Dwight

Didn't see a place there on your web site . . . where we could get hold of you . . . With these stinking electronic boxes . . . always needing some advice . . . not sure we could do that phone number . . . I'm used to not having to pay for any phone calls . . . May God bless, Dwight

Just a note . . . I don't know if you can get the product . . . here it is called Resolene . . . it is an acrylic leather finish. Another one we use . . . it is a floor polish . . . called Mop and Glo. Cut either of them 50 / 50 with water . . . and brush the product on your shoes. Might take 4 coats . . . let em dry a couple hours between coats . . . might make those boots last you long enough to work out the cash for better ones. There is a fellow in UK . . . don't recall his name or website . . . makes some of the most beautiful holsters for the old .45 automatic from WW1 and WW2 days. Not sure how he managed to get and hang on to a .45 auto . . . but he shows pictures with it. Good luck. May God bless, Dwight

Couple of questions: 1. Where did you get the leather? 2. When you bought it . . . did it by any chance say "belly leather"? 3. Were there any other descriptive words about the leather when you got it? May God bless, Dwight

Now we go silly . . . I needed a pair of "work" boots a couple years ago . . . but not for anything that would be considered serious work. I bought a pair of lace up . . . high top boots . . . rubber cushion soles . . . think they were like 25 dollars American . . . turned out to be full . . . absolute . . . real leather. Actually a darn good pair of boots . . . and I'm still wearing them. May God bless, Dwight

My original stitch groover I bought from Tandy some 25 or so years ago . . . has the original blade in it . . . it still works fine . . . and all I've ever done with it is use it. I have both the fancy adjustable one and the cheap one designed to be set for one distance . . . that is my baby . . . Actually have both . . . use the fancy one very seldom. The other one is on every belt . . . every sheath . . . every holster . . . and a boat load of other things I've made down thru the years. Try it . . . you'll like it. May God bless, Dwight

I just use what is handy . . . Joann Fabric sells carpet thread . . . not very big . . . easily used . . . and you will just about yank your finger off or cut yourself with it if you try to break it in two. If you use it . . . plan on cutting it if you ever want to change the sewing . . . you won't pull it apart like some of the other threads women sew with. I use it for lots of stuff . . . but it only works in my heavy duty standard machine. May God bless, Dwight

I have one like this . . . and one like the other. The other is only for special projects . . . very seldom used. This one had the extra part of the blade ground off on the non cutting side . . . and the screw set tight as I could get it. It is my groover fro all my holsters, sheaths, belts . . . makes em all perfectly consistent. And it is so easy to use . . . May God bless, Dwight

Looks alright from here May God bless, Dwight

This makes 3 of us . . . I don't do a lot of hand sewing . . . but when I do . . . I don't mess with it. Thread the needle(s) . . . fold it over . . . and go for it. May God bless, Dwight

You can make this stuff as hard on yourself as you want. Or follow the KISS method . . . Keep It Simple Stupid. For hand sewing . . . if it works . . . use it. For machine sewing . . . best advice I ever got came from the Tippmann Boss people. Thread the needle . . . hold your hands about 30 inches or 75 cm apart . . . with the needle in the middle of the string. Lift one hand . . . drop the other . . . build a 45 degree string for the needle to slide on. The needle . . . if properly sized . . . will easily slide down the string . . . switch positions with the hands . . . again the needle should slide easily. Has worked for me for 20 years. May God bless, Dwight

Here is my other machine I spoke about . . . Tippmann Boss . . . good little hand operated machine. I've punched holes with it for stitching almost 3/4 of an inch . . . came back and hand sewed the holes. May God bless, Dwight

If you soak rawhide real good . . . you can then shape it pretty good. I did that for a knife sheath some time back. After it dried out . . . I glued the rawhide to the suede . . . with the rawhide seam so that the top of the blade was at that seam. The sharp part of the blade found a solid piece of rawhide . . . My customer was super happy with it. He also got the beadwork on the 45-70 rifle case as well. May God bless, Dwight

