Some Recent Exotic Work

[JRCHolsters]

Here are a few exotic items that have gone out recently. Hope you like them.

Here is a sweet Hornback Alligator belt that went out to a customer.

It has a Millennium brown finish and the Horsehide backing is antiqued. It has a thin stiffener to keep the belt rigid, yet thin. A great gun belt that doesn't look like one. Hope you all like it.

Here are a couple I did for my son as a gift to go with his new M&PC 40

This is a Snap version of my belt slide. It is burgundy Horsehide with brown Alligator trim

This is a CP-1 in Burgundy Horse and Cognac Elephant trim.

And here are some AIWB-CDA holsters for customers with exotic trim

[Lobo]

Beautiful work.

[JRCHolsters]

Beautiful work.

Thanks! I appreciate it.

[benlilly1]

Very very nice items! Is Millennium brown a fiebings dye? It's a nice color.

[awharness]

Great work! On the Gator belt, did you just glue it to the liner? No sewing? how thick is the liner?

-Andrew

[JRCHolsters]

Very very nice items! Is Millennium brown a fiebings dye? It's a nice color.

Thanks. It is actually a color that the supplier had. It is a chocolate brown with dark tan highlights.

[JRCHolsters]

Great work! On the Gator belt, did you just glue it to the liner? No sewing? how thick is the liner?

-Andrew

After playing around with test pieces, I realized that sewing wasn't a good option. The hard scales want to deflect the needle, giving a ragged sewing line. I scored the back of the liner (1/10") and shaved off loose hide from the back of the gator. I glued each side and allowed it to dry for a couple of hours. Once I carefully laid the pieces together, I pounded the length with a 3lb hammer and a pad. Then I pressed it in a home made press, using 2x4's lined with ensolite foam and furniture clamps. From there, it was all in the edging. The customer loves the belt and wears it everyday.

Edited February 29, 2012 by JRCHolsters

[KAYAK45]

What specifically did you use for your "thin stiffener"?

Love the work. VERY ELEGANT, yet functional as a gun belt.

Kevin

[awharness]

the edging looks flawless! what did you use for glue? what did you use to edge it?

-Andrew

[JRCHolsters]

The stiffener was made from a strip of horsehide, about 3oz, trimmed from a thin edge. I used barge cement (the stinky stuff). When I edged it, I carefully saturated the edge with resolene and then took it to my wood dowel in the drill press. The belt was very labor intensive, even without the stitching.

[Haystacker]

Nice job. I like your work.

[JRCHolsters]

Nice job. I like your work.

Thanks. I appreciate it. Glad you like it.

[dickf]

I really like the color and texture of the belt, and the antiqued horse inside looks really great!

I'd be concerned with the fact that it's not sewn, though. It will, inevitably, start to peel apart in certain areas.

[JRCHolsters]

I really like the color and texture of the belt, and the antiqued horse inside looks really great!

I'd be concerned with the fact that it's not sewn, though. It will, inevitably, start to peel apart in certain areas.

Thanks. I did the antiquing by thinning out some cordovan dye till it was translucent. After it dried, I steel wooled it. I repeated that a few times. Almost looks like wood grain.

I'm really not to worried about the belt coming apart. The construction is very similar to how Lucchese does it. Besides, I charged enough to cover eventually having to re-bond and edge it. The customer was comfortable with this.

[Eaglestroker]

All looks excellent, the cognac elephant is my favorite however. Where do you get yours from?

On a side note I had a fellow offer me a 6' 8" gator skin not to long ago that he killed last year (legally). When I saw how much the hides cost to get tanned I had to polite-fully decline!

[JRCHolsters]

All looks excellent, the cognac elephant is my favorite however. Where do you get yours from?

On a side note I had a fellow offer me a 6' 8" gator skin not to long ago that he killed last year (legally). When I saw how much the hides cost to get tanned I had to polite-fully decline!

I actually got the elephant from Springfield. It was very nice quality. It's so soft, yet tough, I wish I had an easy chair upholstered in it.

I bet the tanning would have been spendy. It may have been worth it depending on your customer base, you could get quite a few items out of one that big. It's a tough nut to swallow, though.

[malabar]

That is gorgeous work. Thanks for sharing your techniques.

I can see how sewing would not be a good option for that material and I'm not sure how else you could make that kind of belt. But I'd worry about how well it would stand up to the rigors of use as a gunbelt. Is this the first one you've made this way or do you have others in the field like this?

I think it's both smart and ethical to discuss those issues with the customer as you did.

tk

[Eaglestroker]

I have some undied elephant from Springfield and it is very nice. It and buffalo are my favorites!

Regarding the gator it would be 6-800 for the hornback hide. I have yet to do exotics so that would be a great leap of faith!

[JRCHolsters]

That is gorgeous work. Thanks for sharing your techniques.

I can see how sewing would not be a good option for that material and I'm not sure how else you could make that kind of belt. But I'd worry about how well it would stand up to the rigors of use as a gunbelt. Is this the first one you've made this way or do you have others in the field like this?

I think it's both smart and ethical to discuss those issues with the customer as you did.

tk

I have a few gunbelts I have done this way for myself and friends to test out. So far so good. One thing I have learned about using the Barge cement is, let it really dry for about 1-2 hours before joining the pieces and put the hammer to it. It makes a crazy strong bond. I have tried ripping apart test pieces and I will tell you, it is some work getting them apart. I do also cross hatch score the sides to be glued in the particular hide allows.

[JRCHolsters]

I have some undied elephant from Springfield and it is very nice. It and buffalo are my favorites!

Regarding the gator it would be 6-800 for the hornback hide. I have yet to do exotics so that would be a great leap of faith!

I haven't tried the buffalo. I'd like to see how that turns out.

Maybe you should take the gator if it's still available and just hold of on having it tanned. The funny thing I have found about exotics is, you never really need them, but once you make that plunge, it can pay for itself pretty quickly.

[JRCHolsters]

Some more of my recent Exotic work. Hope you like them.

Full Shark belt over Horsehide

Horsehide Ranger Belt with Shark Fleur De Lis accents

Snap on Mag Pouch with Stigray Accents

IWB Appendix with Stigray Trim

IWB Apendix with Brown Shark Trim

[SooperJake]

Nice Work JRC. Say...where'd you get your elephante' from?

Jake

[JRCHolsters]

I picked up a small quantity from Springfield. It was a very nice piece.

Nice Work JRC. Say...where'd you get your elephante' from?

Jake

[JoelR]

A warning about non-stitched belts. I tried it as you have described using Herman Oak and horsehide. The bond lasted about 6 months daily wear before it started separating. Became almost unusable after about 8 months. The more flexible alligator will probably give you some additional life, but it will separate over time.

[TexasJack]

Nice work!