Dwight

Let me predict that brown or black, . . . even green, . . . that style holster is very comfortable, . . . and in the words of many a suit salesman "you gonna like the way you look" May God bless, Dwight

As Rockoboy said, . . . your teacher is the Ranger belt. I first find out what kind of buckle will be worn on that belt, . . . then I work the two billets so that they will be back equal distance from the center of the buckle when the buckle is in the center hole of the belt. That makes the belt look right on the wearer in my opinion. It should hold true for your design as well. May God bless, Dwight

If it is costume, . . . spray paint will work AOK, . . . does not handle a lot of flexing, . . . but can be very convincing in appearance, . . . Tandy stores also carry paint you can apply with a brush. May God bless, Dwight

Here is the "pattern" I use, . . . I use the moniker of "Trucker" when I'm working on an order with someone. That is suede for the lining. May God bless, Dwight

You cannot go wrong with Resolene, . . . mix 50/50 with water, . . . brush it on with a cheap bristle hair brush, . . . swirl it around on there until you get a little "lather" of bubbles, . . . brush it back and forth, . . . up and down, . . . all sorts of angles until the bubbles disappear. Repeat. Let it dry, . . . use it. I use Resolene exclusively for wallets, holsters, belts, cell phone cases, . . . etc. Funny part is the only time I've ever had dye rub off, . . . it was a small shoulder holster rig I was testing out, . . . had to go to a party, . . . didn't want to go disarmed, . . . threw it on. Got home and took off my shirt, . . . (holster was between shirt and tee shirt), . . . stinking black dye was all over my tee shirt. Got to checking it out, . . . forgot to coat it with resolene. Coated it, . . . never had any more problems. Tossed the holster as I figured out the design was flawed. May God bless, Dwight

Pretty good start, . . . Scorpio is upside down though, . . . lol.......... Seriously, . . . go for it, . . . show pics of the finished product. I make one or two of these from time to time. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, guys, . . . many of us have done the drill press bit, . . . and there is an easy "cure" for the leather sticking once you punch it. Swipe the sides of your awl with beeswax, . . . you will be amazed at how well it works. May God bless, Dwight

Another one is to take one of those little wooly daubers that come with the 4 oz of Feibings dye, . . . take a Bic lighter to it and burn it down about half way, . . . being careful not to make a torch out of it. Rub all the carbon off it, . . . dip it in the dye, . . . shake off the excess . . . and paint your edge. This is the only way I do it, . . . and I do very little of it. It is efficient though, . . . just practice a bit on some junk leather laying around, . . . you might like that process too. The dauber will then dry hard if you don't clean it with thinner, . . . and you'll have to roll it around a bit next time you need it to bet it pliable again, . . . I have a black one and a brown one for whichever I need. May God bless, Dwight

The boat anchor is a great machine, . . . can be a tad finnicky at times, . . . but I've had mine for something near 15 years now, . . . will sell it when I cash in my leatherworking chips, . . . but until then it is my "baby" for sewing. If you get one, . . . you can do like the guy did in the above video, . . . build you a better table for the machine, . . . it will save you some grief. I used mine without a table for a number of years, . . . messed up one expensive holster, . . . got my table, . . . but like him, I built my own. I mainly do belts, holsters, cell phone cases, and knife sheaths, . . . but I've done a bunch of other stuff with it too, . . . including bouncy houses, tents, tarps, whatever. Best thing is I can take it anywhere practically and use it as it needs no electric power. I settled on a thread size of 346 for all that I do, . . . set the machine for that, . . . works good. If you live near Ft. Wayne, Indiana, . . . you are really good, . . . that's the plant, . . . guy in there named Ben, . . . he's tops on working on em, . . . if I have a problem, I load mine in the Jeep, . . . I'm there in 2 1/2 hours, . . . he's been called ahead of time, . . . he clears his bench and "does his thing", . . . I take a fixed machine back home. Look out on Ebay, . . . there is usually one, . . . this one is newer than mine: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Tippmann-Boss-Leather-Sewing-Machine/202781236432?epid=26034600462&hash=item2f36b41cd0:g:0q0AAOSwcghdgYt5 Best wishes to you, . . . may God bless, Dwight

