New kilt belt

[frank_a]

Thanks Father. I look forward to getting kilted up at least by Saturday. We have a big family party Saturday and really, what I needed was a decent kilt belt. Surprised myself.

Frank

[Bobby Gordon]

NICE! Where'd you get the leather from? I'd love to make a brown one but the widest I can find is 2 inches :0(

[MizzouScotsman]

Nice looking belts Frank. What leather did you use for them?

[Standard]

Looks great, I especially like the sporran belt. I need to make a matching set too.

[frank_a]

Nice looking belts Frank. What leather did you use for them?

Good old midwestern U.S. cowhide (maybe from Missouri!), veg tan, double shoulder, 8-9 oz. Cut two more 3" blanks and two 2 1/4" for my acrylic kilt. Needed to get these done before big family party next Saturday, will work on others as time permits. Got my leather local from a guy who has a website and sells all over. Good fellow, check him out.

http://www.distantdrumsonline.com/servlet/StoreFront

[MacGumerait]

Wow Frank ! That's great , especially as a first effort ! I really like your choice of buckles . It's also cool that you made a matching sporran belt . Nicely done !

[frank_a]

Thanks Mike! More to come...

Frank

[Tobus]

Well done, Frank. You cranked those out pretty quickly.

Now that you've done your first belts, what lessons did you learn? Anything you would change or do differently on the next ones?

After making several belts myself (not only kilt belts but trouser belts as well), there are a few things I started fine-tuning, which I'll pass on for your perusal. Not as criticism of your work, but just for general information.

One is the fit of the belt keeper. Ideally, a belt keeper should be fairly snug when you run the billet end of the belt through it, so it will lay flat. In order to get a good fit, I just cut a length of leather and wrap it around a double-thickness of belt material, pressing it flat and making it conform neatly around the edges, then mark it for cutting. Once it's cut to length, you can staple, stitch, or otherwise 'close the loop'. But then, I use one of two methods to make it conform to a rectangular shape instead of wanting to open up into a circular (or oval) shape. The first is to wet-form it around the double-thickness of belt material (you can use Saran wrap to protect the belt from the moisture during this process). The second is to hammer it to shape around a form. I have several pieces of steel flat-bar, cut to different widths for this purpose. I just slide the keeper loop over the steel and use a mallet to make it conform to the shape, without wetting it. You'd be surprised how well it will keep a rectangular shape when done like this. It makes for a nice 'lay' of the keeper on the belt.

The other is the turn of the leather around the bar of the buckle. As you probably noticed, there's a lot of bulk there, and it can really cause the belt to bulge at the buckle. Often, belt makers will skive the leather down (basically shaving thickness from the back side) at the bend, in order to reduce bulk. And, as mentioned above, using a hammer or mallet to pound it flat around the bar will help it lay flat too.

[frank_a]

I used Chicago screws on this Tobus, and the belt keeper is hidden by two you can't see. When I get home later I'll take a pic of the backside.

I did do some pounding on flaps so I understand what you're suggesting. I have also made a 1 1/8" belt for general wear, but it's not died yet. I tried skiving with just razor blades to reduce thickness so I could get a Chicago screw through 4 layers (making it like 3, which works) of 8-9 oz leather but it didn't work too well. So I ordered a skiver. My only question is can I use it on a belt more than an inch wide? It's this one: http://www.stecksstore.com/servlet/t...r-Craft/Detail

I'd love to be able to skive the end of my 3" belts!

I also made a very precise template from steel plate for the 5 holes at the tag end. I wasn't getting it well by hand, and am handy with metal and machining. I made it this morning, cleaned and painted it. It should be dry when I get home.

More pics later, and with luck, me, the kilt, the tattersall shirt, the new belts, my new jacket, etc.

Thanks!

Frank

[Kilted in Maine]

When do you start taking orders?