Leather Belt With Diy Titanium Buckle

As a modern-day American, have you ever been disappointed with the "leather" belts that are so commonly found today? Most of the time these "leather" belts are made from a bunch of scrap leather chewed-up and then glued together. This cheap manufacturing process results in a poor quality belt that will unavoidably start to flake apart (pictures attached). You have probably all seen this type of thing happen, if not, then you're luckily.

If you have had "leather" belts fail on you before and you want a quality replacement or whether you just want to have a fun diy project that you can wear with pride, just follow the yellow brick road...no. wait, just follow the listed steps.

Supplies -belt

tanned leather

leather punch

strap cutter (or sharp razer and straight edge)

leather skive (or sharp knife or belt sander)

leather slot punch (or just a regular leather punch and some skill)

leather edge skive (optional)

hammer

rivets

Mink oil (optional)

leather dye of your choice

Supplies -buckle

1' of 3/16'' grade 2 titanium rod

6'' of 1/8'' grade 2 titanium rod

welder capable of welding titanium (or a really strong glue or epoxy)

propane or oxygen-acetylene torch

hammer and/or mallet

pliers

hacksaw

gloves

vice

hand metal bender

The belt design I used is very minimalistic and super easy to make.

After acquiring the materials, the first thing you want to do is figure out the size you want. I made mine 1 1/2'' wide by about 40'' long. 1 1/2'' width is a pretty standard size, and it will fit in most belt loops. You can use your old belt to help measure yourself or just use a tailor's measuring tape. Remember that your wait size is not the size of your belt. Cut it several inches longer.

If you need, I included a video with tips on making your belt.

Once you have your dimensions, go ahead and lay the leather out on a table or work bench. If yours came in a role, you might need to place some heavy objects on is to keep it flat. Next, sketch out your desired dimensions out on the leather. If you have a strap cutter now is the time to use it.

To set the thickness for the strap cutter you will need to adjust the bade so the piece of leather fits through it. After that, you can set the thickness. Again, I used 1 1/2'' but you can make yours smaller or larger depending on what you like. Tighten up the adjuster and your ready to go.

If your piece of leather doesn't already have a straight side you will need to cut one. Do this with a straight edge and ether the strap cutter of a knife.

Once you have a straight side to the leather, you will know use the strap cutter to make the belt. Press the strap cutter up against the straight side you just made. Slowly pull the the strap cutter along. Go slowly and make sure the strap cutter is pulled tightly against the straight side. Once you have cut it long enough, use a knife to cut your piece off.

Now that you have your strip of leather for the belt, you can start with finishing up the shape and design.

Before moving on, just wrap the belt around your waist to double check that it fits.

The first thing you should do is use the leather skive to scrape about half of the the thickness of the leather off the the end with which you plan on putting the buckle. This will allow the leather to be folded over without being too bulky.

Next you can cut the other end of the belt how you want. I just did mine a pretty generic tapered end, but there are many different designs you can do. A knife works best for this.

After you cut the end, you can now find you center line and punch your holes. Space them about and inch apart and make sure the make some bigger and some smaller than your normal size.

If you want, you can also taper the edges of you belt. I did this with a special tool (see picture), and I'm not really sure if it can be done without. If you do have this tool, it has a pretty straight forward process. Just run it along both sides of your belt and let it do the work.

As stated in the project title, the belt buckle is made from titanium. If you don't have the necessary resources to execute this portion of the belt, then I would suggest looking online and just buying a buckle and skipping the next couple steps.

I chose to use grade two titanium because it offered better formability and weldability compared to some of the others. There are many grades of titanium, the most common is probably grade five, which may also work for this project. I bought mine from a major hardware store in LA California called McMaster-Carr. You could also check out you local hardware or metal supply stores to see if they carry titanium. If not, Ebay defiantly sells it. If you are concerned about he price, titanium is actually much cheaper than I thought. I think I payed only $15 total.

