Dwight

My shop has a "vault" for the bigger pieces of leather, . . . I punch a hole in the edge of it, . . . hang it so it hangs straight down. Box is 8 ft tall, 4 ft wide, 1 foot deep, . . . the door opens the full height & width. Smaller pieces all go in one of several plastic totes I have, . . . depending on what it is, . . . how big it is, . . . determines which tote gets it. No mold, no mildew, NO MICE, and no bugs. Works good for me. May God bless, Dwight

I make mine upwards of .200 depending on the leather I have available. Most of the time that is two pieces of 6/7 flesh to flesh, . . . contact cemented together. If I were making a single layer, . . . it would have to be 14 oz or better, . . . but I have never had anyone insist on a single layer belt. Once they see, try on, and feel the fit of the double layer, . . . they seem to be happy with it. May God bless, Dwight

And another welcome from an old US Navy sailor who had the privilege almost 50 years ago of spending almost a week on the Gold Coast, . . . ship tied up in Brisbane. As AussieMade said, . . . lots of info on here and on youtube, . . . go for it. I would comment on a couple of earlier posts though, . . . be careful of the head knife, . . . it is a wonderful tool if used properly and carefully, . . . and it can cut you or a loved one in a heartbeat, . . . in a way you never want to be cut. I used one for a couple of years, . . . finally just quit having to count all my extremities every time I used it, . . .made a case for it and threw it in the bottom drawer where it resides today. A razor knife (utility knife / drywall knife) is adequate for just about any leather you will use in the things you mentioned. BUT, . . . one extra tool you might invest in is a strap cutter. It will cut really good, straight, same sized straps for you with minimal effort. It does also have a bit of a danger factor like the head knife, but if you and she are careful, . . . it'll save you a ton of time, . . . and is very accurate on the cuts. Best wishes, . . . please show us what you are doing. We all love pictures. May God bless, Dwight

It would magnificently help if in fact we knew what you were doing. Dual leather for a curve that has a radius of 20mm (about 3/4 inch) is one thing, . . . a curve that has a radius of 200mm (almost 8 inches) is a totally different subject. Personally, . . . I have made it pretty much a standard that I do as much as I can by gluing first, . . . forming later. Most of my "work" is holsters, belts, and knife sheaths: meaning any forming is close radius type work and I virtually never have any problems. I do not use glue, however, . . . never really got the hang of that sticky stuff, . . . prefer solvent based contact cement, . . . when it goes together, . . . the leather rips if it comes apart. The mfg I use is Weldwood. May God bless, Dwight

OK, . . . (260) 441-9603 is the number, . . . ask for Jamie (if I remember correctly). Dude knows his machine, . . . I live 3 hours away, . . . twice I've taken my machine up there, . . . both time fixed "el quicko" and both times it was no cost other than the supplies I bought. **** Had to come back, . . . thought of something, . . . when you drop your bobbin full of thread in, . . . is the thread coming off clockwise or counter-clockwise. It only works the right way, . . . going off counter clockwise. May God bless, Dwight

'50/50' or curved, I form them both, then stitch them, . . . funny thing is, . . . both ways work.

I'll watch this, . . . as I have nothing to trade, . . . but I'm just north of Columbus, Ohio, . . . about 5 hours away. Keep us updated. May God bless, Dwight

Good job, Mike, . . . I made one similar a few years back, . . . your's is a lot prettier than mine was, . . . but the old boy smiled and was happy with it. Guess that is what counts. Also glad to see you back up and running, . . . take good care of yourself, now, . . .y'hear???? May God bless, Dwight

That's neat, . . . I like reproducing "antique" stuff, . . . you did a good job on yours, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I might be interested dsteffen, . . . where are you located? May God bless, Dwight

I don't know the needle you spoke of, . . . But try this, . . . take a similar needle and your 415 thread, . . . put the thread in the needle on a piece stretched tightly between your hands about 30 inches long. Now lift one hand up about 15 inches above the other one. The needle should easily slide down the string, . . . if it does not, . . . the needle hole is too small, . . . which will not allow the string to get picked up like it is supposed to. Or at least that is what I've seemed to find with my Boss. Another thing you might want to try, . . . drop down to 346 thread, . . . the one sold at Tandy's. I use it almost exclusively, . . . it is very strong, . . . looks really good, . . . and of all the thread I've used in the last 10 years or so, . . . it has been the one that gave me the least headaches. May God bless, Dwight

There will be some "fussing" you will have to do to get the cant to turn out right, . . . and if you have never done it, . . . it can be a bit tricky. But then again, . . . if you really eyeball the El Dorado movie, . . . you will see there is a slight forward cant to the holster. I've made several of them. But other than that, . . . it should be a piece of cake, . . . on a scale of difficulty 1 to 10, 10 being the most difficult, . . . I'd rate an El Dorado at about a 3 at the worst. Make your pattern from manila file folders, . . . and you can cut and tape to your heart's content, . . . getting the piece over the belt in the right attitude so the cant works out. PM me with a email address, . . . I'll help you with the pattern if you need it. May God bless, Dwight

