Dwight

Without dimensions, . . . it's pretty tough to figure on an improvisation, . . . but I have better than half of my punches made from galvanized electrical conduit. Generally, . . . I take it to a sander, . . . sand off a bevel on the outside edge to make a cutting surface on the end, . . . then cut / form / bend / that end so that when I whack it with a mallet, . . . it cuts out what i want. What are the dimensions of the project? May God bless, Dwight

"It's only happened twice in about 100 years........." I had to laugh, . . . my "big" story is a guy wanted a cowboy gun belt and holster like John Wayne's. We agreed on price and delivery. He measured out at 53 inches, . . . and I always follow John Bianchi's advice of making it 4 inches longer, . . . which made a 57 inch belt. I made it, . . . called him, . . . he came to pick it up. It was 3 inches too short, . . . as he had gained 3 inches in the processing time. Fortunately, . . . I was able to put a new tongue on it, . . . and it worked out. Don't want any more of those.............. May God bless, Dwight

I don't see any problem with using Resolene on those bags. Resolene only has problems (in my experience at least) in real sharp bends, . . . for example the bend at the buckle end of a man's belt. I always preform them, then put on the Resolene, . . . have never had one crack since. Again, . . . I'd probably take a 6 inch square of the same leather used for the bags, . . . and do everything to it you did to the bag, . . . then a 50/50 Resolene and water, . . . it should give you a really good protective finish. AND, . . by the way, . . . they look good from what I could see. I'd be proud of them if they were my creation. May God bless, Dwight

Carrieanna1172, . . . I have never used the snow proof weather proof stuff you mentioned, . . . cannot say good or bad about it. Resolene, . . . though, . . . I've been using for a number of years, . . . and it's a great product. I always thin it with water, . . . half Resolene / half water, . . . give it a couple of shakes, . . . you're good. I put it on with a bristle brush, . . . it usually is a fairly thin coat, . . . but you can add coats to get the thickness you want. One word of caution, . . . make sure your saddle bags are all formed to the shape you want them, . . . a severe bend in the Resolene after applying and drying can result in a crack in the finish that you WILL NOT like. I'd try a test area first, . . . make sure whatever is on there will not lift the finish off, . . . and go from there. Post some pics and let us see what you are doing. May God bless, Dwight

Of all the bikes in the last few years I've seen, . . . I'd say that is one I would not mind owning. So many of them around here are black and chrome, . . . black and chrome, . . . black and chrome. Boring does not describe them all adequately. This is a refreshing and beautiful change of pace. May God bless, Dwight

Thanks, Albob...... I wasn't sure what kind of snakes you were mentioning, . . . only ones I knew of in the San Diego area that would need a .44 mag, . . . mostly drank a lot, swore a lot, and wore either a skirt or britches. But, . . . all in all, the rig looked good, . . . and she seemed to be enjoying it. That last phrase is the most important part of it for me as far as leather working is concerned. If my customer is happy, . . . I'm happy, . . . looks like you hit a home run with her. May God bless, Dwight

Weldwood contact cement, . . . properly applied. May God bless, Dwight

I don't know enough about saddle structure and this riding sport, . . . but from a leather working standpoint: 5 stars my friend............ May God bless, Dwight

Cut up a portion of a one gallon freezer bag, . . . so you can wrap it around your knife, . . . shove the knife and bag down in the sheath. Get up tomorrow morning, . . . remove the knife, . . . unwrap the bag, . . . try the knife again. If it is still too tight, . . . keep adding layers until you get the fit you want. Remember to leave the knife in the sheath for several hours, . . . I like to do 8 or so, . . . it allows the leather to stretch out, . . . but not spring back. We do this with gun holsters, knife sheaths, even billfolds and check books. Neat trick that works every time. May God bless, Dwight

They never wound up that bad, . . . but I had some shipmates that must have been some relationship to your sonarman, . . . cousins or something, . . . they would do the same thing. Had one EM1 that wouldn't drink anything but sloe gin and orange juice, . . . he was ugly when he was plastered. Thanks for the story katsass, . . . I needed a chuckle today. May God bless, Dwight

She carries a Ruger wheel gun in .44 mag to keep snakes at bay while out camping. I'll admit, . . . I did see some pretty big snakes down around E street when I was in the USN out there. But they were mostly the 2 leg variety. But camping with a .44 mag.............gives a whole new perspective to the idea, . . . unless they're camping in the hills south of San Diego, . . . then I'd be carrying something that reloads a lot faster than a wheel gun. But with that, . . . good looking rig you're doing there. Be sure to post the finished product up close when it's done. May God bless, Dwight

Some years ago, . . . I bought a tool from Walmart (they don't carry it here now) that has blue handles, a white head, made of metal, and is for line 24 snaps only. It is too big for the smaller ones. I have seen that same tool at Hobby Lobby, . . . it is a card item, . . . hanging in their sewing area. They have two versions, the one that supposedly does all the sizes etc, . . . and the one that does the 24's only. That is the one I would get. It has served me well for the 6 or so years I've had it, . . . and I think the price was like $25.00 May God bless, Dwight

