New style of belt buckle

[Tigweldor]

Yup - I do have a patent on these.

While they do incorporate a pin to affix the belt, the pin is inside the buckle and will NOT punch holes in your favorite T-shirt as we  all may have experienced with the type of hook buckle with the hook facing your belly.

The belt is sandwiched by/inside the buckle, which is made from rust free chrome steel.

The cover plate is held closed by ball snaps - have worn the prototype for nigh on 15 years now - with no sign of spring fatigue or dropping my pants cause the buckle opened unwanted.

All belts come with a stainless steel D-ring - so you can hook your key carabiner on the D-ring and not on a cloth belt loop.

I am the only one making this type of buckle - world wide.

But I am a craftsman and a lousy seller - so far they have sold solely by word of mouth - which actually turned into a chain reaction.

 

I do not want to sell through Etsy or Hood or Amazon or Ebay - then the item is no longer exclusive.

I do have an abundant stock pile of nigh on 1000 buckles.

Oh yeah - sale price is 35€ per buckle - 70€ for a complete belt made from 6mm thickness leather.

I do need your "circumference" so the belt will sit centered with holes to spare on both sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Monday at 02:11 PM by Tigweldor

[chuck123wapati]

That is a really cool buckle, those would be awesome for engravers there is a lot of good space.  

[Tigweldor]

They are made from chrome steel - that is awful and unthankful hard stuff to engrave.

I am experimenting with lasering - allthough a budget friendly CO2 laser will not really work on shiny metal - you need a fibre laser for that (= mucho dinero) - alternative is a black laser engraving paint that washes off with plain water - not cheap either.

Like I said - I´m still in the experimental stage on that.

But once ready, a customer can send me his design as a file and get whatever motive wanted lasered onto the buckle.

Once set up, a custom laser engraving can be done for around 10 to 15 bucks.

I will update as soon as I am sure it works out properly.

 

But since I make my main income as a self employed weldor - I do not have to sell at any price (which Amazon will dictate) to pay my rent, put food on the table or enjoy my other hobbies and life in general.

Edited Monday at 02:38 PM by Tigweldor

[chuck123wapati]

12 minutes ago, Tigweldor said:

They are made from chrome steel - that is awful and unthankful hard stuff to engrave.

I am experimenting with lasering - allthough a budget friendly CO2 laser will not really work on shiny metal - you need a fibre laser for that (= mucho dinero) - alternative is a black laser engraving paint that washes off with plain water - not cheap either.

Like I said - I´m still in the experimental stage on that.

But once ready, a customer can send me his design as a file and get whatever motive wanted lasered onto the buckle.

Once set up, a custom laser engraving can be done for around 10 to 15 bucks.

I will update as soon as I am sure it works out properly.

Oh then check out etching for steel it's easy to do. The pics make them look like brass. I've never considered a laser image any form of self-expression now if you just want money then it may fit your needs.

[Tigweldor]

I have tried just about everything with etching - very poor results and very very poor detail.

And I spent weeks and weeks going through all sorts of forums on metal etching.

Plus you have to make a template when etching - very time consuming.

That I can leave to the customer - my time is too scarce for that - on top, I know/have seen the poor results - no use wasting more time on that - take my word for it.

Been there, tried it and dismissed that idea after many unsuccessful attempts.

Edited Monday at 02:47 PM by Tigweldor

[chuck123wapati]

10 minutes ago, Tigweldor said:

I have tried just about everything with etching - very poor results and very very poor detail.

And I spent weeks and weeks going through all sorts of forums on metal etching.

Plus you have to make a template when etching - very time consuming.

That I can leave to the customer - my time is too scarce for that - on top, I know/have seen the poor results - no use wasting more time on that - take my word for it.

Been there, tried it and dismissed that idea after many unsuccessful attempts.

I've done a bit of etching myself. That's too bad though it leaves out a lot of potential for those buckles if you can't do it no one can. I would consider a different material for the construction as chrome steel is way overkill for a buckle and leaves out a vast number of sales options. Good luck to you in your endeavor you have a good product!!! 

