Dwight

Yep, . . . you got it on the first guess. I messed around a bit trying to figure out what is the "best" depth, . . . especially for automatics, . . . and I came up with "just below the rear sight". That is my "go to" depth for just about all of em I do. Another comment that was made concerned putting finish in the inside of the holster, . . . I do it to make the weapon less likely to abrade the inside. I had one holster one time that every time I pulled out my weapon, . . . little shards of leather came out on it, . . . (it was a purchased holster, . . . I did not make it). I decided not to let mine do that, . . . and a light coat of resolene seems to be enough for the job, . . . but does not abrade the weapon surface greatly either. But, . . . that again is a subjective decision for each maker and each buyer. May God bless, Dwight

Chief nailed it, . . . too much product on the project, . . . or not thinned properly. A light coating of Resolene is all that is needed. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks for the story, . . . sorry for the giggling, . . . I have done equally "unintelligent" things myself. Also just wanted to mention, . . . others of us also keep super glue handy May God bless, Dwight

msdeluca wrote: "Dipped in 100% Fiebings Pro Dye, 50/50 Resolene, and (on the holster) a final coat of Sno-Seal. I know Dwight uses Sno-Seal only... might try that next time. I'm just not sold on the benefit of Resolene and it is harder than hell to apply evenly. Tried dipping the holster in it this time, but still had to brush it out. Daubers don't work... maybe my dilution is wrong for it to sheet off after dipping... any suggestions are welcome." First off, . . . in my opinion, . . . really some good looking leather work there, . . . edges are good, . . . stitching good, . . . I would probably stuffed the gun a bit further down in the holster, . . . but that is a subjective decision everyone makes to their own preference. BUT, . . . I don't use Sno-Seal, . . . I'm a dedicated Resolene user, . . . picked it out only because of one reason to start with, . . . it has a UV blocker that will not allow the sunlight to "quickly" mess up your dye colors. It probably will eventually, . . . but not right away. I mix my resolene 50/50 with water, . . . and have tried a couple different applications, . . . always go back to the ugly little cheap bristle brushes that I buy from Harbor Freight. I'll use the same one until the bristles start coming off on my project, . . . pitch it, . . . pull a new one out of the box, . . . they're not very costly at all. I dip the brush and start brushing the project, . . . starting with any "flesh side" parts that there are. Sometimes for the inside of the holster, . . . I'll use a dauber to get the crevices their coating. I then concentrate on the outside, . . . brushing left, right, up, down, swirling, . . . at first looking for the bubbles to appear, telling me that I have enough product on the item, . . . it'll be kinda frothy looking at that point, . . . I then quit adding material, . . . concentrate on brushing out the bubbles, . . . and when they all disappear, . . . I quit brushing, . . . hang it up to dry. THAT IS my process, . . . so far it has really worked good for me. May God bless, Dwight

I just finished this one for a new customer, . . . he needed a space for 9 cards. I cut a piece of pine, . . . after I measured out 7 cards from my "stash", . . . made the board that thickness. Like was said, . . . wet and stuff, . . . wet and stuff. Got it to fit, . . . sent him a folded piece of manila folder so he can put another one in, . . . leave it overnight, . . . and add one every day, . . . until it stretches out where he wants it. Billfolds are a pain, . . . but I really like the finished product, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I thought about using a fan or two, . . . like the CPU fan, . . . but when I got done, I found out in my "hurry" I offset the hinges so there is a crack all around three sides of the door, . . . funny thing was, . . . pretty good air circulation, . . . without the fan. I purposely put the bulbs in the bottom, . . . heat rises, . . . making the chamber hottest at the top, . . . and I'll have to do some temp readings down further to see what temp is where. "Never mess with a good thing, . . . even if it was from dumb luck", . . . has always worked for me. May God bless, Dwight

Here you go BHP, . . . http://www.ebay.com/itm/161879098455?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT I'm thinking it probably needs a 8 or 10 inch piece of metal up in the top to heat up and make it "click", . . . but I haven't done anything on that once I saw that my 4 100 watt bulbs just went a tad shy of the 140 mark and never went over. I'll still do it, . . . but right now it is not one of those things that "NEED" to get done. May God bless, Dwight

