Dwight

We will excuse you for being a KW fan, . . . everyone has to have some sort of hang up, . . . If you want to make your first belt, . . . get some shoulder leather, . . . buy a nice double shoulder . . . get a 6/7 ounce weight. Measure the belt you have on right now, . . . from the outside of the buckle, . . . to the hole you use the most. THAT is the size belt you will be making. You are going to need a pattern, . . . believe it or not, . . . in order to get both ends to work out correctly. Send me an email address, . . . I'll send you the patterns for each end. I cut two pieces from the shoulder, . . . side by side, . . . 1 and 7/16 inches wide, . . . do the end treatments, . . . contact cement them together, . . . sand and smooth the edge, . . . sew the two pieces together, . . . bevel and dress the edges, . . . give both sides a light coat of neatsfoot oil (the oil, . . . not the compound), . . . when it dries, (24 hours minimum later), . . . Idip dye them in Feibings oil dye, . . . reduced 1 to 1 with Feibings reducer, . . . and allow that to dry for another 24 hours. My favorite color is saddle tan, . . . but you can pick your poison. The darker tans and black, . . . generally will dye more smoothly, . . . less blotchy places. Finish with a couple light coats of Resolene, . . . cut 1 to 1 with clean tap water. You will then have a belt that will last you 20 years, . . . providing of course that you don't do too much of that pizza and sub-sammiches while you watch Ohio State whoop up on KW. Just holler if there is anything else we can do to help.............. May God bless, Dwight PS: I'm actually a second generation Carter County fellow, . . . married to a first generation Lewis County lady (50 yrs and counting).

Woo-hoo, . . . I love the paint job. Not a big fan of purple, . . . but sometimes, . . . and this is one of them. Cannot offer any specifics on "how to" to make it better, . . . but if that was mine, . . . I'd play with it in my spare time, . . . for days, . . . until I got it working again. Best wishes and all the encouragement I can muster up, . . . is yours, . . . go for it. May God bless, Dwight

Same here in Ohio........... May God bless, Dwight

Go ahead, . . . but make the tool first, . . . Piece of conduit (3/4 inch), . . . cut it off square, . . . ream the inside so there are no burrs, . . . sharpen it all the way around before you begin the cutting. Cut it half way thru, . . . cross ways, . . . then cut the "cut piece" down the middle, . . . and then bend those wings back 90 degrees. Have fun, . . . and show us your handy work. May God bless, Dwight

That's easy, . . . When I started making belts, . . . I did not like the way it looked after a while with the two pieces just butting up against each other. A wrinkle would develop, . . . especially if it was flipped over backwards one or two too many times. So I set about to find a better way. That is what I developed. The one picture shows the tool, . . . just a piece of conduit I sharpened all the way around, . . . cut it half way through (cross ways) the split the cut half and bent them back 90 degrees. As you can see, . . . they come together nicely, . . . and the irregular shape keeps the belt from developing the "wrinkle". May God bless, Dwight

Thanks JD62, . . . sometimes the obvious goes over our head like Canadian geese in the spring time. Gotta get some pins and a board, . . . but the "small piece" is what I should have done. I just automatically thought of this place as I have had SO MANY questions answered at one time or another. May God bless, Dwight

I'll second Josh's motion, . . . just change M&G to Resolene, . . . Process is pretty much the same though. May God bless, Dwight

Chick, . . . do yourself a favor, . . . buy a Tippmann Boss. They can mail the darn thing, . . . it doesn't need electricity, . . . and will sew up to 3/4 of an inch of dry leather. They are in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. https://tippmannindustrial.com/tippmann-boss-leather-sewing-machine/ I've had mine over 10 years now, . . . don't know how I'd do leather work without it. May God bless, Dwight

I have several deerskins I was getting ready to use in a project, . . . and when the previous owner had them, . . . they were folded. That put some wrinkles in the leather, . . . and of course around the edges there are always some wrinkles etc. I was thinking of wetting them all down and stretching them out to dry, . . . hoping that would get rid of the wrinkles and folds. Anyone got any advice, . . . DO IT ???, . . . DON'T DO IT ??? Don't want to ruin the leather, . . . but if I could get it all flattened out, . . . it would make the job a whole big bunch easier. May God bless, Dwight

Ok, . . . its a garage, . . . go buy enough porcelain chain pull fixtures so you can put them in a grid about 6 feet apart, . . . buy LED daylight white bulbs, . . . get a "good guy" to wire them up for you using metal EMT and metal boxes, . . . you can put 20 of those (equivalent to a 60 watt bulb in lumens) and all can be controlled by one switch by the door. Plus there is no "heat" factor to worry about, . . . your annual electric bill may go up 25 bucks, . . . You will not believe what an absolutely wonderfully well lit work shop can do for you, . . . for your work, . . . and best of all, . . . for your attitude in general. May God bless, Dwight

