Give 'em a Belt

[leon-1]

Making A Belt
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Well we all have different reasons for making a belt, some of us are a little more rotund and it is awkward getting a belt that fits, others of us don't live in nice commercial areas where good quality leather belts are freely available and others like myself (although the others probably apply to me as much as anyone else) are tight fisted as hell and there is no way I am paying £20 for a belt that I could make at home for less than half the price. This is one I prepared earlier.

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What You Need.
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• 1. You need a decent quality leather strap.
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• 2. You need a buckle.
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• 3. You need a pair of needles.
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• 4. You need a pair of pliers.
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• 5. Some glue (I use PVA as I have loads of it).
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• 6. Some thread.
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• 7. A sharp knife.
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• 8. An awl or something to punch holes.
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• 9. A hole punch.
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• 10. A bit of copper pipe (not really needed, but it makes life easier).
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• 11. A sanding block and paper.
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• 12. A stitch marker (not really needed, but it makes life easier).
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• 13. A stitch groover (not really needed, but it makes life easier)
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• 14. A bevelling tool (not really needed, but it makes life easier).
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• 15. An edge beveller (not really needed, but it makes life easier).
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Where We Start.
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This is how I did it for this one, you can do the same or change it for any method that you want. I have a few bits of copper pipe joint laying around in the garage so I took one of these.

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I then clamped it in the vice so that it deformed and took some warding files to it (any file will do, if you have a leatherman that will work just as well) so that I had a sharpened edge at one end which is an elongated oval' ish shape.
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Next I assessed wher I wanted the belt buckle to sit on the leather strap and how much of a tail I wanted on the reverse side of the strap (the side facing you when the belt has been made).

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I marked a central line on the inside of the belt across the area where the belt will wrap around the body of the buckle.

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I then took my piece of copper pipe and lined it up length ways along the line at the point in the belt where it will bend around the buckle and hit it hard with a club hammer (any suitably large, dense and robust object will work). This punched quite a nice clean hole that is the perfect size for the arm on the belt buckle to fit through.

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I have made a groove on the inside of the belt using a groover to allow the leather to bend a little easier.

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Next I use a beveller and a sanding block to chanfer the inside of the tail down from the groove on the short end.

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I have then used the stitch groover to mark 4mm in from the edge on either side the length of my waist measurement.

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A further 30cm (12inches) down from that I have marked a line across the strap.This will be the end of the belt.

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I have now marked two small points on either side of the belt 5cm (2 inches) from the end of the belt from this point the ends of the belt will be narrowed (I actually set up an angle of ten degrees on each side when I did this).
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Using a knife and the sanding block I rounded the ends of the tail so that it looked respectable to me.

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The offcut that you have chopped from the end of the tail comes into play here, you use it to make the captive belt loop, this one is about 12.5mm (½ inch) across.

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I have made it some three and a half times the width of the belt in length.

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Once I have cut it I then chamfer the outside and the inside at either end.

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I have then glued it and clamped it in place, you can also stitch it, but to be honest you will not really need to.

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In the next picture you can see I have placed the belt buckle through its hole and ran a thin line of glue (no more than 5mm (3/16 inch) wide) just behind the buckle itself and then clamped it in place. Sorry about the Moccs I wear them all the time and they are just too comfortable.

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I have now run an edge beveller around the outside edge of the belt so that it is not as sharp.

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Next I mark a line across the belt just behind the buckle ready for stitching.

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The stitching begins and so do the sore fingers from saddle stitch.

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Now I have placed the belt loop up behind the line of stitching between the two layers of leather and glued and clamped it all in place (as you can see you end up with something looking like an arts and crafts insect).

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Next I have stitched a square (roughly 25mm (an inch) square) behind the belt loop to force it to be captive (it cannot slide along the strap of the belt).

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Now I dye all of the grooves and edges back to their original black.

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In this picture you can see that I have used Gum Tragacanth to seal the edges of the belt .

