Going to MAKE a couple belts.

[BrokenolMarine]

Dave said we should also post leather projects here, so I don't mean to bore you guys, but I need to practice my leather work, so here we go...

I cut a couple long 1-1/2 strips to make pants belts. I won't say exactly how long... (fatboy long) but long. I used a tool that makes cutting a consistent width easy. Then I traced an oak leaf and acorn pattern in preparation for transfer.

01 started on layout.jpg (253.53 KiB) Viewed 4301 times

After casing (wetting) the leather to make it take the impression better, and determining the spacing at the ends for the sewn on connection for the buckle and the holes, I carefully transferred the pattern down the full length. This was done in steps as the pattern itself in the book is about ten inches long. It's meant to be a repeating pattern.

02 transfer to leather.jpg (1.02 MiB) Viewed 4292 times

Next I sharpened two of my swivel knives, a bold bladed knife for cutting in the borders and the small tipped swivel knife for the finer cuts. This included 220 and 400 sandpaper and then rouge on leather and buffing on felt. Ready to start cutting in.

03 cutting in.jpg (1.25 MiB) Viewed 4292 times

After the edges were done, I started on the center pattern, and had just gotten going when I was told by my friend arthur, that I was done for that session. In fact, I learned that my hands were done for the day. That was actually a lot of concentrated hand work.

04 beginning the details.jpg (1.04 MiB) Viewed 4292 times

Will be back at it tomorrow, and may even get to start on the tooling. Been a while, so I consider this belt a practice session. The second belt should turn out better. Because I don't have a butt, I'm considering D-rings to attach suspenders to.

Don't laugh, if I put my keys in my pockets these days, my pants threaten to slide right off...

[rickhem]

Very cool!
When you position the pattern for the belt, do you guesstimate where the middle of your back on your pants will be, and work out from there? Meaning that point where the beltloop (or sometimes two beltloops are), or will be at the small of your back. I've seen belts with names on them and getting that name centered when the belt is worn doesn't always work out, so possibly similar with a pattern, although the repeat may make that unnecessary.
And do you just let the pattern run out and off the end where the holes would go, or leave a blank area where the holes would be??

[rickhem]

And I completely relate to loosing your butt.
I've always had a butt such that I almost never needed a belt to hold my pants up. But once my work turned to more administrative work, more time at a desk, and the sporting activities and routine workouts tapered off, my pants seem to slip down with alarming regularity now. My belts aren't a decoration anymore.

[BrokenolMarine]

With this type pattern the center isn't really an issue. If I was going to do the name thing, then yes, I would have to figure out where the belt would center, NOT the center of the belt. I would lay out both ends, with the holes and the slot for the fold for the buckle, then simulate the belt on the waist, and find the actual center at the small of the back and mark that. Then work the pattern from the center. Same with a gun belt when I'd want to center the bullet loops in the back.

[BrokenolMarine]

Got out this morning after coffee and a light breakfast, and got back to cutting in. That small swivel knife is quick, so I have to pay attention and I found I also have to resharpen often. After about an hour, I had finished cutting in. It was looking pretty good. (um... okay. )

05 finished cutting in.jpg (474.11 KiB) Viewed 4285 times

I took a short break for some coffee and got back at it. It was "Calling me." I started by shading the background. In some situations, this really helps define the work. Some will disagree, but this helps those of us with short memories or focus issues. AND, it really makes the work pop early. When you go back and start to bevel with a high angle bevel, you KNOW where you have to go. Here is a close up look after an hour or so of shading.

06 shaded background close up.jpg (383.97 KiB) Viewed 4285 times

A long shot lets you see how the belt is already starting to pop, without ANY of the detail work started. I am a long way from completed, but it's already looking much better just with the backgrounding done. (This will be touched up later, but that will be no big deal.

07 Shaded background full length.jpg (503.81 KiB) Viewed 4285 times

Here is a comparison shot of the tooled belt and the blank leather strap so far.

08 comparison shot.jpg (463.55 KiB) Viewed 4285 times

More work to come, stay tuned. Let's hope the plan works out and I end up with a belt. If not, I got a lot of practice.

