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How much larger that the width of the strap should the rings be?

I decided it would be a good idea to make my daughter a belt for christmas. This is the final product, any advice on how to bring out the tooling better would be greatly appreciated. after the belt I caught the bug and purchased some leather. my next projects were sheaths for some knives and an axe, and a holster. I will post pictures of the other projects soon. Please give any advice on how to make my work look more finished.

So well, I guess there is no need for two threads, so I´ll reduce it to one I had a work mate some time ago I came along with really nice and who teached me a lot for my daily job. So as we are both craftsmen and therefore like well (hand)made stuff I decided to make him a belt which turned out to be the best I made yet. For those of you who mention the different colour of the edge all along and the edge where the keeper sits (might be hard to see on the pictures... didn´t do a nice job on the pciture stuff this time): I started with the buckle using edge kote. But after that I visited my father who owns one of my belts and recognized, that the edge of hos belt - which I finished with some edge kote, too - was just fuzzy all along.... so I cried a little for help here, got some fingers pointed again on the thread "how to finish edges" and did it (nearly) as descriebed there... finally I got a nice (even nicer!) edge the with edge kote which hopefully should hold up much longer, as the only substance sitting on top is a really thin coat of Tan Kote finished with some parraffin. Thanks for that already guys! Acutally I never saw him since I gave it to him, but he was full of joy, so I assume the hours put into this piece were worth it. The belt itself is some 3,5mm belt croupon lined with some 0,8mm ... neck (I guess... ordered that seperately), hand dyed as always and handstitched with 8 SPI all around. The bucke is made of solid brass and the width is just about 38mm. As this is the second lined belt I made, I tried out some things like skiving the loop where the buckle sits down to the lining plus tapering the tip of the belt for a better sliding into the belt keeper. work worked just fine. The second piece is a sheath for a... "fancy" knife of a customer. He just wanted a simple sheath but made a lot more sturdier than his last one where the knife is hold by friction at least a little as is came out sometime before... The sheath is dyed with a light brown. After that I applied one coat of oil, let it dry and applied some heavy coat of my leatherbalm. The plan was to fit the handle colour of the knife which turned out quite good. I guess those are the moments where it´s good to know how the individual hide darkens when you use your "stuff (the balm) on it!! So always do a sample guys.... really! I guess If I didn´t know and wanted to be it light brown I´d have stuck in this head->table->head->table motion.... XD So here you see the difference between the old one the ne sheath As the blade got a little curve near the tip, it even cut a little hole into the old sheat... that was made poor and a little tight, so everytime the customer pushed the knif back into the sheath he unwillingly forced the tip into the leather.... poor little thing ^^

So I thought I'd take the opportunity... I'm brand new to this, decided to make my own belt after drunkenly leaving my old one in a hotel room. Here is my first go around. Used a pre-dyed, semi-pre-punched belt blank and some hardware from Springfield Leather. Used an exacto knife to bevel the edges and (I think) quite a bit too much resolene/water 50/50. Version 2.0. Used just a pre-dyed strap this time, a template I designed on some CAD software to layout all the holes and slot, a proper edge beveler, and just one quick light coat of 100% Resolene. Feel like I'm on the right track. My question though is the final sealant. Resolene seems like it's letting nothing through, but do I really need that much of a seal? I'm feeling like it gives too much of a shiny plasticy look to the leather. I need some opinions on whether Acrylic Leather Sheen from Fiebings would give me a less shiny look, but still keep the dye in and water out?

My daughter asked if I could make her a belt, so to the leather store we went. Would you expect anything less as I said she could pick anything she wanted:) I was not expecting it to be $80-100 to make a belt(that was elite pricing). Used light weight saddle skirting(12-13oz) with deertan cowhide lining, nice substantial belt. Been a little while since I posted anything….. What do y'all think????? Allan