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I mark a central line with my waist size, mark 2 inches inside and four inches outside my waist measurement.
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The final bit is punching the holes (you can drill them, but punching them out is better if you have access to punches), wiping of the wax and the excess dye before giving it a little coat of boot polish on the outside (I have a tendency to leave the wax on the inside of the belt as it protects it), but you'll end up with something like this.

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Thats about it as I say a little touch of polish wouldn't go amiss, but there you go.

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Leon

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[g4ghb]

Darn you Leon! - another project added to the already long list of things to try!


well done though! - and thanks!

 

[Templar]

Nice job leon, very nice how to mate...

Karl

 

[outdoorgirl]

Possibly one of the easiest and most satisfying things to create from leather...

I find that a really easy (and reasonably cheap) way to ensure that your belt is of an even width all the way along is to use a strap cutter such as this:

http://www.eleathersupply.com/strapcutter.shtml

You can get them failry easily over here as well, for about a tenner, but I don't have the link to the site I get my supplies from here... I'm sure a Google search will turn up endless possibilities...

ODG

 

[leon-1]

Possibly one of the easiest and most satisfying things to create from leather...

I find that a really easy (and reasonably cheap) way to ensure that your belt is of an even width all the way along is to use a strap cutter such as this:

http://www.eleathersupply.com/strapcutter.shtml

You can get them failry easily over here as well, for about a tenner, but I don't have the link to the site I get my supplies from here... I'm sure a Google search will turn up endless possibilities...

ODG

Nice link ODG, all the supplies for this one came from Le Prevo (I know I always say that , but that's who I use as I don't know too many others).

After the thread the other day about belts I hadmentioned in it that I would do a short tutorial and thought that a quick and easy one was in order.

The great thing about these is that you can make them as complex or simple as you wish (so no lines around the outside of the belt needed).

 

[Ahjno]

In the next picture you can see I have placed the belt buckle through its hole and ran a thin line of glue (no more than 5mm (3/16 inch) wide) just behind the buckle itself and then clamped it in place. Sorry about the Moccs I wear them all the time and they are just too comfortable.

You're just showing of mate
Another excellent tutorial! Well done!

In the last pic you tell you keep some polish on the inside of the belt as it protects it. Does this polish make the belt still usefull as a strop, or would it be best to leave it out, if you intend to use it as a strop?

 

[leon-1]

You're just showing of mate
Another excellent tutorial! Well done!

In the last pic you tell you keep some polish on the inside of the belt as it protects it. Does this polish make the belt still usefull as a strop, or would it be best to leave it out, if you intend to use it as a strop?

Hi Johan, the polish is for the ouside of the belt, the reason that the inside looks quite so manky (horrible) is because it is heavily coated in wax (the strap is one of the saddlery butts). You can still use it as a strop, but it won't be quite as good untill the wax has worn down and then the belt can be used as normal.

Whilst the wax is on the inside of the belt it will not soak up perspiration / water thus it won't be subject to the elements that will wear the belt quicker. Effectively it reduces wear and tear and prolongs the life of the belt IMHO.

 

[mark a.]

Cheers for the excellent tutorial, Leon.

Should this be a sticky?

 

[leon-1]

Cheers for the excellent tutorial, Leon.

Should this be a sticky?

My pleasure Mark.

As far as it being a Sticky I think there are others in here that should have the honour of that long before this one, we'll have to have a little dig around at some stage to find some of them and put them up.

 

[Tiffers]

hello Just a quick pointer about something I'd do different....

I would personally run a mile from putting a groove where you bend the leather around the buckle. This makes a seriously weak point just where you need strength.

In order to bend the leather around the buckle I would usually just wet it slightly then gently tap the bend. When I say wet it, I just usually lick it a couple of times Us saddlers have some odd habits

Doing it like this means you get to keep the full thickness of the leather where its needed.

