Supplies have mostly showed up. Thread and needles are still on the way. I'm in no hurry to finish it. It's been a long while since I made a belt. So slow as it goes to get it right.

And, 'Buckleguy' is legit. The horse leather in red is crazy nice. The veg tanned is also. The plan is to line the veg tanned with genuine Horween leather. Billets too. Red on the inside. Saddle tan on the outside. 1mm stitch thread in white for that saddle maker look. The horse leather is 4-5oz. The veg is 8-10oz. We're looking for a thickness of both together being 5mm to 6mm. I have the billet pattern from my last belt I made.

I'll post pictures as I go. Anyway, here's the starting pile. Hope you enjoy it.

Still waiting on a few things to arrive. Before I dive into the belt. I'm going to get into the groove by making a card holder first. My old Dooney and Bourke card holder from 1994 is shot. You can't even see the duck anymore.

The new one is going to be veg tanned and lined. Chocolate colored dye with 0.4mm red stitching. Both of which haven't showed up yet.

Stay tuned, it's coming.

As I wait for supplies. Here's some tools I made way back when. The metal came from a vintage couch. High quality spring steel. Hardened and tempered. Three edge bevelers. One free hand stitch groover and a line creaser. Handles from Lowes. They were waxed before being stored. They be cleaned up before being used.

Seager or Semmien?

It's all flooding back to me. I remember now. I remember leather craft is a pain in the rump.

Especially stamping. Glad I'm not doing it on the belt. The dye for the card holder isn't due until Saturday. So I can't finish it until Tuesday morning or late afternoon. The dye needs to dry and a neatsfoot rub down needs 24ish hours before I can seal it with acrylic. And I can't sew it until I dye it.

These projects keep my mind occupied. I should have burnished the skin side before stamping. They sell a piece of rounded thick glass that you buff the skin with. The stamping won't look so spongy.

Then again. After it's sealed and giving it a wax polish. There won't be much difference in final finish.

Black Friday. On a Wednesday. Pressed the buy on a, "glass slicker'.


It'd look so much better, burnished before stamping.

Well Dang, Danggit, Damn. I knew better but did it anyway.

First, I'm confusing chrome tanned cow for shell cordovan. Ones cow and the shell is horse. A finger tab, I have, for a traditional recurve bow had me mixed up. It's shell cordovan. It's also made from Horween but of course in horse.


Second, gluing the two layers of belt together. Somehow my brain was thinking I could glue two 1.5" straps together. Well, if you've ever worked with contact cement. You'll know once it's stuck, boy howdy, it's stuck. Which leaves no ability to adjust the fitment. So I'm paying for that education. Had to order a Horween strap in 1.75. That'll leave a 1/8" edge of Horween on both sides of the veg tanned. Allowing room to get the veg tanned straight on the Horween. Then afterwards, the Horween is trimmed up to the edge of the veg tanned. Better edge after it's trimmed. Shipping included, that's $40 in education.

Pricking irons. Any iron with more then four tines needs a maul bigger then 16oz. It can be done with the 16oz but you need to really whale on it.

Tools. Leather craft really gets you going with custom tools. Either because there's nothing made or what's available is junk. I use a 10" Starrett wing divider. I have one side dulled and polished into a ball point. I'd enjoy a 6" wing divider over a 10". Harbor freight has a 6" for $6 bucks. Cheap enough to be able to customize it.

It's all coming together. Slow but that's fine. It's a 4-5 days wait on the Horween 1.75" strap. I'm running by Hobby Lobby today and picking up a veg tanned panel. It's light weight stuff. Decent grade. The card holder I made isn't up to my standard. I'm making another. And probably another after that. It's gotta be right or I'm not using it. I like nice things and I'm gonna have nice things. After all, it's nothing but money.

Following

Thanks Yee! Enjoy my fumbling about. I am.


Leather glue....


There's two types. White glue and contact cement. White glue is Elmers glue. Contact cement, in old school terms, is rubber cement. The stuff you used to patch a bicycle tire tube. Nowadays, contact cement is way beyond the old rubber stuff. And it can be difficult to push a needle through. Some of the 3M products is like having a layer of plastic in between the leather.

White glue sucks on holding leather together. But it'll hold pieces together enough to be sewn. After it's stitched. The thread is holding it together. Contact cement. Well, it's permanent. Trying to pull it apart will almost rip the leather. Why I need it on my belt. First it fights stretch. Once the leather is glued. It's pretty much the same as one big thick piece of leather.

Ranger belts were not designed to hold your pants up. They came along as a belt you could hang stuff off of. Typically a gun. That's why, traditionally, it's a heavy thick belt. It needs to be firm with little if any stretch. Otherwise, trying to draw a weapon out a holster will yank the belt up. Possibly causing the weapon to stick in the holster. If the belt is firm, the weapon will release from the holster in a snap.

Being a stiff belt. It takes some getting use to. It won't sag when your pants pull against it. Hence, that's why thin belts are made thin. So you're getting that flex behind your back. Ranger belts ain't supposed to do that and don't. Your pants tugging at it won't move it.

Here's what makes a Ranger belt special. I made the belt in the picture a couple decades ago. Notice that it's still firm. Very little stretching along the back.

This belt is 43" inches on the dot long. The billets total up to less then 2 feet of leather. As for the conchos. I still have them. I just put them on something else. The new belt will have them unless the dude on Esty makes more 1" conchos. All they are is stamped and domed brass discs with a screw post on the back. Takes a mold and an arbor press. Plated. $5 bucks each. The old school conchos were made of silver. You can still get them if you're willing to pay up for silver.

So are you saying a quality belt keeps your daily carry from sagging ?
I neeed a new belt....

Yes, it prevents sagging without having to cinch it up so tight you can't pee.

Competitive shooting. Some folks will get a belt with a metal strip in the middle. Zero flex. A solid platform that won't interfere with draw speed. There's a reason why Texas Rangers wore these types of belts.

But, most modern Ranger belts are built more for the style instead of the intended function.


So if you're carrying a full size 1911 to include extra mags. A stiffer belt also helps carry the load.

https://turnerleatherworks.com/prod...belt?_pos=5&_sid=7290c7ef3&_ss=r

Something like this ?