Going to MAKE a couple belts.

[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 2733 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 2730 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.

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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 2718 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 2718 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 2718 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 2718 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 2718 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 2718 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.

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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 2707 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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

28 Buckle sewn on.jpg (461.83 KiB) Viewed 2707 times