Dwight

Yes, . . . the brace would be about 2/3 the thickness of the pliers. And yes, . . . the basic terminology is a welt. I always put a welt up the outside seam of my cowboy holsters, . . . knife sheaths, . . . and tool holders like this. 1) it makes the molding easier and 2) it gives the finished product more of a professional look I think and 3) the tool holder will eventually become looser, . . . allowing the tool to bottom out, . . . and the tip of the pliers hitting a welt will not hurt the holder, . . . but if it gets to the stitches, . . . trouble lays ahead. I would suggest a couple things, . . . google "drill sander" and take a look at some of the ideas there. Any kind of a powered sander will give you a quicker and more professional looking edge. Plus, . . . stitching pony's are a piece of cake to make, . . . see below. You are doing good, . . . keep up the good work. May God bless, Dwight

For something like this, . . . I would first cut a rough shape of the front, . . . and I would not have cut the top edge straight off, . . . a slightly rounded up look. Bevel and burnish that top edge. I would then make something or find something that is about 2/3 the thickness of the pliers, . . . wood, plastic, other leather, etc, . . . but which outlines the pliers fairly close. Lay that all around the pliers. Next, . . . wet mold the front piece, . . . hang it up to dry for 24 or so hours. When dry, . . . lay the front face down on a terry towel, . . . put braces under the edges, . . . lay the pliers in that front "shell". For these types of "holsters" I also will put in another piece of leather between the front and back, . . . it is the basic outline of the tool itself, . . . will be about 3/8 of an inch wide, . . . and will follow the coutour of the edge of the holster, . . . all the way around. I usually get it by first making the front piece, . . . laying it down on another piece of leather pretty much the same size, . . . outline it, . . . cut it out, . . . then lay the tool on that piece, . . . outline the tool, . . . cut out the outline, . . . discard that piece from the middle. Glue it to the front piece, . . . making sure the tool will slide in and out easily. Cut out the back piece, . . . cut, bevel, and burnish the belt loop piece, . . . put my makers stamp on the back of the belt loop then wet it and fold it over, . . . sew in place. Wet mold the back piece, . . . shaping it over the tool laying in the front piece with the spacer glued in place. Allow back to dry for 24 hours or so, . . . glue the back to the other two pieces. Note: always cut front and back and spacer piece bigger than the final product will be, . . . by a good half inch. In that half inch you will have wiggle room for gluing and shaping your final product. Also that will aid when they are glued together you do not have to fuss and sweat getting it lined up perfectly. After all is glued (I only use Weldwood contact cement for my gluing) I use a roller, . . . pincher, . . . something to seriously squeeze the edges together. Go to the belt sander, . . . sand those edges flat and even all the way around. I also would sand away that little peak you had sticking out on both sides about half way down. In about a month of good use, . . . that tip point will get frayed and funky looking, . . . will ruin the looks of an otherwise good looking holster. Prick . . . punch, . . . and stirch the edges (or in my case, . . . hit the sewing machine). Bevel and burnish the edges, . . . dip dye, . . . finish, . . . and congratulate myself on a good job. Anyway, . . . that would be my process. May God bless, Dwight

Just google the "Adams leatherwork belt slot template" pages and pages of them there. Ebay has em too . . . but just search the three words belt slot template. May God bless, Dwight

You'll have to do better than that in the description, . . . I can come up with something near 200 possibilities. Got a drawing, . . . pic, . . . ?? May God bless, Dwight

Taking the questions one at at time: 1. Contact cement is THE product for putting two pieces of leather together, . . . 2. Your fear will never happen, . . . we put curves in cowboy belts so they stay up on the cowboy, . . . and don't slide off. Standard 1 1/2 gunbelt does not need it. And, . . . no, . . . if you do the contact cement correctly, . . . it won't come apart. 3. You'll have to play with that one, . . . it is a personal preference and has a lot to do with the border stamp you use 4. I never mess with it, . . . damp and stamp. 5. You don't say what size thread you are using . . . let me suggest you use the pricking tools to mark where the holes go, . . . buy the thread from Tandy, . . . and the appropriate needle for that thread that they would sell for their Cowboy machines, . . . and instead of the drill bit, . . . use the needle with the drill press not running, . . . you will like the finished product better. I do that sometimes with my Tippmann Boss sewing machine, . . . use it to punch the holes, . . . then hand stitch the product. May God bless, Dwight