[Tigweldor]

Thank you.

I must admit though - I am not an engraver.

The stuff drills pretty easy - so with a carbide tipped engraving chisel/tool, a body could probably achieve good results.

But I am vintage 1962 - so I´m gonna stick to what I know / can do properly with good results.

But since the material is magnetic - I have pondered upon the idea of magnetic foil - which could then change the item into a "many faced" buckle - simply change the foil and have a different buckle look/design.

[Dwight]

I don't have one any more . . . sold it long ago . . . but if you really wanted to do custom engraving . . . it is really a simple process.

First you make a copy of the item to be engraved . . . in some detail . . . and make it rather large . . . put it on a computer program that will print it out on paper . . . in a very large format . . . filling an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper.

Glue that to a piece of 1/4 inch plywood . . . and here is where the person comes in who is very talented.  Non talented people will dismiss this . . . as will lazy people. 

Using a router with a very fine tipped blade . . . engrave the image . . . by hand . . .  1/16 inch deep into the plywood.

You then take that image in the plywood . . . and using a pantograph router . . . set for 2:1 scale . . . re cut it into another piece of plywood.  This will produce an image that is 4 1/4 inch by 5 1/2 inch . . . 

Using that 4 1/4 inch by 5 1/2 inch . . . you then use your pantograph router again . . . and this new smaller image . . . put a diamond bit in it . . . and engrave the buckle.  The maximum size for that buckle engraved image will be 2 1/8 by 2 3/4 inches.

Making the first image . . . being very talented . . . and willing to take your time . . . you produce an image that has flaws in it . . . for sure . . . but the talented part will not let many flaws erupt on the plywood.

The second image reduces those flaws to not being readily seen . . . and the final engraved image is almost always very good looking.

The first ten or so you do will take some time . . . but it usually isn't long before you get the hang of it . . . and it becomes old hat.  Plus you can take the old ones you have already used . . . flip them over . . . and use the back side if you only engraved 1/16 of an inch down the first time.

May God bless,

Dwight

PS:  You may be able to substitute a carbide tipped router bit for the diamond bit . . . you would just have to experiment.

 

Edited Monday at 03:28 PM by Dwight

[Tigweldor]

In ten years I will be 72 years old - Nah - I will leave the engraving part to others.

Now, if I were about 30 years younger - I might give it a try.

But like I said - I make my living elsewhere.

This is just a side line - a lucrative hobby - for now.

I have managed to keep debt free all of my life - no use changing that at this stage/at my age.

Besides - I have been a Harley ridin´biker since I was 16, with the odd Norton fitted in between- done my club time and exited in good standing years ago. That was back in the days when riders still knew how to wrench their own scoot - shit, you wouldn´t have gotten past hangaround if you couldn´t perform that task. Nowadays the scene has changed completely.

Miles on the road though is what I still love and need.

20 belts and buckles tagged along take up very little room and have paid for many a vacation and quite a few brews to boot.

Actually, bars and club houses are a very good place to meet potential customers for my merchandise.

Edited Monday at 03:39 PM by Tigweldor

[badhatter1005]

I like the way this looks. Would you be willing to upload a picture of how it attaches to a belt strap? I do not have an engineering mind unfortunately so I'm having trouble seeing how this would work. Thank you in advance.

[chuck123wapati]

2 hours ago, Tigweldor said:

In ten years I will be 72 years old - Nah - I will leave the engraving part to others.

Now, if I were about 30 years younger - I might give it a try.

But like I said - I make my living elsewhere.

This is just a side line - a lucrative hobby - for now.

I have managed to keep debt free all of my life - no use changing that at this stage/at my age.

Besides - I have been a Harley ridin´biker since I was 16, with the odd Norton fitted in between- done my club time and exited in good standing years ago. That was back in the days when riders still knew how to wrench their own scoot - shit, you wouldn´t have gotten past hangaround if you couldn´t perform that task. Nowadays the scene has changed completely.

Miles on the road though is what I still love and need.

