Dwight

Considering that you seem to have stained, burnished edges, and finished what you have, . . . I'd probably hole punch the ends, . . . and so a "X" lacing, . . . like shoe strings, . . . but loose, . . . it would hold the sides together and make a "pouch" out of it for your phone. First thought anyway, . . . Or if you are truly ambitious, . . . you could sew a toe plug into each end (search toe plug on here, . . . you'll see what it is). May God bless, Dwight

Gymnast, . . . I'm not sure exactly what you are trying to do there, . . . but that conglomeration is certainly not safe for any kind of gymnastic activity more than perhaps attaching a rolled up exercise mat to it. You need to seek some professional advice from people and companies who make the product you are trying to invent. The D ring alone being sawn in the back, . . . will come apart under a not very severe load. Do not trust that rig to any human being, . . . trusting it for life or limb protection. May God bless, Dwight

Chief is right, . . . as most are the same. My little M&P Shield is one of the exceptions, . . . it is not as thick as a 92FS or as my wife's Ruger, . . . just be aware that there are differences. May God bless, Dwight

You are way over thinking this situation. Call him up and determine the mag capacity, . . . the standard 15 rd mag is 4 7/8 inches long, . . . 1 1/4 wide, . . . and 3/4 thick. Also find out if he wants friction fit, . . . or a loop over them with a snap to hold em in. The second one is my preference, . . . as friction fit can get loose and you can drop or loose a mag without a snapped cover over it. Then, . . . take a 1 x 2 that you buy from Lowes, . . . it is 3/4 x 1 1/2, . . . sand it down to the 1 1/4, . . . cut it off to 5 inches, . . . round one end and all 4 edges, . . . use it for your mold. I never make a mag pouch using a regular mag simply because if you do you wind up with a pointed mag that only accepts the mag when the bullets are pointed one way. Using my technique, the user can put them in either way. A person who carries a lot, . . . practices a lot, . . . and is proficient will carry theirs only one way, . . . for example, me, . . . mag is on my left side, . . . bullets pointing back, . . . I pull the mag, . . . re-orient it nose up, . . . and my bullets point forward, . . . ready to insert. I also don't use the actual mag because I don't want water in or near the customer's mags. May God bless, Dwight

I have always been hoping John Bianchi would put his cowboy holster video on line. I doubt if anyone has taken the time and effort that he did in that old VHS format. I learned more from his 3 1/2 hour or so video than any other place I've ever gone. And while the video was on how to make a western gunbelt and holster for a .45 LC, . . . so much of what he showed was also adaptable to other guns. Truly a great video series. One of my "thank you" heroes. May God bless, Dwight

I've got a couple of em . . . one is glued to a board, . . . one is just a piece of leather. Both have just white jeweler's rouge on them, . . . both sharpen scissors, knives, razor cutters, chisels, . . . and just about anything else I want to slap on there. Main part is to see (and watch as you use it) black residue being deposited on the strop. If it is not, . . . no "cutting" action is being done. If black is being deposited, . . . you are moving metal. The most important part is not the strop, . . . but the technique, . . . which I cannot teach here, . . . not enough space. Sufficient to say, . . . practice a bit, . . . check your progress, . . . change what you are doing when it is not working. It will probably not be the strop, . . . but your technique. ALWAYS, . . . pull your blade along the strop AWAY from the sharp edge. Watch your angle, . . . try to duplicate the one the factory put on there. If you are not sure if you have the right angle, . . . blacken the edge with a permanent black sharpie pen, . . . strop a few times, . . . then look at your tool and see where the black came off. It should have been completely along the angle of the grind, . . . if not, . . . adjust accordingly. May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . much to my personal belief that it would be a wasted effort, . . . headed out to the shop with a leather pattern on my mind. You'll never believe where I found it, . . . the last place I looked ! Seriously, I did find it, . . . and you are welcome to it, . . . PM me your full name and address. I'll put some directions in with it, . . . and will only ask one thing, . . . make yourself a copy and send mine back to me. So far in over a decade of doing this, I've only made 2, . . . and each was a little different, . . . but this is the one I liked. May God bless, Dwight

Let me take a look, . . . see if I still have the pattern, . . . those "one of a kind" things I sometimes hang onto the pattern for a while and when it gets in the way, I pitch it. I'll take a look later today or tomorrow see what I can find. May God bless, Dwight

Would you want something like this? May God bless, Dwight

RockyAussie said it first, . . . but is worth quoting, . . . darn good job in my book. PLUS, . . . I had to kind of chuckle, . . . I'm in the process of building a little coal forge, . . . a Shawnee pattern tomahawk will be one of the first products from it, . . . and I was kicking ideas around in my head the other day for the carrier for it. May God bless, Dwight

I'm not sure what you are attempting to do, . . . but I've used a plastic $99.00 Brother sewing machine to sew multiple layers of heavy webbing to themselves for pulling straps, . . . and to canvas to make a makeshift carrier for a human body (long story, . . . totally legal and above board). The secret is doing two things: 1) put the pieces together first with contact cement, . . . and leave them together for 24 hours under some small weights (a board and a 5 lb sack of flour), . . . then 2) sew it and use carpet thread purchased from Joann fabric. The strength of that "union" defies common belief. AND, . . . it can be done with your basic home style sewing machine. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Josh, . . . looks good, . . . especially the 1911, . . . my favorite. May God bless, Dwight

That is some good looking leather work, for sure. Just one quick question though: John, . . . any chance of a couple pics with it being worn??? My chest rig is a lot different, . . . would like to see yours "in action" so to speak. Thanks, . . . may God bless, Dwight