Good looking work, Forester. May God bless, Dwight

I have made chaps and several vests, . . . I go to JoAnn fabrics and in the back of the store (both of them where I live) they have a cloth backed vinyl product that will sell for something in the $20 a yard price. I think (am not certain) it is called marine vinyl, . . . I do know it is tough as nails, . . . about the same as your deer skin in thickness, . . . and approximates leather very good for patterns. One yard for you will be a piece 36 inches wide and 45 inches long. For your shirt, . . . be sure to line it with a substantial but none the less silky feeling material, . . . so it slips on and off easily and will move around on the person without hanging up and looking wrinkled. I'm not sure what you call it . . . I know what it is when I buy it for my vests. I make the vest, . . . then use it for the pattern for the lining, . . . I then turn both inside out, . . . and apply a very light coating of contact cement to the edges about 3/16 of an inch wide. I then sew them together around the edges (except the bottom) turn them right side out, . . . go around the edge again about an 1/8 of an inch in from the edge, . . . then fold the bottom under, . . . and sew it together from the outside. When I make my deerskin shirt, . . .I will use a very similar process. I want one very similar to the one Roy Orbison used to wear on stage. Similar to the enclosed picture. May God bless, Dwight

I would surely like to know how you kept all those card slots so flat. Can you give us a drawing or picture to show us the secret?? Really looks good, . . . in fact, . . . I've got a "sort of" nephew I've got to make a wallet for, . . . that may be his pattern if you don't mind. May God bless, Dwight

All of my sewing is done with a Tippmann Boss, . . . and yeah, . . . I follow the same pattern as JLS did. I just cannot go the other way, . . . as the throat becomes a problem, . . . and the fact that I'm right handed, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Considering that the galvanizing itself is resistant to corrosion, . . . then we have the layer of contact cement which is resistant to allowing moisture thru (same for galvanizing), . . . and then several coats of Resolene (or something similar) to top coat the leather. THEN, . . . after the moisture has made it's way down thru all of that, . . . the corrosion has to make it's way up, . . . The article would be worn out and useless before all that would take place, . . . May God bless, Dwight

While not notorious for doing so, . . . sometimes a magazine can become a problem and has to be dropped, . . . replaced. That is the reason for the "first" extra mag. The second extra mag is for places some of us have to go that in years past, . . . would have been traversed only by a fire team that had air support. You apparently don't have those places, . . . some of us do. I have 1 magazine places, . . . 2 magazine places, . . . and some places that I just don't go thru any more. As a child, . . . walked those streets with no fear at all, . . . worst thing that might have happened would have been a snowball fight. Today, . . . that area is the first part of the nightly news, . . . with one or two of the day's daily shootings or stabbings. And, yes, . . . I am proficient with my 1911, . . . just want to be sure I come home each night. May God bless, Dwight

I had a Singer 155 for a while, . . . alongside the Tippmann Boss I already had. The Singer stayed about 3 months, . . . got sold, . . . have never looked back. If I were you, . . . the Tippmann Boss is the only machine I would look at. This one is on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tippmann-Boss-Sewing-Machine/302946884584?epid=99171804&hash=item46890a9be8:g:1fEAAOSwNUlb4HF1:rk:1:pf:0 It is used, but probably not a problem. I've had mine for nearly 10 years, . . . it WILL SEW up to 3/4 inch of dry leather, . . . it allows you to put the stitch EXACTLY where you want it, . . . and cannot get into run away mode like an electric machine can. I sew belts with it, . . . an average 50 inch long belt (for a 44 inch waist) takes about 20 minutes. Sew one side, . . . grab a cup of coffee, . . . do the other. It is an awesome machine, . . . their service is second to none in my book (I drive it up there if I have a problem, . . . Ben cleans off his work space and fixes it, . . . and I drive home). Mostly I do holsters with it, . . . go to Dwights Gunleather on facebook and you can see some of the things I've produced with it. May God bless, Dwight

