Dwight

I sew with a Tippmann Boss, . . . using 346 thread for 99% of what I do. I stitch groove just about all of it, . . . it puts my stitches even with or below the edge of the finished leather, . . . making it much harder to abrade my stitches. But other folks do other things for other reasons. Those are mine. May God bless, Dwight

Couple of problems I see, . . . and not trying to be offensive, . . . but you are trying to be cheap, . . . and cheap usually equates to low quality. 1. When you dilute the dye, . . . use Feibings reducer, . . . and only go one to one, . . . not one to three. 2. For small projects like wallets and belts and holsters, . . . find a metal pan and "dip dye" the leather. Your sponge marks are perfectly legible on both pieces, . . . some had dye, . . . some were dry, . . . and you got streaks for your effort. 3. On lighter tan and brown especially, . . . always give it a light coat of neatsfoot oil about 24 hours before dying. Let the leather return to the original color, . . . that tells you it is evenly distributed within the leather, . . . and only put the oil on the hair side of the leather. I've done it this way for almost 15 years, . . . and the only time I ever had a hiccup on dying was when an acquaintance said he was having really good results using water as a thinning agent. I won't go into the gory details, . . . enough to say I tossed the project after the dye job, . . . and went back to Feibings reducer. May God bless, Dwight

I made a few Kydex holsters, . . . basically soften / melt the plastic in a sheet and drop it on top of the gun or mold, . . . it something near instantly hardens and then you simply take a pair of shears, . . . cut off the excess, . . . sand the edges, . . . put it together. I'm sure that in time, making a number of holsters in kydex would affect the blue mold as it is plastic as well. I began this leather holster stuff back years ago, . . . just got kinda serious about it in '05 or '06. None of my blue guns have ever let me down in the detail, etc. May God bless, Dwight

Blue guns have served me quite well for over 10 years. May God bless, Dwight

No . . . do not use full strength. And don't do like some folks here . . . don't dilute Pro Dye with water. Feibings makes a thinner . . . use it. Thin the dye 50/50. I pour the dye out of the 4 oz bottle, . . . into a larger container . . . then pour the thinner into the dye jar and swish it around to collect all the surface dye off the inside of the bottle. I then pour the thinner in with the dye . . . shake it good . . . you then have 8 oz of dye that will do the job. Been doing it that way for over 10 years . . . never had a problem but one time . . . tried the suggestion of using water as a thinner . . . was one of the dumbest things I've done in the last 20 years. May God bless, Dwight

I have a couple of "customers" for whom I make key fobs. I sent to China, . . . had brass stamps made . . . they work very well . . . the detail is beautiful . . . and the price was reasonable, even though it took almost 6 weeks to get them. There are folks here in the states who may make you a stamp for a reasonable price. May God bless, Dwight

Leather breathes, . . . and if water gets in it, . . . eventually it will dry out. Some synthetics can hold water and cause the knife to rust. Seeing the client is looking to protect his knife, . . . kydex is the best choice for THAT, . . . even if you cannot sew it. AND, . . . it can be riveted with only a few rivets. May God bless, Dwight

Kydex would be my first choice, . . . I don't like working with it, . . . but it makes a good product when it is done. May God bless, Dwight

Fredk's experience has not been the same as mine. Resolene is an acrylic finish, . . . in a common word, . . . plastic. If it is applied correctly, . . . it will totally cover and encapsulate the product. Think of putting something in a plastic bottle, . . . sealing it up, . . . then try to get it wet or dry, . . . See the problem??? If you want to condition and have it work 99% of the time like it should, . . . when you cut your blanks, . . . or at the latest when the item is getting ready for dye, . . . give it a light coat of neatsfoot oil with a bristle brush, . . . I only coat the hair side if I can reach it, . . . if not, where I cannot, I'll coat the flesh side, . . . but it is done sparingly because the flesh side will soak up the oil really quick and will take a lot of it. This will also tend to smooth out the color of especially light browns like Feibings Saddle tan. May God bless, Dwight

Here is my brown one and my black one. The pictures probably tell you ore about it than I could write in a week. May God bless, Dwight

