Tried my hand at a tooled belt... What do you think?

[YinTx]

As it says, I finally sat down and got over my fear of tooling belts.  It was a whole lot of tracing, cutting, beveling etc etc.  Not sure I enjoyed the process, but I'll have to try it again to make sure.  

I had originally planned to line it and stitch it, but the tooling got a bit close to the edge on the tip, so that got ruled out.

Wickett and Craig leather, Montana Silversmith buckle, all made in USA!  What do you all think?

YinTx

 

[Rohn]

Looks great!

 

[YinTx]

2 minutes ago, Rohn said:

Looks great!

 

Thanks Rohn!  I have a new found appreciation for those that do detailed belts like this!

YinTx

[AwlShucks]

Looks good.

[Rhale]

great work!

[Scoutmom103]

Looks good.  Like the buckle also. 

[maxdaddy]

nice job. I think it looks great... One of your comments make made literally LOL out loud. I'm at the point in my leather craft journey to REALLY need to learn how to tool leather like that. But at the same time, I also REALLY don't think I would enjoy it.   

[Bawarrior]

Very nicely done

[Stetson912]

Cool. DG pattern?

[YinTx]

On 4/20/2020 at 4:58 PM, AwlShucks said:

Looks good.

 

On 4/20/2020 at 5:02 PM, Rhale said:

great work!

Thank you both!

On 4/20/2020 at 6:46 PM, Scoutmom103 said:

Looks good.  Like the buckle also. 

I appreciate that.  I had a buckle I had originally intended to use with it, but then decided I needed to go and find one that matched a bit better.  Montana Silversmith buckles aren't the cheapest, and I may not get my $$ back out of it, but at least it looks the part!

On 4/20/2020 at 11:10 PM, maxdaddy said:

nice job. I think it looks great... One of your comments make made literally LOL out loud. I'm at the point in my leather craft journey to REALLY need to learn how to tool leather like that. But at the same time, I also REALLY don't think I would enjoy it.   

hahah, yes you feel my pain.  When you are done though, it is worth it!  I think the repetition is not for me... although for the right $$ I'd do it again!

On 4/20/2020 at 11:25 PM, Bawarrior said:

Very nicely done

Thanks much!

2 hours ago, Stetson912 said:

Cool. DG pattern?

Thanks, and yes I believe so.

YinTx

[battlemunky]

Good work Yin! I appreciate you leaving it natural as well.

[YinTx]

2 hours ago, battlemunky said:

Good work Yin! I appreciate you leaving it natural as well.

Thanks.  After I oiled it and neat lac'd it, I liked it well enough not to do any antique.  Not very often that happens for me!  Even the background burnished well enough that I didn't feel it really needed dye to make the tooling stand out.

Interestingly, the beauty of the pattern really doesn't show itself until you stand back about 5 feet and realize how striking it really is.  I'll have to see if I can get a photo like that somehow...

YinTx

[CastleLeatherWorks]

very nice job! im not a tooling guy myself but I can appreciate the work.

question though, on a belt like this how many hours would you say you put into it? also how much would you charge a customer for said belt.

[YinTx]

2 minutes ago, CastleLeatherWorks said:

very nice job! im not a tooling guy myself but I can appreciate the work.

question though, on a belt like this how many hours would you say you put into it? also how much would you charge a customer for said belt.

Thank you.  I'm not the fastest tooler there is, or the fastest leatherworker, so my times are probably much slower than most.  I'd say I have 10+ hours into it.  I imagine some can do it in 4 hours or less.  

I saw a gentleman selling some very nicely hand tooled belts at a show recently, lined and stitched, for $150.  A lot of folks felt he was charging way too much for a belt, since a lot of stuff comes up out of Mexico for much less than that.  He less than politely told them to go to Walmart.  

Then again I see belts online for over $250 that aren't near as nice, so I suppose your brand, your location, and your clientele have a lot to say about how much you would be able to sell something like this for.

YinTx

[CastleLeatherWorks]

8 minutes ago, YinTx said:

Thank you.  I'm not the fastest tooler there is, or the fastest leatherworker, so my times are probably much slower than most.  I'd say I have 10+ hours into it.  I imagine some can do it in 4 hours or less.  

