Dwight

I am not going to be one of those dozen posts, . . . but I would encourage you not to give up on the weldwood. I personally have never had your experience, . . . BUT, . . . we don't do things alike either. My belts, . . . like yours, . . . get a coat on each piece of leather, . . . but I force dry mine, . . . with a heat gun, . . . and they are not tacky, . . . they are DRY. You can take a cotton ball all the way from one end to the other, . . . you will not lose one fiber of cotton to a tacky place when I am getting ready to put my belt pieces together, . . . and owing to the heat gun, . . . they will be slightly warm. I put them together, . . . and my marble rolling pin comes out, . . . after I have first "set" them together with the palms of my hands. My opinion, . . . you got some foreign something or other in that weldwood, . . . and the same thing will happen again, . . . regardless of the brand, . . . if the new stuff is equally contaminated. In almost 50 years of using contact cement, . . . I did get one bad can once, . . . a couple years back, . . . worked good at first, . . . then seemingly overnight it got all thick and stringy, . . . totally unuseable, . . . I pitched it and did not look back. I've never used Barges because I like weldwood, . . . understand it, . . . am familiar with it, . . . and am not with Barges. BUT, . . . best wishes on whatever decision you make. May God bless, Dwight

Actually, . . . what I have is nothing more than a big box, . . . almost 8 feet tall, . . . 4 feet wide, . . . 12 inches deep. I have racks inside, . . . that swing, . . . allowing me to pick what ever piece I want for this item, project, or task. Really pretty simple when you come down to it, . . . and as I said before, . . . was putting up a wall anyway, . . . just made it thicker and hollow, . . . serves as my "vault", . . . so to speak. May God bless, Dwight

We added a car port to the house, . . . and on the other end of the car port, . . . I built the hobby / leather shop, . . . needed to get it out of my family room, . . . made my wife VERY happy. It would never do for anything above a 2 or 3 man operation, . . . and that would be crowded, . . . but it works really great for me. May God bless, Dwight

I have a relatively small space in which I work. The table in the picture is 3 feet wide, 5 feet long, . . . the covering is 1 inch squares, and is a "cut proof" bench top piece from Joann Fabrics. As you can see, . . . my sewing machine is at this end, . . . everything sewn flows up and onto the table. To the left of the table but unseen is a belt sander and a tube sander, all I do is turn around, . . . they are there, . . . turn them on, . . . go at it. To the right of the table is all the punches, and other tools that would be used to shape or decorate or stamp the leather. Additionally all my snaps, grommets, rivets, and their associated punches and tooling are all there. Farther back in the shop on the same side as the tools is the sink, . . . above which is all the finishing products and stains. The "wall" you see behind the table is indeed not a wall, . . . but my leather vault, . . . 12 inches deep, . . . 4 feet wide, . . . 7 feet tall, . . . with swinging arms inside that hold my leather in a vertical position, . . . open the vault, . . . thumb through till you find the piece you want, . . . take it down, . . . cut it, . . . hang it back up. Everything is designed to be within arms length of the table. Works for me. May God bless, Dwight

I use 346 thread, . . . top and bottom, . . . belts, holsters, purses, billfolds, knife sheaths, . . . and an occasional "whatever" I might make. No one has ever complained. The few comments on the stitches, . . that I've gotten, . . . were all good. Generally I'm about 5 1/2 stitches per inch. May God bless, Dwight

Gary, my man, . . . get on them edges, . . . they haven't shaved for a week Seriously, . . . good looking holster, . . . just needs some serious edge work done, . . . it'll turn into a great looking holster. May God bless, Dwight

When I built my hobby / leather shop, . . . that was one of the concerns. I had to put up a divider wall between two sections, . . . instead of a 2 x 4 wall that would be all wasted space, . . . I used a 2 x 12 on the end of it, . . . put an OSB back on it, . . . an OSB door on the front, . . . and all my leather hangs in the "vault" nowadays. I made swinging arms that would hold 6 or 8 pieces each, . . . so I can just open the door and thumb through what I have until I find what I want. What little I have rolled up, . . . sits on the floor of the vault, . . . awaiting a day when it too will be hung up. Greatest invention I've done in a long time. May God bless, Dwight

OK, . . . that's an easy one, . . . I've had to do that on occasion or two, . . . pull your leather through the hole while you still have 3 or 4 inches on it, . . . cut it so it is half the distance to the next slot, . . . skive it and the new piece so they will lay flat, . . . use a little dab of contact cement to hold them together, . . . put a staple through both pieces or sew a couple of stitches, . . . just to hold them together. Go on and pull it through the rest of the slots, . . . and when you put the belt together, . . . MAKE SURE, . . . that area gets good cement. It'll work, . . . been there, done that. May God bless, Dwight

