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[ConDar Ward]

Now I'm sure a lot of us more seasoned Members have seen this all before .  

But some of my New Vod haven't , Besides I needed a New Ammo Belt .
As I was Going over my Full kit I noticed my old Pouches looked like Sheebs .
So what better time to make a New set of Ammo pouches .(TK409 Style) My bud .
 But I didn't want to buy them & mod them , I wanted to make them ........" from scratch ". 8)

So I  Grabbed

1)  a  2 foot long scrap of 2 x 4 .  ( lighter Pine is best )
2)  a  Saw .  & (safety glasses)
3)  Covering Material . ( Faux Leather/Vinyl was my choice , it's easy to sew through)
4)  Scissors .
5)  Pencil & Marker .
6) Ruler of some kind .( if you need it , I didn't )
7) Stapler  ( my choice was a Squeeze Type for crafts )
Your basicly upholstering a block of wood .  

( Nice but not necessary )

8 ) Sewing Machine ....... ( not necessary , but makes life a lot easier ).
9) Sandpaper ........120 G is fine .

First Determine the size pouch you want .  Mine are 1 5/8 inches wide .  Then Mark & Cut .
Take the Cut Block and use as a Guide to mark the rest of the 2 x 4 .
(Remember to add or subtract for Saw blade allowances , Or just remark after each cut to keep uniformity.)

After you have all your blocks the same size , Decide if you want the front to slope of not .
 If not , move on to covering .  If so  sand or cut the Degree of slope you want . Mine is 40 degrees .

Covering your Block .

 Now Hot glue does not work well with vinyl , But  staples do , you just have to hide them .
Take your block and Trace it's dimensions on to the "back" of the covering material .
Add small "tabs" to the patterns edges . ( to fold over the block for attachment ).(See pic's)
Then check for over-all fit . (small trimming will happen along the way so don't be worried ) .

Important : (Work front to back , pulling all Material towards the back ).

Pull one edge tight then staple into place , repeat on other side . Now the face of the pouch should be taunt .

Next pull in the sloped sections in and staple . Leave the Front tabs (top & bottom) unattached until last .(see pic's)

When your material looks nice and tight fold over the Front sections to hide your staples .
You now have a leather block .......  Time to add the Flap .

To make the Flap or lid you need to determine how long you want it . I took my block and lined it up
along the edge of another scrap of material . (I did not want my flap to extend all the way down so hold off 1/4 - 1/2 inch)
Take your new block and use as your straight edge . (It's wider now because of material , If you use the raw block it would be to narrow)
You will want the Strip to be the length of your block (bottom not included) plus an 1/2 inch for attachment . (see pic's)

Now if you have a Sewing machine this is the Cool part , but if not Skip , no worries . It's just for looks .(you could hand stitch )
Take your new flap and put a simple stitch around the Border if you have the means .

When your Ready to attach your Flap , line up the front then fold it around your block .  When you get to the back it should be long
in the Back (bottom) . Mark this line . Staple into place . Then fold the rest of material over the top of block and Down the front .

I attached my flap in front with sticky Velcro squares . Fuzzy side to the block then staple . Put the hook side down on the fuzzy side
then fold over your flap and press firmly .  Now your flap is Decoration & it is a Belt loop . When you know the size (Width) of the belt you
want slide it through and Staple the Back of the flap above the belt to tighten it up if needed .
You can also Staple or Screw through the Belt into the Block to keep you pouches from sliding .

I'm sure there are things I forgot to mention in this process , so feel free to ask .

Once you get started it's to much fun to stop ........ I wanted to make 9 .....but I ended up with 12 .......  


Next the Belt .......  8)  



Click on pic .

[ConDar Ward]

Belt is Done , just can't get my camera to work . 

Hopefully more pic's tonight .

[No'saj Huune]

Very cool, but how much will the whole set-up weigh?

[ConDar Ward]

Actually it doesn't weigh very much at all .  (Pine or poplar wood is the Key)

Now If you use Treated lumber it would be way too heavy to be comfortable .
_________________________________________________ ____________________

No pic's of the Belt yet ......... Stupid Camera ....

[silverBoyd]

I've been working on this type of belt too. I also got my templates / idea from tk409.com (slightly modified them in AutoCAD myself for my own liking) and I hope to have it all done by weeks end. I am using 2x4 pine lumber as well. Should be light enough. I'm going to mount my pouches on a 2" black nylon belt I got from strapworks.com. Mine will have (4) single faux pouches and (2) medium sized pouches. I too should have pictures by next weekend. I think it's really going to add a cool look to the Mando armor. Can't wait to see your pics.

