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

Thanks, Malabar, . . . but you just don't know me. That holster the "I" would put in there for 24 minutes, . . . might wind up in there for 24 hours, . . . or 2.4 hours, . . . or somewhere in between. I guess you could call it an "Attention Span Lost Disorder", . . . my attention span just won't let me do those kinds of things. Fortunately, . . . it is something I have fought all my life, . . . most of the time successfully, . . . but I can just see me putting a $125 creation/product in that thing, . . . remembering to go to the mailbox, . . . stopping to spray some roundup on the way, . . . but having to find my sprayer first, . . . and needing to charge the battery in the tractor so I can move it out of the way to get in the shed where the sprayer was. Thanks for the idea, . . . though. May God bless, Dwight

Yes, drop the carnuba, . . . I only use it if I want to polish up a purse, . . . deeply decorated holster, . . . etc. Your 13 oz backer for the holster needs to stay fairly rigid, . . . I NEVER add oil to a piece of leather, . . . have never had an issue. The brush I use is the cheap little 1 inch wide (25 or so mm) made of bristle (pig hair I think), . . . and it works well to get into the crevices and crannies and creases. The alcohol is used to reduce the oil base dye. Any old water that is relatively clean is good for reducing the resolene. May God bless, Dwight

Just some notes: 1. You do not need to oil the leather before dyeing it, . . . there should be enough natural oil in the leather to last the life of the project, . . . if not, it is junk leather. Many people do it, . . . and it will take away from the stiffness if in fact you want the holster to be stiff (and all of mine are). 2. Cut your dye 50/50 with thinner or denatured alcohol, . . . fiebings black oil dye is really nasty stuff if you try to use it full strength. 3. Cut your resolene the same, . . . 50/50, . . . but use water, not thinner. Apply with a brush and make sure you brush, brush, and brush, to get all the bubbles out, then hang it up to dry. Poke a hole in it where you will place one of the rivets, . . . and use a wire to hold it up in the air until it dries. Don't mess with it until it has dried for at least 18 hours. 4. Tragacanth is a nasty product, . . . you can achieve as good a finished edge without it, . . . and if you get it on your pretty leather area at all, . . . dye will not penetrate there. I tossed the first bottle I ever bought after ruining one too many projects with it. Simply use your edge tool, . . . and burnish after dying. Get some really good looking edges on there, . . . the resolene will keep them looking good. May God bless, Dwight

Kinda hard to tell if it is different without knowing what you have, . . . May God bless, Dwight

This is the back side of an Avenger Holster, . . . and it looks very much like the above knife sheath could also be worn in the same manner. May God bless, Dwight

Check in the upper right hand corner, . . . you have a PM from me.

Thanks again everyone, . . . especially the search info rickdroid, . . . I do a lot of searching, . . . never saw it used that way. I found most of my building materials today, . . . will get the others later this week, . . . will post the "results" when I get er done and tested out. May God bless, Dwight

Well, . . . I went out and took my trusty Stanley pocket 10 foot tape, . . . pulled it out, . . . and no matter how I held it, . . . it would not register as a 1/2 inch or as a 15/16. These 71 year old eyes can sometimes be troublesome. Sooooo, . . . reached over and grabbed my handy-dandy caliper from Harbor Freight, . . . it made me feel right real good. It reads .490 inches, . . . maybe my eyes ain't all that bad after all. May God bless, Dwight (Romans 8:28)

Thanks, Rickdroid, . . . I tried the same "hot box" in the search window here in Leatherworker, . . . it did not pull anything up for me, . . . must have mis spelled it or something, . . . Anyway, . . . i never got around to building it 4 years ago, . . . thought I would now, . . . could not remember what people had said or posted, . . . other than it seemed to work for them real well. I had in the back of my mind that folks were talking about a 130 degree or so temperature, . . . that was the big puzzle piece I was REALLY looking for, . . . the temperature. Ahh, well, . . . maybe just have to 'spearmint a bit and see what works. May God bless, Dwight

I'm looking at that almost in awe at the huge amount of concentration, and effort put into getting that done, done right, and no mistakes. The originator could probably point out a few "miscues" in it, . . . but THAT is far up and above anything I would want to tackle. Thanks for sharing, . . . that is a treasure just in Americana if nothing else. May God bless, Dwight

You are very welcome, Norman, . . . I hope you like your Boss as well as I do mine, . . . truthfully, . . . it is the best Boss I ever had, . . . pun intended. Seriously, . . . it is a great machine for sewing leather, . . . and while it has it's limitations, . . . it also has some nifty perks. May God bless, Dwight (Romans 8:28)

Well, . . . here you go............. May God bless, Dwight

I kicked around trying to find the proper search terminology to come up with what others have written on here about "hot boxes" for drying leather goods quicker. Worse than "Zero", . . . it wouldn't even recognize my entries. So, . . . I'm just reaching out to those of you who use them: What temperature do you have yours set on? How do you regulate the temperature? What did you use for a heating element? Any and all info will be welcomed, . . . and of course, many thanks. May God bless, Dwight

I always put a welt in a knife sheath as well as hatchet / axe sheaths. The reason is simple, . . . the welt gives a place for the blade to rest on and to glide against as it is holstered or withdrawn. The welt will last a long time even with a lot of use, . . . but if there is no welt, . . . the next thing for the blade to contact as it goes in or out, . . . is the stitches. If you have a sharp knife, . . . the expected life span of the stitches can then become fairly short. Just my thoughts and the way I do things. May God bless, Dwight

Hey, Glockanator, . . . good job my friend. I had seen that video, probably over a year or so ago, had forgotten how he did that. Thanks for the reminder, . . . I just may do something with that, . . . got a couple things in mind, . . . May God bless, Dwight

I did not use bolts for mine, . . . instead, I fixed it so the off side of the boss goes directly to a level table. Sure makes long belts a whole lot easier to manage. I also made a little table for it off to the left of the boss. The top is made from a scrap piece of nylon (?) kitchen cutting board. The little table and the boss are both held in place by "C" clamps, . . . so either can be pulled very quickly and easily. The boss is pulled for general maintenance and cleaning from time to time, . . . the little table is pulled so I can change out the bobbin. This may not work for you, . . . but it is my best shot. May God bless, Dwight

I like em, . . . guess it is just one of those things I picked up as a kid watching saturday cowboy shows, . . . I believe a rifle is properly cared for when it is in a leather saddle scabbard. You made that happen for the three amigos........ May God bless, Dwight