order comes in . . . I get it ready . . . package it . . . and ship it. Holsters are a different breed . . . up front they have to know it is a 2 week lead time. Lady's purses take even longer if you want to go there. But Ebay is your friend. Your cost is up front . . . and I have found them to be at least fair when it comes to disputes. I've won all but one (because I'm honest and ethical) . . . and the credit card company took care of the one Ebay didn't. May God bless, Dwight

Resolene put on full strength will crack, break, peel, and go away. Dilute it to 50% is what I've done and have had no problems since. May God bless, Dwight

That's good lookin stuff there. May God bless, Dwight

Good job on both . . . May God bless, Dwight

Thanks for the clues . . . May God bless, Dwight

Not quite sure I would spend that much time on a gun case . . . but by golly . . . it is a beautiful case you made. I'd also like to see some targets that thing shoots . . . and the ranges you shoot at. It looks awesome. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Doc . . . I don't particularly love doing business with China . . . but I (like you) needed a couple custom stamps. I went on Ebay . . . found a place in China (there are a bunch that advertise on Ebay) . . . it came in the mail about 2 weeks later . . . made out of brass . . . and the detail was superb. Don't know if this one is the one I used (it was several years ago) but here is one . . . and this is just a little more inflated price than I paid. https://www.ebay.com/itm/141593199313?hash=item20f79cc2d1:g:jecAAOSwEeFVIaxR&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4GNBdGmF8BYW1Hi47oM4B1Z1jHAuNREe493EWyuwH%2Fm757V37BoOgOTTm43TDGMsGKfpHVeL17d0JIyR9vNzAyZokPXdvQf4t2Od577T%2BhA3mfm%2BHsPSj9kdlEgzYSkddeIZENFMTgRbnZ5pVmO1usmjmPhK52H9EtsmFtNIFISSupzf0hVAlPdli3x%2Bjk95z5Mi92Ui7h0MHSzklcEfXhZsu6k8OAGFwt9kHDdnjU%2B6CFs1SIVNed5KW1uk2b%2B3yPESfBclhK27jPJO7G1u6vjCJrDSR%2BrV24ZakMUdMZqI|tkp%3ABk9SR6ytjqvrYA You will need to give them a picture . . . drawing . . . something to go by . . . the picture is the ones I got . . . there is a hole in the back . . . came with a little metal rod to screw in the back . . . I guess to use to pound on . . . I use these with a little 1/2 ton arbor press I got from Harbor Freight . . . and use them to make key fobs. Have fun . . . May God bless, Dwight

THE advice for making a sheath . . . absolutely NEVER put even one rivet in the sheath that is anywhere near the blade edge. WHY? . . . Because you . . . just like all the rest of us . . . will one day pick it up . . . swing it at a piece of wood . . . halfway thru the swing we will remember that the sheath is still on it . . . and when contact is made . . . the blade will be ruined wherever those rivets were. In the place of the rivets . . . put a welt . . . and sew the welt. If you don't sew . . . thong the thing . . . use a drill press . . . 1/8 inch holes . . . leather lacing . . . tie a knot in it before the first hole . . . tie another knot in it at the last hole. It won't be as pretty as the riveted one . . . but it will protect your hatchet / axe far, far longer and greater. May God bless, Dwight

Those both look really good . . . especially the color . . . you should be proud of yourself on those. I did one several years ago . . . a .22 Ruger semi auto . . . bottom welt had to be 3/4 of an inch thick. My Boss sewing machine didn't like sewing stuff that thick . . . but it DID punch the holes . . . and I finished the sewing with a needle . . . 346 thread . . . and a BIG pair of pliers. Hopefully you didn't have that kind of hassle . . . May God bless, Dwight

I'm not as good as I would like to be at wallets . . . so I bought one almost exactly like that. But yours is seriously better looking. Good job. May God bless, Dwight

Good looking belt . . . and I must say. you certainly have a ton more patience than I. My "grumpy . . . aggravated . . . exhausted" meter would have been pegging half way thru the belt. May God bless, Dwight

I don't . . . I simply back stitch 3, 4, or 5 holes . . . depending on how tight they seem . . . cut em off flush on the backside . . . lightly touch with a lighter . . . done. Never had one unravel yet. May God bless, Dwight

