Apocalyptic Survivor Belt

[NoahL]

Hello Everyone,

I just finished this Apocalyptic Survivor (AS) belt for a bladesmith out in Virginia who requested a belt like the choker I made a little while back. The belt is made of some very nice 7-9oz horsehide leather from Milton Sokol, and I used Fiebings Medium Brown and Eco-Flo Black for the coloring, and Leather Balm w/ Atom Wax for the finish. The bladesmith this is for has a tiny waist (29"!), but the belt is still the largest item I have gone through my heavy distressing process with. Overall, I'm very pleased with it, although I do need to take the time to take nicer pictures--these have the sky reflecting off the leather, which gives it that bluish tint.

And here is a little tag for my work. I've decided that my "company name" (such as it is) will be Wasteland Leatherwork (to go with the AS style I've developed). The back of the tag has some information on the item, including who it was made for, just as a little extra personalization:

Thanks for looking!

~Noah

[MHolzer]

I really like the belt. I love the effect the E294 series gives.

[Aulus]

This is a really nice Belt! But I can´t imagine how you did the Buckle setting. The "Flap" must be the flesh side? Is that so? It looks like a Grain Side, that is really cool!

[NoahL]

I really like the belt. I love the effect the E294 series gives

Thanks! I definitely like that series as well, and I can use it at various angles to get the patterns I want, even with the largest stamp, and that's always helpful. Of course, hammering cased leather against a rough floor leaves some interesting impressions as well

This is a really nice Belt! But I can´t imagine how you did the Buckle setting. The "Flap" must be the flesh side? Is that so? It looks like a Grain Side, that is really cool!

Thank you very much! In actuality, the flap is a second piece of leather--having a belt made of two "scrap" pieces (they weren't really scrap, but the idea is for them to look rather like it) goes well with the whole post-apocalyptic theme I'm going for. Here is a picture I took of the belt in-progress for the customer to see, and in it you can sort of see the second piece.

[MADMAX22]

Great looking belt and good concept.

One thing I did notice was that the part that you fold over for the buckle looks like it allmost started cracking. Are you getting that portion pretty wet before you fold it over?

[NoahL]

Great looking belt and good concept.

One thing I did notice was that the part that you fold over for the buckle looks like it allmost started cracking. Are you getting that portion pretty wet before you fold it over?

I did wet it down pretty well--it looks like it is cracking because of the way I dyed it. I wet it and folded it the way it was supposed to go, then after it had dried just a little bit, I bent it back flat and dyed it. The process of bending it back flat left wrinkles and creases that the dye didn't get into (plus some sandpaper was used). Those "cracks" are aesthetic

~Noah

[Aulus]

Thanks Noah for the information! On the first pictures it looks like one pice of leather and I was really cracking my mind how you dit this .

[jeeperaz]

Nice belt. Love the concept.

Did you source the leather locally or did you order direct from M.S.?

Regards from your fellow Phoenician,

Lars

[NoahL]

Nice belt. Love the concept.

Did you source the leather locally or did you order direct from M.S.?

Regards from your fellow Phoenician,

Lars

Thanks Lars! There are quite a few Phoenicians on here--I do have to confess, though, that I'm not from here originally . In any case, I got the leather directly from Milton Sokol, and they got it from Horween's tannery. It's definitely better quality stuff than I've gotten at other suppliers (who shall remain nameless, as they are still good suppliers of other stuff) and cheaper, too. They did some renegotiating with Horween and it seems to have worked out well.

~Noah