[BrokenolMarine]

That leather scrap with the holes laying on the table beside the two pieces? It came from a high dollar competition gunbelt I USED to be able to wear when I was a young Marine and shooting Falling Plate and made a try at IPSC all those years ago. (The 80s maybe?) I finally gave up ever getting any use from a 30" waist Bianchi belt again and I disassembled the belt and saved some parts as templates.

Saving the planet. (Bwah hah hah.)

[BrokenolMarine]

In that long shot, you can see the color change as the belt is beginning to dry from the tooling. You have to case (wet) the leather to tool it. I use a spray bottle. Some wet it with a sponge, and some run it thru a shallow pan of water. To each his own. I'll rest my hands and get back to it.

[BrokenolMarine]

I spent a bit more time in the shop, nearly two more hours, detailed tooling. If you look close at the picture below you'll see where I worked around the leaves and acorns to add the dimension to them. Those that go outside the interior border are made to raise over the edge. Those that appear to tuck under, dive under. Using what YouTube taught me I tried to make it appear as if there are Layers.

09 more detailing.jpg (590.12 KiB) Viewed 4277 times

Still some work to do, and it involves shading in the leaves, lifting, and edge work. I have had some success in these matters and some dismal failures. Wish me luck.

[daytime dave]

It's looking pretty good. Nice work.

[Hatchdog]

“ Those that appear to tuck under, dive under. Using what YouTube taught me I tried to make it appear as if there are Layers.”

That is very cool. I’m able to increase the size of you pics on my screen and when enlarged what you said is very apparent. That’s a nice detail.

[BrokenolMarine]

Thanks guys. I re-watched the video again. I'll be working on the edging, lifts, and other small details before I move to attach the buckle and strap. We'll see how the afternoon goes. I'm also going to order two pattern packs from Joe.

[BrokenolMarine]

Back out this afternoon after Miss T got home with lunch. I spent some time on the belt working on the details, then worked on the buckle attachment and the strap that will have the holes in it. I'm sure those parts have names... but I don't know them. (Yet.)

After I cut them out... I (Of course) had to add some details. I went with the serpentine pattern since the straps were too narrow for much else. When I do the cartridge belt, I think I'll go with a barbed wire pattern. (Ever notice some folks think the wire was named after a guy named Bob?) Usually it's folks who have never strung it, repaired it, or tried to get through it in a hurry (Being chased by an angry bull or an angry farmer, and met "Barbs".

10 getting close.jpg (593.89 KiB) Viewed 3346 times

We are so close. I have to drill / punch holes for the buckle attachment chicago screws, and the holes where the buckle bar will go in that strap. I need to burnish ALL the edges after I have decided on stain, or natural oil... then after everything has had it's first coat, sew it all together. I also need to make two retention loops. One for the belt to slide into, then one for the buckle strap to slide into. All fun.

Still, close.

[Mags]

Natural oil would be good.

[BrokenolMarine]

I'm thinking natural will be good too Mags. I'll burnish the sides next, I drilled the holes for the Chicago screws and it looks pretty good. Getting closer...

11 chicago screws in place.jpg (305.56 KiB) Viewed 3343 times

[BrokenolMarine]

After some last trimming and neatening, I beveled the edges that required it, then applied coats of Watco Oil in the Natural color. I left the parts and pieces to dry overnight. Looking forward to seeing the color in the morning.

12 Natural Watco Oil.jpg (484.73 KiB) Viewed 3336 times

In the morning I get to burnish all the edges and actually start the assembly, which includes forming those belt loops and sewing on the billets. We are really close now.

[BrokenolMarine]

Out in the shop this morning and I like the way the pieces looked after the oil dried overnight. Natural was a good choice.

13 The oil after it dried.jpg (412.02 KiB) Viewed 3331 times

I set up the burnishing wheel on the drill press, wet each piece on it's edges and added some burnishing gum, and went to work. The key to burnishing is NOT pressure, which would deform the edges. This was a hard learned lesson for me. It's the friction, and for that you just let the hand burnisher or the powered burnishing wheel flow along the edge until the heat builds up. I knocked out each and every piece in time, NOT rushing and NOT pushing.

Then I marked and cut out the holes in the Billet that would have those. I drilled the proper hole in each end of the oval shape for the holes, then cut the sides to form those shapes. That done, I moved to making the belt loops I would need. I carefully checked the size one last time, and trimmed a 1/4" off the larger of the two. Then I taped the scraps that would simulate the location for the loops for wet forming with painter's tape. (I love that stuff, use it ALL the time.)

