Leather handles

Wow! Who would have thought Keystone had *leather* handles? The catalog companies that carry Keystone products does not show them.. ..i wound up faking one from a leather belt from a pair of pants.

Great citation. Thanks Michael!

Harry C.

Thanks for the lead, Michael. That really is interesting that Keystone makes the handles, but upon closer inspection, I noticed that the description says that they are made from a black leather "like" material. Probably a variety of vinyl. Not *exacxtly* what I was looking for, but in the absence of real leather, these will do (assuming that i can find a source). And you're right, Robert, in that most of the distributors or catalog vendors don't list the handles in their printed catalogs. But, that's no really big surprise, since I have seen lots of stuff in Keystone's catalogs that can't be bought from their resellers. However, Mouser, Digikey and Newark lists them in their online catalogs. They are non-stocked items, meaning that they would have to backorder them from Keystone. The price at $13 and change seems a bit high for "leather-like" material, but probably not unreasonable for that type of handle.

-- Tweetldee Tweetldee at att dot net (Just subsitute the appr> >

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They don't... "manufactured of black leather like material" No cows where harmed in the manufacture of these handles. Still, a good catch for the Tek heads out there. I wonder who makes the blue plastic ones for the later rounded blue cabinets?

So, what holds up your pants now?

The reason why i made my own from a leather belt, is that all of the handles available online, via leather companies, were as expensive or more so. Also, none of them had the mounting clasp i needed - and none of them could be modified either. Good luck.

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I can appreciate that. Can you give a brief on how you made the handles? How did you cut, fold, stitch, etc. How thick was the belt you started with?

I "think" leather belts for pants are "standard" in thickness; i measure 1/8 inch. I punched holes in the belt (not easy without a leather punch), 4 on each end (square pattern), and used 6-32 screws to fasten directly to the metal box (heads on outside). Not pretty, but it works quite well and the price was right (50 cents at Goodwill for the belt - and enough to make almost a dozen handles).

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Thanks for that.. sounds easy enough. I have several old belts around that have shrunk and no longer fit. I'm going to try to make one that's a little closer to the originals just to see if I can do it. Oh, just had an idea... pull one that's still in one piece off, & take it to a leather shop. See what they can do, or at least give me some advice on how to attempt to make it myself. Thanks for the tip,

I had talk a guy that made custom belts into making some replacement leather handles. He had a space right across the isle at a flea market I sold at, but when I came back the next weekend, he was in the hospital from a heart attack and was never able to come back to the market. He had quoted $5.00 to $10.00, including taking the hardware from the old handles, and putting it into the new ones.

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Wow!! That's really too bad... Hope it wasn't fatal. I would really be sending him some business right now.. I have 5 handles that need replacement... two on a Tek 549 scope and three on small HP instruments. Was that flea market in or near Ocala? Well, if he said he could do it for that low price, then it must not be a difficult process... just have to get some advice on materials and technique. Thanks, Michael

The last I heard he was at home, and needed help with almost everything.

The market was at Renniger's in Mt Dora.

Maybe you can find someone at a local flea market who makes custom leather goods? I can't stay on my feet long enough to wander through the local flea market anymore, or i would check the ones around Ocala. If you do find someone who can make good copies, they could put up a website and sell a lot of them.

There must still be saddlers in business.

Dammit, there's enough horses :-)

Yup, there sure are... one just a few miles from my humble abode, and a couple more on the route to work. Great idea, Fred... I'll check it out right away.

So, You've been to Ocala before?

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Well, that is true. However, I exaggerated slightly about my summer vacation villa... it's more like a fishing cabin on the banks of a vanishing lake in northeast Florida. But (and this is no exaggeration), I appreciate the URL. Upon first look at that page, it looks like they have a few basic models that they prefer to customize per a customer's order. I've sent an email.. waiting for a reply.