Dwight

Don't forget to sew a liner inside it too, . . . I'm getting ready for another vest for me, . . . and this time I'm thinking about lining the thing with flannel, . . . this ol' body needs a hand on keeping warm, . . . gonna give that a try. Have fun and don't forget to post pictures when you get done. May God bless, Dwight

My first attempt would be a hand held wire brush. I have one that looks very similar to a tooth brush, . . . it would be the first tool I would grab. Another I would think of is a 1 1/2 inch wide wood chisel (very VERY sharp) and if the pieces were flat enough, . . . I would use it to cut of any fibers that stick up on the piece. The cement does not penetrate deep into the leather, . . . actually, more or less, lays on top of it, . . . and it would be especially easy on any flesh side parts. May God bless, Dwight

Not meaning to tell you how to run your rodeo, . . . but with my Tippmann Boss, . . . I learned a long time ago that the TOP tension is the one you can regulate, . . . can fix, . . . can work on, . . . and make things go good. Bobbin tension on it is a hit or miss, . . . maybe yes / maybe no, . . . type thing. But if I can keep it just close, . . . manipulating the tension on the top thread will just about always give me a good stitch on both sides. Best wishes. May God bless, Dwight

Your guess, . . . yes, . . . leather firmness and thickness can affect stitching that way. What is happening is your bobbin tension is too tight for the job you are doing. Tighten the top tension to pull the stitch up into the leather. May God bless, Dwight

If you cut the belt blank, . . . then roll it from end to end around a 3/4 inch dowel, . . . flesh side inside, . . . you will be amazed at how soft and pliable they become. My belts all get this treatment before I pass them on to my customers, . . . everyone appreciates it. The amount of oil you have to put on a belt to "soften" it, . . . will also ruin it. May God bless, Dwight

Years ago, HondoMan, . . . I saw your problem. I gave up on Edge Coat, . . . instead, I went in the "edge dying" direction. Didn't take long, . . . decided on ending that relationship as well. Now I just burnish a little harder, . . . using either a Dremel tool, . . . or an electric motor I've outfitted with a burnishing wheel. It darkens the leather while it polishes it, . . . and I get a really good looking product, . . . without the hassle of doing the edges a separate color. May God bless, Dwight

I have a BSBA, . . . have never had any problems reading and understanding cursive, printed matter, union contracts, legislative mumbo-jumbo, etc. But my friend, . . . quite honestly, . . . I have read your post several times, . . . and still have no real clue as to what you want to accomplish other than a strap will be sewn to the front, sewn to the back, secured to the side, . . . and finally attached to a D ring in the back. If you were to include another 2000 to 4000 words (picture is worth a thousand words), . . . OR, . . . 3 or 4 pictures that actually show what you are doing, . . . one of us may be able to help you out. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, . . . MikeRock, I've been using mine for over a year now, . . . never a problem with it, . . . but that does sound good for any long term shut down we might do. May God bless, Dwight

For years I have used the pint can of Weldwood contact cement for my "go to" container. It sits nicely wherever I needed it to be, . . . I could use any of my brushes with it, . . . and it sealed somewhat fairly well. My problem was it didn't seal well enough, . . . and I found myself having to add thinner to the liquid as it got thicker through evaporation of the solvents. Tried something different, . . . figured I had nothing to lose. Poured it into a Skippy Peanut Butter jar (creamy at that). One of the best tricks I've learned in a year or two. The lid fits great, . . . solvent doesn't boil out, . . . if I get any on the sides, it don't stick and / or build up, . . . it all slides back down into the liquid, . . . I can tell at a glance how much I've got left, . . . and all my brushes fit the mouth of the jar. Just a tip I'm passing along to any and all who can use it. May God bless, Dwight PS: Buy the jar, . . . feed the peanut butter to the squirrels if you don't like it, . . . but keep the bottle. It's well worth the price of the peanut butter.

Well, honestly, . . . I had to go check mine, . . . and I was sure I was right on mine. It has a thin strip of leather working in place of the bias tape on fabric, . . . it wraps around the edge, . . . showing on both sides, . . . stitched all around the outside of it. I've done similar, . . . not as intricate, . . . on a bag I made for a lady once, . . . spent hours and hours on it and gave it to her for a wedding gift, . . . she dropped it off at a flea market. Just don't get discouraged, . . . it can be done with a good sewing machine and a bottle of Weldwood contact cement. May God bless, Dwight

It is a common technique in fabrics, . . . it's called bias tape, . . . this is just the leather version. It will of course, . . . have to be contact cemented or glued together before it is sewn, . . . otherwise it would run away and look some kind of ugly. Go to a Joann Fabric shop and let one of the ladies in the sewing machine dept show you how to to it. May God bless, Dwight