Hi everyone, I come from Taiwan. This is my weaving Belt

Hello everyone! I'm still fairly new to the forum and I am enjoying seeing what everyone else is working on, or has done in the past. At the moment I am working on a commission from an old Air Force buddy of mine, a Celtic knotwork belt with a dragon head at the ends of the two knots. This is really version "2.0" of this belt as the first one I made was much simpler and not nearly as nice of a finished product. The first belt had the same knotwork design, minus the dragon heads, the edges were never burnished, and I used Ecoflow Kova Colors instead of dye or stain. Over the years the Kova Colors have cracked a bit, the rough edges of the belt have frayed, and overall I am not satisfied with how it has held up. Thankfully my friend who I made it for still loves it. This time around I am going to burnish the edges of the belt, I added the dragon heads to the design, and I am coloring it using Ecoflow Water Stain. From my research, the Ecoflow Water Stain is a quality product that will last through the wear and tear of regular usage. Also, the additions to the knotwork design, though a pain to draw up at first, were actually very easy to tool in and the look is a hundred times better in my opinion. The first photo is of the original belt that I made, while the others are of the current belt project, the "2.0 version".

Hi, I'm hoping somebody here could answer some of my questions. I'm interested in learning how to work leather and making belts but I'm not sure what leather to buy. I know it should be in the neighbourhood of 8-10 oz (for belts) but I'm not sure what cut I should buy (double shoulder?). If somebody could recommend a cut that would be great. I'm probably going to buy from tandy this time and I would prefer un-dyed. I'm also wondering how belts (1.5") I can expect to cut from the piece I buy. Thanks!

Album here - http://imgur.com/a/2FUDZ#0 This was my first attempt at making belts. I've been doing this as a hobby for about 8 months now. My stamping got off a bit with his name, but other than that I'm pretty happy. My wife asked me to make the fashion belt for her. It proved to be a challenge with the petal layout because my rivets were only long enough to go through the belt and one layer of petals, not two petals.

Hei! Here are some leather goods from Estonia. I've done this for about a month and fell in love with the craft. I used some traditional baltic patterns and some of my own ideas. Critique would be wery welcome!

Hello all! Been working away at home, just thought I'd post some work I've done for friends and family ordered for Christmas. Comments, critiques and advice are welcom. My Grandmother asked me to make a belt for her husband, and gave no further instruction, other than it had to be no wider than an inch and a quarter. I'm still new to leatherwork so I decided to go for a plain finish of nothing but neatsfoot oil. Don't know how it will hold up, if anything goes wrong I'll just have another project on my hands. : ) This is a closeup of *ahem* a tractor, with a little bit of doodly stuff behind it. The rest has a basketweave pattern and his initials, HM are at the tip. I finished the edge with gum trag. This one is for a friends' brother. I treated it with vinegaroon and after the rinse cycle, tooled it the next day. Does anyone have advice for tooling/vinegaroon? I thought about tooling first and rooning later, but I can't see how soaking tooled leather would be a good idea. I just find that the leather is a little more difficult to tool than normal after the vinegaroon process. He wanted an arrowhead pattern with his brother's name centered on the back. I finished this one with neatsfoot as well. I read hidepounder's PDF(thanks for that!) on finishing edges and tried to adhere to his method as best I could with what I had. As I said I appreciate all comments and advice! God bless, and have a Merry Christmas!

I was asked to make a couple belts but have never made belts before. the sizes i was asked for are 34 and 48, what are the actual lengths of the belts from buckle to end?

I'm new here since August. This is a belt I made for my wife.

Finished up a few items. Finally getting time to post.

Hi folks, I'm totally new to leather working and so I'm going to appologize for the newbie questions, I did do some searching and have watched vids but I still have some questions. I'm looking to make dress belts in various colours, the type that would be worn with a suit or slacks as opposed to casual. We won't be doing any tooling on them, they'll be quite simple. I picked up some of the Pro Waterstain from Tandy, is this a good choice? So questions: Prefered dyes? I've got some pro waterstain from Tandy, is that reasonable to use? How long between coats? How many coats? Finishing, I see that a resolene/water 50/50 mix seems preferred for a decent shine but I also hear that people are buffing the belts prior to the resolene and between coats. What do you use to buff for those stages? I should probably also mention that I've got the belt blanks from Tandy. Any assistance on creating nice dress belts would be very appreciated. Stu

Just finished two simple dress pant belts. both are 1-1/8" wide. Brass hardware. No dyes are used on both belts, just oils. Saddle stitched the keepers. Kept the holes 1" apart with 9 holes total (middle hole is customers size). Let me know what you think

Ok, so I made a belt for my son that turned out pretty good, a few mistakes were made here and there and I plan on making belts for the entire family. I am want to make more complicated belts and when I get to my Wife's and mine, I want them to be really nice. She wants a pretty plain belt, but I want to at least line it for her. I want a belt that is inlaid/overlaid (not sure which is the correct definition, lined and tooled, a real BBQ piece. I am not sure how to do any of this, but wanted to start getting the ideas and have a reference a good while before beginning.