20 belts and buckles tagged along take up very little room and have paid for many a vacation and quite a few brews to boot.

Actually, bars and club houses are a very good place to meet potential customers for my merchandise.

 Rock on man !! I'm 66 and know exactly where your head is at. I don't ride bikes anymore but no one has ever wrenched on my shit.

[Doc Reaper]

Show me how it works with a leather belt, having vision of a belt tip

[Tigweldor]

Your wish shall be my command - cause that is an easy chore.

The first 2 pics are from the belt going through the buckle

The 3rd pic is from the backside of the belt

The 4th pic is the welded stainless D-ring for the carabiner with your keys - beats hanging the carabiner from a fabric belt loop any day

The 5th pic are my traveling tools - I custom fit all of my belts to their new owner - since I travel a lot on my trusty old Shovel, I cant´t tug along a rivet press - so I mount the buckle to the belt with round headed stainless Allen screws, and I think in the States their called Chicago Screws (which are actually nuts) and a drop of Loctite.

The last pic is my suede buckle "mag" - so the customer can choose the buckle he/she likes best - as I have them in different finishes - plain, polished or brushed.

 

The buckle in the pic has seen 15 years of use - EVERY day and at work as well - as I do not walk/wear commercials for other peoples buckles

Edited Monday at 11:11 PM by Tigweldor

[Tigweldor]

By the way : I dye my belts with an airbrush - and only on the outside of the belt.

That is very important.

Experience has shown that if I dye the belt on the inside facing the pants as well (which would be simple : throw them in a tub and let drip dry over that) - the dye will rub of and stain the pants - that makes for unhappy customers.

And here it doesn´t matter which dye you use (alcohol base/water base) and what you seal them with after - eventually they will all stain the pants - I am very particular about not having that happen - word of mouth travels bad news faster than you think - and up to now ALL my customers were happy - I sure do intend to keep it that way.

I do not use very expensive airbrushes - a simple Badger is my main go to airbrush for small work - the Paasche can be fitted with a bigger jar - I like them both.

They are both single action - you just can´t get large enough jars for most double action brushes - I do have a few of them as well - but again - I´m not a painter or a paint artist - I just want to dye my belts - plain and simple as that.

I use the Paasche when I have numerous belts to be dyed the same colour - but I try to avoid that and change colour by adding drops of darker dye as I go along - so no 2 belts are exactly the same colour.

Some say to wet the belt to get better dye penetration - I myself have not found much of a difference whether the leather is dry or wet. I have yet to try a simple vacuum chamber - I have the pump and will experiment this summer on my porch with that. So : dye some belts - put them in the vacuum chamber - take them out after a few minutes and apply another coat. I will report on that endeavour.

 

Some good homemade airbrush holders with a heavy steel base are a must and save a lot of cussing - and cost nearly nothing to make.

 

I have tried the sponge/rag technique - but that wastes a lot of dye - which is not cheap stuff to obtain, if you buy quality dye. I mostly use Fiebings Pro dye - but have tried others. Since Fiebings has to be imported from the US - it is not cheap stuff over here - and price will go up with this absurd tariff thing - what a PITA.

 

All spoken here is just my own opinion through my own experience - your mileage may differ - so do like/as you think is best for you.

 

My philosophy is pretty simple : You don´t like my product - well - go buy something somewhere else. My life does not depend on that, so I don´t really give a hoot.

But - I am the only one making these buckles world wide. Period.     I have no competition in my little niche. That is not arrogance - that´s just the way it is.

 

Greetings

Hans

Edited yesterday at 01:07 AM by Tigweldor

[Dwight]

But you do have to remember that your German patent is not good in the US . . . so the first customer who wants in on the action . . . may just jump on it . . . 

Things of this nature . . . even when they are patented . . . are always subject to "copy" so to speak.

Not pushing the sales opens the door for another enterprising individual.

May God bless,

Dwight

[SUP]

An interesting practical pattern for a buckle. 

You should file an International patent Application.  It allows you to get protection in multiple countries. Putting it up here, people might already be in the process of copying it. So I would suggest that you hurry up on the application.

