NoahL

It looks pretty cool to me--then again, I'm not big on tooling, myself. Does it buckle or lace? More (and hopefully clearer) pictures are required

Excellent question! I have absolutely no idea, myself. They look pretty much like the copper burr rivets, but without the little washer. I'm thinking that I will probably have to e-mail them and ask

Hello everyone, Wasn't exactly sure if this should be in Suppliers or Hardware & Accessories, so if one of my threads needs to be deleted, that's fine. I'm curious to know if anyone out there knows where I might be able to get burr-style rivets that aren't made of copper. Steel would be great, aluminum or nickel-plated works fine, too. It just seems to me that the burr-style rivets are sturdier than those rapid rivets that I have, seeing as they are solid. I'm planning on making more belts, and I would like to use the sturdiest rivets I can, but I don't like the color of copper/brass for what I have in my mind. Alternatively, would solid rivets like these work on leather belts? I ask because I would think they would be plenty sturdy, and they seem to come in steel and aluminum. ~Noah

Thanks Luke, I'm just concerned about that rough texture for belts, especially if I were to make a dress belt--dress slacks aren't all that durable . Something did occur to me, though--could I use solid rivets like these? I'm not sure how they work, but they are solid, and they are rivets, so maybe they will work?

Hello everyone, I'm curious to know if anyone out there knows where I might be able to get burr-style rivets that aren't made of copper. Steel would be great, aluminum or nickel-plated works fine, too. It just seems to me that the burr-style rivets are sturdier than those rapid rivets that I have, seeing as they are solid. I'm planning on making more belts, and I would like to use the sturdiest rivets I can, but I don't like the color of copper/brass for what I have in my mind. If I can't find what I'm looking for in burr-style rivets, I suppose I can go ahead and use the rapid rivets, though . Thanks in advance for your help! ~Noah

Very nice! I'd definitely like to know how you made the liner as well

Well, I am certainly no expert at anything leather related, but I made a sheath for a knife I made and I hardened it by soaking it in a bowl of hot water from the sink (I let it run hot until it started to steam) until bubbles stopped coming out, then I did my molding. It's a pretty stiff piece of leather now

Thanks Timbo. This horsehide is hard-rolled, so maybe that made it a bit tougher to burnish? Then again, I may very well just suck at burnishing . I tried dampening it and rubbing it with a scrap of hemp canvas I had, but it just raised a nap along the edge instead of smoothing it. Too dry, maybe?

Hi Indy, Yes, I did use an edger on both sides. I don't have any GT, but it definitely is something to try when I get some. I also don't have a modeling tool--what should it do to a dampened stitching groove? Thanks for the advice!

Thanks! I waxed the edges and burnished them with a cocabolo stick. The leather was tannery-dyed, and when they did that they also sealed the surface--not sure with what, though--and oiled the leather a bit, so I did cheat in that respect. There is a bit of Leather Balm on it, though--it's the only finish I have. I just finished up a key-keeper to go with the belt. It's a surprise for him that he won't know about until I hand him the belt.

Okay, so something functional! I made this for my cousin out of two layers of 5-6oz hard-rolled, tannery-dyed horsehide leather glued together and stitched with hand-waxed hemp thread. It is set to fit a 36" waist, but has a total of 9 size-adjustment holes because it is my hope that it will last through any weight changes my cousin has throughout his life (he's only 20, after all). The buckle is held on with Chicago screws so as to allow it to be removed so my cousin can stick his giant cowboy buckles on it. I don't think I will be making a double-thick belt again for some time, because sewing it by hand was a pain in the ass. The edges were kind of difficult to burnish, too, but I am going to go over them with wax again here in a few minutes just to make sure they stay smooth. Thanks for looking!

Thanks to both of you! I actually did run the grooves off the end of the belt on purpose so that the lines would continue while the belt is being worn. I did originally have the groove wrap around the end but decided I didn't like it

Well, I finally got my hands on some genuine horsehide leather, and I started making a belt for my cousin. This is not that belt . This is a practice belt of sorts, since I have to wait for a buckle and Chicago screws for my cousin's belt. This particular belt is one layer (about 2mm) of oil-tanned horsehide leather that is cut to a little over 1.25" wide and sized for a 34" waist (which I am not, so it doesn't quite fit right for the picture) with 7 holes spaced 3/4" apart. It's not great, and there are plenty of flaws (I'm really not happy with the grooves, and the rivets aren't positioned that well), but I'm still proud of it. I think I'm gonna ship it back to Illinois for my best friend's birthday next week

If I had the means, I definitely would--thanks for the tip! Those are rivets

Thanks! I appreciate the support very much. My next project is a horsehide belt, so we'll see how that goes

This is a wrist cuff for my other brother. Same leather as before--and way too thick for this particular cuff. All sorts of glaring flaws, and it wasn't completely dry when I took these pictures, but oh well: Both cuffs:

I'm about to make a belt for my cousin, and he is a 36, but I had him measure his belt from buckle end to the hole he uses the most and it came up to 38. From what I've read online, the best estimate is to make the belt 2 inches longer than the waist size.