Gene . . . . mistakes like that are the reason folks have been using leather for centuries. Like the old saying about Timex, . . . takes a licking and keeps on ticking, . . . leather is the same. But we are talking sporadic, unintentional, mistakes, . . . a steady diet of dunking leather in gasoline or other materials like that will dry it out, . . . it'll crack like crazy, . . . ain't worth carrying home after a while. My saddle is nearing if not past the century mark, . . . and if I still rode, . . . it would be good for decades more use. I'm sending it to a friend in Arizona just for that reason, . . . he can use it, . . . I'm done. But seriously talking about glue, . . . I use Elmer's white glue if I need to move something around after I stick it the first time. Other than that, . . . it's Weldwood. I found using only a couple of products allows me to know what I'm going to get using it. May God bless, Dwight

If you are having trouble with Weldwood, . . . you are not doing something right. Flesh side to flesh side adhesions, . . . once set (several hours after initial contact), . . . you will pull leather apart making them separate. Hair side, . . . you have to take sand paper or a wire brush (better) and scuff up the hair side, . . . then the same will occur as above. Flexible after cured, . . . yes, . . . but you have to remember that layers of leather are like layers of wood. Instead of "plywood" you have "plyleather", . . . and it will be significantly less prone to bending and flexibility. Yes, . . . for all tense and purposes . . . . water proof. If you have to have something solvent proof, . . . leather is the wrong product to use to begin with. Oil should not bother it either, unless you soak it, . . . in which case you probably ruined the leather piece as well. Accidental and incidental spills of water, oil, and solvent should have been taken care of by the topcoat you put on the product. May God bless, Dwight

Good lookin, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Would sure like to see the rest of it......... at least the other side. May God bless, Dwight

Good job, Mike Wise, . . . and you are a much more industrious man than I. I complain to a certain extent having to sew belts with a Tippmann Boss, . . . a 20 minute to 1/2 hour process for me (74 yrs old and enough arthur-rightus to make pulling that handle a bit of a chore). A 42 inch belt runs something near 500 stitches, . . . and my right shoulder fusses with me the rest of the day. But again, . . . nice belt, . . . wear it happily and proudly. May God bless, Dwight

Kydex and rivets like the manufacturer supplies. May God bless, Dwight

Here are some pics, . . . actually used 4 bulbs, . . . thought it was only three. Go to Lowes, . . . buy the lumber and usually they'll cut it for you. At least I can usually get them to do it, . . . I explain it has to fit in my Jeep. You can't see the hooks in the picture, . . . they are at the top, . . . put a coat hanger in there with whatever needs dried / hardened. I will probably go with smaller bulbs later on, . . . this dries em out just a tad fast for me. May God bless, Dwight

Actually all I did was mount 3 porcelain pull chain fixtures to the bottom of the box, . . . wired em up, . . . put a switch on the box, . . . installed the bulbs, . . . voila, . . . it works. May God bless, Dwight

Actually the "drying bag" is an extension of my "drying box" I have. It's about 12 by 18 and 48 inches tall. Full door on the 18 x 48 front. Put a couple of hanger hooks in the top, . . . 3 each, 100 watt incandescent light bulbs sit on the bottom, . . . thermometer sticks out the door up topside. I've never heard about the 180 deg water for hardening leather, . . . but I can tell you for a fact that 135 to 145 deg dry heat from those light bulbs will dry out and harden a holster almost to the point you could use it as a weapon. Don't recall who (someone on here) sparked the idea, . . . but I ran with it, . . . and use it occasionally if I see a real need for it. The bag is a cheap alternative. May God bless, Dwight

Mike, . . . can I throw you a constructive criticism, if you don't mind??? Your barrel end is a tad tight, . . . give it just a bit more leather. Western holsters should be more rounded, . . . instead of profiling the outline and symmetry of the weapon. THEN, . . . go to the hardware store, . . . buy a slick and varnished claw hammer handle (one of them wooden ones), . . . cut the top off it where the hammer head would go, . . . sand that smooth and varnish it, . . . use that hammer handle to open up, smooth, and pattern the barrel part of the holster. I about laughed myself silly when I saw John Bianchi do that in one of his videos, . . . as I was trying to think ahead and see how he was going to do things, . . . when I saw that trick I about lost it. Had a broken hammer handle in the shop, . . . got it fixed up, . . . been using it for over 10 years, . . . makes the nicest and prettiest holster bottoms you can imagine. Anyway, . . . just a couple of suggestions. May God bless, Dwight

Here you go: https://www.tandyleather.com/en/category/rawhide May God bless, Dwight

OK, . . . what you want to do is wet the pieces, . . . hang them in as near the shape as you want them, . . . get a 55 gallon drum liner, . . . make a bag that hangs open end down, use a garbage can lid or something to keep the top nice and big, . . . the heat will hang tight up in the top of that bag, . . . hang the leather in the bag, . . . and put a couple of 150 watt incandescent bulbs below the bag, . . . Check it every hour or so until you see how the first pieces come out. OR, . . . if you have a furnace with floor ducts, . . . it might be hot enough if you hang the bag right over one of them. THEN, . . . get a bottle of Resolene, . . . mix it 50/50 with water and coat each piece inside and out. After about 3 or 4 coats it will harden it up really good. It'll also shine the heck out of it. TRY . . . a piece with the metallic paint first, . . . the resolene may go over it with no problem, . . . but it will have to be dry first. If not . . . take a piece of steel wool and lightly scuff the surface of the resolene, . . . then paint over top of it. Have fun, . . . may God bless, Dwight