Hope this makes sense

Tiffers

 

[leon-1]

Thanks Tiffers, odd habits and all

That's helpfull as I am still learning as much as anyone else.

When you say weak, how weak do you mean, the other belt that I did like this I have used for hauling logs and It still seems OK, is there some sign that I should be looking out for (cracking or something along those lines).

 

[pierre girard]

hello Just a quick pointer about something I'd do different....

I would personally run a mile from putting a groove where you bend the leather around the buckle. This makes a seriously weak point just where you need strength.

In order to bend the leather around the buckle I would usually just wet it slightly then gently tap the bend. When I say wet it, I just usually lick it a couple of times Us saddlers have some odd habits

Doing it like this means you get to keep the full thickness of the leather where its needed.

Hope this makes sense

Tiffers

Yes, I was wondering about that too. I just bend it around the buckle.

I got pretty lucky in the leather department, about three years ago, when I was down at Duluth Tent and Awning. I'm quite a scrounge when it comes to such things. I saw one of the workers making a logo on a piece of leather, for the Duluth Packs. When the stamp didn't take properly, he threw it in the garbage.

I asked if I could have it, and he said, "You want scrap leather?"

I told him I did, and he and another worker loaded up about 100 pounds of scrap leather including a lot of belting blanks from 1 1/4 inch to 3/4 inch. I've made a number of belts, knife sheaths, and pistol holsters from this leather, as well as a number of other things.

Here is my favorite belt - which I wear every day.

Here are some knife sheaths made from the same leather - which came in a variety of shades and thicknesses:

 

[Tiffers]

Thanks Tiffers, odd habits and all

That's helpfull as I am still learning as much as anyone else.

When you say weak, how weak do you mean, the other belt that I did like this I have used for hauling logs and It still seems OK, is there some sign that I should be looking out for (cracking or something along those lines).

Its weak as in weaker than it would be if full thickness was left there. It probably wouldnt crack, more likely to just give way when under stress.

Obviously its a bit of a moot point on a belt but for you guys who go out and about, your belts have a tendancy to be used for all sorts of odd things

With a belt buckle that has a tongue on it and stitching like yours, the weak point would usually be the stitching but if that was to give away, the tongue would hold the buckle into the the leather and prevent it from coming loose while it was done up. That groove would concentrate all the stress into that one thinner area.

Its a case of why do it while there are other methods that work without creating a stress point. This is where it becomes fun on a forum because we can all help each other I hope you didnt think my comment was being snotty or anything! It wasnt until I was laid in bed that I realised it could have been taken that way. It was definately not intended like that!

Tiffers

 

[ilan]

If you want scrap leather for belts etc look on ebay i think the seller is richard51 usually sells 20kg bags of leather of cuts i got a bag from him and it contained 20+ leather belt blanks mostly nearly finished all with minor/major flaws i made some belts up using two joining rings as per the old scout belts. plus have enough bits to make enough knife sheaths for years the down side is that its all chrome tanned and dyed still i think the lot was only £11 inc delivery . Nb email him to make shore its the heavy offcuts got greedy and brought a bag of his lightstuff and it was mostly gold and silver ???

 

[leon-1]

Its a case of why do it while there are other methods that work without creating a stress point. This is where it becomes fun on a forum because we can all help each other I hope you didnt think my comment was being snotty or anything! It wasnt until I was laid in bed that I realised it could have been taken that way. It was definately not intended like that!

Tiffers

Nope, I know you from on here before and have seen your posts on BB, I asked because I was curious and I know you work with leather.

Yep we do use our belts for strange things at times, the leather is still in excess of 3mm according to my vernier so it shouldn't give out anytime soon, but thanks I will bear that in mind for any belts made in the future.

 

[Tiffers]

Why not use a scrap to have a go with the wetting and tapping down with a hammer technique? If you can get away with leaving the full thickness then that would no doubt be easier. It also takes out one process that has the potential to go wrong

Tiffers