Building a Belt (Completed)

Horsewright

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 4, 2011
Messages
11,576
Our friend vilepossum asked me to build him a belt. Here are a few pictures from the process. Building a belt is a pretty strightforward deal. These pics will give you an idea of kinda how I go about it.

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This is a side of Wicket and Craig English Bridle leather. Bridle leather is veg tan that has been treated at the tannery with extra tallows, waxes and oils. But it doesn't feel "greasy or oily" like some latigoes can. Like the name implies its designed for horse tack / equipment, designed to resist sweat and moisture. It is also an excellent leather for high end leather goods and you'll see it used on $2,000 briefcases etc. It makes a great belt. English Bridle leather is a premium leather that carries a premium pricetag. But look at that side! Thats what a premium side of leather should look like.

My first step was to cut a straight edge along the spine. This old guy will jump up on that workbench and kneeling over the leather I will cut the straight edge using a roller knife against a 48" ruler. This is a really a two person job, Nichole will help hold down the straight edge as I cut. This side was long enough it took 3 postionings of the straight edge to get the whole spine cut. I'd already cut a few lining pieces off of this side for Nichole's headstalls. Thats what those strips are on the bench behind the side.

I will post pics of the entire process but if you havn't followed one of my posts before, just letting ya know, I have to post a pic and then edit that post to add more pics. Just how my puter/tablet interacts here. So if you see this post and there's not much come back in a little bit there wil be more. Just takes a little bit of time that way. But if I don't whoosh everthing gone into never never land.

Starting to cut leather:

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This little wooden strap cutter works great and should be on the Frugal tools list. I've had the regular draw gauge type strap cutters. Some of them very, very expensive. This little $15-$20 deal knocks their socks off. Don't even know where the others are anymore. The secret to using these tools is to pull the piece you're cutting not the whole side. I ALWAYS measure hardware before cutting leather. This project was a perfect example of why. A 1.5" buckle set was purchased for this project. The buckle measured a true 1.5" so a 1.5" belt strap would of worked for the buckle but it would NOT go through the metal keeper except at an angle. We needed a strap a hair under 1.5" for this belt. It should be noted too, this strap cutter is great at cutting straps, not very good at cutting hairs off of an existing strap. Meausre your hardware.

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Here is the two straps cut and buckle set for this project. The belt is a hair under 1.5" as mentioned and the lining (on the right) is 1.75". I havn't made any unlined belts in many many years. The buckle set is from Weaver and is solid cast brass.

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Some of the tools we'll be using. An Osborne English Strap Point punch in 2" size, a 1" Osborne bag punch, my makers mark, a Barry King edger in #2 and a stitching groover.
 
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I cut the strap to size with my roundknife. There are two measurements I want when building a belt for someone. On an existing belt that fits them well I want a measurement from the tip to the buckle fold and then I want to know from the buckle fold to the most used hole. After cutting the strap to size, I will use the pointed punch to cut both ends.

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On the tip end I will lay out my buckle holes. I make 5 holes 1.25" apart. The center hole is at the measurement supplied by the customer.

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Time for the stitching groove. This particular belt was completely lined so the stitching groove goes all the way around. On some belts I will stop the lining just prior to the fold. Kinda depends on the belt and buckle type.

Here's my makers mark and I'm camo stamping around it. Bridle leather will stamp pretty well as seen. Due to all the tallows and waxes no moisture is needed. I just stamped it, didn't dampen it at all. I will always cut a tongue slot. Even though this belt does not need a tongue slot to work with this buckle I will always cut one. That way if VP ever decides he'd like to switch out the buckle he can.

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Got that all finished up.

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Time to split our leather. This bridle leather is about 8- 10 oz which would make a very thick belt. I use this splitter to split the buckle end to about 5 oz and the tip end to about 6 oz. This splitters drawback besides its small size is that it is difficult to adjust accurately. Bout got ourselves talked into the big Cobra.

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The lining piece I take down to about 4 oz all the way across. Thats it in the pic, the upper strap. On the belt blank I use my belt grinder to feather the splits down so that there isn't a "step". So the dark part of the bottom strap is not split/skived.

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I rough up the non skived part of the belt blank with the rat tailed file pictured. This gives us a good glue bond. The parts that have been split don't need it.

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After gluing the two pieces together I head to the sewing machine. I used the Cobra 18 with 138 size thread top and bottome for this project.

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We'll finish this belt project up shortly.
 
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Bitchin work Dave. I love these threads and can't wait to see what Florian will end up with.

If you get the Cobra skiver I'll buy your old one if you decide to sell it. :)
 
Your right Dave, that little wooden strap maker has saved me so much time and money that I just cant discount it as a needed, not wanted, piece of equipment for leather crafting.

That thing is one of the top ten that I suggest to any half way serious leather crafter. You can do allright with a ruler and knife, but that strap cutter makes life so much easier. :D

I buckled down back in the early nineties and got one, best choice ever.
 
I agree with both of you. As Dave pointed out, you can buy a significantly more expensive model, but I don't see a need. Can't remember what I paid for mine, but I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

I use it to cut belt length 1" and 1.5" straps, then cut them as needed for danglers, bracelets and cuffs. Extremely handy. Before the tool I was buying belt blanks, but I'm through with that.

Only thing... Next time I buy leather I'll have Hide House cut a straight for me so I don't have to break out the straight edge and knife.
 
