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Everything posted by Dwight
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I use Feibings dye reducer and thinner. Some folks on here apparently use everything from water to diesel fuel, . . . After messing around with some of their suggestions, . . . I went back to this formula, . . . works great. When I buy a bottle of dye (4 oz), I buy a bottle of thinner for it. Open one, . . . open the other, . . . pour em into my bottle for that dye, . . . shake well, . . . good to go. Yeah, . . . they probably save some money, . . . but with this formula I don't have to guess, . . . wonder, . . . worry, . . . or hope, . . . "how will it turn out???". AND, . . . I don't throw out as many junk pieces because the dye was the wrong color, . . . wrong shade, . . . splotchy, . . . etc. May God bless, Dwight
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It is not a 100%, . . . absolute, . . . "dyed in the wool", . . . cure: but it comes awful close. I ran into this problem some time back, . . . and found "my" solution. 1. 24 hours drying time from the very last stroke or stamp on a cased piece of leather. No heat, . . . just room temperature (70 or so F). 2. Apply a light coat of neatsfoot oil, . . . and let dry another 24 hours. 3. Dip dye everything, . . . I use Feibings oil dyes and spirit dyes, . . . all are cut 1 to 1 with thinner. I no longer have hardly any of that splotchy and streaky looking dye jobs. They are basically uniform, with the exception of the grain of the leather. May God bless, Dwight
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Here you are Don: May God bless, Dwight
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Years ago, I worked with a master carpenter named George. What he could do with wood was not short of phenominal. I was tasked to do a certain job by him, . . . and when it was done, . . . I received a few complaints by others. I suggested to him, how I could fix it, . . . and he smiled and complimented me with one of the best I have ever received. He said: "It is not the man who never makes mistakes who will become the master, . . . it is the one who can cancel out or cover up the obvious mistake that becomes the master". I never forgot it, . . . and have followed that advice in every thing I have done since, . . . and it HAS worked out. May God bless, Dwight PS: AND, . . . for only 4 months, . . . that is a beautiful billfold. Keep up the good work.
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Rickybobby, . . . I have down thru the years came across your exact situation more than once. My cure for it was simple, . . . build a wooden replica. I have a small tub of them, . . . including a S&W 29, . . . a Kahr (forget the model), . . . a little bitty .380, . . . and others. Start with the basic outline after you have made a board the appropriate thickness, . . . band saw it out, . . . sand down the edges, . . . and go for it. So far, . . . none of my customers have seen the dummy I use, because they are pretty much all mail orders, . . . but I've also never had negative feedback. I'm not out in the shop right now, . . . but if you want I can get pics and post em for you to show you what I've done. AND, . . . no it really is not hard to do. I usually knock one out in about an hour, . . . and I use my "down time" to do them. May God bless, Dwight
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It is really simple, . . . if you are using glue, . . . toss it out and graduate to contact cement. If you use so much contact cement that is squishes out, . . . you are using it wrong. Leather adhesives are simple and work well, . . . if done right. May God bless, Dwight
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Sand Belt Edges After Bevel & Before Burnish
Dwight replied to superpacker's topic in How Do I Do That?
I use a $50 belt sander from Harbor Freight, . . . a little job that sits on the table, . . . I use 120 grit belts, . . . works like a champ. BUT, . . . I sand before I bevel, . . . and keep all my beveling tools sharp, . . . get good edges that way. You will probably throw away the first belt, . . . maybe the first couple, . . . until you learn just how to do it, . . . so be prepared for that. May God bless, Dwight -
I've made my version of the Eastwood rig, . . . as dikman said, . . . it's a rough out holster, . . . I used double 6/7 for both the belt and the holster. In fact, all the leather except the belt loops, came from the same hide if I recall correctly. It is a fun one to make, . . . sometimes I wish I had kept it. May God bless, Dwight
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Bucheimer Shoulder Holsters
Dwight replied to Mike Craw's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
For the few I've used, . . . buy the right size width, . . . cut to length with hacksaw, . . . round and smooth ends on a belt sander, . . . sew into the leather and forget them. I do give em a coat of varnish or something though, . . . just to make sure they don't rust away in the first few years in there. May God bless, Dwight -
Bucheimer Shoulder Holsters
Dwight replied to Mike Craw's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
I'll second the above motion ^^^^^^ as IF I DID IT, . . . it would be my process as well. Trying to sew around something like that already bent is a process dedicated to a migraine. May God bless, Dwight -
Repairs to an old ranch saddle
Dwight replied to thenrie's topic in Saddle Identification, Restoration & Repair
Thanks, Josh, . . . I like that system, . . . especially since I'm already familiar with and use Murphy's. Since there are several, . . . worst that can happen is we trash one of them, . . . and doing em one at a time might be the ticket. May God bless, Dwight -
Personally, I've made em both ways, . . . what works the best for me is the buckle end is a single piece of leather, . . . the tongue end matches the belt, . . . but I always use 6/7 and try to find the thinner end of the hide for the tongue end. The buckle end is always one thick piece, . . . makes it so much easier to patch it back into the belt so it can be fastened. My ranger belts are made from the John Bianchi school of gun belts. May God bless, Dwight
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Repairs to an old ranch saddle
Dwight replied to thenrie's topic in Saddle Identification, Restoration & Repair