The first step for the buckle would be to make that center bar. You will need the 1/8'' piece for this. Don't try to bend this without heat. Titanium has a very high spring-back ratio in room temperature. I actually used an ordinary candle for this part (that is why that pictured part is all black). Start by clamping the rod straight up and down in your vice, with about 2 inches sticking out. Use a hammer or mallet to bent the about 1/4'' of the end 90 degrees. Then you can hammer at the corner and try to bend another 1/4'' to 1/8'' 90 degree bend. Continue to hammer and bend, using whatever tools you have, to bend the end into a loop. Keep in mind that you will constantly need to be reheating the part. If you are using a candle, just take it out of the vice and hold it over the flame for about 30 seconds and then quickly reclamp it and continue hammering.

Also, while you are bending the part, make surer that it will fit the 3/16'' piece of rod. It'd be a shame if didn't, so constantly be checking to make sure it's a good fit.

Next, and defiantly hardest, you'll need to make the four bends in the 3/16'' titanium for the frame of the buckle. I did this with an oxygen-acetylene torch, but a candle may work too, it'd just be harder. I also bent this on a dedicated metal bender, it may be able to be done with a regular vice, hammer, and skill, but I haven't tried, so couldn't tell you.

You will want to make the place where the two ends of the rod meet be hidden by the leather so I made mine in the lower corner (see sketch of buckle).

Included in the pictures, you will notice that there is a sketch of the buckle. On it you'll see "B1" "B2" ect... These stand for the bends in the order which they should be made. So, start by bending B1 and make sure to leave just a little extra length in between B1 and B4, 1/4'' should be plenty. When you get to B4, bent it on a different plane then the rest (bend it to where it is on an angle up from the others). This will allow you to actually finish the full 90 degrees of the bend and will also allow you to slip the center bar piece on.

Also, keep in mind that the sketch I made so it can be compatible with the dimensions of my 1 1/2'' belt. If you are making yours a different size, adjust your lengths accordingly.

Just like the last step, make sure to continually use heat before the bends. It makes this cool blue color, which, if you don't like, can be sanded off later. (apparently my grand father who was building it with me didn't like it and insisted on sanding it off. I plan on torching the corners again sometime to bring the cool bluing back).

After you are done with the four bends, you can now make sure the center bar is a good shape and size. This can be accomplished by forming it with a vice and hammer similar to the picture. That shape provides a better angel for the leather to fit though. After cutting the length, just use a file to round off the end.

Once the center bar is adequately adjusted, you can finish the rest of the buckle. This is done by cutting the remainder of the length off of B4 and bending it down to meet with the other side of B1. Don't forget to leave the center bar in when you do this. If you happen to have access to a welder that can weld titanium, then I would recommend giving your local welder a Gatorade and a bag of chips so he can weld up the gap in your part. If not, a strong glue, epoxy, or JBweld should be adequate to some degree. I just wouldn't trust your life on it.

Now your getting pretty close.

Now you can go ahead and punch a slot for the center bar of the buckle to fit through. If you have a leather slot punch then it should be pretty easy, but if not, just use a regular punch a knife to cut it. Start small and test fit it with the buckle until it fits with room for the center bar to move freely. Make sure you have enough room to fold the end around and rivet.

After the slot is made, you can stain the leather. I just used a rag stapled on a paint stirrer and dipped it into the jar. From there, I just smeared/painted the stain on. (Sorry, no pictures). Make sure to do the edges. If you want to stain the back of the belt, that is perfectly fine, just make sure to let it thoroughly dry before you wear it.

After letting the belt dry (I waited about 24 hours), you can now rivet on the buckle. Just place the buckle in the proper place and fold over the end of the belt. Place the rivets in there proper places and hammer away.

I also rubbed on some mink oil. This helps make the leather more pliable as well as preserving it. This is an optional step, but I defiantly would recommend it.

Hey! Now your done!