Belts

[lsinner]

@whatevenis18 that is a creative ass idea! how'd you go about cutting it? Just like with leather? I needa make one of my own

[rayw44]

He bought it here: velo-re.com it's right in the post.

[mikecch]

Nice evo on the Quercus rayw44!

The project was October last year.

I too find that the bridle butt is a little bit more pliable than the Quercus butt to begin with, though the quercus leather is 1 mm thicker.

This is the Baker belt new:

The Quercus belt new:

I think Baker's has been slowly changing the way they finish their natural bridle butt leathers.

Saw a couple of the more recent Quercus belts (not from the group project), and the colour and grain appearance is closer to the current bridle butt as seen on the Baker belt.

Btw, to those who are purchasing a new belt, try and hold off for a couple of weeks...I've got a group buy in the works

Edited December 10, 2011 by mikecch

[stereo345]

Hey guys,

I have a small issue I hope to find an answer for. I recently just purchased a belt and when it arrived I found out I can only buckle it at the last hole of the belt. Since returning it is a hassle, does any know if leather belts will stretch any over time? or should I return it for one size up?

[mikecch]

Last hole on a five-hole belt? I don't think the leather would stretch 2 inches to the middle hole; best to return for a longer one.

[madstaxbro]

Picked up a Bundeswehr strap and some novelty buckles to make use of some scrap.

[mikecch]

X-posting from leather thread...

Quick announcement:

Fellow leather nerds, it's time for another group buy project!

This time it's with a little workshop in England called Equus Leather, run by Charlie who is trained in classic English saddlery and who has been making leather crafts professionally since 1995.

The belt this time around will have a little bit of a military twist to it, being a 1.5" wide hand-cut strap, fitted with a solid-brass custom double-pronged garrison-style buckle, ending with a slant edge tip.

The buckle fold will be held together by hand-sewn saddle stitching in waxed Irish linen threads. The edges left raw after a clean cut (I mean, really clean.)

For the leather, we'll be revisiting Baker's tannery from the Quercus project, this time with a modified form of their oak-bark butt which is referred to as the russet bridle butt. The leather will be 6 mm thick (or a little more), have an incredible grain growth, and is "natural" coloured for optimal evolution with time!

This is one of the very best cattlehides available in the world, undergoing a long, slow but gentle oak-bark tanning process (1 year and 1 day sitting in up to 72 of Baker's bark tanning pits) and then finished off by hand.

Very few tanneries in the world produce leather in this old-fashioned way - it is how vegetable tanned leather used to be made.

Anyway, please do let me know if you're interested

(I'm taking names for the newsletter list until new year.)

[UkeNo]

mikecch - do you have any examples of how this belt will look? - im in the uk and was thinking of ordering from them soon (following your earlier exapmples of their work).

This might be the trick to complement my Ande Whall comback Jeans

Thanks (and Congrats on the Graduation)

[UkeNo]

Ordered the deadstock Swedish military belt in natural veg tan last night, size 110 with the 3 king crowns stamped on, can't wait for it to arrive. Some pics of it.

after 10 years of use

Amazing....Where did you find it ,if you dont mind me asking?

[mikecch]

mikecch - do you have any examples of how this belt will look? - im in the uk and was thinking of ordering from them soon (following your earlier exapmples of their work).

This might be the trick to complement my Ande Whall comback Jeans

Thanks (and Congrats on the Graduation)

Thanks mate!

Examples? If you mean actual products available, then not really. A few Japanese brands make double-prong designs which you could check out (Sugar Cane, Samurai, Kawatako, etc), but they usually use Chicago screws instead of hand-stitching them...I feel using Chicago screws doesn't complement the Sam Browne style of belt.

I'll work on a sketch in one of my updates though!

Also, I'll have photos of the buckle available very soon.

[Ambivalence]

Where will you guys recommend to buy veg tan belt? Im considering unlucky and terrydeer..

Edited December 14, 2011 by Ambivalence

[Happy Hooligan]

just finished some really cool and special belts tonight... Should be able to post some pics tomorrow!

[Happy Hooligan]

now in dark cordovan (almost black)

[lance]

mikecch, thanks for the ref to equus - beautiful looking belts!

[alzex]

Guys, any recommendation for belts in the $50 range?

[itylerstewart]

Hooligan's early to rise belts aren't too far north of $50 if i remember correctly. Don't they look so nice too?

[mikecch]

mikecch - do you have any examples of how this belt will look? - im in the uk and was thinking of ordering from them soon (following your earlier exapmples of their work).

I'll work on a sketch in one of my updates though!

Also, I'll have photos of the buckle available very soon.

Update: Charlie will have a prototype belt for us late next week, I'll post photos when it's done!

I the meanwhile, here be my Baker belt by Charlie:

Edited December 16, 2011 by mikecch

[Metropolitan]

eagerly waiting for the prototype pictures.....

Edited December 17, 2011 by Metropolitan

[mikecch]

My brother's Quercus belt, 12 months effective wear, no oils, no tanning, no care at all:

[lazybum]

^nice

That leather needs no looking after to wear nicely

[TheNorthern]

13 oz Golden Brass 1+ year old

[Happy Hooligan]

Here's the first one I made. I've been wearing it for about 3 months or so.

[mikecch]

X-post from leather thread...

A quick follow-up...the prototype has been made!

Here are a few pics from Charlie - the final version will look more or less the same with a couple of minor tweaks, including the appearance of the pins and the thread thickness:

That's the end of the updates I'll be doing here.

Please do PM me if you're interested; the project will close at new year.

Edited December 24, 2011 by mikecch

[lefty]

X-post from leather thread...

I placed my order today. Thanks for putting this together.

[rubyblue]

I placed my order today. Thanks for putting this together.

Dito :-)

Thx Michael

[mikecch]

Thanks for being part of this project

This belt will be awesome!

[Cold Summer]

Emailed Charlie last night. Looking forward to it! I just hope this beast of a belt doesn't blow the loops off of my Sammies.

[mikecch]

I think your Sammies will be OK, them got wide belt loops

[Guest nooblet333]

Any tips on how I should shorten my belt?

[mikecch]

Got myself another harness leather belt, by unlucky.

The leather is a 16 oz Triple C harness, a pure vegetable tannage from Chahin that's been stuffed with oils but manages to retain the "natural" colour.

Pics taken after one coating of Sedgwick's leather feed:

Elk tendon:

Edited January 19, 2012 by mikecch