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

Actually, if you go back up to the original post, . . . mine is more or less fixed, . . . because it all comes off my little wooden arc making tool. I thought about making several different lengths, . . . then asked myself "Why?", . . . and couldn't find an answer. At only 3 3/4 or 5 1/4 inches, . . . adding one or taking away one length, . . . will not seriously hurt the belt design. I think I had one of my wife's plates out there in the shop (probably had a piece of pie on it earlier), . . . I just grabbed it and made the arc, . . . figuring ya gotta start somewhere, . . . and that was just as good as any for a beginning. It worked out better than I planned to be honest, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Something in the 10 / 15 yr age bracket, . . . I think it was one of them things ya order off Ebay, . . . I really love it too, . . . when you set it at a certain diameter, . . . it stays there, . . . use it, . . . lay it down, . . . use it, . . . lay it down, . . . stays the same distance all the time. I've got other ones that just do not do that. May God bless, Dwight

My hydraulic press cost me a total of about $50 if I recall correctly for the rubber, . . . $15 for a 6 ton bottle jack, . . . and some 2 x 4's, . . . plus some bolt. The steel press frame is totally overkill for what is needed, . . . BUT, . . . you don't have to build it, . . . I bought a $99 vacuum pump at Harbor freight, . . . $20 worth the vinyl at JoAnn's fabric, . . . and a couple pieces of scrap tubing, . . . Made a perfectly functional vacuum system for under $150. The tool is more than anything not an end in itself, . . . just something to make it easier to get to that end. May God bless, Dwight

I built a hydraulic press a number of years ago, . . . used gum rubber, . . . 40 durometer, . . . 2 layers above, . . . 2 below, . . . all were 2 inches thick. I scrapped it in favor of vacuum press for holsters when I started getting a bunch of "plastic fantastic" handguns, . . . just afraid that the extra pull on the handle might wind up helping me own a cracked handgun. I'd never go back after using the vacuum, . . . wish I had gone to it before hand, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I think Milt Sparks probably gets the nod on that one. May be wrong, . . . but I don't think so. Had a couple short computer conversations with him years ago, . . . was a truly stand up individual, . . . if I lived close to his shop, . . . I'd a been a regular pest. May God bless, Dwight

As they used to say many years ago, . . . that is top drawer stuff, . . . Awesome craftsmanship, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, RockyAussie , I don't usually "fancy up" a project, . . . but this was one of those that just begged the lazy stitch. Never knew why, . . . but auctioneers in this part of the country seem partial to cowboy hats, boots, and stitched belts. The guy getting the belt hangs around with a buddy who fills in as a substitute auctioneer sometimes. Gene will get to wear on him about having a real "auctioneer's belt" for a while, . . . and just knowing it will happen makes all the work worth while, . . . and of course, Gene's a good friend as well. That is pretty much the only belt I make, . . . double layer, . . . anywhere from 4 to 5 1/2 mm thick, . . . depending on the service and the length. I quit single layer belts a long time ago. May God bless, Dwight