Hey all,
New member here, but I'm running out of places I can search for help on either ideas or instruction.
I have a hat band I'm wanting to make, and I haven't yet gotten all the supplies because I'm not sure what all I'll need for the project.
My goal is to make a leather hat band with unobstructed bullets around the outside. I'm wanting to avoid the typical bullet loops look or stitching around the front of the bullet, as I feel it would obscure the bullet itself aesthetically. I'm going to be using pre-fired .357 Magnum brass bullets and leather for the hat band itself.
I have a hat band currently on my hat, and the decorative pieces on it have a type of diamond-shaped rivet with prongs that punched through the band to be bent back to secure them on sort of like a staple. Simple stuff.
The bullets I'm getting can have a hole drilled into them, and in my mind's eye I pictured something like some sort of brad or rivet securing inside the drilled hole of the bullet, so essentially the bullet would have prongs sticking out of it on one side that I can then use to secure it to a hat band cleanly.
I hope that made sense. A friend suggested some sort of contact cement or glue or goop but I worry that a bullet's surface area onto leather would prove both too small and weak in lasting under duress of wear and tear, and would be messy and not clean in presentation if I were to go this route.
tl;dr: I'm searching for help on if there's a way to give the bullet some sort of prongs that can be put through a leather hat band while looking slick and put together and not sloppy. Would there be a way to simply secure the rounded surface area of the bullet to a flat rivet itself which then can be secured to the hat band? Is it even possible to drill a hole into a bullet and have something inserted that would create prongs for the bullet itself?
Are prongs even the best way to go about this? or would glue or goop or contact cement prove better? The leather hat band will be sitting snug against a high-quality leather cowboy hat so I also want it to be safe against the leather of my hat without scratching or something.
I'm completely new at all of this so any and all ideas and help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for your time!