Experimenting With Belt Making.

[Mark Larner]

So my wife recently bought me some leather work tools for my birthday. I make my own clothes quite a bit so leatherwork seemed like a natural progression.

Anyway, I've been learning the ropes with belt making. It's a really satisfying process and I'd recommend it to anyone.
It feels great to make exactly the thing you want; and the outlay for old hand tools is quite minimal.

I found some cheapish split hide to work with from a supplier in the UK and also some beautiful 3mm veg tan tooling hide.

Would love to know what people think!

 

[Peacoat]

What do I think? I think you do very good work. What type of sewing machine do you have that will sew thick leather like that?

 

[Mark Larner]

What do I think? I think you do very good work. What type of sewing machine do you have that will sew thick leather like that?

Thanks man!

I have an old Singer 99K but it's bloody temperamental!

I've done all my belts entirely by hand, including the saddle stitching in the pix - split hide is quite thin, so I glued two straps together, stitched along the edges before hand bevelling and burnishing them - helps to seal them up.

 

[michaelagraham]

I think these look great especially for a first effort. IMO, wearing a belt you made yourself by hand is much more fun than wearing a nicer belt made by someone else.

 

[belfastboy]

So my wife recently bought me some leather work tools for my birthday. I make my own clothes quite a bit so leatherwork seemed like a natural progression.

Anyway, I've been learning the ropes with belt making. It's a really satisfying process and I'd recommend it to anyone.
It feels great to make exactly the thing you want; and the outlay for old hand tools is quite minimal.

I found some cheapish split hide to work with from a supplier in the UK and also some beautiful 3mm veg tan tooling hide.

Would love to know what people think!

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I agree, there is something very satisfying working with leather. I started making leather hat bands and I especially enjoy doing the hand tooling. Who do you use as the UK leather source? I am still looking for a supplier with a good selection that I can use as One source. Your work looks great. If I didn't have so many belts already I would move up and started making belts instead of just the mini belts for hats.

 

[Mark Larner]

I agree, there is something very satisfying working with leather. I started making leather hat bands and I especially enjoy doing the hand tooling. Who do you use as the UK leather source? I am still looking for a supplier with a good selection that I can use as One source. Your work looks great. If I didn't have so many belts already I would move up and started making belts instead of just the mini belts for hats.

Thanks! I'm just starting out, but it's rewarding to see the little improvements with each thing I make.

Re leather suppliers - Metropolitan Leather are a great source, not too expensive and dispatch their orders rapidly. I got some pre cut veg tan straps from Artisan Leather too, and they have all the tools and fixings you'll ever need.

Would love to see some of your work too!

 

[belfastboy]

Thanks! I'm just starting out, but it's rewarding to see the little improvements with each thing I make.

Re leather suppliers - Metropolitan Leather are a great source, not too expensive and dispatch their orders rapidly. I got some pre cut veg tan straps from Artisan Leather too, and they have all the tools and fixings you'll ever need.

Would love to see some of your work too!

I will dig out the camera and post a few. I have bought bits and pieces from various sources, Tandy, UK, Europe, China. It would be great to find a single source. I will check them out, thanks.

 

[Feraud]

I've done all my belts entirely by hand, including the saddle stitching in the pix - split hide is quite thin, so I glued two straps together, stitched along the edges before hand bevelling and burnishing them - helps to seal them up.

Looks like you know what you're doing so I'm probably not saying anything new. Two pieces of 3mm leather ends up being stronger than one pice of 6mm. Go figure.

Kudos to you for doing the saddle stitching by hand! I've done a bit myself and it is no small feat. A tip of the hat to you for tackling that process.

I've little doubt your belts will last a lifetime.

 

[Mark Larner]

Looks like you know what you're doing so I'm probably not saying anything new. Two pieces of 3mm leather ends up being stronger than one pice of 6mm. Go figure.

Kudos to you for doing the saddle stitching by hand! I've done a bit myself and it is no small feat. A tip of the hat to you for tackling that process.

I've little doubt your belts will last a lifetime.

Thanks man! Once you get in to the rhythm of it saddle stitching can go fairly quickly, but year a whole belt took a while!!

