Dwight

Let me answer the second question first: I use a Tippmann Boss sewing machine, . . . and the presser foot is just tightened enough to work, . . . but not put deep marks on my work. It will in certain holster work I do, . . . but I just rub them out with my finger or a bone tool. But the sewing pattern is another question. In the first picture you see my pattern making tools and a short piece of belt blank. In the second picture the pattern is placed over the belt blank. It is purposely under sized by about 1/16th of an inch so I can visually see it is in the center of the blank. This one pattern can make both the fish tail pattern I put on the black belt, . . . and the lazy stitch pattern I used for the brown one. The third picture shows me marking the points on the belt blank. The last picture shows that I have used the wooden pattern and the gouging tool to make the pattern on the leather. This is simply then stitched onto the blank, . . . and I don't tie off the ends, . . . I lay them out flat in the contact cement (about an inch long), . . . and when the belt is put together, . . . the stitches are not going to move. Hope this helps, may God bless, Dwight

Thanks for the good words, guys, . . . this was a fun project. Even got another buddy to react in a fake conversation where we got the new owner of the belts, . . . to take off his belt so I could measure it. We agreed that just because a guy wore 36 jeans didn't mean his belt was a 36. Proved it when the pidgeon's belt turned out to be a 39 while he's wearing 36 jeans. Anyway, . . . we pulled one over on him, . . . but once he gets the belts, . . . he'll put it all together. Those are my favorite belts to make as well, . . . and of course all stitched on the "Boss". May God bless, Dwight

Had a friend who wanted 2 new belts for her hubby, . . . anniversary gift. Here is what she got. Just a couple new additions to the "finished" leather work of this world. May God bless, Dwight

Thank you, . . . I appreciate the vote of confidence, . . . (so does the Boss) May God bless, Dwight

Davidhebert, . . . did you ever send me your email address? I looked and could not find where I sent you a pattern, . . . suspecting I never got your email address. If you never got the pattern, . . . email me at ciminodw@gmail.com May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Lizardo, for the good words. As for the money, I just made it all the basic size of modern currency. I know that there were other sizes in the past, . . . some even ridiculous, . . . but most modernistas would look at it with a frown on their face, . . . so I just bent to peer pressure, . . . it works. May God bless, Dwight

Not odd at all, . . . I had the same question, . . . couldn't find decent answers, . . . so I googled up images of the stuff, . . . printed my own. Since it will never be used in commerce, . . . and is not "official" government currency, . . . it worked out. Bump up above in this thread and you can see some of the stuff I had. May God bless, Dwight

Good looking work, . . . but then again, . . . if the Duke is in it, . . . it's gonna be good. You did a real good job, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Do what TSes said, . . . and you will no doubt like that holster. One of the old timers we haven't heard from on here for some time, . . . Katsass, . . . that is pretty much how he made all of his. They were works of art. Search for threads under his name that he started, . . . sit back and enjoy. May God bless, Dwight

This subject was always in the back of my mind until we decided to build a car port. I went on the other end of the car port, . . . built a 10 by 22 room, . . . 9 foot ceilings, . . . with only one window. That window is for two purposes: security, . . . I can watch the window from the house AND I can look out the window and see anyone delivering or stopping by while in the shop. I put in a small vent free propane heater, . . . and a 6000 btu window A/C unit. Heater hangs on the wall inside, . . . A/C unit is in a small hole cut out in the wall up at about 7 ft off the floor. I don't notice any measurable difference in either the propane bill or the electric bill, . . . A/C stays on 24/7 during the summer, . . . heat is on 24/7 during the winter. The key is the insulation. The building has a minimum of 4 inches of styrofoam insulation in the walls and 6 inches in the ceiling and the floors. Outside is 3/4 plywood sheathing and interior is 3/4 OSB, . . . drywall ceiling. Yeah, . . . love my little shop. This will not solve the dilemma of the OP, . . . unless he spent the money to build a shop, . . . within the shop. It could be made of pre-fabbed wall panels, say 8 ft by 10 ft, . . . with pockets in the walls to bolt them together. Home made trusses could hold up the ceiling, . . . provide a place for the insulation. If you ever decide to move, . . . it's portable because it's pre-fabbed, . . . knock it down and incorporate it into the next place. Long and short, . . . the heating and cooling needed to not have problems with rust and mold in the type of shop outlined by the OP, . . . it would scare me enough to not even think about moving there. May God bless, Dwight