I was tasked with a special problem with two Boston bull dogs. Each one would tug at the other one's braided cloth shock collar, . . . until it fell off. Then the other dog would get his off, . . . and the pups would flee the yard for squirrels, frogging, mud running, . . . whatever. I made two new collars, . . . 8 oz veggie tan, . . . two layers, . . . sewn together like a cowboy belt, . . . Feibings stain, . . . Resolene finish, . . . and I have not had one bad comment from the owners, . . . That was a couple years ago, . . . I consider it a total success, . . . but just my situation, . . . YMMV. May God bless, Dwight

Occasionally I will use shoe polish, . . . but as an old Navy man, . . . Kiwi is the only shoe polish that comes in my front door. I have tried mop & glo, . . . prefer Resolene, . . . mainly because it is the only product out there that has a sun shield in it. I'm doing a few different things now, . . . and I just may step across the line to mop & glo, . . . will pass it on if I do. All my finishes are either dip and drip or brushed on, . . . and I want to experiment some this summer with spray finishes. Also want to look at two tone finishes you can get with spraying on the dye, . . . gonna do some "playing" so to speak. May God bless, Dwight

Supercub hit all the points I would have mentioned. I do have a couple patterns, but for the most part, your way is the way I do it as well for most pancake holsters. May God bless, Dwight

I'll do it for $62,500.00 (the price of the new Ford Quadcab I would like to have) May God bless, Dwight

Ray, . . . please don't be a stranger here, . . . you may not be "creating" anything on the production table, . . . but your vault of expertise can be profoundly useful here to many of us. I'm actually looking at the same situation in a year, . . . maybe 2, . . . maybe 3, . . . but for sure within the next 5. Seems like every project took so much longer than the one before it did, . . . and my arms aren't quite long enough to get stuff out there where I can see it anymore Take care, . . . may God bless, Dwight

What I do is roll them around a small steel dowel, . . . do that a couple times, . . . they will loosen right up. May God bless, Dwight

No "slight" intended SooperJake, . . . I owned an XD double stack, . . . carried it for a while, . . . and I'm sorry, . . . but I just could not get past the Glock look and Glock feel of it. Honestly, I never got to the point where "I" trusted it, . . . no doubt everyone else in the county did, . . . I just could not. Finally got a chance to trade it up and up for an ATI, all steel commander, . . . grabbed it while I could, . . . never looked back. I would love to see one disassembled, . . . see what makes the thing tick, . . . never had the time or inclination to do that with mine while I had it. A 1911, I have never taken one apart blindfolded, . . . but I'm thinking I could almost do it. I have taken it down to a pile of pieces, . . . the only parts still together were the sights still on the slide, as I recall. I wouldn't do that to an XD. But then again, . . . lots of people trust them, . . . and their trust is verified by their safety record. Can't even come close to saying that for Glocks. May God bless, Dwight

I have kind of shied away from making a lot of pancake holsters, simply because I've seen some worn that I wouldn't put my worst enemy's gun in, . . . they were all loose, floppy and more like a flannel bag than a leather holster. I tried Katsass' method of making them, . . . and I've become an enthusiast at least, . . . and in all probability, . . . a convertee. "THANK YOU", Mike. It is not readily apparent, but the holster is 4 pieces of leather: front and back each made of two bonded pieces of veggie tan. I think it could be marketed as the 11th round, . . . 8+1 coming from the 1911, . . . the 1911 itself being the 10th round, . . . and the holster, removed from the belt, could be the 11th round down range. Certainly if a guy was hit up beside the head with this at any speed at all, . . . it would certainly get his attention. I was also surprized at how well this process takes to the molding detail. I kinda figured it would not do well, . . . pleasantly surprised that it molds very well. This is for a full size 1911 that has a rail on it. Anyway, sorry the picture is not of better quality, but all black holsters don't photograph really well. May God bless, Dwight

Here is a sample of what I was talking about. The right side is sewn down, . . . the whole thing submerged, . . . gun outline made (Beretta 9mm in this case). After it dries, . . . finish gluing it together, . . . gouge, stitch and be on your way. It also allows you to use a bit bigger piece of leather, . . . and you can then mold it to the weapon, . . . especially if you do not have a pattern for that exact model. In this case I'm using a 1911 pattern back, . . . and a slightly enlarged front, . . . to do the Beretta, . . . and my "lucky guess" as to how much bigger to make it came out pretty good this time. They don't always May God bless, Dwight

I tried the game of having patterns so perfected that I could plot the stitch lines, . . . sew everything flat, . . . wet & mold later, . . . etc. Personally, . . . I did not like it. Much prefer to get one side of the holster stitched down like it needs to be, . . . wet & mold, . . . dry, . . . do the stitching on the second side. I also lightly gouge for stitch lines, . . . mainly to give these 71 year old eyes a target to put the stitches in. AND, yes, . . . they are also flat, . . . less chance of wearing and abrading through. I only mention these techniques as "the way I do it" and it is not necessarily "THE BEST" way for everyone, . . . but it makes my shop hum and be productive. Trying different approaches will sometimes create a nice pile of beautiful scrap leather, . . . but it will also give one foresight on what can and cannot be done that way. May God bless, Dwight