I drilled a small pair of pilot holes in both ends of each loop, and then punched them with my sewing awl to get the correct size for the needle. I would use a curved needle for this one. Pulled the thread thru the wax and ... We are set.

14 get ready to sew.jpg (394.22 KiB) Viewed 3331 times

I took my time, pulled the stitches nice and tight, and once I was done I wet down the loops and pulled them over their respective forms and burnished them flat on all four sides. I set them aaside to dry around the forms. (Wet forming them into the belt loop shape.)

15 belt loops sewn and wet formed.jpg (485.5 KiB) Viewed 3331 times

Look below for a mini tour of the leather side....

[BrokenolMarine]

Here is a nice view of the tooling bench and the shelves and organizer for the punches and tooling that I made to keep things organized yet still at hand. I started just with the block for the punches, then added the shelves, then the dowel for thread and the paper towels, which I need to refill.

17 tooling bench.jpg (501.21 KiB) Viewed 3331 times

Back up a bit and you can see the cutting / work bench. I try to keep this bench free and clear as much as possible, so it has space to lay out sides of leather for cutting large templates or original designs. It's handy to the tooling bench and I can roll back and forth in the "Chair" between tooling and cutting additional sections of a project, such as holsters or sheaths... handy.

18 add cutting slash work bench.jpg (492.21 KiB) Viewed 3331 times

The last item on the mini tour is the Strap Cutter. Set the width you want and the thickness of the leather, then pull the leather thru this tool and it will cut a nice consistent strap (Belt, suspenders, retention strap) of whatever length you need. Perfect for the project I just started.

19 strap cutter.jpg (504.59 KiB) Viewed 3331 times

There are fancier ones, but this works fine for me.

[Hatchdog]

Not sure who that Bob Wire guy is but I certainly am well acquainted with his Sister Barb.


Looking good BOM!

[BrokenolMarine]

Several Sessions today. I was anxious to see how the belt loops turned out. They turned out great, the wet forming worked well. Nice and squared off. Nicely formed.

20 loops formed.jpg (474.64 KiB) Viewed 3320 times

Before I began sewing and assembly, I applied the antiquing. I used medium brown. While I gave it a bit of time to set, I consolidated the OLD dark brown tub with the new one. Messy job, and I was glad I wore gloves. Nasty. I fiddled around cleaning up and getting the stuff together for sewing and laying out the stitch lines.

21 applied antiquiing.jpg (470.24 KiB) Viewed 3320 times

After the antiquing had set for a half hour or so, I first wiped away the excess with a dry cloth, then with more attention to detail with a damp cloth. Looked good.

[BrokenolMarine]

After laying out the stitching, I took the buckle billet to the bench top drill press and drilled the holes for sewing.

22 drilling holes for buckle billet.jpg (254.42 KiB) Viewed 3320 times

Before sewing on the buckle end, I decided I needed to sew on the belt loop so I drilled the holes in the loop and in the matching locations in the belt.

23 prepped loop to sew.jpg (685.12 KiB) Viewed 3320 times

I sewed the loop into position with a couple heavy stitches on each side.

24 sewn on.jpg (410.55 KiB) Viewed 3320 times

A couple tricks to make sewing the buckle assembly one, work well for all hand sewing. Since the holes are hard to see on the back of the leather... I take a sharpened pencil and spin it in both sides of the holes once they are drilled/punched into the leather. This accomplishes two things. It "countersinks the holes a bit, pushing down the leather so it's not puffed out. On the back side the pencil leaves a graphite ring around the hole marking it so it's easily seen for stitching.

25 trick for hand sewing.jpg (442.98 KiB) Viewed 3320 times

Another trick is using positioning pins to hold the parts in place.

26 positioning pins.jpg (360.62 KiB) Viewed 3320 times

You can see in the picture below with the piece clamped in the Stitching pony, the positioning pins hold the buckle assembly against the belt. Once you sew to the pin, you remove it and continue to sew.

27 Ready to sew.jpg (290.79 KiB) Viewed 3320 times

I got the buckle sewn on here and it looks good.

28 Buckle sewn on.jpg (461.83 KiB) Viewed 3320 times