OK, . . . thanks, Madmax, . . . I had visions of my hands holding this thing, . . . slipping, . . . crying, . . . bleeding, . . . you know the drill. Now I see it can be done rather safely, . . . may just up and get me one of them there toys. May God bless, Dwight

OK, . . . not meaning to sound funny, . . . but how do you strop the blade out of a splitter? I'm thinking there should be some way other than pulling that blade out and handling it with my hands that can cut and bleed profusely should I make a mistake with a razor sharp splitter blade. I bleed easy and profusely, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I was told that polishing a cutting blade will make it MUCH better as a cutter, . . . What is the process for polishing a blade? Thanks, may God bless, Dwight

Hey, my friend, . . . glad to see you back up and participating, . . . cool looking rig. I made one similar once, . . . never did regret it, . . . never did go out and try to create more customers for that though. May God bless, Dwight

You'd be surprised at how many people you will pass with your concealed carry holster who will never see it and get to comment on the bad stitches, bad leather, bad dye job, extra holes, . . . or whatever. Ugly, . . . like beautiful, . . . is only in the eye of the beholder. AND in the case of CCW, . . . what they cannot see, . . . they cannot critique. May God bless, Dwight

The one thing for sure you want to do with pop rivets also, . . . drill the proper sized hole. You want a hole that the rivet will go in, . . . but nothing extra. And there are short, small diameter pop rivets that will do your job nicely. Like CaptQuirk said though, . . . the cheap guns really are that, . . . cheap, and don't last long. Consider investing in a good one, . . . if you anticipate surviving another 20 or so years, . . . you will find many, many times where you said, . . . "Man am I glad I have this tool". I cannot tell you how many rivets I've gone through, . . . but I now own two rivet guns, . . . the old one I bought back in the 70's is all but worn out. May God bless, Dwight

Just make sure you post it so we can see the fruit of your labors.........lol May God bless, Dwight

Very good looking, . . . I had it in the back of my mind that I'm the only one getting those kind of orders. Mine order was a Buckmark with a scope, . . . basically the same as you did, . . . altogether the welts and the holster were 3/4 of an inch thick. Had to make the stitching holes with my Boss, . . . then hand stitch the thing. BTW, . . . I DO like the color, . . . May God bless, Dwight

The tool you want to use is a pop rivet gun. It will go thru the leather, . . . then thru one side of the cartridge, . . . when you pull the handle on the pop rivet, . . . it will put the two together and it WILL be a pain to separate them later. You can also use 2 rivets, . . . one at the top and one at the bottom so that the bullets don't cock on you. Should be an easy project. Lowes, Home Depot, or Menards carry them, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Ammo is getting too expensive for warning shots, . . . Our "big" noise problem is these nutcase kids who have a $300 vehicle, . . . but have 5 grand in the sound system, . . . just so they can crank up the base and shake the little birds out of their nests as they drive by. And don't think I haven't toyed with the idea of "target" shooting up next to the road when one goes by. About 100 grains of triple 7 in my old muzzle stuffer can make all the newly buried sit up and take notice, . . . But, . . . back to music, . . . guess I'm just from the generation that started out having to have it as a part of their lives, . . . so I enjoy it. May God bless, Dwight

Thank you Mr. Bruce (don't squat with your spurs on) Gibson, . . . CD blarin' CCR's greatest hits, . . . works for everything except dyeing. Gotta have silence for dye jobs, . . . or everything gets the same color..........lol............ Just wish I had more CCR than I got, . . . would make life better maybe. When they get done, . . . Johnny Cash comes on the scene. I'm never in the shop long enough to wear out all the music I got of both of them though. And speakin of age, . . . if I feel especially melancholy, . . . I can always pick up my favorite four stack of Jimmy Swaggart, . . . flip on the 33 1/3 machine, . . . flip em over after they played the "A" side. Yeah, . . . it still works. May God bless, Dwight

Best picture I have available to show my last pair I did. May God bless, Dwight

Once you have stitched the belt pieces together on the edges (my stitches are between 1/8 and 3/16 of an inch from the edge, . . . any other stitching is to me only decorative, . . . would not add significantly to the strength, . . . and depending on how it is done, . . . actually could weaken the product. If you are talking about a double wave like, . . . up and down, . . . all the way around, . . . I would only do that on the top layer, . . . then bond it to the bottom layer, . . . it would make the inside smoother and less prone to abrasion, . . . plus it would be whole lot easier to maneuver a single layer than it is to do a double layer. Just my thoughts, . . . and I am not really thoroughly experienced in it, . . . as most of my customers simply like a plain belt. Of all I've done this year, . . . only one will be for sure in the decorated / stamped category, . . . and no one asked for the decorative stitches. But I did do one last year, . . . it was all purple flowers, . . . but then again, . . . THAT was different. May God bless, Dwight