Dwight

Ashley55, . . . quick . . . don't wait . . . don't slow down . . . go buy yourself some reducer. Mix that dye 50/50 with the reducer . . . and your buffing problems will take a serious nose dive. Yes, hard buffing even after reducing . . . will get "some" rub off . . . but not very much at all. When you see a good shine on your project . . . quit buffing and get to the Resolene . . . and . . . yes . . . reduce it the same way . . . 50/50 . . . but use water. You should really like the results better with two small caveats: Depending on how dark you want that saddle tan . . . you may have to dye it a second time. I only dip dye . . . no brushing or patches . . . and I get a nice saddle tan color. If you are using USMC black . . . find a hole to bury that stuff in . . . you can buff seriously with that . . . and it'll still kick out pigment. May God bless, Dwight

The only caveat with Weldwood . . . on the hair side (slick side) you need to wire brush it a bit to break up that slick layer. Once you have done that . . . if you put on the light first coat . . . let it COMPLETELY DRY then a follow up light coat . . . let it dry and then put the two together . . . then lay a small weight on your project for a couple hours . . . yeah . . . you'll cut it apart or you won't get it apart. I had a holster I was doing several years ago . . . piece got on wrong . . . pulled it apart with pliers and some hard grunts . . . literally pulled off the lowest layer of the leather fibers. BUT . . . I was able to salvage the project . . . just re-glued it. May God bless, Dwight

If you lived closer I'd drive over and make you a deal for them. Punch a hole the diameter of the shaft . . . and from that hole . . . go the width of the head with a slot. When you use these . . . one piece has the slot going to the left . . . the other to the right . . . and they'll work. I would use them on suspenders . . . military straps . . . etc. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Double Daddy . . . and it is comfortable . . . more so than any other one I've ever worn. I almost didn't do the serpentine . . . there is only one place in the whole movie that I could see that . . . and it was a fluke that I even found it. Then I pondered if they even used that kind of stamp . . . back in 1944 / 1945 . . . but went with "that was the original" so I did it. May God bless, Dwight

Sometimes making a leather project . . . can be tiring if not just plain aggravating. Got a request some time back for a shoulder holster like Brad Pitt wore in Fury. Had a time getting the pattern right . . . but finally did. Finished it yesterday . . . put it together today and put it on . . . dang I like this thing. But we all have to have something to keep us covid busy. May God bless, Dwight (pictures posted in the gallery)

Chris . . . I've personally never seen that book . . . but there are a lot of things I've never seen . . . and won't at age 76. But that is not the point I want to make. THE MOST IMPORTANT piece of information you need to know about a swivel knife is simply this . . . KEEP IT SHARP. A dull swivel knife is about as useful as a teaspoon with a hole in it. Personally . . . I hate using the darned thing . . . but there are times it has to be done . . . so I bite the bullet . . . sharpen it up and go at it. I also have two styles of knife, . . . a straight one . . . and one cut at a 45 or so degree angle . . . Learn the process of sharpening them to the point they will cut you badly if you slip . . . and you will find the whole process is tolerable . . . if not enjoyable. May God bless, Dwight

Do your gun a favor . . . put the holster in a pretty box . . . up on the shelf in a closet . . . inscribed with "My first holster". Then go make one right . . . you are fretting over a few bucks worth of leather and a bit of thread . . . not worth it when you scratch the bluing off your gun . . . gouge the metal past "polishing out" . . . and seriously devalue that weapon. Not worth it. May God bless, Dwight

I'll go the other route on that advice . . . leather has a natural oil to it . . . that is mostly worked out of it in the tanning process. Applying a THIN coat on the hair side only of the leather approximately 24 hours BEFORE YOU DYE IT . . . will almost always give you a much better dye job. That is especially if you are doing anything in the light tan spectrum . . . with saddle tan being an example. The leather retains pockets of oil . . . which will change the color of the dye . . . and can give you some really nasty . . . spotty . . . ugly dye jobs. When I first encountered it . . . I thought it was a bad hide . . . then I ran across it other times . . . now . . . I do the oil trick every time before I dye . . . and allowing it to sit for 24 hours will allow it to soak in pretty much equally everywhere. AND . . . now I don't have those dye problems I used to hit from time to time. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Hasbeencowboy . . . what you said makes a lot of sense . . . As a younster . . . I watched Rin Tin Tin and other such shows . . . thought being a soldier back then would have been great. About 14 yrs old . . . maybe 16 . . . got to ride one of them old "soldier" saddles. Cured me of ever wanting to get in a time machine and go back. May God bless, Dwight

I guess I never really paid any attention to other saddle styles . . . The only saddle styles we ever had around here were English . . . military (old left over stuff from back WW1 ways) . . . and "cowboy" . . . But all the cowboy saddles I saw or rode growing up . . . had pretty good swells coming out on each side of the horn. Is this a new "style" that has done away with that? Just nosey I guess. May God bless, Dwight

Just remember, Forester, sometimes it ain't all on you. I made a single gun rig for a guy a number of years back . . . similar to yours . . . just not as much bling . . . it was a 53 inch belt I made for him . . . he picked it up 6 weeks after ordering it . . . by then he needed a 56. Thankfully . . . there was enough wiggle room . . . with a new belt tongue . . . May God bless, Dwight

Just a note . . . suggestion . . . Mold your holsters tight enough that they do not need the retention screw . . . if you do a good job . . . it'll be a long time before it is needed . . . and they can be added afterwards. I don't use em because I know people . . . and some would tighten it down the first time they put a gun in the holster . . . and it would not be long until you would have to put a lariat on the gun to keep it in the holster as they ruined the molding. At least that is my way of doing things . . . YMMV. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Lobo, . . . I had thought the N frame was awful close . . . but never had a chance to compare as I have no source here for the 1917. He's got the picture I sent him . . . he's doing a "measuring" of the different points of the weapon . . . and what I'll do is just make a wooden model . . . which will do for what we need done. I had to do that a few years back for a model 29 . . . it was a "trial run" so to speak . . . worked out like a champ . . . the customer was thoroughly pleased . . . and I still have my pine wood "Dirty Harry" revolver in case I ever need to make another model 29 holster. May God bless, Dwight

I do not do a lot of carving and stamping . . . but I have learned this . . . Tandy's shoulders . . . the closer you get to the neck . . . the "harder" it is . . . Try . . . just for kicks and giggles . . . some of Tandy's belly leather . . . it is some of the softest leather they have . . . see if you have the same results. My wager will be "NO" May God bless, Dwight

Toss that garbage glue . . . go to Weldwood contact cement It is great stuff. May God bless, Dwight

Were there any gun models to look at? May God bless, Dwight

I see a lot of patterns . . . some things I don't recognize . . . and a few things that look like wooden gun models. Is there by any chance a version of a 1917 .45 Army revolver? May God bless, Dwight

Thanks . . . I'm sorry it happened to you . . . too . . . I think we've all done something similar if we've been whacking leather for any amount of time. May God bless, Dwight

Yessir . . . my "customer" and I have been "talking about" this holster he wants . . . for over a year now. He finally figured out after getting Covid . . . losing his job . . . and assorted other things in his life . . . that there is never a better time than the "el presidente" . . . Anyway . . . I'll need the mold . . . so please send the pics to ciminod@midohio.net Thank you very much . . . looking fwd to seeing them. May God bless, Dwight

Have you got a 1917 S&W .45 revolver model?? That is THE ONE I need . . . but could maybe sutstitute . . . depending on what you got. Lemme know . . . May God bless, Dwight

I don't have the same printer I used years ago playing around . . . and the wax paper I used was that stuff your wife has in her kitchen . . . May God bless, Dwight