One thing you always have to remember about holsters and revolvers, . . . with the hammer thong holding it in place, . . . it does not have to be "molded" to fit the weapon for retention like is done for a semi-auto, . . . especially when it is a Western style rig. Run your outside stitch line, . . . mold it in a bit, . . . see where you are. My bet is you can sew that dude far enough out to not make the bull mad, . . . and yet make a decent holster. And the worst that can happen, . . . it don't work, . . . and you're out what, . . . 15 to 20 minutes??? Would be worth a try in my book. May God bless, Dwight

I cut two blanks side by side out of the same hide with the same gauge knife, . . . one after the other. I look over both pieces, . . . decide which is outside, . . . which is inside, . . . make the correct cuts for buckle etc, . . . I contact cement them both together, . . . run it all on a belt sander to sand the edges perfectly smooth. Sew the whole thing, . . . edge it, . . . burnish the edges, . . . give it a light coat of neatsfoot oil, . . . dye it, . . . 1 or 2 coats of resolene. Add buckle and keeper . . . send belt to customer. That's my process in a nutshell. May God bless, Dwight

You are going to have to make a decision as to what you want. If you want a top that will not dull your knife, . . . then the blade will cut into it slightly, . . . and drag. If you want a top that will not create drag, . . . it will dull your blade. I chose the 36 by 60 cutting mat that is sold by Joann fabric for folks cutting fabric. It works great for me, . . . there is a slight drag at times, . . . but slightly lifting up on the pressure will usually alleviate most of it. Mine as been on there for over 10 years, . . . works great in my opinion. May God bless, Dwight

Hey Harley, . . . Don't have a pattern per se, . . . but several years ago I walked into a local what-not store, . . . found this, . . . bought it, . . . and every now and then when I feel like just jerking the chain on any loose snowflakes, . . . I pop it on my head and go shopping. I DO GET some looks at times. Take a look, . . . not that hard to make. I did the tan one by cutting up an old hat I loved, . . . but had worn to the point it was almost white on top. Leather hats are not that hard to make. May God bless, Dwight

Fine stuff, . . . need to be proud of that. May God bless, Dwight

Another vote for Weldwood, . . . Put many a piece of suede onto veg tan, . . . works great. If you are gluing to the hair side, . . . scuff it up with a wire brush first, . . . sticks better. May God bless, Dwight

Go to Joann Fabric, . . . get their plastic 36 x 60 inch mat, . . . you can layout anything on it . . . within the 60 inch limit. It keeps me centered on belts, straps, holsters, you name it. About 60 bucks, . . . but they do coupons for up to 60% off at times. May God bless, Dwight

I like it, . . . best of all, . . . it does not scream "GUN INSIDE, . . . BREAK WINDOW AND STEAL ME" like a lot of em I've seen. At home I use a Canon camera bag, . . . would never take it with me anywhere else though, . . . thugs bust windows for a pair of shoes or pack of cigarettes, . . . That looks more like a gym bag full of sweaty old exercise togs, . . . good camo job, . . . should be safe and do what you need at the same time. May God bless, Dwight

I use a Tippmann Boss, . . . 346 thread top and bottom, . . . usually make the belt from two side by side cuts of 7/8 oz. Occasionally will lighten up and use a thinner liner, . . . but only when I got a skinny dude, . . . or a skinny gal. Most of em are carrying handguns on them, . . . plus cell phones and magazines, . . . so I give em a belt that they should never "have to" replace. Kinda puts me out of business in one respect, . . . but makes for happy customers. May God bless, Dwight

The one I'm wearing is 16 oz, . . . had it for over 10 years, . . . but you are right 15 and 16 are pretty much up at the top end unless it is a 3 inch wide police belt or fireman's belt, . . . where you could probably do a bit more, . . . but certainly not much. And to answer the OP question, . . . it will absolutely add 10 oz to the length, . . . which is in effect 5/32 of an inch. Yeah, . . . not much. May God bless, Dwight

First thing, . . . I only make two layer belts, . . . those are all single layer. My belts are a much better quality, . . . and if the one I'm wearing right now is any indication, . . . my belt just may last me a lifetime, . . . theirs will not. Second, . . . they have their own leather suppliers, . . . buy in big bulk, . . . and as previously mentioned, . . . child labor laws are never enforced on them. You are competing against the American version of China in that line of belts. And when they tell you they adequate for CCW, . . . they are hoping what they said is the truth, . . . as they do not CCW, . . . therefore are taking someone else's word or ............... May God bless, Dwight

