Dwight

I had the website up for something near 10 years, . . . and in all actuality, . . . it more than paid for itself. What I liked about it, most of all, . . . I could put examples on there, . . . especially my own creation of IWB that is totally tuckable, . . . I've never been made with it and I've worn it all sorts of places. Would I suggest you fix one up? Yes, . . . it is a good advertising tool, . . . and in today's commercial world, if you don't have a website, . . . well you are just the "trailer trash" of the commercial world. There are lots of places where you can get it done, . . . I did my own, . . . my way, . . . which is kind of my thing. Best wishes which ever way you go. May God bless, Dwight

Well hmmmm, . . . I make a concoction of 50% beeswax and 50% neatsfoot oil (use the real oil, . . . not that compound stuff), . . . and I do it by weight. I actually weigh the amount of beeswax I've got in "this little bag", . . . then add an equal amount of neatsfoot oil. I put em in a quart jar, . . . set the quart jar in a little crock pot I keep just for that job . . . come back some time later, . . . it's all mixed together. When I've made it and it was kind of soft and squishy, . . . it seemed like I'd used more oil, . . . maybe not. Put it back in the cooker and try more wax, . . . see what happens. Personally, . . . I love the look I get from it, . . . used it on my own personal cowboy rig, . . . and I just chuckle when I see it. One of my favorites. Not much new here, . . . doing a few holsters and a knife sheath at the moment, . . . had to shut down long enough to build a snow blade rig for my quad, . . . needed something to keep the snow off the parking lot and driveway. I shut down my website, . . . going to re-do the whole thing or scrap it, . . . have not made up my mind yet. Wife wants me to shut down and retire, . . . and that is an option at least. If you decide to put up a website, . . . Go Daddy is pretty easy to use, . . . and they have always been friendly and treated me right. May God bless, Dwight

More oil.

Because you have two holes, . . . this is a natural for a kydex template. Of course, . . . make a "perfect" pattern in paper, . . . transfer it to a piece of kydex (get it at Tandy leather shop), . . . punch two holes, . . . lay template on leather, . . . mark and punch holes, . . . lay template back on leather, . . . drop couple of small bolts into the holes to hold template from moving, . . . grab the razor knife an start cutting. They will be as perfectly symmetrical as you are able to cut them, . . . May God bless, Dwight

No offence my friend, . . . some folks are content to farm stuff out, . . . others like to keep it in house if possible and practical. I'm the latter guy, . . . got burned too many times in years past on other things, . . . found out if you want a job done right, . . . best do it yourself if you can. Actually that is what got me re-interested in leather work, . . . making my own leather for my guns, . . . and I just branched out. I know the quality my customer will get, . . . but do not know what they will get from an XYZ holster sold here in the states from Naugatuck, . . . but actually produced in China or some similar place. My cards are a reflection of me and my method: simple, to the point, unadorned, and unpretentious. AND, . . . if I ever decide that I need to make a change, . . . since I only run em 10 at a time, . . . I haven't lost much if I decide to chuck the ones I've got now, . . . in favor of something better (in my opinion). But you are in my camp and tepee when you get galled by folks who use faulty practices for justification of their pricing system. They call it a "cost of doing business", . . . and I just call it tomfoolery, . . . May God bless, Dwight

And then again, . . . for the simple minded who need business cards, . . . there is this option: print em yourself, . . . 250 cards for 8 bucks. I did the artwork and layout myself one evening, . . . I'm happy with it, . . . works for me. I pull up the file, . . . lay a sheet of 10 business cards in my laser printer, . . . hit the "GO" button, . . . 10 cards in a total of 30 seconds or so. May God bless, Dwight

Years ago, . . . I worked for an electrician who basically took his cost of materials, . . . multiplied it by 3, . . . and that was the price. Now, sure, . . . there were adjustments, . . . but the cost x 3 was his starting point. I basically did the same thing with my leather shop when I first started out. I took the time to figure out a few items, . . . the ones that sell the best, . . . did a detailed work up, . . . and ever since, I've just adjusted upwards more or less the % that my raw materials go up. I also put in 10% for THIMS, . . . (things I missed). If you really want to do it, . . . an Excel worksheet is your answer. Put in the item, . . . divide it down to feet (length), . . . square feet, . . . liquid ounces, . . . etc. Add into it the cost of your conchos, . . . belt buckles, . . . rivets, . . . chicago screws, . . . If you take the time to set the thing up correctly, . . . all you have to do is hit one button, . . . it will tell you the actual cost you paid, . . . or the replacement cost (new pricing is taken into account), . . . etc. May God bless, Dwight