Dwayne, just thought I'd mention that the cutter from Tandy is $35, the same tool from Springfield Leather is $23. Can't remember what shipping cost because I usually order a bunch of stuff at the same time. In any case it's worth $35 if you do a lot of straps. Actually, the tool is fun enough you may find yourself cutting straps even when it's not necessary. :D
 
My preciousssss!!!
Did anybody ever hang a belt onto a wall?

on a more serious note, thank you dave, both for making this belt for me, as well as taking the extra time and effort to take the pictures and create this write up! now i'm really giddy for it arrive...

i'm already thinking about how to take pictures of it without my belly getting in the way... i am thinking about something along the lines of that demi moore pregnancy cover picture... :D
 
Dwayne, just thought I'd mention that the cutter from Tandy is $35, the same tool from Springfield Leather is $23. Can't remember what shipping cost because I usually order a bunch of stuff at the same time. In any case it's worth $35 if you do a lot of straps. Actually, the tool is fun enough you may find yourself cutting straps even when it's not necessary. :D
I've got a business account (tax number) with Tandy and my price is 21.00. :D No fee and the member only specials can get very good.

Their "Elite Membership" gets the same discounts with no tax number required, I dont know how much it is, but the savings is substantial enough to pay for it I'd wager.
 
not to derail this (it's about my belt after all ;) ) but do you guys buy any leather from tandy? i recently ordered some kits (bracelet, rounders and key fob) from them and the qualitiy is abyssmal for each of them except the key fobs.
 
Thanks guys! Its fun making belts. This leather is great to work with. This Hide House Anthony?

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One of the latigo aisles. More on our little trip to The Hide House later. Our bridle leather for our belt project came from there. OK back to making this belt. Always start any project with a full bobbin in the sewing machine. On many projects you are still gonna have to splice in with a new bobbin thread. You try to make that as unobtrusive as you can. Once these threads are cut off, (I melt them with a soldering iron), a guy is gonna have to look real close to see where the splice is.

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I used that roller knife pictured to trim the lining leather. Our project is starting to take shape. Kinda looks like a belt now. I've punched all the holes necessary at this stage too.

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Here is the tip end. Lots of guys will use an oval punch for the tip holes but I don't. Just a regular round one. I will base the size of the hole on the tongue of the buckle. One of the problems with the oval hole punch is keeping it straight so that all the holes are uniform. Don't have to worry about that with a round punch.

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Time to sand the edges. I normally do this outside but this particular day it was raining. Not just raining a little bit, The National Weather Service called it a "super historic" storm. It never rains in California in July. To put this storm into perspective, in San Diego they got more rain this day pictured than they had in the entire month of July for the last 101 years, combined. Lots of flash flooding, roads out etc here in Tehachapi. About 20 miles away lots of folks that live in a canyon had to be rescued from their rooftops by helicopters because of the flash flooding. So this day we sand inside. I use the green one on the left with a 120 grit belt that I keep just for leather. Later we'll use the 2x72 on the right. It has a 400 grit belt that I keep just for leather. I'll do that after after we edge.

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OK now we're edging the belt. This is that #2 Barry King. I came back after and re edged with a #3. The #2 just didn't quite take enough off for this belt.

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If you are using the edger correctly you should get one long string like this. I've found that a lot of folks as they progress on down a project change the angle that the edger intersects the leather at. Most commonly they will drop the handle down towards the project raising the cutting edge up. Try to maintain the same angle that you start with and you'll make one good straight long cut. Also helps to keep those edgers sharp. The secret is to never let them get dull. I use the edge of one of my buffer wheels to polish the edger.

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We've edged the belt. Next comes rubbing the edges. I use a full size lathe with a piece of rosewood in it. The rosewood has different size grooves turned in it. I put Wyoming Quick Slik on the edges and then run them through the right size groove. I keep the lathe on its fastest setting while doing this. Thats how I rub all my edges on any project. Really saves a lot of wear and tear on the ole elbow. Now in this pic I'm putting Fiebings Bag Kote on the edge after its been rubbed. I find that this helps keep the edges nice longer. This leather doesn't need any finish so I only put it on the edges.

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I like to use Chicago screws on my belts. I find them more secure than snaps. Some belts will have buckles sewn in but I like to use the screws in case the customer wants to change the buckles out at some time.

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Well the thing really looks like a belt now. This leather was a pleasure to work with. Easy to cut, stamp, punch, sew and edge. I like it. Plus it looks great.

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Thanks Florian for letting me build this for ya. Its heading off to Germany today.

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Questions and comments are always welcome of course.
 
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I really need to visit the Hide House. Only problem is money. I'd way over spend!

Dave, that storm was crazy for sure. Lightning struck right here and set off all the car alarms. 90° and pouring rain. Reminded me of Louisiana.

What kind of buckle is that? Does it have a moving tongue?
 
No the buckle doesn't have a moving tongue. Just that prong. Works backwards than normal but works very well. Weaver calls it the Paul buckle because Paul Weaver designed it. They are solid and very well made and probably the higest qualit buckle for $ around. They are only a couple of three bucks. Comes in brass, stainless and stainless done like JWP buckles.

Not as bad as you'd might think going there. I'll do a little thread probalby tomorrow.
 
You're welcome VP! Maybe a little of your favorite conditioner (Williams) once in a while. Probably won't have to do it too often. This leather is designed for tough use and to look good doing it. These pics will show you what I'm talking about. The headstalls (the leather that holds the bit in the horses mouth suspending the weight of it from behind the horses head) in both of these shots are made from English Bridle leather. This is the sweat and mositure that I'm talking about that it was designed to resist. The one on my horse (frist pic) is over 6 years old. This is not an abnormally hard day on the ranch. Our horses have jobs and work for a living they aren't on welfare, they ain't poodles. I clean the headstall up once in a while and condition it thats about it. When these pics were taken Nichole was recovering from a separated shoulder and could not ride. I used my horse in the morning and he was done as the first pic shows. After lunch I used Nichole's horse. He was pretty done at the end of the day. Doubt your belt will see this kind of use. But this is what this leather is designed for and its worked well for years.

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The center will be 12-14oz and the ends taper down to the 9-10 oz range.
 
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