On the contrary, . . . until you have done a lot of "experimenting" and practicing on scrap leather, . . . knock those chisels thru, . . . and don't bat an eye doing it. There is a lot of art required and finesse in saddle stitching if you expect both side to look as well. That means holding the awl at such an angle that it goes perfectly 90 degrees into the leather and comes out on the other side equally spaced each time you do a stitch. The stitching chisels relieve you of a lot of that aggravation. Secondly, . . . using the dividers looks good on TV, . . . but IMHO does nothing more than mark where it should be stitched. Using a groover allows the stitch to lay down much flatter, . . . removing the chance for rubbing abrasion on the stitch. I would never send out a holster or belt that did not have the stitches put down in a groove. I hate repairing something I could have fixed right in the first place. May God bless, Dwight

First thing is to never make a 90 degree inside corner, . . . always make a rounded corner. 1. It takes away the problem you mentioned. 2. It is easier to make than a 90 degree inside corner. 3. No matter how you cut it, . . . a 90 degree inside corner will almost always have one of the two cuts go into the side of the other one, . . . and that is where the pulling and tugging of using the (whatever it is) will start to separate it and it will begin to look ugly. Rounded corners take this problem all away. May God bless, Dwight

Welcome back, . . . I been keeping the place warm. May God bless, Dwight

Yep, . . . sure do, . . . usually have one hanging on which I'm cutting. I'm down in that picture, . . . was taken maybe a year ago, . . . was running out of stock. May God bless, Dwight

On straps you do not want the wrinkles, . . . bend if first around a half inch bolt, . . . then a 3/8 inch bolt, . . . and finally a 1/4 inch bolt, . . . all while it is more than damp, . . . but not sopping wet either. AND, . . . don't just bend it around the bolt, . . . pull on it while you are doing it. This will stretch the outside layer a bit, . . . and it won't look as wrinkled. What I usually do is form mine right after I dye them, . . . OR, . . . right after the first coat of the final finish. You have to touch up either one, . . . just depends on which you want to mess with. My worst offender is the buckle end of CCW belts, . . . but with a bit of care, . . . they won't look too awful bad. May God bless, Dwight

If you just took a picture off the wall (or something similar), . . . used only 2 x 2's as the top, bottom and sides, . . . with only a half sheet of particle board, . . . you could still hang a dozen double shoulders inside that little space. Vertical space is not hard to find if you just stop and look at all the possibilities. I have one wall I'm removing next summer, . . . turning it into a storage wall, . . . as one side will be hinged, . . . opening it up to a 4 ft by 8 ft by 3 1/2 inch box, . . . 2 x 4's will be set horizontally to act as shelves, . . . I'll store a boat load of little "thingys" in there that clutter the workshop today, . . . on the wall, in boxes, on shelves. May God bless, Dwight

When I built my shop, . . . I started with the idea of rolling them, . . . but it puts a permanent or at least long lasting curl in every piece of leather. I chose to hang my leather that I'm presently using, . . . and it makes working with it a whole lot easier. I can hang something on the neighborhood of 65 sides of 8 oz leather in my "vault" if I could afford that much. In the one picture you can see that I have other stuff in there. It is two 4 x 8 sheets of particle board, . . . one is nailed to a ring of 2 x 12's that make the sides, top, and bottom of the vault, . . . the other is hinged on one side. I made arms that swing on one end, . . . so I can find the piece I'm looking for. Have never run out of space, . . . and can find anything I'm looking for in about 30 seconds or less. Wouldn't store mine any other way after using this. May God bless, Dwight

Turn it over so the seat is laying down if you cannot remove the pieces. Take a small bristle brush (1 inch from Harbor Freight for 69 cents or so is a good one), . . . dip it in a jar of neatsfoot oil, . . . NOT neatsfoot oil compound, . . . brush on a light coating to the flesh side of the leather, . . . go find something else to do for 36 hours or so, . . . Come back and see if it has become a bit more pliable. One more coat should do it if the first does not. Just about any good shoe polish should fill in those scratches, . . . not liquid, . . . paste wax in a flat round can, . . . and if you put a bit of elbow grease into the project, . . . it should look good as new for less than $15. At least that is how I would do it. May God bless, Dwight