The only thing to consider is that the higher it rides, . . . the less "swing" you get of the lower portion, . . . which on some knives I've seen, they almost want a leather thong to tie it to the leg to keep it from flapping in the breeze. On the other hand, . . . if you bring up the knife so it rides higher, . . . the grip has a tendency to get caught on stuff you might bump into in the house, garage, or out in the field. But generally, . . . it simply boils down to the question: "What does the customer want??" THAT, . . . is the best answer. May God bless, Dwight

I usually make a plug out of 3 or 4 pieces of leather glued together like plywood. I then sand the edges on a 45, but not out to a real fine feather edge, . . . I then hand sew it, . . . in and out all around it, . . . then the second pass, it is sewn in where I came out, . . . and comes out where I went in on the first pass. That makes it look like saddle stitching, . . . but is a whole lot quicker for me (I hate hand sewing). And, . . . no, . . . no hole in the bottom, . . . May God bless, Dwight

About all you can do for those things, . . . make a bucket it drops in. What I mean is, . . . make a holster, . . . but do not form fit the thing, . . . don't mold it, . . . just wrap it around the basic weapon, . . . stitch in a toe piece for it to bottom out on, . . . and either put a suicide strap on it or a thumb break so he/she don't lose it. I've had to make a couple of these, . . . that's the way I decided to do them. May God bless, Dwight

Tom, . . . forget the sprayer for belts, . . . Go to Harbor Freight, . . . buy some of their little 1 inch wide bristle brushes, . . . they're about $.50 apiece, . . . mix the resolene 1 to 1 with tap water, . . . brush it on with the little hog hair brush, . . . brush it on in a swirling and back and forth motion, . . . working up a bit of a lather, . . . then brush out the bubbles. It makes for a really nice finish, . . . not too thick, . . . protects the dye, the wearer, and the leather from sweat. I use that process for all my resolene applications. May God bless, Dwight

That's my recipe as well. May God bless, Dwight

My $.02, . . . I make both, . . . flat backed and 50/50. I charge the same price, . . . because I have a different process for each, . . . and basically each uses the same amount of leather, dye, finish, etc. All flat back holsters are run through my vacuum process which basically makes the front. When that dries, . . . it is glued, trimmed, and sewn. I cannot justify charging my customer more for something that does not cost me any more to produce than another product. It gives my customer a choice that HE chooses based on preference without having to go thru the hassle in his mind about is the extra price worth it. In the long run, I believe this makes for a happier and more well pleased customer base. Happy customers always will be your best sales people. Unhappy customers, no matter what makes them unhappy, will never help your business. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, RockyAussie, . . . really enjoyed the tutorial. I have a piece of veg tan that is simulated alligator, . . . never had a real use for it, . . . and THAT may be a way to use us some of it and get something really useful out of it at the same time. May God bless, Dwight

I really don't have any idea whatsoever, . . . but my guess would be, . . . as loose wound as he was, . . . it was probably open. Ol' Teddy was one of my heroes growing up. Always loved the fact that he was HIS man, . . . no matter what the opposition had to say. And that is really good looking from this end. Make sure you throw up a bunch of pics as you go along, . . . and of course when it's done. May God bless, Dwight

NOW, . . . if that is your first holster, . . . you are off to a fine start, . . . and you got some good advice up above this post. If you take the flat end of a modeling tool, . . . a sponge that is just damp, . . . most of the time you can re-dampen areas you "messed up" in tooling, . . . not too damp, . . . you will have to practice to get that just right feeling, . . . then take the modeling tool and flatten that whole area, . . . for example down at the bottom of the holster. Sometimes when it dries it will kind of spring back up a little by re-dampening it, . . . smoothing it all to the same height. Even if it doesn't spring back up, . . . at least it will all be the same height. Another pointer, . . . forget the rivets. Generally speaking, when I see a rivet on a holster, my first inclination is that this is a new person to holster making. There really is no reason to put a rivet there if the lacing or stitching is done properly, . . . unless you are using it for decorative purposes. It will not enhance the strength or overall life of the holster. AND, . . . welcome to the fun and exciting world of holster making. Somebody said one time there is estimated to be some 300 million firearms in the USA. That gives us 300 million opportunities to be different, exciting, creative, and make the economy grow by $5.50 a square foot, . . . plus dye, . . . plus finish, . . . plus postage. Seriously, . . . glad to have you aboard. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, Aaron, . . . a full fledged drill press would not be needed if you have a good 1/4 inch drill (or a busted one for that matter). Every spring when my buddy and I start out on our yard sale escapades, . . . invariably we will see one or two of these (or very similar) units out there for $5, . . . $2, . . . or something similar. They cinch down on the neck of the of the hand drill and make it a kinda sorta drill press, . . . but would be perfect for your use. Too bad you can't tie a rope to your garage and drag it down here, . . . we could wire that puppy up in a Saturday morning, . . . and you would be "on your way" so to speak. I've got to do the same to mine, . . . but it ain't happening until the outside temperature is equal to or above my age, . . . and I was born in 1944. Take a look at this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bench-Drill-Press-Stand-Single-Clamp-Base-Frame-Electric-Hand-Drill-Holder/382301724943?hash=item5902f5610f:g:8AoAAOSwb9BaohvL May God bless, Dwight

