I'm going to start making holsters, belts, and magazine holders

[mliebs8]

This website is so full of information it's amazing. I'm going to start making holsters, belts, and magazine holders in the next couple of months and would like to know what equipment is necessary to make the job a little easier. I'm looking at the Neel's Saddlery or Artisan 3000 for a sewing machine so far but that's about it. I'd like to know what hand tools would be needed, which press would be the best for moulding (with a somewhat reasonable price), and what I would need to cut strips for belts. This is going to be a hobby but I would like to turn it into a small side business in the next few years if possible. I'm also looking at possibly buying or making a clicker for multiple patterns. Any input would be greatly appreciated. My budget to get this started is going to be in the 4-5000 dollar range.

[richclickerdies]

What the Name of the web site

[figthnbullrider]

i am kind of new to this also but i think you will need all the tooling stamps. a round knife is great. get a good bench to work on. riveting tools, a strap cutter to cut belts is great just dont buy a cheap one. edging tools. i have found that i buy tools as i need them and i use them alot once i get them. its hard to say exactly what you will need untill you start doing it.

[Randy Cornelius]

Here is my suggestions to do what you are wanting to do.

Knives, a good round knife a good point knife you will use these a lot.

Strap cutter, also buy good one as you will use it a lot.

Edgers, a number 2 and / or #3 , CS Osborne or tandy will work but I bought 3 Ron's edgers and just love them well worth the money.

A 4" X 36" table top style belt sander. I use this to sand all my edges. Well worth the investment.

Needles and thread, sometimes you just have to hand sew something.

Rivits and setters, get an assortment. Jiffy rivits and copper rivits and burrs.

Dye, assortment of colors saddle tan & Mahogony is very popular with my customers.

Finish, Super Shene or Tan Coat works good.

Some type of edge dressing to coat the edges after you burnish.

Saddle Soap and old denin or canvis to burnis the edges.

Basket weave and border stamps your choise.

Cement, I use Duall 88 but some prefer Barge.

Hope this helps

[mliebs8]

Thanks for the input. On the strap cutter I guess a good one would be the aluminum instead of the wooden one correct? What grade sandpaper do you use on the belt sander? I was also thinking about getting a drill press and making something to burnish the edges. I'm sure I won't have everything up front and will have to keep buying, I"m just trying to get a good solid setup to help with the learning curve. Thanks again.

[mliebs8]

Holy Cow! I just checked the price on the Ron's edgers and almost had a heart attack. What is the advantage to Ron's vs Tandy? Between the Artisan 3000 and Ron's edgers my future business name might be Poor Mans holsters. LOL

[K-Man]

You're going to need a whole lot more than the $4-5k to start up and be able to use quality products/equipment. You've already spent half of that on the Artisan 3000 (good choice BTW). If you want a clicker, even the Tippmann 700 is going to run you w/table approx $1700-1800. The 700 will only cut out relatively small holsters, i.e., pocket designs. Otherwise you're spending an inordinate amount of time trying to cut out something such as a cowboy holster. So you've spent nearly all of your allocation on just two essential pieces of equipment. Then you add in the glue, the thread, the edgers, the strap cutter, the working table(s), the dye, the finish, the buffing equipment. You haven't even touched the leather. If you want to make a quality holster, you need to have quality leather - pure and simple. (I've spent $11k+ on leather alone this year.) I think a more realistic figure to get started would be $10k+.

Edited December 15, 2007 by K-Man

[mliebs8]

I can see that figure being realistic, I'm looking to spend around 5K just for equipment to get something going (leather, dyes, thread etc aren't included). I'm only looking at doing belts, IWB and OWB for now so if the clicker has to wait then it has to wait. I want to get some type of press to help with the moulding process so I'd rather spend more time cutting the patterns than trying to mould the holsters by hand. If it cost more then it costs more, it's really no big deal. I posted here to see what I would need and how much it might cost to avoid the learning curve of wasting money and getting aggrevated. If I spend 10K in the next year including leather and supplies I'd be one happy camper. What do you think the equipment for startup would run? From everything I've been pricing, minus the clicker, 5K seems like it would be more than enough.

Edited December 15, 2007 by mliebs8

[K-Man]

IMO, you're going to need a flat bed machine as well, unless you're going to sew everything with the same thread weight. A flat bed machine, like the Artisan 618SC, will run you ~$1500 + shipping.

I've got the bench top press from Weaver. I don't have their catalog in front of me, but I think it's around $300 + the cost of the plates + shipping. At the time I bought it, I was in a smaller shop and space was at a premium.

If you have to choose, I personally think you'd be better off investing in the clicker and dies for cutting out the patterns. The use of a die and the clicker will save you an enormous amount of time, and at various stages of the holster making. For example, cutting a cowboy holster out with a clicker and a die takes less than a minute. Tracing and cutting them out by hand is approximately 35-45 minutes. And then if you're off in your cut, you've got to spend time getting it straightened out, i.e., more cutting, sanding, etc. In other words, you're going to spend a lot more time (and aggravation) cutting out and aligning a holster than you would molding the holster. Of course, depending on the size and style of patterns, (and arm strength), you might be able to get the Weaver press to do double duty for you. I don't think it would work well in that way, but others may view it differently.

You'll need an adequate air compressor. I tried using one of the 35-gallon/135 psi styles - didn't work, as I burned it up in about a month's time. Buy a decent sized air compressor. I replaced the inadequate one with a 60-gallon tank, runs off of 220. Cost was approximately $750.

You'll need a decent belt sander for edge finishing. You'll need a means to slick the edges. There's a bunch of different ways to do that. Weaver has a machine that has the sander on one side and the grooved edge slicker on the other. They also have a #9 edge slicker that chucks up into the drill press. Both of those are okay but fall short of real world application IMO. I had something custom made that's similar to those. In any event, you can get both of those and they'll get you started.

You'll need a rivet and/or snap setter, if you incorporate those into your holster design(s). The dies for the one-way snaps will run you nearly $200 alone. Dies for the rivets are around $50-75. As you mentioned, you'll want a drill press. You'll want a Dremel-type tool.

You'll need a work bench area for yourself, as well as a work bench area to lay everything out. You'll need a work bench area for the dyes. You'll need a storage area/bench table to store your leather. Same for all the dyes, tools, rivets, screws, conchos, etc., etc., etc. You'll need something devised to let the holsters dry after being dyed. Some holster makers use an oven and slow bake them.

Buy the best quality that you can afford, as it will save you in the long run.

[mliebs8]

Thanks for the reply, that's the kind of answer I was looking for. I have a 60 gallon 2 stage compressor so that's a good thing. I have 3 benches set up that are 18 sq ft each, their mounted to the walls and fold down to make room for router tables, table saws, chop saws, and other tools that I used in my shop. The Weaver press is something that I will definitly look into, for the price that seems like it would be a good deal. Could you dry the holsters and belts on some type of clothes line strung through the shop? I think using any type of controlled heating system would be out of my price range. I have a Jet filteration system that keeps the air very well filtered, would this be benefical to use when drying? It worked well to keep the fiberglass and mdf dust out of the air. I need to get a belt sander (as suggested earlier) I can't believe I've never needed one. I've done custom car stereos for 20+ years (not my real job, I sit in an office for a living) and got burned out on it a few years ago so now I'm trying to get into phase II of what I really like working with and that's firearms. I think I'll take a close look at the Weaver tools in general, you said they work but fall short for your needs but I'm sure your at a much higher level than I'll be at anytime soon (or ever for that matter) so these would probably work for me. Thanks for your help.