I try to look at reloads, . . . not bullet count. Also, . . . are you making a belt, . . . or a bandolier? A 72 inch belt is a pretty BIG guy , . . . but just figure out how much space you want to put bullets in, . . . divide that by your .550 spacing, . . . you'll know then how many you can do. My personal rig for my .45 LC, . . . has 20 loops, . . . 4 reloads of 5 each, . . . also space on the right hand side for the holster, . . . and a space on the left side for a knife, . . . another holster, . . . canteen, . . . possible pouch, . . . May God bless, Dwight

You have to "figger" this one. Two cartridges, .375 (+/-) in diameter, . . . with two pieces of 5 oz leather between them. We're talking "center to center", . . . so we can start out with the .357 diameter being the minimum distance (if you laid two of them side by side, and if there was no rim on the cartridge. Add to that the two pieces of 5 oz leather which must go between the two cartridges, . . .that equals one piece of 10 oz leather, . . . which equals 10/64ths of an inch. The decimal equavelent is .156 inches. .375 plus .156 equals .531. That will give you a belt with loops right together when it is laying flat on the table. Hanging off your body, . . . there will be slight air gaps between them. Set your set of dividers at maybe .550 or so and you won't get in trouble. Look at the little drawing, . . . notice the two lines, . . . they are the top and bottom of the cartridges LOOPS, . . . I prefer mine fixed so the cartridges are actually centered on the belt, . . . some folks like em up a bit higher, . . . it's your choice, . . . it's your belt. Scribe a line that goes from one end to the other of your line of cartridges (multiply .550 by the number of bullets you want to put in there to get the length of that line). Again scribe that line, . . . and then take your dividers set at .550 and make marks on the TOP line, . . . the one closest to the top of the belt, . . . make your punches at each of those points, . . . thread your loops, . . . and you are good to go. I start out with the left end (I'm right handed) and work my way around, . . . having riveted the left end about an inch or so to the left of the first cartridge. Dampen your loop leather (don't soak it, . . . just a moderate dampening), . . . pull it up, . . . push it back down, . . . put a bullet in the loop, . . . pull it TIGHT. Do the next one the same way, . . . I leave the bullets in until about an hour after I finish weaving the loops, . . . while the leather is still a tad damp, . . . and then I very easily, . . . very gingerly, . . . take the bullets out. Hang it up to dry. Come back tomorrow, . . . you got a cartridge belt, . . . well, . . . almost anyway, . . . add the buckle and the tongue billets, . . . I contact cement the two pieces together, . . . sew the edges, . . . now you got a cartridge belt. Have fun, . . . may God bless, Dwight

Beat me to it Red Cent.

That is a great find, . . . congratulations. My old saddle doesn't have any history to it, . . . supposedly a turn of the century company making a Jumbo saddle. It ain't much, . . . but it's mine, . . . and it rides good. Came out of a Denver, Colorado pawn shop. May God bless, Dwight

I had the same question a number of years back, . . . just for kicks and giggles, . . . I built an IWB holster for a Bersa Thunder, . . . patterned after my Cactus design. I carried it on and off for a year or so, . . . gave it to a friend, . . . in all probability, it is a drawer ornament today, . . . but when I gave it to him, . . . it was still intact and totally functional. I do not use glue, . . . I use Weldwood contact cement. GOOD STUFF !!! May God bless, Dwight

It's a little hole in the wall place, . . . not very well known, . . . called Tandy's.............. Seriously, . . . I quit kicking around other places, . . . Tandy is only 35 miles from me, . . . near my wife''s aunt's place. She sees her aunt, . . . I go to Tandy's and get what I need. Their snaps have done every thing I've ever asked them to do, . . . and thumb snaps on holsters is one of those things. It may be the tool I use, . . . it is a plier looking thing from Walmart originally, . . . last one came from Hobby Lobby, . . . this is similar to it. This one is lighter duty than my old one though, . . . once they are set, . . . they are SET, . . . and have to be cut off http://www.amazon.com/Dritz-Heavy-Duty-Fastener-Plier/dp/B005BB5GYS May God bless, Dwight

For the drawing that I do on the computer, . . . Windows Paint serves me quite well. Most of my drawings are done freehand, . . . then on to my Epson scanner, . . . and tweaked as necessary with paint. Kinda simple, . . . low budget, . . . but it works. May God bless, Dwight

