Hand Made Belts

I have been wanting to expand into the field of leatherwork for a while.  These belts are the first leather product that I have offered for sale.  I am hoping to add wallets to my repertoire at some point as well.

This is the third belt that I have sold so far.

The customer ordered it without a buckle, and wanted a snap attachment to make buckles easily interchangeable.  Normally I attach buckles permanently, or use Chicago screws for removable buckles, but in this case the customer preferred a snap.  Another custom feature of this belt is the addition of extra holes on the tighter end.  I usually do seven holes, with the center one being placed for the customer's exact size, and three extras in each direction.  The customer wanted a few extras so that it could be adjusted tighter, which was easy enough to do.  An advantage of a custom, hand made belt is that I can easily tailor it for a customer's exact needs.

Another advantage is quality.  I make these from very high-quality, very thick 12-ounce leather. I cut every strap by hand.  Every belt features hand-burnished edges, and is finished with a mixture of neatsfoot oil and beeswax.  It is hard to find a more rugged, long-lasting belt than these.

My price for a standard, plain belt is $40, or in the case of this particular one, $32 with no buckle.  Fancier buckles and some decorative stamping are available for a higher price.

A Bowie and a Puukko

Here are a couple of recently completed knives.  First is this beast of a bowie.  The blade is 10 inches long and 1/4-inch thick, convex ground.  The handle is walnut and leather.  This thing is a great chopper, and slices pretty well too.  I was asking $220 for it, which I think is pretty reasonable, but for my "Summer sales event" I am offering it for $200 with a free belt included.

 

This was my first blade with a swedge, which came out pretty well as you can see above.  I also have started etching my initials into my blades using a battery charger and salt water, which works pretty well.

The next piece is a Finnish Puukko-style knife, which I made for the annual "Knife in the Hat" event at Bladesmith's Forum.  The drawing is supposed to be done tomorrow.  I can't wait to find out who will be getting this knife, and who's knife I will be receiving.  There are some pretty nice blades going into the figurative "hat."

 I regret that my etched initials came out so sloppy looking on this piece.  I had practiced on a couple of other blades first, but on this one the electrical tape that my initials were cut into as a stencil came loose just as I was almost done with the etching.  Also, I accidentally made the sheath left-handed, which is known to happen at least once to anyone who makes this style of sheath.  Aside from being backwards, the sheath came out pretty well.  It has a wooden liner, which gives it the distinctive shape that is very traditional for a Finnish puukko.  I'll blame the goofs on the pressure of making a knife for a bunch of awesome knife makers.

Just Finished Two Sheaths

 

 

Some much-needed supplies just arrived from Tandy Leather Factory, so I wasted no time in getting some sheaths done.  This is a new design (new to me, at least) that I came up with to make a knife easier to carry.  The end of the belt loop is held in place with a strap around the sheath and secured with a snap, which not only looks pretty classy, but also allows you to get the knife on and off your belt without unbuckling it.  The origin of the idea was to make it more convenient to carry a small fixed blade knife as an "everyday carry," but it works just as well and looks just as good on larger knives.  My favorite thing about these sheaths, particularly on the smaller knife if I were to carry it as an EDC, is that the entire package is quite slim and rides close to the body, so that even if it is not concealed, it is at least discreet and unobtrusive.  And of course both sheaths have excellent retention.

I have posted both of these for sale on Craigslist, $160 for the larger knife and $100 for the smaller one, 10% discount for bitcoin.

Some Recent Knives

These are some pictures of recent work.  All are hand-forged from high carbon 1080 steel.  Thanks for looking.

My first attempt at a chef's knife.  The blade is 8" long, 1/8" thick, and 1 1/2" wide.  It has a full flat grind down to a zero edge (no secondary bevel).  Wickedly sharp!  The handle is unknown hardwood salvaged from a pallet.

A nice bowie, also the first of its kind that I have made.  The blade is 10", including the ricasso, and 1/4" thick.  Slightly convex grind with a zero edge.  Chops through wood like an axe and shaves hair like a razor.  This one is sold.  I miss it already.

A large leuku, which is the multipurpose knife of the Sami people of northern Scandinavia.  This one is a bit thicker than normal at 1/4".  The blade is 8" long, with a high grind.  It has a slight secondary bevel to give it more strength for chopping wood.  The handle is oak pieces, cut to show the end grain on the side of the handle, with leather spacers.  I like the starburst effect that it creates.

I have been toying with creating an ad to advertise my wares.  I have not advertised yet, but might start sometime soon.