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Wow! I doubt I EVER would have guessed that! Way cool! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you - that tells me what I needed to know. I built a belt for myself a while back, but it was entirely hand sewn. I haven't come across any tutorials showing start-to-finish on building a basic gun belt. Guess I'll make a video of it one of these days... that is, after I figure out exactly what I'm doing!! Thanks again.

Will, thank you very much for posting this. Excellent work!

Thank you Boomstick for the thoughtful response. Can I ask what you use the staples for? I'm guessing maybe to hold the keeper closed until the belt can be assembled, but I really have no clue... Would you mind posting a pic or two showing how you fold over the end of the belt at the buckle? Thanks again, Eric

For what it's worth, I finally got a response from Weaver regarding what and where their blanks come from. Here is their response.

That looks fantastic!! If you'd like to share, I'd love to know how you did that!

Excellent - thank you Dennis. I'm glad you mentioned chicago screws - I didn't even think of those.

I've seen some good tutorials and videos on making belts. I even have a couple books that go into the basics of belt construction (can't recall which ones off the top of my head - I'm at work). However, I don't recall seeing any of them related to gun belts specifically. For you folks that make and sell gun belts to go with your holsters, I would appreciate hearing from you some basics of how you build your belts. Some things I'd like to know... Do you cut your own blanks? If you buy your blanks, where do you buy them? What hardware will I need for a double layer 8-9oz (1/4" thick) belt for a removable buckle (snaps - what size, type, etc.)? Do you reinforce them with Kydex, etc? Or is a basic double-layered belt enough for most people? I guess that's about all I can think to ask at the moment. I'm at the point of needing to order the supplies for belts, and want to make sure I order the right stuff. Thanks, Eric

Thank you Rhome for the compliment - I really appreciate it! You know, for the price, you're probably right - I should have just gotten "A" grade. I was swayed by the salesman on the phone that said all of the holster makers they sell to get "C" grade. With as much as I cut away from this first hide from the roll of 10, it probably wouldn't have cost any more money (in waste) to get the "A" grade. One of the H.O. people I spoke to said the hide I had previously gotten from one of the major retailers was "D" grade - so I figured (based on the H.O. price list) C would be WAY better than D. Are the backs of "A" grade better than "C" grade? Or do they only score the hides on the skin-side?

Hmm, I might have to give this a try - I've been thinking of a good way to work up a pattern for a flat-backed holster, and this might be just the trick! Thanks! Yeah, most of that area was on the belly, but several square feet were up high on the shoulder area as well. You can see some of it in the 2nd photo I posted. I cut all that crud away and placed it aside for later use (mocked up a double-mag pouch with it a few days ago).

Okay - I bought 10 hides from Herman Oak. They were all "C" grade. Very happy with the fronts, but the back of the first hide I started using leaves a LOT to be desired. Is this nasty looking area usable? Can anyone tell me what's wrong and why the back looks like this? Is this a bad section that didn't get tanned properly, or was it a little thin and didn't get skived consistently with the rest of the hide, etc? Sorry for the low quality pics - they were taken with my phone. I already cut these bad portions away and saved them for coasters... This particular hide probably lost about 10 square feet after I trimmed this stuff away. Suggestions on what this area could be used for (aside from coasters) would be much appreciated.

I can't say with certainty, but I don't think there are many, if any, parts that can be interchanged between an EMP and a standard 1911. They're completely designed around the smaller cartridge. I believe even the slide thickness is more narrow, but I didn't find any measurements to verify. I do have a Rings 3" 1911 for the .45, and that's what the customer wants me to use. I told him I'd build him a holster for a 3" 1911 .45, but I can't guarantee the fit - he was okay with that. I think I still want an EMP dummy though, as I think there are enough potential buyers out there to warrant the purchase.

I found this image showing the difference in size between the Springfield EMP 9mm and the 3" Micro .45. It looks to me like the EMP would nestle down inside the trigger guard area, and the end of the muzzle would rest at about the same place as the 3" .45 would in the holster. But it would not be as tight at the top of the slide. I think in a Pancake style holster, this wouldn't cause much problem, but I'm not so sure with the Avenger style, where it's much harder to form fit the double-thick area close to the gun (at least with the pattern I'm currently using). Sure is a sweet looking little pistol that would go great with my Kahr P9...

Ahh, thank you! I'll have to place an order for one in the morning. Much appreciated!