Yes, . . . but it takes 5 layers, . . . and a lot of work (at least the one I did, . . . was a lot of work). I did the front and back out of two layers, . . . cemented together, flesh to flesh, with weldwood contact cement. That was the first 4 layers. I then made a layer to go between the front and back, . . . so that the edges of the sword would not cut into the stitches. I then cemented this all together, . . . sanded down the edges, . . . sewed the thing (wow what a job), . . . dyed and finished it, . . . and sent it back to my customer, . . . who was tickled pink. I also used vegetable tanned leather, . . . soaked it in hot water, . . . and force dried it, . . . it became HARD, . . . HARD, type HARD, . . . But it was not for a saber, . . . but one similar to a Roman short sword. I would not be afraid to use this same process on a broad sword, . . . one like old Lancelot's, . . . or even a Viking 2 handed sword. May God bless, Dwight

Tardis86 wrote: "i feel like im missing something here, i put alot of time in this stuff and it looks like crap. any helpful ideas are appreciated." And: "i REALLY don't want to use an awl for poking holes. is there another way?" A carpenter could use a rock to drive nails, . . . and a truck delivery driver could use a Mini-Cooper, . . . but neither one was designed for the task at hand. You asked for good suggestions, . . . suggestions that would help you make your work look good, . . . that is exactly what we gave you. If you use a drill or even a drill press, . . . you will NEVER be as accurate making holes as you will be with an awl and a stitch marking tool. Making the hole, . . . determines what the overall stitch looks like, . . . and the example you gave us in post # 1 shows you did not take the time to make the holes so that the stitches would line up correctly. Two needles and an awl are the leatherworker's equivalent to the carpenter's hammer, or the delivery drivers Peterbuilt truck. Beat yourself up if you want to, . . . but until you are willing to follow the suggestions of people who are and have been in the industry, . . . you are just not going to create an esthetically pleasing product. May God bless, Dwight

Weldwood contact cement, . . . and a leather working awl to do the holes. The first one will hold it, . . . the second will poke it. May God bless, Dwight

Because most of my holsters do not call for them, . . . I need very few of them. When I do, . . . I have a sheet of kydex, . . . cut it out with snips, . . . sand the edges, . . . drill the holes, . . . glue it on, . . . one rivet and one snap later, . . . done. May God bless, Dwight

Assuming you meant the straps coming from the holster, . . . down and under the belt, . . . comes back up and snaps at the top of the belt: Mine are 6 1/4 by 3/4, . . . the 3/4 being a "fat" 3/4. May God bless, Dwight

I'm with Ken on this, . . . I do the same. Fact is, . . . some of my holsters get the stitch gouge treatment on the front and the back as well. It makes the stitches lay down a lot better, less chance of fraying, and the holster coming apart. May God bless, Dwight

Yep, . . . that's my "Cactus". And while I'm still on the 1911 board, . . . forum, . . . just don't get there as much any more. They say there's never a dull moment in the pastor's life, . . . and while that may not be 101% true, . . . it can be close. I love the Glidden area, . . . some of the nicest folks I ever met in my life up there. My cousin had a house, . . . unfortunately it burned down, . . . and we used to go up there for deer season sometimes. I'm not sure of the road, . . . thinking it was on 13, . . . there was a novelty shop, junk shop, flea market type store, . . . loved to stop there but had to be careful or I would buy the place out. They had stuff you NEVER saw anywhere else. Anyway, . . . again, . . . welcome aboard. What is your first project you want to do?? May God bless, Dwight

Mike, . . . I had the same dilemma a few years back on a big Colt, . . . .44 mag. I sent the owner a picture of another gun, . . . outlining the measurements I needed, . . . then when he measured it all, . . . I made up a dummy wooden gun in all of about an hour. Like your customer, . . . it was for a cowboy type holster, . . . it fit perfect, . . . he was absolutely thrilled. If I were in your position, . . . I'd do that all over again. May God bless, Dwight

Rick, . . . get a flat, rectangular magnet and contact cement it to the back of the holster if you have enough steel up under there to hang it. Most new vehicles do not, . . . but that is one option. If you don't have steel, . . . two pieces of Velcro will accomplish the same task, . . . sew it to the holster before you mold it, . . . and you are good to go, . . . I've made a couple like that, . . . they are just neat. Another that I've seen and like, . . . they take and make a belt for the steering column, . . . and put a steel belt clip on the back of the holster, . . . like an OWB holster with a clip. Anyway, . . . it's not a tough job, . . . MayGod bless, Dwight

Barkster, . . . through experimentation, . . . I've found that THE best black dye job I can get comes from the Pro Oil dye, . . . BUT, . . . I cut it 1 to 1 with thinner. I also dip dye, . . . into the pan it goes, . . . maybe 3 seconds or so, . . . pull it out, . . . shake off the excess, . . . lay out to dry. I found by thinning it, . . . it does not affect the color, . . . but the excess pigment ruboff and buffing is MUCH less, quicker, and easier. May God bless, Dwight