Hello & new from central Indiana

[Dwight]

Welcome Selvune . . . as the Navy says . . . glad to have you aboard.  

One of the quickest projects you can do . . .  and one that will bring some personal satisfaction . . . go to a leather craft store . . . and purchase a good looking belt blank . . . 1 1/2 wide.

Buy a buckle you like . . .  and don't buy a cheap one . . . get one you will be proud to wear.

Tell the guy you want to tool the belt . . . you'll need a swivel knife and a half dozen tools to complete the job . . . and you need the pattern template for it.

Check out youtube for advice . . . lots of good stuff out there . . . and even watching the goofballs . . . you will learn something . . . even if it is WHAT NOT TO DO .

It'll take you several days . . . you'll have to find a solid place in your house where you can tool without waking the entire household . . . 

You'll have to take it out in the garage to dye it . . . and add the finish . . .  use Resolene for the finish . . . 

Once you are done . . . you can wear that belt for years on top of years . . . and every time you hook your thumbs in it . . . you can be proud of your work.

I have one of mine from over 40 years ago . . . I still wear it occasionally . . . still proud of my amateur work I did then.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Selvune]

 

1 hour ago, Dwight said:

Welcome Selvune . . . as the Navy says . . . glad to have you aboard.  

One of the quickest projects you can do . . .  and one that will bring some personal satisfaction . . . go to a leather craft store . . . and purchase a good looking belt blank . . . 1 1/2 wide.

Buy a buckle you like . . .  and don't buy a cheap one . . . get one you will be proud to wear.

Tell the guy you want to tool the belt . . . you'll need a swivel knife and a half dozen tools to complete the job . . . and you need the pattern template for it.

Check out youtube for advice . . . lots of good stuff out there . . . and even watching the goofballs . . . you will learn something . . . even if it is WHAT NOT TO DO .

It'll take you several days . . . you'll have to find a solid place in your house where you can tool without waking the entire household . . . 

You'll have to take it out in the garage to dye it . . . and add the finish . . .  use Resolene for the finish . . . 

Once you are done . . . you can wear that belt for years on top of years . . . and every time you hook your thumbs in it . . . you can be proud of your work.

I have one of mine from over 40 years ago . . . I still wear it occasionally . . . still proud of my amateur work I did then.

May God bless,

Dwight

Thanks for the advice.  I did go to a leather craft store, however I picked up leather and a template for a wallet, not a belt.  Might need to go back and do that as well.  I bought a extremely discounted piece of leather and have been practicing cutting the leather, burnishing, beveling, etc.  So far it has been fun and I hope to buy a better quality piece of leather to actually make a wallet (or belt  ) that I might actually use. 

Thanks again for all the advice.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Selvune

[Dwight]

4 hours ago, Selvune said:

 

Thanks for the advice.  I did go to a leather craft store, however I picked up leather and a template for a wallet, not a belt.  Might need to go back and do that as well.  I bought a extremely discounted piece of leather and have been practicing cutting the leather, burnishing, beveling, etc.  So far it has been fun and I hope to buy a better quality piece of leather to actually make a wallet (or belt  ) that I might actually use. 

Thanks again for all the advice.

Wallets are good too . . . in the storeroom of my "goodies" I have a billfold made by my biological father . . . 

It is the only attachment I ever had to him . . .  sometimes just get it out and hold it . . . wonder where all it went . . . all the conversations it heard . . . 

They can become special keepsakes . . . not sure anyone keeps a PVC purse or billfold. 

Put yourself into your leather work . . .  it is a way of sharing yourself with others.

I have one wallet customer . . . I know he remembers me every now and then . . . his daughter had bought him a "different" tri fold billfold some 20 years or so before . . .  and it was just about done . . . flat out falling apart.  He looked all over trying to find one like it . . .  finally wound up in a Tandy store one day when I happened to be there . . .  the store manager sent him to me . . .  telling him they didn't have completed billfolds . . .  but I could make him one.

He kinda looked at me dumbfounded when I told him I'd need the old one for a pattern . . . but he emptied it up . . . put the stuff in his pockets . . .  offered to pay me whatever I wanted if I would make him one like it.  I did . . . sent it to him a couple weeks later . . . off in Pennsylvania somewhere.  Got a letter back from him . . .  he was tickled pink.  

Those are the moments that make life an enjoyable experience . . . leatherwork included.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited February 15, 2022 by Dwight

[Selvune]

On 2/11/2022 at 8:33 PM, Scoutmom103 said:

Welcome.  Check out 

Landwerlen Leather Company

landwerlen-leather-co.business.site

365 S Illinois St, Indianapolis, IN 46225      Great place.  Near Lucus and Union Station.

 

 

I went by the shop last Friday.  Super friendly people.  The shop was a lot larger then I expected.  Thanks for the suggestion.