Any other examples of non-traditional decor methods/parts?

Started by Jim in Tucson, January 12, 2010, 12:27:32 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Jim in Tucson

Is anybody else experimenting with ways of adding decorative touches that are either unconventional for holsters/gunbelts, or not "old west origins" (settler or first nations)?

I did another post on a "street CCW holster" but just on this one subject, let me link to a high-res image:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1jimmarch/4220697044/sizes/l/in/photostream/

This should make it clear what's going on: the yin-yang thing is actually a brooch/pendant type of thing with the backing ripped off.  It has a beaded edge that's covered fully by the topmost layer of leather (with the oval hole cut in it), there's another layer of the same grade of leather under that, and then the holster is lined with a third layer at that area so that the stitching between the two upper layers (such as the stitching around the brooch) doesn't go clean through to the gun. 

Assembling all this was a bit of a "ship in a bottle" proposition but it came out pretty well.  All of the leather involved was dry-cut, dry-worked, not a drop of water involved.  Mostly meatcutter's scissors for rough shaping, dremel polishing tools for edge cleanup.  The oval was the biggest pain - I drilled a couple of holes, cut between them to make a hole big enough for a dremel sanding drum, and then shaped the oval from the inside by hand, checking frequently against the brooch.

Anyways.  It occurs to me there's a lot more sources for decor than just "old west".  Celtic stuff, African for the black cowboys today (God knows there were plenty back in the day), etc.

In this case, the holster is meant as a "street rig" and I was looking for something that said "I'm not a normal right-winger" if the Tucson liberals I have to hang out with ( ;D) see my rig open-carried.  See also this link for more images:

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,30439.0.html

There's lots of sources for turquoise or other "western looking" brooches/pendants of this sort - has anybody seen any similar type of "stone inlay" leatherwork on gun rigs?  Are there any other examples of deliberately non-Western-source decor people are running?

© 1995 - 2024 CAScity.com