I wanted a small clicker die for a key ring tab, . . . Weaver Leathercraft made it for me for less than $80 if I recall correctly. I would never have cut out that many by hand, . . . you can be assured of that, . . . the clicker "does the job", . . . May God bless, Dwight

Great looking holster, . . . Sig 365 is one big pocket gun in my estimation. My son has one, . . . and outside of my Vietnam jungle jammies, . . . ain't got no pockets that big. May God bless, Dwight

Used to stitch, . . . went to staples, . . . punch holes, . . . bend over with pliers, . . . no problem. May God bless, Dwight

The worst thing you will wind up with is a good lesson, . . . so go for it. I'd wet the bottom half of that until it was some kind of soaked, . . . then take my thumbs and flatten out the outside piece. It will take a while to get it "flat" flat, . . . but if you mess with it a bit it will get to where you can hand sew it. Then you finish getting the rest of it wet, . . . allow the whole thing to dry down to a good "case" and re-do the molding. Then put it in front of a heater, . . . or in a cool oven, . . . keep it below 140 degrees, . . . the molding should take, . . . and you will have the sheath you wanted. May God bless, Dwight

Absolutely NOTHING you will do will STOP leather from attacking any metal it comes into contact with, . . . with the exception of Gold. All others will at one degree or another be attacked by the chemicals used in the tanning processes. Copper is at the top of the list for getting funky fast, . . . iron right behind it, . . . then steel and then brass and aluminum. You can mitigate it to a certain degree with various coatings, . . . but just remember that you are not going to STOP it altogether. May God bless, Dwight

The 50/50 beeswax and neatsfoot oil is an old, . . . old, . . . recipe from what I've been told. I got it from the Pacific northwest, . . . believe the lady said her grandfather or father gave it to her. Been using it for over 10 years, . . . no complaints so far. May God bless, Dwight

I think if this stays here long enough, . . . someone will chime in with "You can also use coffee to stain leather, . . . don't ask me how I know". May God bless, Dwight

Since I have a 6 inch jointer, . . . I can make boards any thickness I want. I would build a "pocket" in the top of the work bench that the stone would slide down thru with maybe 1/8 of an inch clearance left/right and front/back. That pocket would be the 3 inch deep, . . . depth of the stone, . . . and the bottom of it would be bolted solid up thru spacers that make the pocket 3 inches deep. I would also leave a 1 inch or so hole at each end, . . . in the center of the stone, . . . just in case some day I need to push it up and out of the pocket. May God bless, Dwight

bcraig, . . . Yes, . . . rougher side is the flesh side and the smoother side is the hair side. Avoid buying any leather that has a "really" rough back side to it. Generally it is not worth taking home as you will have to sand all the loose pieces off of it yourself, . . . and they in general do not produce good or good looking projects. The holsters you see in the enclosed pictures are good examples of the lines and shapes I use for my business. But to answer your question with a number, . . . there is always at least 1/2 inch of leather between the stitching on the holster and any belt slot I would cut. The two holsters you see here, . . . they are closer to one inch of leather. The holster with the black outside is a 4 layer holster as I told you about earlier, . . . 4 layers of 3/4 leather, . . . two layers bonded together for the back, . . . 2 layers making up the front. You can see the inside picture, . . . and count the 4 layers, . . . 2 black and 2 natural. The other holster shows you the flat back that would be made if you use the method I described earlier where you form the two outside layers, . . . let em dry, . . . then bond them with contact cement. ( That particular holster is made of one piece in the front one in the back, . . . it is 6/7 oz leather. ) You then insert lay the gun down on the back, . . . outline it with contact cement, . . . put contact cement on the corresponding places for the front, . . . glue em together, . . . stitch it tight, . . . cut the slots, . . . voila, . . . you have a holster. Using the 4 piece method produces a holster that is rigid beyond most folks wildest dreams, . . . that particular holster could knock a person out if thrown at their head with any force at all, . . . it is that rigid. Single layer holsters are just easier to make, . . . that is why you see so many more of them. I noticed JLS's post, . . . and he is right, . . . that is a bunch of cash for questionable leather. If you are only making a holster for a Bersa Thunder .380, . . . decide which way you want to go, . . . I'll see what I have here, . . . may have just what you need. Just PM me and let me know. May God bless, Dwight

The holster you want to make is somewhat tricky, . . . especially with the laser, . . . BUT, . . . using 2/3 leather, . . . glue two pieces, . . . flesh side to flesh side, . . . for the back. Wet form another piece to the Bersa, . . . hair side down, . . . carefully form it as close to the Bersa as you can. Let it dry. Place a piece of saran wrap over the last piece you did, . . . then carefully form another piece, . . . flesh side down, . . . let it dry. Contact cement the last two pieces together, . . . sew the whole thing together. THEN, . . . dip it in water, . . . wrap the gun in saran wrap, . . . and final form it to the weapon, . . . cut the slots, . . . enjoy. May God bless, Dwight