Tooling a Belt for a Fat Guy

[Brokenolmarine]

3 hours ago, Hildebrand said:

When you copy it use a clear overhead transparency then you don’t have to trace it again, just straight onto the leather

THIS is a great idea, but my copier is OLD and needs to be disassembled and cleaned internally.  It leaves spotches and smears on the copies and scans, something somewhere internally.  So, I just ignore them when I trace.  I guess I could buy another package of transparency film.  I had a box at one point when I was teaching in the academy, but once I quit Miss Tina started using them all the time for our overhead projector to paint things on the walls.  NO more left and she gave the overhead to the daughter. LOL.

[Brokenolmarine]

Out this morning to check the look of the belt parts now that the oil had dried.  I am very happy with the color.

So, first step was to mark and cut out the oval holes in the billet that would accept the buckle.  I used the correct size bit to drill a hole in each end of the ovals and cut along the sides with a scapel to connect the two holes.  Once that was done I was ready to burnish.  I used a thin burnishing wheel in the drill press.  A wise lesson learned was that FRICTION not pressure is the key here.  Pressure will deform the pieces and friction generates the heat you need.  Allow the time and the light pressure will cause the friction to generate the heat, without deforming the pieces.  I took my time, and knocked out all the pieces.

Then it was time to form the belt loops.  I drilled a pair of pilot holes in both ends of each loop, then sized them with the sewing awl.  I waxed the thread, taped the mock ups from scrap leather for the wet forming and got busy.  After careful sewing with a curved needle, I was ready to wet form them around the mockups and burnish them square.

[Brokenolmarine]

We'll be ready to start assembly soon, sewing on the billets.  But, how about a mini-tour of the leather work station?  Start here, at the tooling bench.  I started with just the tool block at the back of the table, to keep the punches organized, then added the shelving to keep the tools out of drawers and more at hand.  Oh, yeah.  There are still things in the drawers, but most things are at hand.  (Yes, I know I need to refill the paper towels, I just ran out.) 

If we back up a bit, you'll be able to see my cutting / work table.  That is beside the tooling bench, and I try and keep it as clear as I can.  It's nice to have it there, as I can roll back and forth between stations.  Very handy on projects like holsters and sheaths when you need to trim or add pieces.

If I am not on this side of the four bench set up.  I'm usually on the knife side.  

 

[dikman]

If you wear suspenders why not make a pair of tooled leather suspenders? A little more complex than making a belt, maybe, but should look pretty cool.

[AlZilla]

I don't know how you neat, organized guys get anything done at all. I mean, is the job really done, if you haven't devoted at least 20% of your time to finding the tools you needed?

I think not ...

[Brokenolmarine]

1 hour ago, dikman said:

If you wear suspenders why not make a pair of tooled leather suspenders? A little more complex than making a belt, maybe, but should look pretty cool.

I'm going to make suspenders to match / mate with the belt.  

I need the belt to hang "Stuff" on.

 

[Brokenolmarine]

I was anxious when I got out to the shop today to see how the loops turned out.  My wet forming worked perfectly, nice and squared corners and they fit perfectly on the actual application.  I was pleased.

So, in preparation for assembly, I antiqued all the pieces.  While the antiquing set up, I consolidated the two tubs of Dark Brown into one.  Glad I wore gloves, messy job.  I antiqued the pieces in Medium Brown.  I need to order more medium.  Once the antique paste had a chance to set, I wiped away the excess with a dry cloth, then did some detail wiping with a dampened cloth until I was happy with the result.

Once that was done, I laid out the stitch lines for the buckle billet and drilled those holes on the bench top drill press.  I set that aside.

 

[Brokenolmarine]

Before sewing on the buckle billet, I needed to sew on the belt loop for the belt itself.  I drilled the holes in the loop, then matching holes in the belt.

I sewed the loop on with a couple heavy stitches in each end, and tied them off.  It's going nowhere.

[Brokenolmarine]

A couple tricks I used for hand sewing the buckle assembly on.  First, after the holes were drilled, I know the holes are hard to see on the back side of the leather.  I take a sharpened pencil and use the point to twist in each hole on front and back.  It dimples the hole IN so they aren't pushing out, and on the back side the pencil leaves a graphite outline on the edge of the holes making them easier to see.  Way back when I had a very hard time finding them sometimes.  NO longer.

Another trick is Positioning pins.

These can be used to hold the various pieces tight together until you can get the sewing done.  As you sew, and you approach a pin, you just remove it.

[Brokenolmarine]

I got the buckle sewn on and it looks pretty good.

I repeated the process for the opposite end, though I was able to cheat a bit and use contact cement to attach the short end of the billet where I would be sewing.  I didn't have to worry that I might need to remove this portion, no buckles to change out.  Once it was sewn on, the belt was basically completed, and it fit.

A long view showing the detail the antiquing brought out.

The belt is basically done, I just need to add a coat of finish and a couple coats of wax.  Then done.

 

[DieselTech]

59 minutes ago, Brokenolmarine said:

I got the buckle sewn on and it looks pretty good.

I repeated the process for the opposite end, though I was able to cheat a bit and use contact cement to attach the short end of the billet where I would be sewing.  I didn't have to worry that I might need to remove this portion, no buckles to change out.  Once it was sewn on, the belt was basically completed, and it fit.

A long view showing the detail the antiquing brought out.

The belt is basically done, I just need to add a coat of finish and a couple coats of wax.  Then done.

 

Nice work. Looks awesome. Can't wait to see the matching suspenders.

[Brokenolmarine]

Placed the order for the finish I need from Tandy, as well as two new bevels for the edges of the next belt... and the new tub of Antiquing.  Almost out of medium brown.  Once the Resolene comes in I can put the finish on and the the coats of wax.