Surprise For My Brother-In-Law

[Ran]

My BIL Larry is a terrific guy. I was with him and my sister the other day when he remarked about the belt I was wearing. I told him that I had made it myself. Larry is not the kind of guy to ask me to build something for him, but I've known him a long time and can tell when he really likes something. So I built this belt and shipped it to my sister to give to him for Christmas. Larry is not a gun guy, but he liked the 'beefy' characteristics of my gun belt. I hope he likes this one!

Disregard the holster...I just added it to the pic for effect

[benlilly1]

He is going to LOVE that belt!!

[Ran]

Thank you, Benlily!!..

[Shooter McGavin]

Looks good!

[Dwight]

Good work as usual, . . .

Keep inspiring the rest of us.

May God bless,

Dwight

[George B]

Always enjoy looking at your work, well done!

[Eaglestroker]

Nice belt! From experience there is a mass appeal for a quality belt that reaches far outside of the gun culture. Then only downside is all that edging

[Feraud]

Now that's a belt! Great job Ran, your BIL is going to love it.

[BEARDOG]

Really nice! Your work looks excellent.

[vaalpens]

Ran,

Nice looking belt! Your Brother-in-law will love it. What are the specs on the belt? Is it 1.5" wide and what weight did you use for the outside and the inside lining? I just realized how light the color for the lining is. How do you get it so light? I get a darker color just by not dying and putting some neatsfoot oil on. You must have some super secret to get the light color.

[Ran]

Gosh....thanks for the kind remarks, folks!

Vaalpens...its roughly 9oz outside and 4-5oz inside. I sometimes dye the inside lining, and sometimes I don't. This time, I just left the lining natural and that's how it turned out. It s 1.5" (a tick under, actually). Honestly, I'm not particularly fond of making belts. As was said above by Eaglestroker, its a LOT of edge work!! But for my BIL, it was worth it... .

Merry Christmas everyone!

Randy

Edited December 19, 2013 by Ran

[vaalpens]

Gosh....thanks for the kind remarks, folks!

Vaalpens...its roughly 9oz outside and 4-5oz inside. I sometimes dye the inside lining, and sometimes I don't. This time, I just left the lining natural and that's how it turned out. It s 1.5" (a tick under, actually). Honestly, I'm not particularly fond of making belts. As was said above by Eaglestroker, its a LOT of edge work!! But for my BIL, it was worth it... .

Merry Christmas everyone!

Randy

Randy, thanks for the information. I have not made a belt yet, but it is one of those things I still need to try out. First of all I need to a big enough piece of leather for the belt and the lining. I still do hand stitching, so stitching will take some time depending on the length of the belt. I just have a couple of more questions. What size punch do you use for the holes, and what do you use to cut the leather.

Thanks

Charl

[Ran]

Charl,

For the holes, I like to use a 3/16" round. I've also used a 7/32" oblong, but I prefer the round.

As for cutting the leather, I'm a long time woodworker/cabinet maker/furniture builder,so I'm big on building jigs. I simply cut my belts from a side of leather using a utility knife, and for the straight edge I have made myself a 48" X 1.5"- template made of 1/4" plywood. I've also made 1/4" plywood jigs for each end of the belt for marking holes and the slot for the buckle.

Oh boy, handstitching. A tip of the hat to you! I hand-stitched for about 2 months and then said 'enough!' Stitchers are expensive, but OH do I love my CB4500!

Hope that helps. Any other questions, please fee free to ask...

[Josh Ashman]

Nice job on the belt Ran! If you're cutting your blanks with a utility knife I suggest you give a strap cutter a try. For around $20 you'd be amazed at the amount of time you can save.

Best regards, Josh

[J Hayes]

Nicely done. Do you cut both halves to 1 1/2 then cement?

Try a rotary cutter, 60mm fiskars, awesome.

How did you do the keeper? Do you skive the ends at all where the buckle is?

[Ran]

Thanks for the tip, Josh!

J Hayes...yes, I cut both halves then cement. I make the keeper from 7-8oz and staple the ends together. I also have a little template for the keepers too. It creates that nice, uniform shape. I used to skive the buckle end, but now I just stop short with the lining, thereby creating a more thin end. As you can tell, though, I like a very stout belt.. They are really for hanging a holster, but one can wear them for whatever..

[J Hayes]

I like a stout belt too. Also like that stout buckle, nice.

Pardon my ignorance here but the staples, are you using a P35 type or something else?

Thanks

Jeremy

[Ran]

Jeremy...I just use T50 staples (3/8"), butt the ends of the keeper, mark the holes using the staple, make holes with an awl, push the staples through the holes, then bend the ends over with a needle nose pliers. Its all hand work. No stapler involved. They hold up very well..

Randy

[J Hayes]

Nice! I happen to have a whole box of stainless ones.

Thanks

Jeremy

[Scpd755]

I love that holster, is that your own pattern or can it be obtained somewhere?