[ConDar Ward]

I could only retrieve these pic's of the Belt from the step by step .






Sew on Velcro for low profile .


Slide all pouches forward for a buckle-less look .  8)

[Uzar Ward]

That looks great, vod.

[silverBoyd]

Those look great. Hope mine turn out looking as good as those. Great job!!

[ConDar Ward]

Thanks  Vod . 8)

They turned out better than I expected , for a first try . 

[silverBoyd]

This is the start of my wooden ammo pouches....

[ConDar Ward]

Are those pouches leather or Vinyl ?


Normal Hot Glue doesn't stick well , but there is Special sticks that work .
I just haven't found any yet ......... You have a Great start going , Keep it up .


Good luck Vod !   8)

[silverBoyd]

it's vinyl....i acquired a HUGE roll of vinyl at a craft store this weekend for only $4. More than what I need. I have all the blocks cut, now I'm just trying to cover them all. I'm using a staple gun for everything but the faux pouch lids....so far, I'm pleased with the results

[ConDar Ward]

it's vinyl....i acquired a HUGE roll of vinyl at a craft store this weekend for only $4. More than what I need. I have all the blocks cut, now I'm just trying to cover them all. I'm using a staple gun for everything but the faux pouch lids....so far, I'm pleased with the results

Very cool ........  You can still use the Staple gun to attach most of the Flap ........ 

[silverBoyd]

the only thing I could see using the hot glue for would be the front of the flap to the pouch. Wonder if E-6000 would work? That stuff is super strong and adheres to anything.

[ConDar Ward]

the only thing I could see using the hot glue for would be the front of the flap to the pouch. Wonder if E-6000 would work? That stuff is super strong and adheres to anything.

That is possible , I like the Ease of the Adhesive backed Velcro myself .

[silverBoyd]

I was going to put this on my own thread but since my tuorial would've been the same I figured I'd show my finished product on this thread. I changed the sizes of the template to my liking but everything else was the same. Here are some pics of the ammo pouch belt I assembled tonight...took about an hour to cover all the blocks.

[ConDar Ward]

Wow , Nice job ner ' vod .   8)

[Kaden'Dha Runi]

I am loving this idea.  Tell me, where did you get the templates for cutting the final, and how can I get it?

[ConDar Ward]

I am loving this idea.  Tell me, where did you get the templates for cutting the final, and how can I get it?

Here is what I started with , then customized as needed .   8)

http://www.tk409.com/images/fett/ammobelt/tutorial/index.html

[Dar'manda]

As a side note, I've seen some people take thinner sheets of MDF or hard wood and make hinged belt boxes similar to this... Wish I could find the thread/pics, but I may have to try this soon for myself, I can't seem to find the needle for my awl. And the one I have is wedged in, not so sure it's shapr anymore.

[silverBoyd]

Here are some screenshots of the CAD files I made to create the size of the wood blocks & the size of the vinyl covering and pouch flaps. These dimension are based around a piece of 2x4. Each block really only take 2-3 cuts

[ConDar Ward]

Yikes ! !    


I just cut one block  to my liking on my chop saw ( miter box ) , then Copied it " Via' pencil " to the next block .

I just eyeballed the Rest ......    Hinged blocks or boxes seem like a Waste of time & added Weight .
 That is unless the Leather or Vinyl was the " Hinged section " that would be fine . But still a PITA to cover correctly . IMO
Thus the Scrap wood reference .  I guess if I wanted Semi / functional pouches I would get some UG ones of eBay .


My whole Rig cost me like  $2.00 for craft staples ( I had everything else lying around ) and about 4 hrs of my time .........
 But I would figure someone could do it for about 5 - $10.00 .  Depending on Quality of Materials .


 Good luck Vod .

[silverBoyd]

That's what I did too. Just took scrap wood lying around and made 2-3 cuts on the blocks.

[DorkLogic]

I'm curious... about how much does the finished product weigh?

[ConDar Ward]

That's what I did too. Just took scrap wood lying around and made 2-3 cuts on the blocks.

B.I.N.G.O.   ! !     

I'm curious... about how much does the finished product weigh?

Mine weighs less than a " Real "  ammo belt loaded .... hahahaha ....

I'd say  , 1 - 2 lbs ...... which seems heavy ........ But think of a pound of butter   ........ it's not much .

My bucket weighs more ......