One thing I learned from boy scouts almost 70 years ago . . . and since . . . there is no such thing as a malformed square knot. They might be UGLY square knots. . . but they always work. They come apart just like the pretty ones do. Granny knot??? That's another animal . . . I'll mess with it for a moment or two . . . then my Kershaw comes out . . . and it is forever undone . . . no funeral . . . just undone. But there are any number of knots out there . . . some are good ones . . . some need the Kershaw treatment. But both of the knots on both sheaths are good looking ones. I have to do stamps on things like that . . . my tooling is something to seriously be desired for better. May God bless, Dwight

Really a good looking sheath for a good looking knife as well. I never wet form a sheath like that if I did any tooling on it. Tooling and wet forming are like wife and girlfriend . . . best only to have one . . . try getting both and wellll............. May God bless, Dwight

In two quick words . . . you don't. Put it on with a cheap 1 inch bristle brush . . . hair side only . . . and put just enough on to see you have covered it all or 95% of it. You know you did because it begins to look wet. Hang the item up to allow it to spread out and become uniform in the product . . . takes 24 hours. Do it that way and you will like the result . . . heating it up will get too much on the project . . . and while it will not always ruin the project . . . it can do it very easily. May God bless, Dwight

I'd certainly rather sell the guy the wrong set of spark plugs for his diesel rig . . . than tick off the fellow who I'm handing a fully loaded .38 special to . . . in his new holster . . . he don't like. May God bless, Dwight PS: So far neither has happened in my 20 years of sales. My worst case was I was late on a tax payment of less than 10 bucks and some lily livered jughead down at the tax office (sales tax) threatened to sue me $1000 a day until it was paid.

Maybe someone else knows . . . but honestly Scootch . . . I have no idea what a side pull is. Might be something to do with a saddle . . . maybe a rifle scabbard . . . a ladie's purse . . . or a camera case. I wouldn't know . . . and couldn't guess what you might use. May God bless, Dwight

For my white leather projects . . . I buy white leather off Ebay . . . Has worked very well so far. May God bless, Dwight

Several years ago . . . standing in Tandy's . . . a fellow came in and asked the manager to make him a billfold. Manager pointed him over to me. His daughter had bought him a tri-fold a number of years ago . . . and it was simply worn out. He wanted a new one. I told him I'd try . . . but needed his billfold for a pattern. He got a bag from the store . . . dumped his bilffold comtents into it . . . gave me the old one . . . I copied it . . . and he was elated. These pictures are of the trial run I did . . . but they show the results . . . and you can copy that. He put several cards in each slot . . . and had a money clip in the middle. May God bless, Dwight

I noticed you did not have the Tippmann Boss in your lineup there. It would be a very good first machine for you. It's not only a good machine . . . the manufacturer is really great . . . we've had a 20 + year relationship . . . been nothing but good. It was may first machine . . . making holsters, belts, knife sheaths, even billfolds and other "things". For knife sheaths . . . I wouldn't even think of going any other way . . . it is tough to do belts . . . especially longer ones . . . It is in your price range brand new . . . although I don't have any idea what the shipping would be. May God bless, Dwight

Betcha cannot guess who helped me load my Cowboy onto my trailer there in Toledo . . . May God bless, Dwight

Who is the Bob who has these things ?? Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

OK . . . now where do you get that whatchamacallit . . . ??? Looks like a handy tool. May God bless, Dwight

Just had to ask . . . is your name because you like stitching stuff by hand . . . or you got the stitched hand . . . having the hand too close?? Sitting here looking at my left thumb . . . got it too close to a fairly sharp Kershaw the other day. Barely missed the stitched hand moniker. Any deeper and it would have been a sewing job. May God bless, Dwight

First rule, second rule, and third rule are sharp knife, sharp knife, and sharp knife. I use mostly a drywall utility type knife . . . and when I put a new blade in it . . . first thing I do is strop it. Factory razor blades are fairly dull. Learn to hold your cutting tool 100% straight up . . . NEVER lean it over to one side or the other. You will be tempted to do so in a curve . . . especially a tight one . . . DON"T do it. Also start out by making shallow cuts . . . knowing that the first cut will be your production cut . . . and the others can follow it fairly easily if you take your time. Last thing . . . don't try to cut your leather for belts, purses, holsters, knife sheaths, and things like that for a "final" cut that is pretty . . . fancy . . . etc. That is why you have a disc sander over in the corner. Your "nicky" cuts you made need to be sanded . . . they will look better . . . edge better . . . and finish better. Until it becomes second nature . . . practice these three things with all your scrap leather. It won't take long until you will be cutting like a pro. May God bless, Dwight