I'm looking for a dummy for a Springfield EMP. Anyone know if they are out there? I have a customer that tried his EMP in a holster designed for a 3" 1911, and he said it fit fine (his judgement call). He's asked me to build one with my 3" dummy for his EMP, but I'm not comfortable doing this and wanted to see how you guys are building holsters for an EMP.

From my woodworking days... I always loved the Minwax Wipe On Poly - I always read that if you want a satin finish, but need to use multiple coats for good penetration and a smooth finish, you should do all but the final coat with the glossy finish. The final layer should be the satin finish to dull the gloss from the previous layers. You might try putting a light coat of Satin Sheen on it to see if that dulls the finish.

I suggest you try resolene some more. I recently finished some coasters for my mom for mother's day. Aside from being a gift, I wanted to test my finish process to see how well it holds up against water. My process was to brush on a coat of Satin Sheen, then wipe the excess with a towel and allow to completely dry in front of a fan. I then applied a second coat the same way the following day. Lastly, I took Dwight's suggestion of 1:1 water & resolene, but I was too lazy to use a brush - I simply used a sponge to make sure the solution was applied liberally and got into all of the tooling impressions. Like before, I toweled off the excess and allowed them to dry in front of a fan again. I'm very happy with the finish - I do not like overly glossy leather. It doesn't feel natural to me. I usually airbrush the resolene, but thought I'd see how the sponge method works this time as I can mix a batch of it and store it for future use in a container. Being water based, it's not hard to clean up the airbrush, but it saves a little time - and I feel like I get better coverage this way.

Thanks for the input everyone and the pics you provided. They're much appreciated! I agree the mag can probably be raised up a bit to ride higher on the belt. I'll tweak the pattern and proceed forward. Will post pics of the set once I'm done with them. Thanks again everyone!

Great looking combo and nice coloring! Would love to see photos of the back side if you have them available.

Hello all - I decided to go ahead and add magazine pouches and belts to my offerings. While I'm not dissatisfied with my current pattern for a single mag pouch, I would like to see if anyone can offer suggestions on how to make it better. Last night I made a trial build of a double-mag pouch. It's the same style, just wider. By the time you allow a little space between the mags, the stitch lines, and the belt loops, the double pouch seems fairly wide to me. I debated moving the belt slots to the rear via folding the front over to the rear and letting that form the belt tunnel. I also debated making them bi-directional so the same pattern could work for left and right handed shooters. What weight leather do you prefer for mag pouches? The one shown below was built with 7-8 oz, with a 5-6 oz reinforcement. Thoughts? Suggestions? Care to show pics of your preferred pouch style? Should I build a wooden dummy, glue it to a board, then mold the outer piece of leather to the wood block, then sew it to the backing so the back of the pouch is flat? Seems like a lot more work for a $30 item. For some reason I always have problems with thread tension on the pouches - even if they are cut from the same hide, same section, and sewn immediately after a perfectly (meaning the tension was perfect) sewn matching gun holster. (note that the reinforcement piece wasn't supposed to be darker - the first piece got messed up and I had to cut another one - when I dyed it, it was a couple hours after I dyed the rest of the mag pouch and I accidentally put on a heavier coat with the airbrush)

Beautiful work - love the coloring on the exterior and the way you made it look aged. If you ever felt like sharing, I'd love to know what a bag like that sells for...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/waldenbags I would love to know what his material costs and time is to produce one of these bags - or at least a ballpark idea. I doubt I could ever be a competitor with him, but I'd sure like to start making bags and would love to know if it's worth while...

LOL - don't his bags sell for like $990 or something like that? I wish I had that kind of money to buy a beautiful bag like that. Can't imagine tearing it apart to swipe the pattern...

Awesome - thanks for posting! Wish I hadn't forgotten my headphones today. Had to watch it without sound!

I wouldn't have a problem using artwork someone supplies me so long as the customer is willing to sign a release stating that they are either the original artist, or have permission to use the artwork - or something to that affect. I would think that you'll usually be modifying, tweaking, adjusting, stretching, elongating, filling in, etc. to make a particular piece of artwork fit what you're actually trying to tool, and the final piece as a whole will bear little resemblance to any original artwork you might find and/or receive. If all else fails, check out www.istockphoto.com or one of the other big stock photography sites. You can often times find great imagery or artwork out there on the stock photography sites, and use them as a basis for your new designs. Download a "comp" to mock-up your design to present to the customer, and when they approve, purchase the royalty free artwork (to produce the final design) and save it to your personal database of stock artwork, to be used over and over again for no additional fee. For example, here is a few images I found on iStockPhoto when I searched for "tatoo"...