Where Do You Buy Your Belt Clips?

[lspiers]

I guess the topic says it all - I've been getting my clips from the Tandy store, but am wondering if there's a better source for good belt clips.

Thanks!

[Denster]

Highdessertleather.com Go to the do it yourself section. Very high quality clips.

[rccolt45]

Highdessertleather.com Go to the do it yourself section. Very high quality clips.

How bout kydex clips? any good sources for those. I usually buy from comp-tac but they are alittle pricy.

[Denster]

How bout kydex clips? any good sources for those. I usually buy from comp-tac but they are alittle pricy.

Buy some .090 kydex from Springfield leather, a heat gun and some small scraps of 1/8 and 1/4 in plywood for forms are all you need to make your own. About .20 apiece.

[rccolt45]

Buy some .090 kydex from Springfield leather, a heat gun and some small scraps of 1/8 and 1/4 in plywood for forms are all you need to make your own. About .20 apiece.

Ok good idea thanks

Rob

[JeffGC]

Try Albest. Click here:

Jeff

[lspiers]

Try Albest. Click here:

Jeff

Perfect! Thanks.

[BigRiverLeather]

I used to make my own and still do on occasion if I need something special, but for my production holsters I've recently been getting mine from Garrett Industries.

http://www.gimagclip.com/

[woolfe]

Its easy to make kydex clips. someone already pointed out all you need is a heat gun. I found the big paint sticks from Lowes or Homedepot work good for making jigs to mold around.

Tool wise all you really need is a dremel tool. I like to use a table saw to cut my kydex down into strips. Then a belt sander to round the corners and bevel the edges. Then I use a wooden dowel with denim glued on it to clean and polish the edges, kinda like a burnishing dowel.

[K-Man]

.090 thickness of kydex is too thin for clips. You need to use the .125.

My personal experiences with Garret Industries clips were less than stellar. His clips had a failure rate of 30-35%. Too high in my opinion.

We now make our own, using the same basic design that we had GI making, and have had a zero failure rate. The radius of the bend at the top of the clip is critical towards the durability of the clip. We've made over 500 sets in the last 6 months. We have the basic shape cut from the sheet of kydex by cnc machine, to include the holes for screw placement. We then clean the edges up and bend them with a heat gun on a custom jig I had made. I've saved over $2500 in costs for those 500+ sets in comparison to what I was paying GI.

Edited April 3, 2010 by K-Man

[BigRiverLeather]

.090 thickness of kydex is too thin for clips. You need to use the .125.

My personal experiences with Garret Industries clips were less than stellar. His clips had a failure rate of 30-35%. Too high in my opinion.

We now make our own, using the same basic design that we had GI making, and have had a zero failure rate. The radius of the bend at the top of the clip is critical towards the durability of the clip. We've made over 500 sets in the last 6 months. We have the basic shape cut from the sheet of kydex by cnc machine, to include the holes for screw placement. We then clean the edges up and bend them with a heat gun on a custom jig I had made. I've saved over $2500 in costs for those 500+ sets in comparison to what I was paying GI.

Thanks for that info. What was the typical time frame for failure on the GI clips?

[Rayban]

.090 thickness of kydex is too thin for clips. You need to use the .125.

My personal experiences with Garret Industries clips were less than stellar. His clips had a failure rate of 30-35%. Too high in my opinion.

We now make our own, using the same basic design that we had GI making, and have had a zero failure rate. The radius of the bend at the top of the clip is critical towards the durability of the clip. We've made over 500 sets in the last 6 months. We have the basic shape cut from the sheet of kydex by cnc machine, to include the holes for screw placement. We then clean the edges up and bend them with a heat gun on a custom jig I had made. I've saved over $2500 in costs for those 500+ sets in comparison to what I was paying GI.

KMan....is there and ideal width of clip when using 1/8" thickness?

Also, I picture using a 1/4" bar or something to form the bend at the top of the clip...here again, what is the ideal size rod to use??

Thanks!!

[K-Man]

BRL:

Five to seven months.

Rayban:

My clips are 3/4" wide. I would not go any thinner in width than that. I'll have to try and get a measurement on the bar we use. I had it all custom made, so I don't recall the specs off the top of my head. The radius on the bar is critical to the bend. I'll try and get the info and pass it along.

[Rayban]

BRL:

Five to seven months.

Rayban:

My clips are 3/4" wide. I would not go any thinner in width than that. I'll have to try and get a measurement on the bar we use. I had it all custom made, so I don't recall the specs off the top of my head. The radius on the bar is critical to the bend. I'll try and get the info and pass it along.

Thanks KMAN...meanwhile I'm ordering a sheet of 12 x 12 x .125.....I've been thinking about such a clip for some time now and after this thread, I believe it's something even I can do.