I'm with Frodo, . . . two layers of 7/8 oz, . . . sometimes I'll shave one down so that the overall thickness is .200 or so. As far as the overlap, . . . you want the piece in your right hand to go under the part in your left hand, . . . and slip into a loop on the back of the belt, . . . so it stays even when you cinch it up. Cheap skates making Ranger belts leave the loop off of the back thinking they are saving something, . . . and it ruins the whole look of the belt if the wearer has it in the first or second hole. Looks like a leather tow rope holding his gut in. May God bless, Dwight

Actually the loops and the belt are a very small part of the picture. They are much more for allowing the holster to be hidden by tucking in the shirt around the holster. May God bless, Dwight

I kept trying to figure out why my sound wasn't working. One way or another, . . . I kinda shut it down in the late evening when the Mrs is in bed, . . . thought I'd really done it this time, . . . Finally figured there must not be a sound track. Anyway, . . . I figured it out without the play by play. Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

Ummm, . . . no sound . . . May God bless, Dwight

John Bianchi, . . . professional holster maker of some 60 years or so, . . . often used a bath of neatsfoot oil to finish his holsters, . . . and nothing else. He did a set of VHS videos featuring a western rig and it was done that way, . . . I like it myself sometimes. Otherwise, . . . Resolene is my finish of choice. May God bless, Dwight

Tandy sells acrylics that have always done good for the few projects I've painted. Just remember, . . . nothing painted will always stay pristine, . . . I always go over my paint work with Resolene, . . . and I go over the painted part a couple extra times to protect the art work. Sadly, . . . using the leather object will eventually wear the finish, . . . and can wear it off the inside. In the case of a clutch purse, . . . holster, . . . or other such piece, . . . it can get wet from the inside, . . . but unless it gets fully soaked, you will usually be alright, . . . the finish itself tending to try to retain the shape. Personally, . . . I always seal the whole project, . . . inside and out, . . . and Resolene is my product of choice. EDIT: The one exception to sealing the inside is if I use a soft liner such as suede or pigskin. May God bless, Dwight

If we lived close enough we could make a good living together, . . . I'd sew, . . . you'ld tool, . . . and we'd share the profits. Seriously, . . . really good looking work, . . . far, far beyond my present or anticipated skill level. Making holsters, . . . CCW belts, . . . that's my game. May God bless, Dwight

I use a 1 inch wide Harbor Freight bristle brush, . . . they're about 50 cents each there. Never had a problem in over 15 years. May God bless, Dwight

Mark, . . . do yourself a favor and when you remake this, . . . undercut the back side below the mag ejector button, . . . other paddle holsters as well as yours, . . . are only a nudge away from a lost mag, . . . tuning your fine firearm into a single shot. Mine did that to me one time when a coon was robbing my hen house. I learned a valuable lesson about holsters that day. May God bless, Dwight

Not sure what you are attempting here, . . . Resolene is a FINAL, . . . LAST THING product. It is the cherry you put on top of a hot fudge sundae. There is no way it can take dye off a product that has been properly dyed and finished. May God bless, Dwight

The same black grease I use on my tractor, mower, chain saw, etc. works fine on my Boss, . . . has for almost 15 years. When I don't have black, . . . the brown stuff fills the bill. May God bless, Dwight

The first thing you need to decide, . . . what do you want to do with leather. The people making high end leather vests would not know most of the time where to start with a saddle. Many holster and belt makers would have a tough time doing a really nice ladies' purse. Determine what product you want to produce, . . . go to a local Tandy store, . . . tell them, . . . let them give you some good advice. May God bless, Dwight

I like wrapped sheaths, . . . with a welt to protect the stitches, . . . looks like it would work for all three of em. Nice part about wrapped sheaths, . . . you can do it in two pieces, . . . the sheath and the welt, . . . May God bless, Dwight

A friend had a pair of suspenders with these to protect the leather seats in his Mustang, . . . the others scratched the seats badly. He loves em, . . . so I made a pair, . . . mine are 1 inch wide, . . . no elastic, . . . and I have no problem at all with them. They are really comfortable, . . . but if I decide to re do them some day, I'll make them 1 1/2 inches wide, . . . as I have others that are just a tad more comfortable with the wider width. Mine were made with embossed veggie tan that looks like gator leather. May God bless, Dwight

Look up on the top of the screen to the right, . . . little envelope, . . . you have a PM there. May God bless, Dwight