3 hour challenge

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

I dunno who else does this, but every so often I get a wild hair and have to do a timed challenge. I call it the 3 hour challenge or the afternoon build. Pick a project thar would normally take 6-8 hours too do, and try to make it in half the time. So far this is my third challenge in the last year. I made a holster for my chest harness, fully tooled and assembled in 3. A carved pancake 1911 holster, lined and stitched but didn't get it dyed in that time window. Did that later to finish it. I'll continue to challenge myself. It helps me develop my time management skills and gives me an idea of what I can accomplish under stress. 

I need a new belt like I need another hole in the head. But this time I decided to do a gunslinger stitch challenge. Unfortunately I grabbed the wrong template and didn't realize it until I got the stitch lines laid out, but hey... gotta go with the flow. Iquestioned some life choices after i punches all my stitching holes hahaha.

In the three hours, I was able to get this belt blank cut, skived for the buckle, gunslinger stitch pattern (all hand stitched), reinforced with a stiffener (gun belts), lined with water Buffalo, all holes and slots punched, snaps set, and half the perimeter stitched. So I wasn't able to compete it in the time slot, but I'm still happy where I ended up. The gunslinger stitch is nowhere near as nice as I would normally do. Like I said, wrong template for the width and it moved on me when I was grooving the stitch line. There's about 45 feet of thread on this belt. That's a lot of hand stitching to do in a short time. My fingers hurt lol

I finished stitching this morning, sanded the edges and gave it a few coats of neatsfoot oil. I'm leaving it natural, only oiled, and no burnished edges. It'll be my daily work belt and I want the patina to really show quickly. The best way for that is to leave everything as natural as possible and just wear it. 

 

Hermann oak holster side, matte black buckle, black 4p line 24 snaps, and water Buffalo lining

[fredk]

Boys-o, that some job in 3 hours

I have several item on the go and I should do a '3 hour' on them cos these jobs wont take near that time

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

6 hours ago, fredk said:

Boys-o, that some job in 3 hours

I have several item on the go and I should do a '3 hour' on them cos these jobs wont take near that time

I love this craft. And I like to be challenged. I have a couple customers that give me all kinds of different, outside my expertise challenges. But sometimes I need to challenge myself on something I'm familiar with. Belts, sheaths and holsters mainly, with the idea that I will take on just about anything except saddles, clothing, armor or footwear. I don't have a large enough shop to do those and footwear require tools I don't own or use.

It has taught me what I need to work on under pressure. In this challenge it was layout mainly... a bit sloppy compared to when I take my time on an order. My stitching should be neater to. And I did mis glue the lining about 1-1.5mm off mark missing the edge on about an inch of the buckle end. Can't tell really, but we all know when we messed up 😉 

[YinTx]

On 4/11/2025 at 2:48 PM, DoubleKCustomLeathercraft said:

reinforced with a stiffener (gun belts),

Looks good.  What did you use for the stiffener?

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

I use bag stiffener to reinforce my gun belts. You can get it from just about any leather supply company. It works well. Some makers use poster boards, which is fine but not nearly as durable overall. 

5 minutes ago, YinTx said:

Looks good.  What did you use for the stiffener?

 

[YinTx]

1 minute ago, DoubleKCustomLeathercraft said:

I use bag stiffener to reinforce my gun belts.

I am trying to make a free belt for a neighbor that is hard on his belts, thought I would try to reinforce it somehow.  I have some Texon or Bontex I think.  What weight do you use?  Do you bevel/skive the edges of it, or does it not make a visible line?  Does it go the full width and length of the belt, or only up to the holes?  Does it have to be in the stitching, or not?  I've already done some stamping, dye work and oiling, just trying to figure out all the rest of it!  Thanks in advance.

YinTx

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

Just now, YinTx said:

I am trying to make a free belt for a neighbor that is hard on his belts, thought I would try to reinforce it somehow.  I have some Texon or Bontex I think.  What weight do you use?  Do you bevel/skive the edges of it, or does it not make a visible line?  Does it go the full width and length of the belt, or only up to the holes?  Does it have to be in the stitching, or not?  I've already done some stamping, dye work and oiling, just trying to figure out all the rest of it!  Thanks in advance.

YinTx

I only reinforce from the buckle end, just before the bend (it's hard to bend the leather with the stiffener so i don't recommend going end to end) to just before the holes. I strip a piece of the bag stiffener about 1/4" smaller than the belt width, giving me 1/8" gap on both sides so the two layers of leather can adhere. I use barge contact cement. Glue the stiffener onto the main body, let it set a bit, then glue the liner over top. It'll take that contract cement well and become one with the leather. I don't go the full length because I find that having it around any holes makes it more difficult to put on or take off. When done, you'll be able to hold the belt out straight without any sag. Take a month or so of wearing before it really breaks in and becomes comfortable. While it doesn't completely prevent the belt from sagging with age it does keep it firm. Has that feel of durability for years to come. Hope I explained it well enough. I don't have any pictures of this prices or I'd post them so you could see the process also. 

[Samalan]

For a fast job, it looks pretty darn nice to me. My brother came into my shop one time with a guy from the gun club he belongs to. My brother puts a knife on the table and says he needs a sheath for that. I said, " When do you need it for before the guy could answer. My brother says he needs it right now. I can never say no to my brother, so I said, "ok, we're off 2 hours, no finish, no carvings, stitching done on my Cobra4." It did have a welt and a belt loop. But I have to say, no way I could make that belt you did in 3 hours. Nice job

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

8 minutes ago, Samalan said:

For a fast job, it looks pretty darn nice to me. My brother came into my shop one time with a guy from the gun club he belongs to. My brother puts a knife on the table and says he needs a sheath for that. I said, " When do you need it for before the guy could answer. My brother says he needs it right now. I can never say no to my brother, so I said, "ok, we're off 2 hours, no finish, no carvings, stitching done on my Cobra4." It did have a welt and a belt loop. But I have to say, no way I could make that belt you did in 3 hours. Nice job

Thank you. It's nowhere near perfect, as I can see all the mistakes I make. I wear or daily though, and it's a good belt none the less. 

This is one of my handful of short time challenges I put myself through. I only do it as a practice and to learn what I need improvement on. I don't have a sewing machine, so all my work is done with the saddle stitch. It only gets faster with practice, but stitching is still the slowest part of every project. 

I do what I can with no power to speak of. My shop is a cargo trailer I converted and off grid with solar. It keeps the lights bright and I can run a heater or fan. But the heater draw a lot of amperage so it's a hot or miss depending how sunny it is. And winters in Montana aren't always sunny lol

[YinTx]

21 minutes ago, DoubleKCustomLeathercraft said:

Hope I explained it well enough.

Very well explained, thanks.  I think the biggest issue he has is with the belt "sagging" over time.  Right now I have prepped a 9 oz top layer and a 4-5oz liner.  I've done 7 oz and 4 oz for him before and it sagged.  I'm beginning to think I may have to do the steel strap lining that @Dwight does.