Air brushing seems like it would have the best effect

CENTER of the buckle, . . . tothe the hole most used, . . . divide that dimension in half, . . . that is your center point for the name. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Ken, . . . couple notes, . . . 6 oz will be good for the outside panel, I use 6/7 for my gun belts and it works out fine. 3/4 oz calf is the "top of the line" for the loops, . . . but can be hard to come by. I use 4/5 veggie tan, . . . punch the holes at 3/4 inch long, . . . cut the strap just over 13/16, . . . makes a nice fit. Wet the strap good before you start the weave, . . . pull it thru, . . . then back thru the same slot, . . . pulling it tight around a cartridge, . . . and leave the cartridge in there for a good 15 to 20 minutes, . . . then very gingerly slip the cartridge out and let it all dry. I would not use 6/7 for a backing, . . . probably 3/4 or pigskin, . . . 6/7 will make it almost 1/4 inch thick . . . kind of hard to handle. Measure the diameter of the cartridge, . . . the thickness of the leather, . . . add 1/16 of an inch, . . . that is the dimension, center to center, that you want to punch your weaving holes. May God bless, Dwight

I had to call my Tandy store, . . . I recall a leather I got from them a couple years ago, . . . It's called Milled Vegetable Tanned leather. Very soft like deerskin or goat skin, . . . seems to be very strong, . . . very pliable, . . . and while it would have to be shallow work, . . . I believe it could be impressed or embossed. May God bless, Dwight

Can you pop up a picture or drawing of a typical hat you would make? Probably help the idea process. May God bless, Dwight

Yes it is, . . . it is a bit stiffer, . . . but I use a very light coating on both, . . . mostly insides of gun bags, wallets, purses, . . . stuff that don't flex that much anyway. One thing you can do is only do the edges, like many handbags are done. They use some kind of rubber cement or double face tape to hold the liner to the zipper and to the leather, . . . sew all three together at the same time. I prefer contact cement. Very thin fabric, especially if it is light colored can let it show thru, . . . Mess with it, . . . you'll probably find you like it. Put a dab down on the fabric, . . . use an old credit card or putty knife to spread it out real thin, . . . dry it with a heat gun, . . . have a go at it. May God bless, Dwight

I'll give you the other advice, . . . buy the Boss. I've had mine for over 10 years, . . . and yes, I've had problems with it, . . . just like anything else man made. I truly believe the word temperamental should be more applied to the operator than to the machine, though, . . . as mine does just about anything I ask it to do, . . . sometimes on the second or third try, . . . but it does it. All of my other sewing machines are or were the same way, . . . including Brother, Singer, etc. The Boss gives you the ability to put the stitch EXACTLY where you want it, . . . and nobody will convince me that an electric machine will do the same thing. Plus, . . . it can be un-clamped and set up on the shelf, . . . something again, not usual with an electric. It also is manual, . . . meaning if I want to go to the barn with it, . . . I can, . . . the county fair, . . . a gun show, . . . I don't know how close you are to a Tandy outlet, . . . but you can go to ours here in Columbus, Ohio, . . . they'll give you a demonstration and let you play with it a while if you want to. That is how I decided on mine, . . . I will say one more thing, then go, . . . it does give one a hankering for an electric machine, . . . when I'm stitching a 53 inch cowboy belt, at 6 stitches per inch, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Contact cement has worked for me for years on end. May God bless, Dwight

That's also why Tandy sells a product called "bag stiffener" It works May God bless, Dwight

Line 20 snaps are 3/16 diameter (male part), . . . line 24 are 5/16 diameter for the male part. Hope this helps, . . . may God bless, Dwight

Take the knife, . . . add two layers of masking tape to each side, . . . put a little beeswax or parrafin on it, . . . slip it into the sheath and let it stay for 24 hours. Take it out, . . . peel off the masking tape, . . . try the knife again. By then, it should fit rather nicely. I do that same process to tight holsters, . . . but I use a plastic freezer bag. I also NEVER put rivets in a knife sheath along the blade. I know it is not probable, . . . but if you ever make the mistake of swinging the knife down into a piece of wood or something, . . . and the knife is still in the sheath, . . . where the rivets are, . . . you will have a serious gouge in your knife blade. Ellsworth Lynn Beach, my 8th grade scoutmaster, taught me that back in 1957, . . . never forgot it. Same goes for hatchet and ax sheaths, . . . round knife holders, . . . anything with a good edge on it. May God bless, Dwight