Well, Treesner, it will sound at first as though I'm picking on you, . . . believe me I am not. ALL decent saddles that cowboys ride for a living, . . . that the cavalry rode for a living, . . . that armies for hundreds of years rode for a living, . . . were made of leather, . . . and it was polished and wiped with beeswax and beeswax compounds that while waterproofing, . . . also made them more slippery than a democrat at a town hall being asked about taxes. The riders learned how to hang on to their mounts with their legs, . . . mostly their thighs. How did I learn this, . . . I own a 700 cc King Quad with a vinyl seat that is more slippery than two of those democrats previously mentioned, . . . and I had to go back to my horseback riding days to figure out what I was doing wrong, . . . almost sliding off the Quad if I wasn't careful. I've since adjusted my riding techniques, . . . life is so much better now, . . . BUT, . . . having said that, . . . many saddles do have a "rough out" patch in the seat of the saddle that does aid in keeping seated, . . . if you were to make one like that, . . . incorporate a patch of rough out leather (not suede, just the leather turned over) I think you would find it much "grippier" so to speak, . . . and with a little imagination it could be very attractive. Also, . . . relying on past experience, . . . brushed on 50/50, . . . Resolene and water, . . . is a very good water repellant, . . . looks good, . . . and has a sun blocker built in just for these types of use. Best wishes on whatever you do. May God bless, Dwight

Pappy, . . . I don't mean to sound like an ogre, . . . but the 99% cause of sprayers not spraying is simple: not properly cleaned. Little air sprayers work like a champ, . . . but are a pain to clean and keep clean, . . . at least that has been my experience. That is why mine are all on the shelf and I use brushes. May God bless, Dwight

Honestly I had to google a coach wallet, . . . and then obenaufs, . . . just to see what the question was. If dye is coming off, . . . that means whatever protective covering that was on it, . . . was eaten off by the obenaufs product. From what I was able to glean from the couple of articles I scanned, . . . their product is more for heavy duty work boots, etc, . . . not necessarily for the finer leather products we live with, . . . as in wallets, vests, etc. That said, . . . your wallet is losing dye, . . . so it can be re-dyed, . . . or just sealed as is, . . . and if you seal it as is, . . . you have a beautiful example of "worn" leather, . . . that many revel in. I have one such coat, it's an Eddie Baur, . . . and while I did not pay retail for it , . . . it is one expensive coat, . . . especially with the "worn" look. If you decide to re-dye it, . . . and are near Columbus, . . . look up Scott at the Tandy store on Morse Road, . . . he'll clue you in on what you need. You can also buy a small bottle of Resolene, . . . mix it 50/50 with water, . . . is one of the best products out there for sealing and bringing a bit of gloss to it. Actually, . . . there are several in that store that can help you, . . . Scott is just the boss and has the most experience. Tell em I sent you. No discount, . . . but they'll get a chuckle out of it. I'm in the Marion area, . . . go down there once a month or so myself. May God bless, Dwight

Personally, . . . I would line the thing with a plastic bag, . . . one that could be easily wiped out with a washcloth or paper towel. Toothpaste, deodorant, soap, after shave, . . . eventually one or all of those will break thru your "waterproof", . . . and the bag will be ruined. Line it, . . . your problem is solved. May God bless, Dwight

Google Ohio Travel Bag, . . . They are my "go to" place for stuff I don't buy on a regular basis, . . . May God bless, Dwight

On your next "test run", . . . lay down the piece of leather you are going to use, . . . have it cut to the proper size and shape, . . . Take a bristle brush (one of them cheap Harbor Freight, . . . 1 inch, . . . 50 cent models), . . . and use neatsfoot oil (absolutely nothing else) and give it just enough coat that it is 90 % covered, . . . and I mean LIGHT. Just enough oil so it turns a "wet" color, . . . Don't get involved in covering every last square millimeter on the piece, . . . just a quick 90 % covering is great, . . . long quick strokes, . . . looking at that piece of leather, . . . should take all of about 15 seconds. Lay it on a piece of cardboard in a dark corner of your shop, . . . or put it in a drawer (keep it out of the light). 48 hours later, . . . go to your cutting / stamping / dying / antiquing, . . . etc. You'll like the result. Vegetable oil is for salads, steaks, spaghetti, and dried and cracked hands. NOT for leather. May God bless, Dwight

Make the belt, . . . tie it to a line, . . . drag it behind your buggy for 30 Kilometers in the rain, . . . allow it to dry It may be expensive, . . . but it sure is ugly, . . . I wouldn't wear it to a soccer match, . . . and I hate soccer. May God bless, Dwight

If you properly sand, bevel, and burnish the edges, . . . the glue or contact cement (if properly applied) will never be seen. Tape, OTOH, . . . will always be subject to drying out, . . . letting go, . . . and then you have a gap in that edge. Contact cement is the best in my book, . . . it is my 99% product to use, . . . Elmer's white glue rounding out that last 1%. Tape is also finnicky, funky, and hard to use compared to contact cement. The suggestion of not bringing the tape all the way to the edge, . . . leaves an edge that undoubtedly will produce a gap between the layers, . . . not a desirable feature. May God bless, Dwight