Beginner Belt Tooling

[cudofcow]

I joined the SCA about a year ago and slowly have lost my interest, however i've retained my interest in leatherworking. I have made a whole bunch of crude leather belts with the leather i have and my limited supply of tools, however i'd really like to get into more detailed leather tooling. I purchased the No.42 Belts Galore by Andy Stohlman book and its got a ton of really great ideas but i'm not so sure what types of stamps should i get to start. Should i troll ebay and look for a kit? buy a bunch of tools i may or may not use? I'm not sure where to start.

[Chief31794]

I would recommend you get a couple of necessary tools for belt making and then buy what you need as you need it.

At a minimum, I would suggest you buy good quality tools of the following:

No. 3 Edge Beveler

Snap Setter Set

Safety Beveler (actually a skiver, If you're going to make your own blanks, which I recommend, belt blanks already made up are iffy at best, snaps fail, crooked, etc.)

Good Metal ruler with a cork back

1-1/2" Strap End Punch (Other sizes if you make different size belts, 1-1/2 is the standard Jeans Belt size.)

Granite or Marble Slab (Probably do with a 12"X12"

Poundo Board to match the Slab to go underneath of it.

Punching Board (Poly unless you want to spend some real money for the clicker type)

Scratch Awl for marking hole locations

Tape Measure to measure Belt Length.

Strap Cutter (If you are going to make your own straps, you can buy straps already cut to 1-1/2 or whatever size, they work ok)

Edge Slicker

Mini Punch set from 00 - 1/4" or so. They can be used to make the holes for the snaps or chicago screws and also the belt holes

Then decide what type of designs you want to make and buy the stamps you need to do that, don't buy anything unless you need it.

Hope this helps, I've probably forgotten a few things but this is a good start to Belt Making.

Chief