Things like this are rare and there are, unfortunately, plenty of crooks out there looking for such things. Try to determine how LOXX managed to prevent people copying their design - although something similar is available now on Temu, I believe. I've not seen it though. That is the risk. 

Edited 20 hours ago by SUP

[Dwight]

4 hours ago, SUP said:

An interesting practical pattern for a buckle. 

You should file an International patent Application.  It allows you to get protection in multiple countries. Putting it up here, people might already be in the process of copying it. So I would suggest that you hurry up on the application.

Things like this are rare and there are, unfortunately, plenty of crooks out there looking for such things. Try to determine how LOXX managed to prevent people copying their design - although something similar is available now on Temu, I believe. I've not seen it though. That is the risk. 

Unless he's selling a couple hundred a day . . . he'll never pay for a full international patent . . . they're scary expensive

May God bless,

Dwight

[badhatter1005]

Thank you for following up with the photos of the buckle in action. Makes perfect sense now. Great job.

[SUP]

1 hour ago, Dwight said:

Unless he's selling a couple hundred a day . . . he'll never pay for a full international patent . . . they're scary expensive

I guess. I know they exist. Never had to get one so no clue about pricing. 

[Tigweldor]

Dwight is right on the spot.

An international patent costs a small fortune.

I would have to borrow coin - this would put me into debt and turn me into a slave of some bank or other financial institution.

That would end my free way of life - the pressure of pay back would interact with my choice of how to spend the day - so that is a definite No-Go.

There are over 80 million people here in Germany - around 430 million in Europe - shit, I got more potential customers than I can handle without  needing to "conquer" the US as well. So if there is someone across the pond to want to copy my concept - go ahead and give it a try.

I simply do not care - else I wouldn´t have uploaded this post to start with.

I´m not that stupid - but even more important - I am not greedy.  While money does make life more comfortable, the one thing it can not buy is happiness.

To tell you the truth, I have been most creative in metal art when I was nigh on broke - still can´t figure that one out.

 

Greetings

Hans

 

By the way : in Canada patent is pending - I do have a long time "bro" over there who will get into the action.

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Tigweldor

[Tigweldor]

I have two other very good creative as well as easy metal projects - but I don´t know where to post them on this here website.

2 items made from stuff, that is in the abundance in the US - but has nothing to do with leather.

[madwilson]

Hi, I read your post with interest, in it you said

I am experimenting with lasering - allthough a budget friendly CO2 laser will not really work on shiny metal - you need a fibre laser for that (= mucho dinero) - alternative is a black laser engraving paint that washes off with plain water - not cheap either.

I Don't have a CO2 laser to try this but have done a little bit of engraving. An alternative to the black laser engraving paint could be a dark colour nail polish which washes off with acetone when you are finished. Would be interested to see how that works

Cheers Mark

[Tigweldor]

I have a bud across town who owns a fiber laser - but he is more into sinker EDM machining and has his order books full - so his time is scarce.

 I´m just in the process of building a quick release fixture to hold the buckles, so every one of them is in the same spot under the laser.

Then I have to get familiar with the laser´s programming.

That is actually not my world - I come from an era when phones still had a dial and the receiver was connected to the phone with a cord.

Never got into computers till late Win XP - when I have troubles with my I-phone, I call my daughter for help or go on a search on YouTube.

I can tear apart most sewing machines and put them back together so they work again much easier than operating/writing computer programs - so I have a steep learning curve ahead of me.

I actually don´t even know if I really want to do all that stuff - there is a legal gray zone here.

How do I know that the customers design does not infringe a copy right of somebody else ?

I will be the one who put it into metal - so one of my legs is just about in jail while doing so.

Any Joe out for a quick buck could set a trap - let me produce/laser "his" design and then have his buddy sue me for copy right infringement - you can´t make coin easier than that.

Will have to talk to someone with more legal skills than I possess on what the consequences could be or whether a written statement that the design is the customer´s own is enough.

 

Greetings

Hans

Edited 7 hours ago by Tigweldor