My First Tooled Belt

[OdinUK]

This is my first tooled belt. A friend bought it for her partners Xmas present. The pictures could be better but I found it difficult getting a suitable exposure with the camera I was using. Any constructive criticism would be welcome, if it would help to improve my next attempt.

[Havamal]

Nice job on the knotwork! very crisp with the red on black... Thanks for posting, I have been attempting to do some knotwork myself but I have not been able to get it that defined... confirms that it is possible and that I have a lot more practice a head of me!

[OdinUK]

Thanks Matt. I would normally use a matting tool for the small areas between the red strands but I had to make sure that the belt was finished for this weekend so I tried to get the beveling even. It does take q fit bit of practice I must admit. I did several practice goes first.

[immiketoo]

How did you get the red in the makers stamp without getting everywhere?

[OdinUK]

I first dyed the whole stamp area in red making sure the dye went in the lowest parts of the letters. When dry, I got a bit of an old t-shirt, and used it to tightly wrap up some paper towel ( would have used cotton wool but had none) and I applied black dye to that. Just enough dye so that it was not too saturated but enough so that it comes off onto the leather and gently dabbed it over the raised areas of the stamp. Once you get a feel for how much dye comes off you may add more dye and go over it several times. Thats how I get that two tone effect. Its the first time I used it after a couple of practice goes.

I was a bit miffed that the stamp was not quite level!

[Bluesman]

Great job............Absolutely Fabulous.

[mlapaglia]

I first dyed the whole stamp area in red making sure the dye went in the lowest parts of the letters. When dry, I got a bit of an old t-shirt, and used it to tightly wrap up some paper towel ( would have used cotton wool but had none) and I applied black dye to that. Just enough dye so that it was not too saturated but enough so that it comes off onto the leather and gently dabbed it over the raised areas of the stamp. Once you get a feel for how much dye comes off you may add more dye and go over it several times. Thats how I get that two tone effect. Its the first time I used it after a couple of practice goes.

I was a bit miffed that the stamp was not quite level!

Another trick is to wrap the cloth around a flat wood block. Put some dye on the bottom cloth and press it against the area you want to only dye the top of the leather. You can even wipe along the leather if you practice and don't press hard. Its called block dyeing I believe.

Looks really nice. Im in the middle of waiting for the glue to dry on a gun belt so I may use your idea of the dyed makers mark when I finish it.

Michael

[OdinUK]

Thanks guys.

Michael, let me know how it turns out. I don't think I could use a block for my stamp because the raised part of the letters are lower than the highest areas that need to be black. So, I needed something that would flex or give a little depending on the pressure applied. I hope that makes sense.

[bluesman1951]

Very nicely done . Thanks for sharing . Bill

[OdinUK]

If there's any interest, I can take a sequence of pictures showing the steps to dye a makers stamp in this way..

[immiketoo]

I'd love to see that. Especially how you applied the black so precisely around the rope and inside the stamp.

[OdinUK]

Ok, Im on holiday at the moment but when I get home in a week or so, Ill take some photos and write a brief tutorial. Maybe it could be pinned somewhere if the moderators agree.