I saw a gentleman selling some very nicely hand tooled belts at a show recently, lined and stitched, for $150.  A lot of folks felt he was charging way too much for a belt, since a lot of stuff comes up out of Mexico for much less than that.  He less than politely told them to go to Walmart.  

Then again I see belts online for over $250 that aren't near as nice, so I suppose your brand, your location, and your clientele have a lot to say about how much you would be able to sell something like this for.

YinTx

yea I suppose you are right in regards to who your customer is. I myself am looking for those customers who are willing to drop the dough for quality goods.

not the guy who goes to walmart and thinks $20 is too much for a fake leather belt/wallet that will deteriorate in a less than a year.

[battlemunky]

Yeah, costing these handmade items is almost as hard as making them. I hand stitch exclusively so any belt with a liner doesn't get priced for less than 75 for a plain dyed belt. If it's tooled, I figure another 20 to 50 bucks whether its carved or stamped. So far though, I've only stamped. I'm working up the nerve to carve one. I'm making a lined belt for myself and I may carve the lining just in case it turns out less than amazing.

[ABHandmade]

Very nice work!

[Retswerb]

14 hours ago, YinTx said:

 I'm not the fastest tooler there is, or the fastest leatherworker, so my times are probably much slower than most.  

I think we all think this about ourselves, except for a handful of speed demons who probably think they’re around average! 

Either way, the belt looks great, thanks for sharing.

[YinTx]

6 hours ago, Retswerb said:

I think we all think this about ourselves, except for a handful of speed demons who probably think they’re around average! 

Either way, the belt looks great, thanks for sharing.

Appreciate the compliment, and perhaps you are right, but I don't have anything to compare myself to, except the YouTube videos that are edited for speed and time, so not really a comparison!

YinTx

[Scootch]

Really nice job.  

I've tooled one belt for a 36" waist and have about 15 hours of work in the belt including 7.5 hours of hand stitching.  I might could move a little faster now but the dread of hand stitching has prevented me from making another.  I'm not sure how anyone could come out selling products with much sewing without buying a sewing machine.

Again, nice job.

Scootch

[AzShooter]

Very nice job.  Tooling looks great.  

[YinTx]

18 hours ago, Scootch said:

Really nice job.  

I've tooled one belt for a 36" waist and have about 15 hours of work in the belt including 7.5 hours of hand stitching.  I might could move a little faster now but the dread of hand stitching has prevented me from making another.  I'm not sure how anyone could come out selling products with much sewing without buying a sewing machine.

Again, nice job.

Scootch

thank you, and what you say is true, lot of time goes into hand stitching.  No real way to make volume profit without a sewing machine!

3 hours ago, AzShooter said:

Very nice job.  Tooling looks great.  

Appreciate it!

YinTx

[Dwight]

On 4/20/2020 at 4:51 PM, YinTx said:

As it says, I finally sat down and got over my fear of tooling belts.  It was a whole lot of tracing, cutting, beveling etc etc.  Not sure I enjoyed the process, but I'll have to try it again to make sure.  

I had originally planned to line it and stitch it, but the tooling got a bit close to the edge on the tip, so that got ruled out.

Wickett and Craig leather, Montana Silversmith buckle, all made in USA!  What do you all think?

YinTx

 

If we lived close enough we could make a good living together, . . . I'd sew, . . . you'ld tool, . . . and we'd share the profits.

Seriously, . . . really good looking work, . . . far, far beyond my present or anticipated skill level.  Making holsters,  . . . CCW   belts, . . . that's my game.

May God bless,

Dwight

[YinTx]

21 minutes ago, Dwight said:

If we lived close enough we could make a good living together, . . . I'd sew, . . . you'ld tool, . . . and we'd share the profits.

Seriously, . . . really good looking work, . . . far, far beyond my present or anticipated skill level.  Making holsters,  . . . CCW   belts, . . . that's my game.

May God bless,

Dwight

I've admired your work for some time, so your compliment means a lot, even if it is somewhat undeserved, I sincerely appreciate it!

I've been wanting to tool a holster for some time now, but no one has asked so far... just would be for my personal collection.  Would be cool to have a matched holster and belt combo!

YinTx

[bryan4christ]

great work .....can you turn this into a business?