I'm not really sure who told you that about the swivel knife, . . . but I'll challenge the statement. Swivel knives, unlike ratchets or welders or handguns, . . . are pretty darn near the same the world over except for one distinguishing part: sharpness. A cheap, pot metal and plastic swivel knife with a good blade that is SHARP, . . . let me say again SHARP, . . . will do anything you want it to do especially for the first 4 or 5 years as a hobby leather worker. The only difference you will find is that a regular blade will have two cutting points, . . . and an angled blade will only have that one point as it has a 45 degree (?) angled cutting blade when you look at it being held perpendicular. You will need to get two knives (best choice) or at least both blades. Make a stropping block by contact cementing a piece of 7/8 oz leather to a nice flat 1 X 6 about 18 to 24 inches long, . . . rub it real good with white rouge, . . . and take a piece of 1/4 inch steel about 4 or 5 inches long, . . . rub it the length of your stropping block, . . . look for the black places it leaves on the block, . . . that is where the rouge is working, . . . get it so that about 75% of the board looks grey or black. Then sharpen a couple knives on it (might make your wife happy). When you get your knife from Tandy or wherever, . . . it will only be kinda sorta sharp, . . . I have a 200/400/600 grit block I got from Harbor Freight that I use on my knives, etc. . . . to get me started, . . . but that stropping block is THE KEY to final sharp. You want that edge to be like a mirror, . . . work out all the little machining grooves etc. THEN, . . . you will have a knife that you can use. May God bless, Dwight

Just remember that air brushed dye is just barely on the surface. Almost any serious rub against it will reveal the bare leather. I have a compressor and several air brushes just taking up space in my shop because I don't like the depth of air brushed dye jobs. I'm still dip dyeing everything. May God bless, Dwight

My adult belts have holes spaced at 1 inch apart. Kid's belts that age would get 3/4 inch spacing. I also punch 7 holes instead of being cheap like most are and only punching 5 (in the hope the belt no long fits sooner, . . . they get to do another belt). I don't use snaps on my belts, . . . I use chicago screws, . . . and would do the same for the kid's belt. May God bless, Dwight

I very seldom (can't recall the last one) make a single layer belt. They are all double layer, . . . and most of em are destined for CCW. All my belts are veggie and veggie, . . . contact cemented flesh to flesh, . . . makes an almost indestructable tool for carrying things on your waist. My thinnest belts I make measure out (when put together) at something around .160 or roughly 10/11 oz. My thicker ones (I'm wearing one right now, and it is my "go-to" belt 6 3/4 days out of 7 ) actually run a full .250 which is 16 oz. With that in mind, . . . try a 3/4 oz backer and see how you like it. Take a look on here, I replied a couple times in this, . . . one place I did a little video, . . . take a look at it, . . . belts like this are easy. May God bless, Dwight

I have a similar problem with oval punching the holes for some of my belts. How I've "cured it" is to first hit a very light stroke, . . . allowing me to see if it is where it should be, . . . adjusting if necessary, . . . then punching. My belt holes have become significantly better since I started that practice. Try it, . . . just might work for you as well. May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . I'd say shoot it and bury it, . . . but I'd only be joking, . . . one of those personal things, . . . I don't do snakes, . . . including snakeskin. It is, though, . . . a good looking piece of raw material, . . . best wishes on how you use it and what you do with it. May God bless, Dwight

Personally, . . . I would prop the split open, . . . dab a VERY LITTLE BIT of Weldwood contact cement to both sides, . . . dry with my heat gun, . . . press together, . . . and roll out with a seam roller. Next step would be a 2 inch long by 1 inch wide piece of fabric, . . . again, . . . Weldwood would be used to apply the fabric to the back side. Be very careful about not letting any of the wet glue get up to the hair side of the leather, . . . it will not dye as previously stated. This WILL WORK, . . . white glue will probably squeeze through the crack, ruining the whole thing, . . . yellow is not a good choice, . . . and the meat glue is totally unknown to me. May God bless, Dwight

If you take the rawhide and get it right real good sopping wet, . . . it can be molded, . . . then dried, . . . a piece of veggie tan can then be wet down, . . . molded to the rawhide, . . . and when it dries, . . . contact cemented to the rawhide. I had a knife sheath a couple years back I did that to, . . . only didn't use veggie tan, . . . used suede, . . . if I say so myself, it was brilliant and worked like a charm. Guy who got it was happy as a squirrel in a bucket full of nuts. That rawhide will make one stiff holster. Also, . . . force dry the veggie tan at about 135 F, . . . and it will harden it up as well. The hardest holster I ever made was a pancake made out of 4 layers of 6/7 veggie tan, . . . 2 layers (flesh to flesh) made the back, . . . and 2 layers (flesh to flesh) made the front. Once molded and dried, . . . I think you could knock a guy out with it if you threw it like a frisbee. The knife sheath is below: May God bless, Dwight