Holsters, belts, et all

[jaxenro]

I want to make some holsters, a belt, cartridge boxes, cap holders, knife sheaths, and the rest for my cap n' ball revolvers, knives, and whatever else I carry with it. I want them to to be somewhat period correct, slim jim's and the like, but I don't know how to start, what to use, what tools to buy, patterns, anything. I figure it will be cheaper to buy a few tools and make em myself than have someone do it for me, plus I like to make em myself. Not looking to do anything too fancy.

Can anyone help me on how to get started?

 

[Elnathan]

For what it is worth...

1) Pay attention to the type of leather you are getting, assuming that you want to be PC. You will probably want to get bark/vegetable/oak-tanned leather, not the chrome-tanned that composes 90+% of leather today (chrome-tanned did start being used c. 1870, IIRC)In nay case, do some research on tanning and leather if you can.

2) Finding the exact pattern you want may be rather tricky, especially for knife sheaths. Make your own patterns out of stiff paper, and test them by making a cloth bag/hoster/etc. Leave a bit extra for the seams. I used a pair of old jeans for material, something similarly thick would be good.

3) I have found a stitching pony to be very useful when constructing my shooting pouch, as did the practice of marking my seam line and stiches with a pencil.

4) Go look for books at the local library. It is bound to have something, probably in the "crafts" section.

 

[davy]

http://www.knifenetwork.com/workshop/tut_wrtc_burrows.shtml

Davy :thumbsup:

 

[djpleathersmith]

If you are wanting a great reference book on historical gunleather, get a copy of Packing Iron by Richard Rattenbury. It covers the entire 19th century as well as the 20th century in gunleather. You'll find it pretty easy to make your own patterns using the pictures of originals as a reference. I use stiff, brown packaging paper for my patterns. I recommend 8 or 9 oz. vegetable tanned tooling cowhide for large holsters. You can get it from any leathercraft supplier in several qualities and sizes. You might want to go with the economical grades to start with. You'll need a very sharp knife to cut out the pieces in the heavy leather. A large exacto knife or utility knife works well. You'll need a small sponge, harness needles (not lacing needles), pencil, heavy thread, and a tool for punching the stitching holes such as an awl or pincer type tool. That will get you started. You can progress later to tooling your holsters and dying the leather. There are many finishing products but a half/half mixture of olive oil and neatsfoot oil works great. I could ramble on forever about leatherwork but I'd put you to sleep. Holler if I can be of assistance. djpleathersmith

 

[laffingman67]

Everyone is giving excellent advice. One more thing is DO NOT use chrome tan for holster or knife sheaths. Chrome tan will rust your stuff quickly. :cursing: Learned this the hard way. If you do use it, line with rawhide or veg splits.

 

[jaxenro]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Does the "Packing Iron" book show the back of the items? I can find plenty of references for the fronts, but have no idea how the belt loops, etc., were traditionally made

 

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Does the "Packing Iron" book show the back of the items? I can find plenty of references for the fronts, but have no idea how the belt loops, etc., were traditionally made

On some yes - you can also get PC patterns from Tandy Leather - they are by Will Ghormley (or go to his site) so are correct as can be. There are also some how-to tapes available.....
for leather I recommend[url] www.wickett0craig.com[/url] - this is the best of the best bark/veg tan available