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By Harry Bardwell
#408206
Alright here is the tutorial for how to build a cheap belt gizmo holder.
It didn't cost me a thing to make this, but thats just because I already had the materials avalible, but even buying everying its still pretty cheap if you need a holder in a hurry, or don't want to spend the money on a real one, or have something against leather.

Materials needed:
1 sheet black foamies (I used pink, for picture taking purposes, and because its what I have laying around)
4 paper brads
1 male snap (I uses a messed up one from an older leather working project)
Spray Plasti-Dip (black)
Silver paint
Clear coat
Gizmo holder template (or just trace a real one)
Glue (hot glue works, I used E 6000), pencil, scissors. (optional tools: Razor, hole punch, pliers with wire cutter)


1. Trace the pattern. Then as Uncle Joey would say, Cut It Out. I also removed the broken snap that I was planning on using from the leather it was attached to, and I pushed the bendy parts of the paper brads together like so. Here is a pattern I found by Coz_UK.
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2.Glue the two peices together. Before you do this you will want to bend or heat shape the foamie into the proper right angles. I just folded mine a bunch. Since I used E 6000 it took it a while to dry, so I taped the parts together (the tape in the middle was there to help the corners stay bent). Hot glue would work just as well given the material and the fact we are plasti dipping it later which will help bind it more. *A note of caution with the tape when the glue had dried and I pealed off the tape it left minor surface damage to the foamies, and although it's undetectible under the plasti dip I just wanted you to be aware of it.
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3. Paint the paper brads silver. These will also recive a generous coat of clear coat just to help keep them from chipping. After they dried I cut the ends signifigantly shorter.
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4. Now that the glue is dry its time to punch the approperiate holes
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5. Plasti-dip that sucker! And, since we are going to coat the foamies with the plasti dip, and some of the interior is hard to get to so if the foamies are already black its ok if you missed a spot. I tried brush on plasti-dip to begin with with less than steller results but the spray on worked wonderfully.

6. Attach hardware. I put a little glue in each brad hole, before putting the brad through and bending the tabs out. Then I slathered some glue on the snap, and the holder, and stuck them together, as you can see in my pics a little of the glue from the snap got on the front of the holder but its barely noticeable.
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7. Being anal retentive. I sprayed a little extra plasti-dip on the back of the holder to both cover the brad tabs, and to help secure them more.
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8. All finished! and here is a side by side shot of it next to a GBFans holder. (Real on left)
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And there you have it, a cheap, easy, and quick gizmo holder.
By Harry Bardwell
#408292
No, no weight tests, but due to the nature of it just sitting on my belt and holding a relatively light circuit board or replica there of I imagine that it will hold the weight just fine. Wear and tear i'm not sure about yet (I just finished it today) but if it were black foamie like I suggest then it would probably hold better just because any were wouldn't have a chance to show pink through :P. I must say though that I have complete confidence in this, foamies are more resilient than most people give them credit for, then add on the rubber coating to boot. I have made plenty of things from foamies including a Han Solo gunbelt which has been through Halloween, Dragon*Con, moves, and storage, and it is still holding up fine after a few years, and it held my replica blaster, belt tools, and droid caller, and I never once feared the foamies giving way (the buckle is another story, but thats not foamies :P).
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By Gatchigirl
#4926081
I know this is a old thread, but I was looking for this. You think like I do and use foam for things. This could also be coated with PVA glue (wood or white glue) and would make it resilient too. It could be used in conjunction with the plasti-dip. I'm gonna be making one of these in the near future and thanks for the tutorial.

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