Finally Trying That Gunbelt

[Brokenolmarine]

I have been planning to do a Gunbelt and holster, with a matching sheath for a couple years now, but waiting to build the skills.  The two pants belts were practice, as it were.  That, and dozens of You Tube vids.  Joe Meling and Road Agent Leather were great confidence builders, as were many others.  On one of Road Agent Leather's videos he recommended a book as a great reference for Western Gunleather, but warned that being out of print is was a bit pricey...   A BIT?  I looked it up on Amazon and the first hit was $90 for used in Very Good Condition.  OMG, no.  I started looking elsewhere.  The prices ran anywhere from $75 plus $10 shipping for a well worn copy, jumping to $127 for a fair condition, into the $200 for good condition and over $400 for NEW in a protective wrapper.  I figured I could live without it.  Miss T told me to go back and order the $90 copy, reference materials are invaluable.  It's due at the end of the month.  $100 with shipping.

(Packing Iron, Gunleather of the Frontier West - Richard Rattenburg.)

[Brokenolmarine]

So, I got started a couple days ago on the Gunbelt, and the first step was to get out the straps I needed.  I went with 2-3/4" for the Gunbelt to allow for a nice border.  1-1/2" for the billets, stepping down to and inch at the ends when I cut them out to allow for the buckles I chose.  I want strength in the attachments.  I cut out a 1" strip, overlong, to allow for the bullet loops.  I'll cut the large belt loop I'll need from leftovers from the billet stock.

I can tell you that this project is going to be designed on the fly, and is a practice project as my first.  I won't be going too fancy here, not a LOT of tooling.  My first decision before moving forward was caliber of the Single Action that would be holstered.  I have more in 38/357 than the other calibers, so I went with that.  I pulled the template and laid out the pattern for 18 loops after finding the center of the spine on the belt.  NOT the center of the belt.  After the layout, I VERY carefully punched them out with the 1" punch and was happy with the outcome.

Next up was to thin the 1" strip I cut to use for the bullet loops.  It was cut from 8/10 ounce leather and I would need 3/4 ounce.  Tina had found me a nice little splitter on TEMU for under $50, a steal if it works.  The ones I had been seeing ran in the $200 range to start and climbed rapidly up from there.  I had been skiving leather to thin it but good luck skiving 50" evenly.  I pulled that strap through and cut it in half partway through.  MY error, I didn't hold the strap DOWN to the table and the leather curled UP and snip.... done.  I cut another 1" wide strip and started again.  This time I held the feed side down on the table so it feed across the infeed roller and the TEMU $50 splitter did an excellent job.

 

[Brokenolmarine]

Next task was designing and cutting out the billets.  I played with several designs and went back and forth.  NO rush here, it's a new project for me.  I finally settled on a look I could live with and and cut them out.  I added some accent lines along the borders of all the pieces and was done for the day.

During my next session, I had to figure out what tooling I was going to do, and which stamps I would use.  I used some scrap and played with the designs.  Nothing was catching my eye and then I saw the Tandy Barbed Wire set.  I played with the four pieces and found the one I liked.  I got to work.  Each individual wrap with it's two barbs, one up and one down, is ONE stamp.  That's a LOT of stamping.  I didn't tool above the slots for the Cartridge Loops as they would be hidden or interfered with by the loops anyway.

 

 

[Brokenolmarine]

A bit closer look at the barbed wire pattern.

The barbed pattern would be too large for the cartridge loop strapping so I went with a veiner stamp.  On the belt billets themselves, just left them with the border accenting.

bit closer look at the other tooling/accents.

 

[Brokenolmarine]

Once they dried, all the color matched and the tooling looked pretty good.  I touched up a few light strikes and moved to make that large loop that will go under the buckle for the billet end to tuck into.  It won't wrap around the belt, but attach at the edges with rivets.

[Brokenolmarine]

While the loop was drying after being wet formed... I dyed the rest of the pieces.  Then, dyed the loop and put it back around the form to finish drying. 

While that was drying, I made a key fob for a nice little flashlight we got in the mail.  A friend sent us a pair for Christmas.  They are awesome.  Since we got two, I made a fob to identify mine, and I'll make a fob for Tina's.

 

[Brokenolmarine]

To give everything more time to dry, I took the first attempt at cutting out the slots for the cartridge loops, (failed attempt, they were very rough) and the 1" strap that got cut on my first attempt at the splitter.... in the house to practice forming bullet loops.  I never toss stuff, always a use, in this case, practice.

In the pic above I have started the loops, you feed the strap UP from the bottom in the slot, around the cartridge, then back down thru the same slot. Over to the next slot, up thru the slot, over the cartridge, and back down thru the slot again.  Repeat.  The only hard part is, there has to be a tight fit.  The picture below shows the back of the belt.

This practice panel was to be riveted to the gunbelt after being completed.  The current belt has the slots cut directly in the belt and the back of the belt will be lined, you won't see the back of the loops.  The picture below shows the completed practice strip, but it isn't really complete.  The ends would normally be riveted or secured with Chicago screws and the edges burnished.

 

[Brokenolmarine]

Went back out to the shop this afternoon and burnished all the edges on the pieces for the assembly.  In the pic below you can see the difference.  Once that was done, I applied a Tan Coat finish.  That way the belt can be oiled and reoiled as needed.  We are ready to begin assembly.

Look at the top edge of the belt in the picture above and it's clear what the burnishing does for you.  The right side is sealed and protected, the left side is open to allow the intrusion of moisture, dirt and debris... the leather would swell, crack, and rot.

[DieselTech]

All looks great. Dang you been busy on that rigging! Nice work.

[Brokenolmarine]

Out this morning after breakfast, and after some heating pad time on the hands.  Cold and damp here and Arthur doesn't care for cold and damp.  Time to start assembling this thing.  First step this morning was prepping the strap that will become cartridge loops.  I had already rounded the one end and punched the hole to match the hole in the belt.  I cut the opposite end into a somewhat point.  I used the skiving knife to thin it to make it easier to feed then dampened the entire thing a bit.  I want it to shrink a bit when it dries, to make the loops nice and tight.

I attached the finished end with a concho, and got busy.  I took my time and insured each loop was tight.  In and out, in and out.  Eighteen loops.  Had about eight inches left.  I marked the position of the hole to secure the end on the strap, and punched the mating hole, then cut the rounded end.  I even died the raw leather that was exposed by the cut.  I have no idea why, the belt will be lined and none of that will be exposed.  NO one will ever see it.  The results were all I had hoped.

[Brokenolmarine]

Last thing before taking my break was to install the large belt loop I had wet formed for the buckle end of the belt.  The billet end will tuck into the loop under the end of the belt to allow the billet and the buckle to engage.  I punched holes in the loop, then fitted the loop to the belt and marked the positions and punched holes in the belt.  Riveted the loop in place with rivets to match the silver conchos and buckle and hardware to come.

 

After that break, I'll mark the billets for holes for sewing, and get ready for final assembly.  Can't wait to see the belt finished.  Then on to the holster and the knife sheath to match.