Unless you have a well-ventilated area in which to attempt this, I wouldn't try it. In my adventures into bladesmithing, I learned of a very dangerous, and sometimes deadly condition known as "forge fever". If you heat up stainless/galvanized steel without proper ventilation, the gasses released can induce this illness.

@ Tony: You're quite welcome! I guess I should include the function (or lack thereof) when I post stuff in the future @ ken: Thanks!

It serves no purpose whatsoever, and neither does the metal piece. Consider more of a "punk fashion item" than anything useful . Yes, I could've made (and probably will make, at some point) an arm guard for archery, or a western wrist cuff for shooting, or a bracer for ren faires and LARPs, but this is just something that my brothers will think is cool

Okay, I usually just lurk around forums, although I did post a question here once. In any case, I DO actually do things on occasion, and this is proof. I certainly can't say that it's proof that I'm any good. This is a wrist cuff for one of my two brothers (there will be another cuff sometime soon to make it fair) made of vinegarooned and leather balmed (first time doing that, too) 9-10 oz. crappy leather from a sheath-making kit I got online, some "superior latigo lace" from Tandy, and a coated steel loop I salvaged from a belt. No, I didn't burnish the edges very well, and that was on purpose, but I did make several other mistakes. The funky halo is from the leather bowing in the vinegaroon while I wasn't paying attention, but in the end the color evened out a bit after I leather balmed it and I actually like the halo effect. I put too many holes in for the lace holding the steel loop, but hey, my brother is a professional video gamer, so I'll just call them "airflow features". Those are under the loop, so you can't really see them from straight on. Similarly, I probably could have done with fewer holes to lace the thing up, but it works this way just fine--it just takes a bit longer to lace up. Oh, I didn't stamp enough to cover the entire area inside the loop and my grooves aren't straight! Aaaanyway, I'm babbling again, as I do from time to time, and I appologize. Here are pics: Hopefully those aren't too big, or too many. Thanks for looking! ~Noah

I'm pretty sure you could draw up designs in pretty much any CAD program--it's just finding the right one that's tricky. On a less helpful note, AWESOME! I'm a big Salvatore fan, so to see a set of armor for Drizzt would be really cool. You can get some inspiration my searching DeviantArt in the Artisan Crafts section for "drow armor" I believe. This should be awesome ~Noah

Thank you for the help and suggestions, there have been a few recommendations that I hadn't thought of, and I definitely appreciate that. I had never thought of using cast polyurethane to simulate tooling on a kydex sheath--that may definitely be something to look into! I also believe someone mentioned artificial skin generation, which is something that I had read about before, but never applied to leather, and it would definitely be a cool thing to utilize! The use of green wood to take stamps had crossed my mind (I've accidentally "stamped" green wood before when I was a kid hitting things with a stick ) but I wasn't sure how well it would work, or if it would damage the wood to the point where it would not hold up, though I do know that you can carve and burn designs into wood, which could be another alternative. In regards to taking up silversmithing, I certainly will not say that I would never try it. Kangaroo leather was mentioned, and it got me thinking that there may be leather out there from animals that were most definitely not kept in bad conditions, killed for meat, etc. A horse, for instance, is more of a competition/companion animal, not a food source, so leather from a horse would most likely come from an animal that had died of natural causes or had been humanely put down, I assume, so is there horse leather out there that is obtainable and useable? I'm sure there are other animals that may also apply, I just can't think of them at the moment. Thanks!

Well, all I can really do at this point in the thread is sigh. I am a newbie to the world of leatherworking, and newer still to this forum, but I came here with an honest question and in return I am getting ridicule, criticism, and advice to break up with my girlfriend. I certainly did not ask this question to spark rants about how stupid people think vegans, vegetarians, and PETA may be, but that's all that I really see in two pages of posts. A few of you did sincerely try to answer my question, and I truly appreciate your help. I can say that I will continue to come to this site to see the beautiful craftsmanship, and to read up on leatherworking techniques and processes, but I can't say that this experience makes me all that willing to participate here. Apparently if I do ask any questions, I need to limit them so as to not include any background information, or any explanation as to why I am asking. I know that this is the Internet, and it can be a rough place--and judging by what I have seen, for this post alone I will be flamed, as it must be further evidence that I need to "grow a sack"--but I did honestly expect more from a forum of craftsmen and women. Thank you again, to those of you who did try to help.

No, she doesn't use eye drops, and yes, she does know that many things, even things like toothpaste and chewing gum have animal byproducts in them. As I mentioned earlier, there are some things that she is aware she must live with because we can't afford (or they haven't yet developed) alternatives. I must say, though, that we are somewhat deviating from the question--and I don't mean to be rude by saying so. I was not attempting to start a discussion on morals, beliefs, diets, or right and wrong, but simply attempting to find out of this is something that is possible to find or have made. Glad to see that everyone is having quite the field day with it though