Holster belt input

[JLSleather]

2 hours ago, carguy4471 said:

I'm not even sure how I'd hold a six foot straight edge in place with one hand and try to cut something possibly 50" long in with the other without that straight edge slipping.   

It's not difficult as it sounds. I cut hides with a 6' aluminum stick I found in the drywall section at Menards

 

[carguy4471]

6 minutes ago, JLSleather said:

It's not difficult as it sounds. I cut hides with a 6' aluminum stick I found in the drywall section at Menards

 

That's a pretty slick idea there!!

[JLSleather]

Gotta watch them goofy marketing people.  They'll take a $2 knife off teh shelf at the auto parts store, put a sticker on it that says "leather knife", and charge $24 ea.

 

[bikermutt07]

Mine is a six foot yard stick.

Just get it where you want it , kneel down on it with my knee and start cutting.

 

[TinkerTailor]

13 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

six foot yard stick

Do you have a 1 foot ruler with 24 inches on it as well??/ Should sell it to JLS, for the journey to fishing country.....

Edited December 8, 2016 by TinkerTailor

[bikermutt07]

1 hour ago, TinkerTailor said:

Do you have a 1 foot ruler with 24 inches on it as well??/ Should sell it to JLS, for the journey to fishing country.....

Haha. I guess it's technically a 2 yard stick.

[rickybobby]

 

To get you sewing holes punched look for "Pricking Irons" They are used in english saddle work. You use them to make the holes and may only need to widen a little with an awl on occasion. 

My belts are two pieces of 7/8oz. Glued & Stitched (Cobra 4) I have hand stitched belts but that was many years ago and don't anticipate going back to it.

To straighten the edge on a hide for belt strips I have a 8' X 1.5" X 1/4" piece of aluminum stock. The edges were all sanded "round-ish" so it doesn't scuff the leather and a piece of Gorilla Duct Tape on the back.

I lay it on the hide, put a weight on each end and the middle. Mark the straight edge with a pen. (yep, I use a blue marking pen) Then remove the straight edge and make your cut. No guide, no fence, no training wheels! Use the Force. O.K. that is a bit much. Trust yourself and your sharp knife.

A couple tricks about a straight line...

• Don't try to make a quick correction while cutting, just keep cutting.
• When done with the knife, Take your draw gauge (strap cutter) and set it for 1/8" that will "clean up" your edge. Set your strap cutter to the strap size you need and go!

This is by far the quickest and cleanest way I have found to get straps cut from a new hide or double shoulder.

Hope this helps

Rick

Edited December 17, 2016 by rickybobby

[steelhawk]

I hand stitched a belt once. I also drilled all 560 holes with a dremel tool and a 1/16 drill bit. I won't do it again. Fortunately, with the Cobra 4 I don't have to. But, if you don't have a machine and want a belt, you do what's needed.

[CaptQuirk]

1 hour ago, steelhawk said:

I hand stitched a belt once. I also drilled all 560 holes with a dremel tool and a 1/16 drill bit. I won't do it again. Fortunately, with the Cobra 4 I don't have to. But, if you don't have a machine and want a belt, you do what's needed.

I did a western gunbelt once. I didn't have a dremel, but I did have a carpenter's hammer and finishing nails. Despite the extremely amateur approach, it came out ok for my first attempt at leather working.

[byggyns]

I hand stitched my first and only belt. I have an ample waist, and mine took me around 4 hours.

I won't do it for any belts to sell, because I wouldn't be able to charge enough for it to be worth my time. I will probably do more for myself and for gifts.

 

Also, I used a comfortable length of thread and spliced it. Mine took 4 pieces. To do my joints, I just start the new thread about 4 stitches before I decided to end the prior thread. Both threads run through those 4 stitch holes. Cut the ends off the prior thread & a little spot of superglue to make sure they don't pull through.

Edited December 29, 2016 by byggyns