Nice . . . we didn't have access to tool pouches in the Navy in the late 60's, . . . so I made mine, . . . one piece of leather at a time from old shoes, boots, whatever. Mine wasn't as pretty as yours though...... May God bless, Dwight

It used to be a blank sheet of galvanized steel, . . . took it to my band saw, . . . knocked off the corners, . . . put it on the sander, . . . filed down the rough edges. Probably won't make any good collars with it, . . . but it worked out well for this job. There are actually a ton of different shaped ones out there, . . . would never have guessed it until I went on Ebay, . . . looking for a fake badge, . . . WOO-hoo, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Got an opportunity to do something VERY different. It was fun. It's a front pocket / badge holder / card carrier / wallet. It was a real experience, and was fun. Hope you all enjoy it. May God bless, Dwight

The geometric shape of the curve is going to be the exact same arc whether the belt is 32 inches long, . . . or 52 inches long. The "top of the arc" will simply be farther away from the straight line drawn between the ends. Do what you want to do, . . . but this is a direct copy of what John Bianchi (basically the father of the modern gunfighter rigs) teaches and has taught for many years. I would suggest that his system is probably a whole lot more reliable that Billy Bob's old floppy Walmart $4.99 belt made of genuine imitation leather. May God bless, Dwight

NOW, . . . I'm interested in that heat lamp, . . . I'll have to keep this thread so when my first couple of bulbs burn out, . . . I can try these. Make sure you give us a good write up and pics, . . . that looks like a good idea my friend. May God bless, Dwight

Actually it is really close to 50 inches, . . . I have to look at my pattern, . . . but memory at 50 ft from the shop says that the blank belt is 9 inches longer than the belt size, . . . that was either a 40 or 41 to start with (pancakes will do it to you every time), . . . so 4 1/2 inches in 50. I'd not worry about doing a 1 inch per 10 curve, . . . these things don't have to be "zinth" degree correct. May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . I just went and did it. Looked around to see what I had, . . . what I needed to buy, . . . what I could try. Wound up with a piece 48 by 18 more or less for the back, . . . couple of 10 inch pieces for the sides, . . . scrap 2 x 12 made the bottom, . . . 3/4 chip board for the top. Got a 120 / 140 degree clicker off Ebay ($8.00), . . . cuts out at 140, back on when temp goes back down to 120. Got 4 ea 100 watt bulbs from Lowes, . . . wired and fired it up. Took 2 hours to get to 140, . . . never quite tripped the clicker, . . . and that is OK with me. Gotta put some wires or racking in there, . . . plus going to put a piece of aluminum in there between the bulbs and the leather, . . . want the heat, but not the light, . . . gonna try it out later this week maybe. So far got maybe $15 invested in it, . . . rest was stuff I just scrounged from the pack rat Dwight. 1 is the outside, 2 shows the bulbs in the bottom, 3 shows the clicker up in the top, 4 shows it all turned on and running. Got a light switch on the left side behind the door that turns it on/off. I didn't really plan on it happening that way, . . . put a couple magnetic catches on the right side to hold the door closed, . . . jacked up the hinges a bit on the left side so the mag catches would work, . . . wound up with a little crack a bit over 1/16 of an inch at the bottom and the top, . . . allows for a pretty good exchange of air. I am excited about it, . . . I think it will work, . . . and I won't have to worry about anything staying in there too long if I should forget. May God bless, Dwight

Years ago I made up a sliding template, . . . that makes a bit less for a short belt, . . . but more for a longer belt, . . . but at about a 40 inch belt, . . . there is a 4 1/2 inch curve in there. This is my belt, . . . I'm a 38 right now, . . . was a 40 when I was eating pancakes for breakfast. This is my gun belt, . . . made for a 40, . . . and if you count the squares there, . . . it's about 4 1/2 inches. This has worked for me for a number of years, . . . don't get any complaints, . . . May God bless, Dwight