Yessir, . . . good job, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Now this is going to rankle some feathers , . . . and it is just too bad. I'm just plain lazy, . . . do not like to do any extra work that I can figure a way around or to get out of. That is why I have a Tippmann Boss sewing machine, . . . "Hands are for hamburgers, . . . sewing machines are for stitching". But if you don't have the machine yet, . . . this is a down and dirty way to save yourself some grief. If you have a small drill press, . . . or one of those $20 things that hold a hand drill and work like a drill press, . . . drill a 3/8 inch hole in a piece of plywood about a foot square, . . . tape it down so the hole is where the drill would be, . . . chuck up your awl blade in the press, . . . run your stitch wheel so you know where they need to be punched, . . . use the drill press to punch the holes. Take a piece of duct tape and tape your chuck so it does not turn on you, . . . or just eyeball it every time you get ready to drop it through. # 1: it is a super whole bunch easier # 2: it is easier to see where you are punching because your hand is not in the way # 3: the holes are absolutely 100% straight up and down (otherwise the back looks somewhere between "not perfect" and "downright shabby") # 4: you can punch all the holes for a project, . . . take your awl, your needle and thread and go over to the couch, . . . turn on your favorite TV show, . . . sew and watch the boob tube at the same time. AND, . . . it is so much easier on the hands. Also, . . . if you want a bit of a fancy stitch, . . . turn the awl blade about 30 degrees, . . . and it gives a bit of a rope looking effect to your stitching. May God bless, Dwight

FWIW, my holsters and belts are all done on a Tippmann Boss, . . . with the longest stitch length I can get on the machine, . . . which averages something in the 5 1/2 SPI. Thread, . . . 346 bought at Tandy store. I believe it is a poly thread, . . . the nice thing about it is when it is cut, . . . I can hit the end with a BIC lighter, . . . it melts and disappears, but creates a little ball like on the end of it, . . . keeps it from getting pulled through. Tandy used to sell a waxed thread that I truly enjoyed using, . . . if I had known they were going to abandon it, . . . I would have bought 10 spools, . . . It somehow did a better job, . . . I'm not all into how it did it, . . . it just did. Wish I could get some more of it, . . . but all they have now is dry and while it works, it sometimes just wants to be a pain, . . . and it IS a pain when it wants to be. EDIT: forgot to mention, you said you were doing a 50/50 pancake. Some day when you feel like experimenting, go for a flat backed pancake. I personally choose flat backed holsters for CCW over any of the others. Most of my holster making technique I borrowed from looking at Milt Sparks holsters, . . . I would not make a copy of one of their designs, . . . but I have let their ideas influence what I do, . . . and so far it has worked really well. Most of their CCW holsters are also flat backed. May God bless, Dwight

There used to be a fellow on here, . . . have not seen him in a couple of years, . . . was in really bad health last time we corresponded, . . . his persona was Katsass. He hand sewed all of his holsters from veggie tan, then dyed them or sat them out in the desert sun to tan to the color he wanted. Here is a post showing a holster I made very similar to JLSLeather's above: http://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/69512-designed-by-katsass-executed-by-dwight/?tab=comments#comment-454607 (Katsass made some really good looking stuff, . . . take a half hour and use the search function for him, . . . you'll see some neat work.) For that particular holster, . . . I gave it a good coat of Resolene when I made it, . . . and it is one tough, hard, holster. It is 4 layers of leather bonded flesh side to flesh side. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks electrathon, . . . It looks more like this is the way to go with this. Just the old soles being shot. May God bless, Dwight