Firearms adjacent.

[widnerkj]

Well, I'm skinny, and have no behind. Finding belts pretty much sucks for me. Either pay a truck payment for a custom job, or buy some weak flimsy thing that sags if I put on a holster. So, after talking with some friends that do a lot of leather work. Took a lot of good advice, and got direction of what leather tools I'd need.

So... I decided to make myself a gun belt.

I started with a 1.5" 8oz belt blank from Tandy leather, and a 1.75" 4oz strap. Both simple Veg Tan leather. I then glued them together, and trimmed down to a 1.5" wide belt. Also took out the buttons that Tandy has on the belt blanks. Chicago screws are way more secure.

Then I lost my damn mind, and talked myself into saddle stitching the whole length of it, to add stiffness. So I used a punch set to beat the holes for the stitching the full length. Then proceeded to spend 2.5 days saddle stitching by hand. (One long long long piece of waxed canvas string with a needle on each end.) Once it was all sewn. And I swore to find a machine to sew that if I'm ever that foolish again. I rubbed it down with Neetsfoot oil. Let it dry, gave it another coat, and then rubbed it down with saddle soap really well.

All in all, I'm really satisfied with how it came out. Was a little nervous it'd look like something a 6 year old did in cub scouts. But it fits well, doesn't sag. And nicely holds a holster and double mag pouch for a P229.

 

[Bigfudge16]

Well, I'm skinny, and have no behind. Finding belts pretty much sucks for me. Either pay a truck payment for a custom job, or buy some weak flimsy thing that sags if I put on a holster. So, after talking with some friends that do a lot of leather work. Took a lot of good advice, and got direction of what leather tools I'd need.

So... I decided to make myself a gun belt.

I started with a 1.5" 8oz belt blank from Tandy leather, and a 1.75" 4oz strap. Both simple Veg Tan leather. I then glued them together, and trimmed down to a 1.5" wide belt. Also took out the buttons that Tandy has on the belt blanks. Chicago screws are way more secure.

Then I lost my damn mind, and talked myself into saddle stitching the whole length of it, to add stiffness. So I used a punch set to beat the holes for the stitching the full length. Then proceeded to spend 2.5 days saddle stitching by hand. (One long long long piece of waxed canvas string with a needle on each end.) Once it was all sewn. And I swore to find a machine to sew that if I'm ever that foolish again. I rubbed it down with Neetsfoot oil. Let it dry, gave it another coat, and then rubbed it down with saddle soap really well.

All in all, I'm really satisfied with how it came out. Was a little nervous it'd look like something a 6 year old did in cub scouts. But it fits well, doesn't sag. And nicely holds a holster and double mag pouch for a P229.

thats very impressive. if i was tasked with creating a belt it would be made of twine

 

[widnerkj]

thats very impressive. if i was tasked with creating a belt it would be made of twine

I really liked the way this guy goes about it. The audio is really really low. But his work is beautiful.

View: https://youtu.be/WKoS907QD1Q



My first try at doing a belt was an absolute disaster. I took two 8-10 ounce strips and glued them. Trimmed, edged, cut to length, knocked holes, and attached a buckle to it. Based on my pant size. Wow that was wrong. That monster belt was 1/2" thick. It almost made it to touch around me. Thicker belt needs to be longer etc... Now that fat strap is laying around here somewhere incase I need to pull a dumptruck.

 

[widnerkj]

Also giving an attempt at a pancake for a GP-100. Though being skinny means not much room on the belt.
Got it roughed out, now I’m attempting to wet form it to the pistol.

 

[DJBrad]

Well, I'm skinny, and have no behind. Finding belts pretty much sucks for me. Either pay a truck payment for a custom job, or buy some weak flimsy thing that sags if I put on a holster. So, after talking with some friends that do a lot of leather work. Took a lot of good advice, and got direction of what leather tools I'd need.

So... I decided to make myself a gun belt.

I started with a 1.5" 8oz belt blank from Tandy leather, and a 1.75" 4oz strap. Both simple Veg Tan leather. I then glued them together, and trimmed down to a 1.5" wide belt. Also took out the buttons that Tandy has on the belt blanks. Chicago screws are way more secure.

Then I lost my damn mind, and talked myself into saddle stitching the whole length of it, to add stiffness. So I used a punch set to beat the holes for the stitching the full length. Then proceeded to spend 2.5 days saddle stitching by hand. (One long long long piece of waxed canvas string with a needle on each end.) Once it was all sewn. And I swore to find a machine to sew that if I'm ever that foolish again. I rubbed it down with Neetsfoot oil. Let it dry, gave it another coat, and then rubbed it down with saddle soap really well.

All in all, I'm really satisfied with how it came out. Was a little nervous it'd look like something a 6 year old did in cub scouts. But it fits well, doesn't sag. And nicely holds a holster and double mag pouch for a P229.

Doing leather work, on a personal work bench, with NES OT on your screen is a good day.

 

[widnerkj]

The personal workbench is actually really funny. I needed a place for my desktop PC and my reloading press. But this townhouse has no garage. So the spare bedroom received a 10' wide butcher block, mounted on kitchen cabinets. So now I have room to reload, beat on leather, solder, clean firearms, and ape together whatever is this weeks project. Tunes come from the Kenwood KR-V9020 that dad bought when we were stationed in Turkey, pushing some mid 1980's Bose 301's. It's about perfect. Though I need to buy a drafting chair to sit properly at the bench.