Belts
My belts are made from Hermann Oak “English” Bridle Leather. Hermann Oak Leather is one of only two U.S. companies providing premium leather for the holster, belt and saddle trade. The company is located in St. Louis and has been in business since 1881. Hermann Oak offers the finest vegetable tanned leather available. Bridle Leather is vegetable tanned, dyed and then treated with greases and finished with wax, resulting in a soft and elegant leather.
Dress Belts
My dress belts are made from three pieces of leather. The face, lining plus the filler are all Hermann Oak “English” Bridle leather. Dress belts are 1.25" wide.
Casual Belts
Casual belts can be made from a single layer of leather or like a dress belt, with three layers and stitched edges. Casual belts are 1.50" wide.
This is how I make a dress belt:
Dress Belts
My dress belts are made from three pieces of leather. The face, lining plus the filler are all Hermann Oak “English” Bridle leather. Dress belts are 1.25" wide.
Casual Belts
Casual belts can be made from a single layer of leather or like a dress belt, with three layers and stitched edges. Casual belts are 1.50" wide.
This is how I make a dress belt:
- Belt strips are slit to width from full sides of leather. A side of leather is one half of a cowhide. On the average, a side is about 25 square feet.
- Strips are split to the desired thickness.
- The ends are cut. Most often, the end of the belt is cut in the "English Point" style (pointy).
- The leather strips are cut to length. These are custom belts so they are made to fit perfectly. That means at the middle of five holes.
- The three strips are glued together. The center filler strip creates the slight bulge found in dress belts. Production belts use synthetic filler material while I use the same premium leather as the face and liner.
- Edges are sanded on a oscillating drum sander. This process evens the edges and removes any excess adhesive.
- The belt is sewn on a heavy duty leather stitcher (sewing machine). My Cowboy 4500 can stitch up to 7/8" leather.
- Edges are beveled. This removes the sharp corner and is the first step of the edging process.
- Edges are finished. I use the same edge finishing material as the premium European leather companies. It's extremely durable.
- Belt ends are prepped. This includes skiving the ends, punching the hole for the buckle tongue and stamping the belt with my maker's mark.
- Buckle and keeper are added to the belt and sewn by hand. This cannot be done on a sewing machine.
- Holes are punched. Holes are spaced at 7/8".