 

[belfastboy]

Thanks! I'm just starting out, but it's rewarding to see the little improvements with each thing I make.

Re leather suppliers - Metropolitan Leather are a great source, not too expensive and dispatch their orders rapidly. I got some pre cut veg tan straps from Artisan Leather too, and they have all the tools and fixings you'll ever need.

Would love to see some of your work too!

I like keeping it simple. The one with the buffalo nickel concho is untouched as I liked just the buffalo as the interest point. The others are just background stamped and overdyed. I guess these are my mini hat belts!

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Back when they still taught trades in school, one of my first projects was a leather belt. I never wore it. I still have it. Functionally, it would be a nice belt. It's so ugly in design that I'd be ashamed to wear it. Kids. So much crap stamped into the leather. And now I'm a minimalist at heart. Maybe it was that belt?

 

[belfastboy]

Back when they still taught trades in school, one of my first projects was a leather belt. I never wore it. I still have it. Functionally, it would be a nice belt. It's so ugly in design that I'd be ashamed to wear it. Kids. So much crap stamped into the leather. And now I'm a minimalist at heart. Maybe it was that belt?

Ha, I remember we had to take "Shop" classes in the 7th grade. One semester metal work and one of wood work. A cold chisel, and a tin flour scoop and a bird house. Leather work I may have actually paid attention to.

 

[Edward]

Nice work in the OP. I've been looking at belts again recently, as (after nine months of heavy wear) my Rumble 59 version of the Brando belt from The Wild One has begun to split. I'm on the lookout for a replacement.

If you're looking to go into selling them, I'd highly recommend doing some slimmer belts. Too many nice belts these days are done sized for jeans and you then can't wear them with trousers. I'd love to see some nice repros of the Western-style belts that Bogart wore with his suits in the Big Sleep.

 

[Mark Larner]

Apologies, it's been a while since I've been on here.

So, I've been experimenting with a few more. The 4mm tan Sedgwick bridle was amazing to work with. I used a solid brass west end buckle and keeper - it's going to my wife's grandfather.

I also made a lovely belt for a mate - his only stipulation was the oval centre bar buckle. He was a bit apprehensive about the paleness of natural veg tan, so I just darkened it down with a coat of neatsfoot oil and left it in the window a while.

I've also made quite a few wallets. It's proving to be so satisfying!

 

[belfastboy]

Apologies, it's been a while since I've been on here.

So, I've been experimenting with a few more. The 4mm tan Sedgwick bridle was amazing to work with. I used a solid brass west end buckle and keeper - it's going to my wife's grandfather.

I also made a lovely belt for a mate - his only stipulation was the oval centre bar buckle. He was a bit apprehensive about the paleness of natural veg tan, so I just darkened it down with a coat of neatsfoot oil and left it in the window a while.

I've also made quite a few wallets. It's proving to be so satisfying!

The belt looks great!

 

[Mark Larner]

The belt looks great!

Thanks man! I didn't already have too many I'd be tempted to make one for myself - the surplus ones I've actually stuck up on Etsy.

 

[og_jason_lee]

I make my own belts, you are miles better than me. Wow! I don’t stitch anything but I have only made about 6 so far.

 

[Will Zach]

Awesome work. I just started - bought a pre-cut belt blank on Etsy. It comes with Chicago screws. All I need to do is find some nice brass buckles and belt keepers (loops) and buy a hole punch tool. I am keen on vintage buckles, so it is less of a belt-making project than a buckle-hunting project, lol.

 

[Mark Larner]

Awesome work. I just started - bought a pre-cut belt blank on Etsy. It comes with Chicago screws. All I need to do is find some nice brass buckles and belt keepers (loops) and buy a hole punch tool. I am keen on vintage buckles, so it is less of a belt-making project than a buckle-hunting project, lol.

It's a really satisfying thing to do. If you're struggling to find the right vintage one check out a Japanese guy, Smoky Sumi on Etsy - he sells high quality sand-cast buckles. I'm now using them on my belts and of all the ones I've tried these are the best, by a country mile.

 

[Will Zach]

Great minds think alike - I just ordered from Sumi-san some buckles and keepers two days ago.... Seems to be the only game in town for Japanese belt hardware. Thanks for the tip!