Do two things to soften it up, . . . roll it . . . AFTER it is completely done. Lay the belt face down on the work bench and take a piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe about 3 or 4 inches long, . . . roll the belt tightly over that PVC, . . . one end to the other. Roll it both ways, . . . buckle to tip, . . . and tip to buckle. DO NOT roll it face up, . . . you can get wrinkles that way and mess up your stamping. THEN, . . . put in on, . . . go do something that gets you big hot and sweaty for about a half hour. That will do the trick, . . . it will be still a bit stiff . . . but you never want to make a belt and it wind up like the floppy sloppy trash you buy in Walmart, Target, Kohls, etc, . . . that junk about half the time is not worth the price of the buckle on it. I've never used bridle leather for a belt, . . . need someone better versed than me on that one. May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . I found just about all of it, . . . must be the good Lord shining down on you, . . . I'd began to have serious doubts, . . . voila, . . . folder "SP101 Shoulder Holster". Couple little non essential patterns missing, . . . but you can do those easily. May God bless, Dwight

I needed WHITE, . . . cloud white, . . . leather for a project I did a few years back. Searched out Ebay, . . . found a piece for a decent price, . . . Worked great for me. That is where I would look. May God bless, Dwight

Franklyleather, . . . pm me your mailing address. I'm not sure if I have all of the pattern, . . . lots of stuff I do is not from a pattern, . . . I just kinda "do it" and they become "one of a kind", . . . Let me see what I've got, . . . I know I have some of it and I'll get that part to you. May God bless, Dwight

How about something on this order, franklyleather??? The first picture is of the ammo, . . . it's a dump pouch sort of, . . . holds a stripper clip with 5 rounds in it. Other picture is the hand gun itself, . . . SP101 (I think that is the proper nomenclature), . . . has a combination thumb break / finger break, . . . depending on which way it snaps on. All of the plastic attachments were hand made from kydex sheets . . . the attachment points are chicago screws. I made it a few years back for an elderly neighbor down the road. May God bless, Dwight

When you say "contaminates" I assume that you mean the dye is rubbing off on your papers. My 1st thought would be to seal it, . . . the inside portion that is, . . . and the product I would recommend would be Resolene. NOW, . . . I do not work much with oil tanned leather, . . . so what I would suggest is you get some scraps from when you made the briefcase, . . . rub them against your papers to make sure they are doing the same thing, . . . and if they are, . . . coat the inside of them with a light coat of 50/50 Resolene and water. Use a small piece of a sponge, . . . and you will have to dampen it pretty good, . . . put a light coat of the Resolene/water mixture on it, . . . allow it to dry for about 4 hours, . . . then try to see if the dye will then come off on your paper. If I were a gambler, . . . I would bet this will cure your problem 100%, . . . by one or two light coats of Resolene on the inside of your briefcase. May God bless, Dwight

Be careful with it, . . . a lady who was trying to just be a nice lady, . . . did not know what she was doing, . . . ruined my 85 dollar Bible, . . . back when I was making maybe 6 bucks an hour, . . . or 7. I forgave her, . . . but my Bible has never been the same. Just be careful, . . . you can always cut leather away, . . . you cannot add it on (generally speaking), May God bless, Dwight

First of all, . . . if my belt felt like a soft, rich leather, . . . I would toss it in the trash. Belts for women ''can" have that feel, . . . but if you are making a belt for a man, . . . he needs to be able to thread it by pushing it around his waist, . . . not like having to pass it thru each loop like he was threading a shoe lace. That only occurs when there is a "stiffness" to the belt. When my belts are ready for my customer to pick up they have been rolled in my hands so that they would drape over a large ice cream bucket (see picture). If the customer wants it any floppier or looser, . . . it is up to him/her to do that. In almost 20 years, . . . have never had a complaint about my belts being too stiff. I do have one "ranger" belt I made for myself that I don't like because it is too floppy. But that has only come from years of use. One other point I'll make then leave you, . . . my belts are designed for CCW, . . . carrying a firearm, cell phone, spare mags, . . . . and still keep the britches up and look great even with the weight. The thickness of my belts range from .180 to .250, . . . depending on length and width. May God bless, Dwight

The way I would beat that rap, . . . cut the stitches, . . . separate the layers, . . . put the snap only on the piece that will allow it to make contact with the other side of the snap. Re-stitch the piece, . . . it should work like a champ. It would also totally remove the possibility of the strap scratching the weapon as it is drawn from the holster. May God bless, Dwight