So my dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday and my answer was a side of tooling leather….. The result was a side of light weight saddle skirting(13oz). I told him I would make him a belt with it and he could have anything he wanted, it started simple but then I gave him some options. He collected coins and these conchos were similar to some he collected years back. This belt was not as blingy as my daughters but it ended up with more tooling than hers. Here is the result…...

Hi all, I'm new to leather work. I like to shoot and wanted to start making concealed carry belts for lighter poly pistols. This is my fourth belt. All hand done. I've been pretty much following a process I found on this site. It's a 1-1/2" belt with a nickle plated solid brass buckle. The outer layer is an 8-9 oz I cut from a Tandy Oak-Leaf side they had on sale (trying to learn the whole process). The liner is a 4-5 oz I cut from a Tandy craftsman side. The outer layer is dyed with Angelus black. It's hand stitched (saddle stitch) using a 4 cord waxed linen thread from Hobby Lobby. I trimmed, punched and stitch punched the outer layer (diamond punch), then dyed it. Then I glued the layers together with contact cement. I trimmed the liner layer and sanded the edges. Then I punched the liner layer. Stitched the belt and burnished the edges. Finished with 50/50 Mop and Glo. Here's the photo. I'm mostly satisfied with the belt. The two areas I'm not so thrilled with are how the stitching looks on the inside of the belt. It's too wavy. Also not thrilled with unevenness of the burnishing that you can see on the liner side. Haven't figured those out yet. Appreciate feedback on improving the craftsmanship and apologies on the quality from "guess and shoot" camera.

Saw this style in another thread and decided to try my hand at it. Made from 7-8oz veg tanned and lined with glazed pig skin. All hand sewn and I am really glad I didn't make it big enough to fit me lol

I spent about a week on this project for a friend at work, my first attempt at tooling. I tried to make the pictures look professional, but I'm no photographer. I'll gladly take criticism on this, I know I really need help with the tooling. And practice!

Hi guys. I'm refurbishing a Manufacturers Supplies Co. "Combination Skiver" probably from the early 60s. I think it's a knockoff of a Fortuna bell knife machine, or even a rebadged Fortuna. I say that because it doesn't match any of Manufacturers Supplies Co.'s patents, and they have a few for different machines. I need the main head unit belt (not the 3 phase clutch motor drive belt) and serpentine belt dimensions. The owners manual only includes part numbers. After 4 calls with promises of follow up, Manufacturers Supply Co. (still in business in St. Louis) does not appear interested in either selling the parts or telling me their dimensions. I can't fault them for not stocking $10 parts for a 50 year old machine. So — I'd greatly appreciate it if anyone who has one of these or a similar Fortuna give me the dimensions of these belts so I can possibly avoid having to order 10 parts from McMaster to find the correct size. Thanks in advance.

Hi guys and gals, So I found that I needed a new belt (finally) after using basically the same one for like 10 years (department store bought). After this time the old one has lost a lost of its shape and has been bent to hell. I feel like its been a while since I've made something for myself...so I'm pretty pumped! So for my new one I decided to double up some 5/6 oz hermann oak. The belt is 1 1/4 inches wide. I stitched all along the laminated two pieces of leather. For the buckle and keep I skived the bottom down thin and riveted it all together. I did not skive where the buckle tongue comes through because I wanted maximum strength. Thanks for checking it out! -- Joe

Just finished this for a fireman friend

A couple of months ago I was contacted via Facebook by a Veteran that does metal, wood, plastic engraving. He asked if I'd be interested in trading work for work. He wanted a custom belt made and since I have been trying to figure out what I wanted for a business sign, I jumped at the opportunity. The belt is what I made him per his request. and the other photo is him holding my sign that he made. I gave him a couple of photos and what I wanted written on the sign and just gave him full rein. I'm happy with this trade. If any of you need signs, pictures, or anything like that done, PM me and I'll give you his contact info. Frank