Belts & Holsters Jango Bolo Girth belt

Not the most exciting thread here, but I'm going to document the assembly of the bolo girth belt. Got the backing leather material, bolo leather cord, and Tandy Leather's Ecoweld leather adhesive.

First step was to cut the backing leather to length and width. I placed the leather on a 1X6 to give something that the razor can cut into without shredding the blade on the first cut. I used a tape measure and a sharpie to lay out my points, which was 5.5" wide, and 46" long. This is at least 6' longer than I need, but once bitten, twice shy. I used a framing square to help keep nice straight lines.

I cut the bolo material into 42" sections. This was enough to wrap around my waist and barely overlap. Cut one, then use it to size the remaining bolo. I cut 22 sections, but will probably only need 21. You can order the stuff from Amazon in 10 yard sections for the best price around. I bought three sections, but only needed a few pieces off of the third section.



I then used a fairly high tech process to help form the leather backing material. you may recognize the tool I used to help it hold its shape. Any questions about this tool just let me know.Had to spray the leather down with the water hose to help loosen it up. Then you have to very carefully use the tool pictured below to form the leather. Not for the faint hearted here folks....

what diameter bolo cord did you use?

Man I gotta finish this. Got the pics just gotta find the time. 7mm chord is best. Should be about 5-5.5 inches wide. You can get the bolo on Amazon in 11 yard sections. You'll need just over two typically. Get the natural color so it can be dyed.

I ordered 25 meters off of eBay in 7mm got it for $22 with free shipping. I went with dark brown and im just going to rough it up and also soak in thinner should do the trick. I will post pics upon completion def like to see your finished product as well syllander

I wrapped the backing around the sweet spot where the belt will sit, and left it about 6 inches longer than over-lapping while wearing a T-shirt.
I cut the bolo chord sections into pieces that would overlap about an inch around the same area. I folded the first piece of bolo in half to get it centered on the backing. Each additional piece I just chose one end to line the strips up visually.
Once the center is found on the backing material, glue the center strip on the center line, using some type of contact cement. There are a few different types, but out of the three I've tried, Tandy's leather weld worked the best. Stuff grips like crazy once set up. Once the center strip has set for about 30 minutes, I proceeded to glue the remaining strips down, focusing on one half of the belt at a time.
Leave the ends of the bolo ( I left 4 inches) unglued on each end for final trimming
When complete, I left to dry over night.
Then came determining the overall length. I wrapped it back around the waist, and let the bolo material almost touch. No overlap here or you'll be too long.
Once the cord is cut square, I cut off the excess backing. I came up with a measurement of 1&3/8 material past the edge of the bolo. This gave me what looked like the right amount to have roughly an inch overlap from the backing onto the bolo material.
After double checking all trims, I glued the rest of the bolo ends down, and folded over the flap. I saturated the flap area pretty well prior to folding and clamp up. I used plates and clamps to secure the ends until the adhesive was cured.
When done at this stage, the belt ends should just touch each other when wrapped around the appropriate area (at least this is what worked for me). This allows it to gap slightly once you have on the FS, vest, and holsters. Aiming for about an inch gap when tied.
Now to finish the thing!

I told myself I was going to get one of these done but I'm too lazy looks good though!

Actually very easy to make once you get the leather. I still gotta find the time to dye mine....

Can you post a link to the bolo cord. the ones I saw weren't the right thickness.