Do it all at the same time, . . . put in a new clean container with a tight lid. If you do it "a little at a time", . . . each batch will be different, . . . as your quantities will not be exactly the same. May God bless, Dwight

Don't, . . . and I'll say it again, . . . DO NOT attempt to make your own colors of dye. You will waste or discard more than you would have saved. A 4 oz bottle (the little bottle) makes 8 oz of dye when cut with thinner, . . . plenty enough for several projects. Having a multitude of colors will cause you to make mistakes. Pick 2 or 3 besides black, . . . stay with them. I have British Tan and Saddle Tan as my choices. Once you learn how to use these, . . . you may move on, . . . but ALWAYS use the dye as is, . . . don't play around trying to make custom dye colors, . . . the reward is no where beginning to be worth the effort. EDIT: You will also find that dip dyeing will be THE MOST consistent, . . . it also gives a deeper and richer color than daubing or spraying. Spraying results in a very thin film of dye, . . . the first scratch that comes along will usually go through it. It works on some really exotic dye jobs, and does so very well, . . . but for daily stuff, . . . dip it, hang it, . . . you've got it. May God bless, Dwight

I'll second what supercub said, . . . never had any problems at all with them folks. I have to drive a couple hours to take my machine up there if I have a problem, . . . but they'll clean off a work bench, . . . go at it, . . . I'm always happy when I leave. May God bless, Dwight

I cut my saddle tan 50/50 with thinner, . . . do not have any problem other than occasionally I'll have a hide that had a bit too much color to start with, so it will come out a tad darker than I really wanted, . . . But that's what happens trying to change the spots on an old dead steer's hide. I like the color, . . . so I stay with it. AND, . . . I dip dye everything. May God bless, Dwight

I don't know for sure if this is it, . . . but I'd guess it was. http://www.ebay.com/itm/John-Bianchi-Cowboy-Western-Gun-Holster-Making-4-DVD-Set-/321824695613?hash=item4aee3f253d:g:LiQAAOSwu4BVwlWZ The tapes I had were a 3 tape set, . . . borrowed em, . . . had to get em back. They were well worth the $75 bucks they wanted for them, . . . but I just took a bunch of notes, . . . and he did not REALLY want to sell them. May God bless, Dwight

Awwww, . . . c'mon JLS, . . . you need to get one of those patented Harbor Freight Belt Stretchers, . . . LOL Look in your paper, . . . probably get a 20% off coupon, . . . and a free tape measure, . . . hard to beat............. May God bless, Dwight

In one word, the answer is "Yes". I always cut my gun belts with a curve, . . . as per John Bianchi, . . . so far they have all worked, except one. Made a 53 inch one for a guy, . . . when he came to get it about 6 or 7 weeks later, . . . it was too small. I had to get really creative and add a few inches to it so he could get it on. What you might do is just reposition your belt tongue back far enough that you can cinch it up real good and tight. The "rule" for these things that so far has never failed me: take the belt the person wears, . . . measure it like you were going to make them a new dress belt, . . . add 4 full inches to the measurment, . . . his / her gunbelt will fit and not fall off. Again, a bit of John Bianchi teaching. The other thing you may do (I've seen several like this), . . . put a suede liner on it. It won't take up much of the slack, . . . but they don't slide as easy either. May God bless, Dwight

Forget the oil in the mask if you want it to retain it's shape. Use veggie tan leather for the mask, . . . use as hot a water as your hands will handle when wetting it to form it, . . . lay it in a hot, sunny place to dry, . . . coat it with several light coats of resolene that is cut 50/50 with water, . . . you should wind up with a really hard mask that should last longer than you do if it is only worn a couple times a year. May God bless, Dwight

It has been so long, . . . I cannot remember the last time I put a suicide strap on a revolver holster. Thumb breaks, . . . did one just last week, . . . but the strap over just is not at all popular with my customers. BUT, . . . when I do, it is usually located behind the hammer. May God bless, Dwight