My First Gun Belt- All Advice Welcome

[Emmo]

I’m fairly new to working with leather.  So far I have made a dozen or so gun holsters, mostly using whatever materials I had on hand and using Tandy for anything I was missing.  I’m going to make a gun belt for my next project, but I’m trying to be a little better prepared before starting.  I’ve spent the past few weeks reading back through old discussions and watching videos on making belts.  Here is what I have and plan to order, along with a few details.  I’m going to cut my own blanks 1 ½ inch wide.  I have two pieces from Tandy, 5/7 oz double shoulder and 8/9 oz side.  I’m planning to cut two blanks from the double shoulder and glue together and stitch.  I’m going to hand stitch the two layers, 6 SPI using an overstitch wheel to layout the pattern.  My needles are from Tandy and based on and old discussion I found here, I would say they are comparable to a size 2 (002) using the John Jones chart (55 mm long x 1.02 mm dia).  For thread, I had planned to order .8 mm Slam from Lekoza, but I don’t see they have it in black.  They do have .6 mm in black so perhaps that would work.  I’ll be using an Osborne awl for the holes.     I’d welcome any thoughts or suggestions you would care to make.  Would the .6 mm Slam be a good choice for the thread or is there something else I should consider? Thanks.

[bikermutt07]

(Chewing on the popcorn, just waiting for replies)

[CaptQuirk]

I haven't heard of that thread, but lots of folks really like the Tiger thread. There is a fella here that sells it... search feature is necessary, I can't remember who off the top of my head. You also never mentioned what style of gunbelt, so it is hard to comment on that as well. Soooo... pass the popcorn Mutt, don't be a Bogard

[bikermutt07]

I'm totally bogarting the popcorn.

[CaptQuirk]

4 minutes ago, bikermutt07 said:

I'm totally bogarting the popcorn.

The popcorn you are eating, has been pee'd on... film at 11.

 

Go ahead and name that movie... I dare ya

[Mattsbagger]

15 minutes ago, CaptQuirk said:

I haven't heard of that thread, but lots of folks really like the Tiger thread. There is a fella here that sells it... search feature is necessary, I can't remember who off the top of my head. You also never mentioned what style of gunbelt, so it is hard to comment on that as well. Soooo... pass the popcorn Mutt, don't be a Bogard

Nigel Armitage did a review of Slam. It's comparable to Tiger apparently at about half the cost. Tandy needle eyes are HUGE though. 

[CaptQuirk]

@Mattsbagger- I like the big eyes, makes it easy for an old fart to thread. Ok, easier, I still miss sometimes. Alot.

[Dwight]

Emmo, . . . FWIW, . . . I stitch my belts on a Tippmann Boss machine, . . . using 346 size polyester, waxed thread.  

It is .0258 in diameter which works out to .656 MM.  

There's also a lot of thread info here:  https://www.thethreadexchange.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TTE&Category_Code=Nylon-Thread-Information

Uhhh, . . . good luck on that hand stitching a belt.  Used to know a guy who did em with his wife, . . . him at one end, . . . her at the other, . . . took em 4 hours together to do one belt.  But you should have a really good belt if you are making it from a double shoulder.  I like to make mine from shoulders, . . . but sometimes the customer is bigger than the cow's shoulders, . . . lol.

May God bless,

Dwight

[garypl]

I've been buying Tiger thread from Egyptian Leather - search for that company name on Etsy.  Excellent service and good prices on the thread.

[Emmo]

The sewing thread I listed (Slam)was the thread that  Nigel Armitage  reviewed, that's were I became aware of it.  The source where I found it, Lekoza, was from a discussion thread that I read here on leatherworker.net.    When I said gun belt, what I meant was just a belt heavy enough to support a gun.  What I was thinking was two layers of the 5/7 oz glued and then hand stitched.   I believe the Slam thread is suppose to be very similar to Tiger.  Is the .6 mm a reasonable choice or should I have heavier?  Also, is 6 spi a good choice?  Thanks for the replies.