Dwight

I guess if you are some kind of a pansy butt, . . . pink parasol carrying wanna be dude, . . . an empty chamber and the safety on might be a good way to carry. OTOH folks who understand guns, . . . safety, . . . threats, . . . and their own abilities, . . . realize that a 1911, cocked and locked is the safest form of firearm carry there is, . . . other than of course, . . . in the glove compartment of your wife's car. May God bless, Dwight

I had one customer (hope he never comes back) who had a "rash", . . . it poked him in the side, . . . it was heavy, . . . etc. I kept waiting for him to tell me the color was the wrong shade of black. Long and short: the rash can be a true personal body reaction to the leather / finish / dye, etc., . . . but it may be a gripe from an habitual complainer. I re-made the holster, . . . to his exact specs, . . . "Well, it's better, but still not right". Again, . . . hope he never comes back. May God bless, Dwight

When I built mine, . . . it went on the shaft first (after drilling all the way through of course), . . . and then went into the drill press. Got a big cup of coffee, . . . hand full of files, . . . turned the old press on, . . . chopped, channeled, and filed until I got what I wanted. Then took it to the shop, . . . little bit of smoother sand paper, . . . then finished it off with a coating of true to life virgin bees wax from my hive up in the corner of the yard. Took some nasty old hard leather scraps, . . . and heated up the burnisher by pressing really hard on it, . . . and she slicked up really good. May God bless, Dwight

Since you did not say otherwise, . . . I'm assuming by "gun belt" you are talking of carrying a pistol on your person for protection, etc. The ones I make dedicated for that generally run .180 to .220 in total overall thickness. That will usually work out as a pair of 6/7 oz blanks, . . . heavy toward the 7, . . . or a 6/7 liner and an 8/9 outside. I always use a micrometer to check the thickness and if necessary, . . . run them through the skinning machine and make them a tad thinner. You will have no worries about it as it will carry a pair of 8 inch barreled .44 mags, . . . with no trouble. I've seen suede lined gun belts, . . . and personally I would not walk across the room to get one. If the belt is properly curved like John Bianchi teaches, . . . it is practically impossible to fall off your hips. Those that do, . . . . simply are not properly curved, . . . or the person wearing it is wearing it too loose. May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . that's a pain, . . . "Seller doesn't post to the United States" May God bless, Dwight

Actually I would think 207 would be sufficient to get that look. It is apparently mostly denim with leather overlays, . . . Do you have a machine? Do you have access to thread pieces to try, . . . so you can see what you like? I can help you with the thread if you like, . . . just PM me. I need especially to know the type machine you will use. May God bless, Dwight

Personally, . . . I use all 346 thread, . . . for belts, knife sheaths, holsters, and gun bags. It has held up well so far, . . . May God bless, Dwight

You and I are cut from the same piece of cloth, . . . or maybe leather as I have made almost all my specialty cutting tools for straps, contours, belts, etc. Made my own drying box, . . . burnisher, . . . and others. Been called a cheap-skate, . . . and I just smile and nod at the reputation and recognition. May God bless, Dwight

Earlier, I saw another home grown burnisher, . . . and this is just to reinforce to especially the new folks, . . . you do not have to spend $1000 on equipment to make your edges look good. This took me a couple hours, . . . and something like $10, . . . has worked for quite a few years. Don't recollect what the motor came off of, . . . probably a furnace fan. May God bless, Dwight

Hey Dragonfly, . . . welcome aboard, . . . from one far enough south to say, "Yeah, . . . Dragonfly, one of those guys who's almost in New York", . . . lol. Just south of Marion, . . . glad to have another Uh-high-uh guy here. May God bless, Dwight

Yeah, . . . I'm with x101 airborne, . . . made E-7, . . . but for a CSM, . . . ooooo, . . . that needs tooling, . . . concho's, . . . shading, . . . antiquing, . . . maybe a tri-color, . . . But seriously, . . . looks good, . . . hope he enjoys it. And glad he opted for the 1911 instead of a wonder-9, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Now, . . . that's good to know......Thanks, Colt, . . . appreciate the info. May God bless, Dwight

This ain't one of them things like the old Louisiana cook where he "put a little wine in de sauce, . . . put a little wine in de cook" . . . thing is it?? You know, . . . "put a little Everclear in de dye, . . . put a little Everclear in de dyer", . . . May God bless, Dwight

Howdidja know the answer to the question: Where's Waldo?? That's where Dwight lives. Seriously, . . . my metal pans are actually an aluminum pan for the browns, . . . and a porcelain (white) pan for my blacks. Got another aluminum one for odd stuff that I do once in a blue moon. I've never had any problems with any of them. Everclear??? Here in Ohio, . . . it is illegal to own, sell, traffic, purchase, or possess. OTOH, . . . if you know the right "ol' Southern boy", . . . ya might get something that will be in the same neighborhood of 190 proof, . . . and yeah, . . . folks around here still drink it, . . . not me of course, . . . but others do. May God bless, Dwight