Here are my two . . . a Cowboy with a 16 inch free opening for sewing larger projects . . . it'll sew 3/4 inch of veggie tan . . . and yes, I tried it . . . it'll do it. You can only see a piece of it in the picture . . . the black blob to the right of the Cowboy . . . is a Tippmann Boss . . . and if you only are doing hobby stuff . . . let me recommend this machine . . . 100%. I've had mine 20 years . . . it has been back to the shop twice . . . fixed for free both times . . . it is a bit of a pain doing belts . . . takes a while . . . but for holsters, sheaths, and an occasional purse . . . it'll do you great. Tandy has flooded the market with a machine that was badly cloned from it . . . and in my opinion is junk . . . the Boss is a good machine. A couple years ago they were in the 1400 dollar range . . . Tandy's junk has pushed the price down to about a thousand brand new (price I paid for mine 20 years ago) . . . and used ones on Ebay are even less. Have fun . . . may God bless, Dwight

No . . . I didn't do the alteration . . . but I've got an extension I made for a Glock barrel . . . needed a full size . . . only have the next smaller one . . . added the barrel . . . made the holster . . . shipped it . . . he was happy as a lark. I also made a model of a S&W 29 to get a holster for another order. Sometimes ya just gotta go with what you have or can get quickly . . . May God bless, Dwight

Glad to see I'm not the only redneck on here This makes at least 3 of us . . .

Well . . . by golly . . . just a big up and "THANK YOU" . . . I have a very serious case of neuropathy in my feet . . . at times I can barely even wear shoes . . . found one style of tennis shoes I can wear . . . own 4 pairs of them. They are colder than anything I've ever worn. I have played a bit trying to come up with something that would work to keep my feet warm . . . easy on and easy off . . . and light and comfortable. There is one less of those books on sale today . . . will be delivered sometime next week. Again . . . thank you for the pointer. May God bless, Dwight

Cut the round one off . . . screw on a piece of pine . . . and shape it on a belt sander . . . Piece of cake. May God bless, Dwight

If you use Weldwood contact cement . . . and roll it out flat after putting it on there . . . you will have no need for staples . . . the contact cement will hold it. It holds kitchen cabinets together for 20, 30, or 40 years . . . with no problems at all. It can darn sure do your little leather project. And as well . . . I have a roman shield . . . leather bonded to plywood . . . that was bent into a curve . . . been on there for a number of years . . . still looks great . . . no droops . . . no bubbles . . . pretty as the day I first carried it. Stapling it will only ask for it to fail . . . leather is heavy . . . and with the cooling and warming of years ahead . . . it will contract when cold . . . expand when warm . . . and eventually a droop will form in it . . . you will not be able to stop that. The only reason that doesn't happen to paintings . . . the paint is stiff and will not let it even begin to droop. But either way . . . have fun. May God bless, Dwight

Unique . . . and good looking . . . May God bless, Dwight

Crimson trace only builds lasers for the grip panel if I have been told correctly. That being the case . . . you only need the model that fits the gun itself. CT is negligible as far as influencing the holster. The only thing you may need to do is make a tunnel for it if he is a lefty . . . and make sure the place where the switch is turned on . . . is not contacted by the holster. That switch is in the grip panel . . . out front . . . under the trigger guard . . . and typically turned on by pressure from the middle finger. May God bless, Dwight

Check with Toledo Sewing Machine . . . (419) 380-8540 . . . Bob is the man you want to talk to . . . And yes . . . you can tell him Dwight sent you. I've bought an sewing machine . . . and a servo motor for another one from him . . . May God bless, Dwight

A couple of light coats of Resolene . . . 50/50 with water . . . makes a very nice inside on belts. May God bless, Dwight

This may sound silly . . . it is not meant to be. Buy a piece Herman Oak or Wickett and Craig . . . 8 oz leather . . . 1/2 a square foot. Cut it down the middle . . . contact cement the pieces together . . . scribe a line 1/8 inch from the edge all the way around . . . get some 277 or 346 thread . . . couple needles . . . saddle stitch it all the way around. Then buy a 1 sq ft of 7 oz W&C or HO . . . cut it in 4 lengthwise pieces . . . glue 2 of em together . . . flesh to flesh . . . then glue them together . . . hair side to hair side . . . so you have a stack of 4 pieces of 7 oz. Scribe it 1/8 of an inch around . . . saddle stitch it all the way around. If you pass both of those tests . . . you may do alright . . . if not . . . you need to go to floral carving and give up holsters . . . or practice on your sewing . . . The two 8 oz represent many holsters you will make . . . the 4 7 oz are for some of the lined holsters you may make. Personally I have several thousand dollars invested in sewing machines . . . and if I had to sew holsters by hand . . . I'd be floral carving purses starting next weeks. But on the outside . . . welcome aboard . . . have fun . . . ask quesions . . . we'll see what we can do to help you. May God bless, Dwight