Thank you, . . . I'm going down to see them later this weekend, . . . may just try that this time. May God bless, Dwight -
Repairs to an old ranch saddle
Dwight replied to thenrie's topic in Saddle Identification, Restoration & Repair
I'm not sure there are names or makers marks on them that anyone could find or decipher, . . . they are "really" bad. Leather is hard and dry on all three, . . . fourth is a nylon skirted suede seat, . . . that could probably be on a horse in a couple of weeks, . . . All the others were taken off the horse and just put, . . . and the folks did not care where it was "put" so to speak. One is a kind of show saddle, . . . lots of silver spots on it, . . . if any of them get any kind of treatment from me, . . . it is a likely candidate. Gotta get the neatsfoot oil on them first & see if I can loosen em up a bit. I've personally got an old Jumbo, . . . love that old saddle, . . . started to re-do it years ago, . . . decided it would ruin the history, . . . so I'm sending it to a friend in Arizona who promised to use it on roundups. May God bless, Dwight -
Repairs to an old ranch saddle
Dwight replied to thenrie's topic in Saddle Identification, Restoration & Repair
I have a friend who has 3 saddles in that bad a shape, . . . she wants me to "fix" em for her. Just not sure I'm up to that, . . . but I did enjoy seeing what you did. May God bless, Dwight -
Darn good there, Forester, . . . My only complaint is not you, . . . but the prop man that gave him a gun belt with no spares on it. Bonanza is like that as well, . . . one of my pet gripes, . . . just don't think it would ever have happened, . . . but I may be wrong. Guys today carry a 5 shot revolver with no extra ammo. May God bless, Dwight
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Good morning from Marion, Ohio, . . . Good looking holster there my friend, . . . May God bless, Dwight
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http://www.selfreliancecentral.com/2018/09/19/girl-with-gun-teaches-thug-painful-lesson/ I never saw her holster, . . . but she was packin', . . . knew what to do, . . . how to do it, . . . and far as I could see, . . . did a bang up job (pardon the pun). Had her figured for purse carry. May God bless, Dwight
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Somewhere in the actions we do, . . . our final product is different. When I use Weldwood contact cement, . . . I do not put it together until it is DRY, . . . and I mean DRY. Touching it anywhere will not get a tacky or moist feel at all. The only thing that will stick to it, . . . is another piece of something with contact cement on it. I stick the two pieces together, . . . and somehow PRESS them together, . . . palms of my hands work, . . . a seam roller from wallpapering days also works well, . . . especially on the edges. I then sand the edges of everything I make, . . . to make them even, . . . and when I burnish, I cannot hardly at all see see the line where the two pieces come together. May God bless, Dwight
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That's Feibings British Tan, . . . probably my most used color. I cut it 1 to 1 with Feibings thinner and dip dye all my projects. May God bless, Dwight
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This is a picture of my money belt, . . . this one is a rough out leather belt, . . . since it is not curved to help keep it up, . . . the rough out takes over that job a bit. It is all one piece for the belt itself, . . . only sewn at the top, . . . and should easily hold silver dollar size coins. The buckle end has the usual treatment on the one end of it, . . . the other end goes down thru a 2 inch slot in the top and the bottom sections of the belt, . . . goes back under the belt and is fastened with the two snaps you see. Unless you have a pretty good size waist, . . . that many cartridges may get bunched quite a bit, . . . I'd probably do a shotshell slide if I wanted to take them with me for some reason. This makes a pretty belt, as well as a practical belt. May God bless, Dwight
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Help with Avenger style holster
Dwight replied to Hildebrand's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
In the design for the back loop, . . . you "stepped down" from the holster opening. Do just the opposite, . . . raise it a half inch on the next one. Raise the front slot as high as it will go, . . . and it will give you some cant on the gun. Once you have move the back slot up, . . . tip the gun forward to the cant you want, . . . mark it, . . . make the next one there. When I run into these problems (thankfully not often), . . . the holster that does not work gets cut up, . . . leather sewn on, . . . stitches pulled out, . . . and re-worked until it DOES do what was intended, . . . or thrown into the "other holster" box. This one would get the rear stitches removed, . . . slot lengthened, . . . rear slot cut off, . . . other leather sewn back on, . . . a new slot put in, . . . and then check for fit. May God bless, Dwight -
Burnishing edges on a holster
Dwight replied to LeatherCaptain's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
Practice, . . . practice, . . . practice. Use old scrap leather pieces, . . . practice on them and pitch them. May God bless, Dwight -
Most likelly my last one
Dwight replied to katsass's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
I'm with dikman, my friend, . . . love to see at least a "Howdy" every week or so, . . . chime in and pour decades of information on us, . . . and don't be afraid to whale on us. You could also make up a picture gallery of 30 or 40 of your best ones, . . . give the newbies a goal to shoot for. Don't forget to remind them about Mop & Glo, . . . May God bless, Dwight -
Most likelly my last one
Dwight replied to katsass's topic in Gun Holsters, Rifle Slings and Knife Sheathes
Hey, Mike, . . . we missed you my friend, . . . VERY glad to see you back on the keyboard and the leather working table. If I said you were instrumental in enhancing my love of leather working, . . . I would be just scratching the surface. You have been a tremendous example to all of us here, . . . along with Lobo, . . . and a few others. Keep up the good work, . . . and don't let that be your last one, . . . the folks down at Mop & Glo are depending on you to keep them in business. May God bless, Dwight