Wellllll, . . . actually, I use all white thread, . . . but I do have a small spool of black. Never have had anyone want anything but black or white, . . . and probably would discourage them if they did want some off the wall combination (red thread on a green holster). The few I get ask for the white stitching, . . . so it really is just a matter of when do I stitch, . . . before or after dying. AND, . . . my machine is a Tippmann Boss, . . . which just every now and again can be a pain when I change out the thread. Never figured out why, . . . just know it happens, . . . I sometimes think my machine is a female, . . . it can get peeved over the slightest nothing, . . . and takes it out with a vengeance. And, yes, . . . the white thread does come out a tad less dyed than the leather, . . . even the black, . . . but it is close enough that I've never had a customer get all up in arms about it. He probably wouldn't be a customer long if he did, . . . because it is just that close. I'd give him his money back, . . . bid him adieu, . . . put the item on Ebay, . . . and get my $$$ back. Also put that dude on a DO NOT CALL list. May God bless, Dwight

Given the choice between copper and brass, . . . I'll take the copper every time. I've NEVER had a copper rivet fail, . . . actually never have ever heard of one doing so. But brass can and will break, . . . I've done it many times with brass rods. Copper bends but does not break. May God bless, Dwight

Double Daddy, . . . I made my commitment to dip dying several years ago, . . . just got fed up with the sponging, wiping, etc, that sometimes did OK, . . . sometimes looked like something that needed a grave under the garbage heap. Messed with an air sprayer, . . . did not like the lack of depth, . . . it is only a surface coating. Jumped in with both feet on the dip dying, . . . and again, . . . fooled around with other reducers, . . . finally decided that since Feibings makes the dye, . . . they probably make the better reducer, . . . so all of my dye is reduced 1:1, . . . before it is used. And as you touched on the subject, . . . the only hangup is when someone wants a contrasting thread. Fortunately, . . . I don't see that much, . . . and you won't hear me complain about not seeing it either. May God bless, Dwight

My condolences to the family and all his friends. The earth is poorer when we lose a good one, . . . but Heaven is richer. May God bless, Dwight

I don't mean to hijack your thread mixmkr, . . . just a cute anecdote: One of our guys in the maintenance shop loved to do projects, . . . make stuff, . . . especially when it was many multiples of the thing. He also preferred a yard stick over any other measuring instrument. One of the other guys caught him gone, . . . cut 2 inches off one end of his yard stick, . . . put it back up over the light fixture. Harry never paid any attention for about a week, . . . until after all the pieces were cut and he started to assemble the pieces. Have you ever hear a Chinaman curse profanely? I'm not sure I did, . . . but could not be certain because I don't know Chinese profanity, . . . but it sure sounded like it might be. Thanks mismkr, . . . for letting me recall an old memory I had not thought of for a while. May God bless, Dwight

No problem Rockoboy, . . . a little hijack never hurt anyone. Yes, indeed, you can use it again, . . . and again, . . . and again. I have plastic quart bottles that I keep my "made up" dye in, . . . just take off the lid, . . . pour it in the pan, . . . do the dying process, . . . pour the rest back into the bottle, . . . put the lid back on and set it back up on the shelf. I then just wipe out the pan with paper towels, . . . put it back up on the shelf for the next one. When I did the work above, . . . I made up another 16 oz of dye (2 ea 4 oz bottles of dye and 2 ea 4 oz bottles of reducer), . . . added it to the pan before I started, . . . when I got done, poured the rest back into the bottle. If I calculated correctly, I think I used about 14 oz of dye mix to do two holsters, a dress belt, gun belt, and the assorted straps for the shoulder holster. May God bless, Dwight

Now THAT, . . . I like, . . . never thought of recessing it like that, but it sure would make it less apt to scratch the sides of the weapon. Thanks, . . . may God bless, Dwight

Actually not bad, . . . the strapwork: one shoulder, . . . one belly, . . . one "up and over" the right shoulder. Getting how they did it was the problem. I found it to be actually pretty comfortable once I got it on and cinched down. Ol' Doc died young, . . . so he didn't have to worry about middle age spread, . . . "hangover", . . . etc. May God bless, Dwight

I use a 2 inch deep, . . . 9 x 14 baking pan, . . . mix a 4 oz bottle of dye with a 4 oz bottle of reducer, . . . for a 50/50 mix, . . . and keep mixing until my qt jug is full, . . . pour it into the pan, . . . go to dying. A dress belt, all the harness, both holsters, and the cartridge belt, altogether used up about 14 or so liquid ounces of dye. AND, . . . everything got double dipped on this particular order. May God bless, Dwight

It is all Feibings Saddle tan, topped by a coat of Resolene. It is becoming my favorite color. I first added a light coat of neatsfoot oil, . . . allowed a couple days drying and leveling off time, . . . then dip dyed all the pieces in a cake pan full of dye. May God bless, Dwight