OK, . . . now that we have discovered it is not a biker belt, . . . and not a battery belt (used by nerds to carry small batteries to recharge their cell phones, . . . battery is sewn into the belt in many cases, or serves as the buckle), . . . and in fact, . . . a belt used to hold a battery in place on a motorcycle. I'm just going to say good luck to you, my friend, because if you are using upholstery leather, . . . on a vehicle battery, . . . it ought to last a good 30 days in the sun, heat, frost, dew, rain, and whatever the biker subjects it to. And that is not saying anything about the fumes which come out of a battery being used to start and run a vehicle, . . . That is the reason battery hold down's are made out of metal, . . . But have fun, . . . just be ready to see it come back in less than optimal condition. May God bless, Dwight

I had to google the term "battery belt", . . . having no idea what it was. So the question becomes: "where are you going to stash the battery he wants in it"?? To me, . . . that makes it almost a "have to" case for simply gluing the upholstery leather to the outside of the completed battery belt, . . . using it as a final finish. I'd also be willing to bet that if he gives it any kind of rough service, . . . you will be making him another one, . . . or he will abandon the idea. May God bless, Dwight

You will be hard pressed to beat a copper rivet, . . . properly cut and peened. But it is also a bit of work to use them. My dog collars and leashes I make have no rivets at all, . . . they are sewn. Have never had a complaint. Fact is, . . . one customer had two little pug bulls that figured out how to get each other's collar off by biting and pulling, . . . collars had shocking device they didn't want to mess with. They have yet to get my collar off each other. Yeah, . . . customer was some kind of happy. Those dogs still don't like me. May God bless, Dwight

I'm with you on this. Kinda like facebook, . . . used to be fun a few years back, . . . now so much of it is where they are, . . . what they are eating, . . . what they bought, . . . where they are going, . . . what x said to y, . . . what y said back, . . . and how x countered, . . . Give me something I can use, . . . just not interested in the day to day, . . . life stories of everyone. May God bless, Dwight

Use a little ingenuity, . . . there are bunches of punches can be made from EMT. Different size holes, . . . Cut away 1/2 of the circle, . . . becomes a punch to round the end of straps Cut away 3/4 of the circle, . . . rounds off corners Flatten it somewhat, . . . becomes an oval punch Have fun with it, . . . I've probably got a dozen punches made from EMT May God bless, Dwight

Buy a short section of 3/4 inch EMT (eletro metallic tubing), . . . better known as conduit. It needs to be about 8 inches long. Take a dremel tool and sharpen the outside edge of it, . . . by sanding a bevel into the inside edge. This won't work as well for anything above 6 oz, . . . but for chaps, billfolds, purses, thin one layer belts, . . . it works great. The same thing in 1 inch, . . . makes just over a 1 inch hole. Sharpen it by running the outside against a belt sander. AND, . . . it's like the little birdie, . . . cheep, cheep, cheep. May God bless, Dwight

Three things: critical 1. That is going to be one uncomfortable holster, . . . unless he has a portly side flap of human body in which the inside of the molding can settle into. You molded way too much of the weapon into the inside. 2. Unless he is wearing a very thin belt (maybe 1 inch wide) threading it through the holes will prove to be problematic and will destroy whatever belt he is wearing. Cut your belt holes so that the tops and bottoms are on parallel planes as sides of a box, . . . not a trapezoid as you did here. 3. There is an ugly little "point" on the top of the body shield, . . . sand these off with a belt sander. Same goes for the little point on top of the back side belt loop area. These would never appear if you took the holster, . . . after final construction, but before sewing, . . . and sanded, beveled, and polished the edges. It does not add to the function of the piece, . . . but it most certainly does add to the appearance, . . . which will ultimately bring in customers or send them off to other makers. Two things: applaud 1. Your hand stitching is far better than mine was when I bought my sewing machine 2. Your molding is good, . . . not over done like so many I've seen, . . . yet done quite well enough to be useful You are starting out fairly good, . . . just pay more attention to the end user, . . . Make a mock up of any "new" pattern, . . . wear it yourself for a couple days, . . . how does it fit? How does it unholster? How does it conceal? Don't get me wrong, . . . I've made a few holsters with hidden gremlins that came up to bite later, . . . but we have all gotten through them, . . . learned from them, . . . you can also, . . . and I have a sneaking hunch you will. May God bless, Dwight