Cutting Belt Holes In Holster

[renegadelizard]

If you have a local machine shop, see if they will make you a custom press die...i use mine with a 1 ton arbor press from harbor frieght..its quick, easy and very clean...it takes me about 30 seconds to cut both slots in a holster..

[mmn]

A Forstner bit in a drill press cuts a very clean hole in leather.

Regards

Michael

[hestes]

Wow, thank you all for the suggestions! Now I have a few other things to try! Your suggestions have all been very helpful.

[buzzkiller]

This will probably make me sound silly but touching on what was mentioned earlier about the hammering surface, be sure the section of table you are using is very solid. I typically use 8-9 oz scraps over granite. Early on when I had extremely limited resources (now I just have very limited resources) I had padding beneath the granite as not to scratch the tabletop I was having to use. I was using the hammer, hammer, curse, hammer, curse even more method. I moved my granite/ 8-9 ounce leather set up to a true work bench and hammering over a section where the leg was directly beneath the work, slots became so much easier to make. Looking back, I believe the padding beneath the granite and the flimsy area of the table I was striking absorbed too much force which also lead to the tool walking on me a bit. Like Dirtclod and Jason mentioned, a dead blow hammer http://www.harborfreight.com/2-lb-neon-orange-dead-blow-hammer-41797.html, http://www.harborfreight.com/2-1-2-half-lb-neon-orange-dead-blow-hammer-41798.html makes a world of difference. As elementary as it may sound, make sure your punch is sharp. I hear rumor of an overzealous young man (actually not so young) driving his punch through a project, a leather scrap and into a piece of granite and dulling his punch and chipping his granite... just a rumor mind you. For another example, if you go to Particle (Eric's) video on holster making around the 3:13 time frame he shows how he makes belt slots

. Sorry for this jumble of words but windows 8 wont allow me to hit enter to make a new paragraph on this forum.

[mncarpenter]

I use a slot die from Texas Custom Dies,1 5/8" x 5/16, and an arbor press like renegadelizard- put a little saddle soap on the die, slides right through

[steelhawk]

I have a similar sized punch from Texas Custom Dies. I currently use a 16 oz hammer but I really need a dead blow mallet.

I'll have to try the saddle soap and see how it works. I tried the chisel and hole method but could never get good slots that way.

[malabar]

I always cut my slots when the leather is wet, right before I mold the shape of the gun. The wet leather is easier to cut, and the outside of the slot gets a nice convex edge that looks more finished.

I really like the idea of cutting them in a press, but haven't tried that yet.

tk

Edited May 15, 2013 by malabar