Belt Buckle From Trail Marker

The first step to doing this project is to find an item that can be used as a belt buckle. I used a trail marker but anything can be used as a substitute, it it limited by your own imagination only.

In order to make the buckle solid, a back will need to be cut. I used a plasma cutter to cut out a circle and then rounded it out with a grinder. Then, I drilled holes in the sheet metal and used rivets to connect the marker to the metal disk. The rivets were needed because the trail marker was too thin to weld, and just would have melted before the sheet metal even had a chance to heat up. After the trail marker was riveted to the backing of sheet metal, I ground it flush and sandblasted the whole thing. (Wire Wheeling is a formidable substitute, but sandblasting is easier and has a slightly different effect.)

For this step 3 pieces will be needed.

1) A ring to slip the belt through (Made of 1/8 inch round steel)

2) A piece of metal for the ring to go through

3) A piece to hold the belt through the holes (Also made of 1/8 inch rounded steel

Check the pictures out before continuing to get an initial visual. The first thing i did was shaped the rectangular ring. Try to make it as rectangular as possible, without round edges. I took a piece of 1/8 inch round steel and bent it into that shape, and then tig welded it so it would stay in that shape. I left the end long before i cut it because i wanted to save it and not lose it for the end pin in the final picture. Then, i used that rectangular ring to shape my steel to the size I want it. I made it bump up so the ring could slip under and then it had a free range of motion, and then i welded it down (That one is pretty sloppy but it works well). Lastly, cut down the piece at the end so it can be used as a pin to slip the belt through. After that is done, the buckle is just about done.

The last steps are crucial so the buckle looks nice and does not rust. First, I sandblasted it to clean the welds a bit, and get rid of the discoloration. After it was thoroughly sandblasted again, I used polyurethane on it, and many thick layers so it looks smooth and glazed over. That's all; thanks for reading!