Dwight

Actually, . . . a one piece (google " image: roman armor " ) is better overall, . . . you just have to make sure you roll out the neck and arm holes, . . . and make them big enough for his arms to move in any direction and not get chaffed. Riveting them together makes a piece that will be almost no different from the one piece, . . . other than it is a lot more labor. If you make the layered (known as segmentata ), . . . it is a LOT MORE WORK, . . . but it is THE most flexible. The leather version a lot of folks make, . . . the pieces are long enough to go completely around the person, . . . and are laced together from the top of one piece, . . . down to the top of the next piece, . . . and they overlap enough so that the cords are well covered by the lower piece. This allows it to flex up and down, . . .but still protects the person. It is then laced together in the front, . . . similar to lacing up a pair of work boots. THAT is the design of the most successful soldier's armor the romans used. Have fun, . . . good luck, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Just a shout out and a thank you to the Tandy leather store in Columbus, Ohio. They ran out of their advertised specials very early on black friday, . . . and had to substitute. Corporate gave them the green light, . . . and I got a 22+ sf 8/9 hide out the door for $90. It did have a minor flaw in it, . . . but all things considered, . . . I would have had to have paid darn near double that price the tuesday before Thanksgiving, . . . and I just wanted to give credit where credit is due, . . . Tandy Leather on Morse Rd. Columbus, Ohio. Even got to chat with a good friend who used to be the manager, Scott, . . . we compared open heart surgeries. May God bless, Dwight

I learned a long time ago, . . . from a fellow who wore 36 inch waist jeans, . . . and I made him a 36 inch belt. ALWAYS measure their belt. Come to find out . . . they had stretched to the point he needed a 41 inch belt. SO: make the individual take off the belt they are wearing when they order their new one. Measure from just inside the outermost part of the buckle, . . . to the hole he / she used today, . . . and you should not go wrong. I always add 3 holes each way from that measurement, . . . so they have room to expand and contract . . . people have a habit of doing that. The one exception to this rule I ever found, . . . measured a guy up for a 53 inch long western belt. By the time he came back to get it 6 weeks later, . . . he needed a 56 inch belt. Anyway this system itself has never let me down, . . . people have. May God bless, Dwight

JC Javelle, . . . and Clintock, . . . PM me with full email addresses, . . . I'll send you some information. The shoulder holster of this type I make is very comfortable, but takes a WHILE to get done. Don't be in a hurry. It also is a muzzle pointing down, . . . I will not make or supply patterns for horizontal or armpit pointing shoulder holsters, . . . personal rule. It needs to be made out of back leather at worst, . . . double shoulder leather preferably. It carries the option for one or two (preferably) magazines carried on the off side. May God bless, Dwight

Try this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/387-1C-Rubber-Natural-Gum-1-In-Thick-12-x-36-In/381935295108?hash=item58ed1e1a84:g:70EAAOSwIFtaDzVf May God bless, Dwight

I liked the other one much better......... May God bless, Dwight

Sorry Dave, . . . can't help you because I don't know what he does. Can you share that pattern, . . . better idea of what YOU want??? I make several different types of shoulder holsters, . . . and they tend to have different straps, . . . and it becomes a personal preference thing more than anything else. Send me a PM, . . . we're not too far from each other, . . . maybe create a NEW one........lol May God bless, Dwight

No problem. The first picture is the outside of the door, hinged on the left, opens on the right, 8 ft 1/2 inch tall . The second picture shows the side of the "vault" made of 2 x 12 boards. Third picture shows the hangars and how they hinge back and forth from the left side. The last picture shows the stuff hanging. Really pretty simple, . . . truth is, I think I spent more time worrying and fretting over what I would do that the time it took to get it done once I figured it out. One of my old gripes was having to struggle with rounded leather, . . . this way it becomes pretty flat, pretty quick, . . . makes life easier. May God bless, Dwight

Ruben, I have a pair of these I've had for over 10 years now, . . . and while at times I'll fail to set every thing up right, . . . if I do my part, . . . these never fail me. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Snap-Pliers-Set-Canvas-Marine-Heavy-Duty-Fabric-Button-Fastener-Installation/352192247767?hash=item52004b37d7:g:JXYAAOSwvTpaA2V9&vxp=mtr May God bless, Dwight

Gary, . . . I'm thinking you could come awful close to duplicating that in veggie tan, . . . if you took one of those 3 or 4 inch paint rollers, . . . and stuck a sandpaper roller on the outside of it, . . . got your leather all cased up real good, . . . rolled her back and forth a couple times. I'd think it should come out fairly close. Only thing I can think of at the moment if you can't find the original. May God bless, Dwight

A piece of thick walled 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch angle iron, . . . laid at the top or the bottom of your line, . . . will suffice in most cases to keep you lined up. Keep masking tape on it so no rust transfers (and don't even think aluminum, it's far worse), . . . or a piece of 1/2 inch flat stock maybe 2 inches wide. Put a mark on it on the edge of the piece so you can check it from time to time to make sure it is not slowly running out on you. Cheap, and effective, . . . both ways. May God bless, Dwight

1911. S&W Shield, and Glock 19 are my biggest sellers. The Shield has been heavily promoted around here, . . . lots of people packin' em. You can do pocket holsters, clip on, IWB, and pancake on them. But you can hardly go wrong with a 1911, . . . lots of people like me that are willing to carry the anchor. May God bless, Dwight

Once you have the basic bi-fold cut out and ready, . . . take another piece of 5/6 leather, . . . make it the size that will cover one end of the bi-fold, . . . outline the badge on the leather, . . . and cut it out. On the next layer down, . . . punch two holes for the pin on the back of the badge. Cement and stitch or lace as you please, . . . but that is how I make mine. AND, I won't start on one until I know for certain the size and shape of the badge. Like was said above, there are just too many different variations. May God bless, Dwight

Motocouture, . . . I built a small shop off my garage that is sufficiently heated and cooled thru the year that my leather can stay there year round. I had a problem as well, . . . "where do I store my leather????" Wound up taking two 4 x 8 sheets of OSB, . . . making a box out of them with 2 by 12 boards as the sides. One side was left to open on hinges along the 8 foot side, . . . which gives me a 4 x 8 foot closet, . . . 1 foot deep. I made bars along the hinge side to hold several pieces of leather each, . . . the leather hangs in there, . . . the bars can be flipped to one side making the leather hang like pages in a book, . . . My storage problem was just plain solved. Your's wouldn't have to be that big maybe, . . . and you could get rid of that "curl" leather takes being in a roll for any real length of time. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks for the laugh, JKHelms, . . . and the inspiration, . . . I changed your last sentence, hope you don't mind, . . . there are a bunch of determined rednecks outside of South Georgia, . . . May God bless, Dwight

And while he did not say it, . . . Lobo inspired many of us with some of the things he did, . . . his quickness to help anyone who asked him, . . . and both for the forum members who benefitted, . . . and for myself personally, . . . Thanks, Lobo, . . . you have been a friend to all of us, . . . a mentor, . . . and an inspiration. THIS is the American model, . . . free enterprise doing well. May God bless, Dwight

I don't recall the movie or the show, . . . but there was one some time back, . . . used an ice bullet, . . . Been too long, . . . too many shows and movies in between, . . . but we didn't think of it first, . . . And, . . . you need to leave the gun in the freezer until you need it, . . . could pose a small problem. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Brian, . . . it's kind of funny that today we are having this discussion of printing out pieces for things we conceptualize. There was a TV show Tuesday night, NCIS New Orleans, . . . where the bad guy hired a machinist to design and build for him an air gun that could fire hard glass bullets. It was to be used to assassinate a dignitary. They used a plastic Colt 1911 .45 as the model. Somehow he had incorporated a high pressure gas system into the weapon. I thought it was interesting the concept of a hard glass bullet, . . . driven by an air charge, . . . and it just goes to prove your statement wherein we will be tasked more to conceptualizing the product, . . . than being the one producing the product. Thanks for the info, . . . definitely going to look into it. May God bless, Dwight

Tandy has in the past, . . . and I've gotten some really good deals at our Columbus, Ohio store. May God bless, Dwight

OK, . . . now you got my curiosity up, . . . what brand of 3D printer is that you are using? AND, . . . how long did it take you to learn how to program it to print what you wanted ? AND, . . . if I can ask one more foolish question, . . . can you approximate the cost of the two pieces for that handcuff press mold? May God bless, Dwight

Excellent, Brian, . . . I would have had to go with wood, . . . chisels, . . . files, . . . etc, . . . and it would have taken at least a day to produce the same type product. Computer printing it sure is a lot less physical labor, . . . How many to you expect to produce in a day with that setup?? May God bless, Dwight

thunter9, . . . my wife had to get a new phone a couple years back, . . . decided to get one for each of us, . . . retired my beloved Motorola flip phone, . . . got the Iphone 5. And of course, . . . I needed a "holster" or something for it. Went out in the shop and about 2 hours later, . . . had this product. Planned on putting a line 24 snap on the tongue if it needed it, . . . turned out it is OK the way it is, . . . the tongue just slips down inside the case with the phone, . . . and just a little slight pressure keeps it in there, . . . which of course keeps the phone in place. Snaps allows me to take it off so I can roll around under a tractor, . . . climb up into the attic, . . . etc. Can't say as there would be many improvements I could make. Rivets on the back serve to hold the tongue and the belt loop on, . . . the bottom of the case is a built up stack of leather bonded together with contact cement, . . . contact cemented into the case bottom, . . . and held in place by two small drywall type screws in the male parts of the two line 24 snaps. Works for me, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Welcome, LynK, . . . with talent like that, . . . you've been holding back on us. Glad to have you aboard. I can tell you right now you are head and shoulders out in front of me when it comes to those types of projects. Holsters I can do, . . . belts I can do, . . . can even turn out an occasional purse or wallet or cell phone case. But I just cannot get the expertise you have on the art work. Mine looks more like that Asian stamped stuff, . . . and that's why I don't do much of it. Enough about me, . . . again, . . . welcome, . . . enjoy your stay. May God bless, Dwight

Good job WillieO, . . . someone mentioned the direction of the snap for the keeper, . . . in this picture, . . . this is the way I make all right hand carry sheaths. While it may get snagged on something, . . . if it is a good snap, . . . you will feel the break if you are paying any attention at all, . . . AND, . . . in this format, . . . the rearward motion of the hand opens the snap, . . . then grasps the handle of the knife all in one motion. Having the snap the other way makes it at least two motions, . . . and if you watch most people, . . . it is awkward at best for them, . . . no matter how long they have been carrying a sheathed knife. The other option is like the big bowie you had in the other picture where the keeper comes around from the back. I like it about as well. May God bless, Dwight

Yessir, . . . good lookin job, . . . and it looks like it "will do the job". Also, . . . for everyone here, . . . thanks for the detailed instruction. May God bless, Dwight