Belt buckle for a wide belt

[Nighthawk]

I made myself a 2.5 inch belt for my great kilt, and I want a buckle that is more interesting than the typical brass annular reenactment buckles that are available. I have already looked at Raymond's Quiet Press, and they got nothin'... Anyone have any ideas?

[rondo]

You could go with hand forged iron...what does the belt look like? Did you design for a particular type of buckle attachment? I've been thinking of using my horseshoeing forge to make some rustic type pieces but haven't gotten to it just yet. Also, you might consider copper instead of brass.
Rondo

[Nighthawk]

Rondo, man, I don't care about the material one way or the other. The belt is a black bridal cinch belt, if that tells you anything.

[Ryan Ross]

I'd go with this one, Travis:



It's sturdy, looks awesome, and isn't ridiculously expensive. You can get them here:

http://www.treasurecast.com/index.ph...t_detail&p=179

[Baldybrown]

You could go elk antler.
BTW When does your season start. Is your troop going to be at the Yellowstone Games this year? How about Thanksgiving Point in Utah?
Hope to see you soon.

[tundramanq]

I search using terms: 2.5 inch or "2 1/2 inch", "center bar", single, tang, square, brass, buckle. And then weed through all the chaff. I avoid the round buckles as they are hard to use and pucker the belt in the buckle.

At times I have had to buy a belt to get the buckle. I have had luck at times with santa claus belt also, beware some are cheap tin buckles.

I get antique brass by buying bright brass buckles - strip the finish and put it in my natural gas oven hanging face down.
Let the oven warm up to 150 or so and shut it off. The sulfer in the natural gas odor does nice uniform job on the buckle.
Repeat until you get the patina you want. For me it's about 3 cycles.

[Bugbear]

Why not have your son anvil out an iron buckle, Hawk?

[Nighthawk]

I'd go with this one, Travis:



It's sturdy, looks awesome, and isn't ridiculously expensive. You can get them here:

http://www.treasurecast.com/index.ph...t_detail&p=179

Ryan, that's just what I was looking for! Thanks!

You could go elk antler.
BTW When does your season start. Is your troop going to be at the Yellowstone Games this year? How about Thanksgiving Point in Utah?
Hope to see you soon.

Yes, Ron, we will be at Yellowstone. We will also be doing Jackson Hole again. How is your belt working out for you?

I had thought about that, Ted. Problem is, it doesn't fit with the persona of the head of a guild. I need something a little fancier than a forged buckle.

Why not have your son anvil out an iron buckle, Hawk?

[Nighthawk]

I search using terms: 2.5 inch or "2 1/2 inch", "center bar", single, tang, square, brass, buckle. And then weed through all the chaff. I avoid the round buckles as they are hard to use and pucker the belt in the buckle.

At times I have had to buy a belt to get the buckle. I have had luck at times with santa claus belt also, beware some are cheap tin buckles.

I get antique brass by buying bright brass buckles - strip the finish and put it in my natural gas oven hanging face down.
Let the oven warm up to 150 or so and shut it off. The sulfer in the natural gas odor does nice uniform job on the buckle.
Repeat until you get the patina you want. For me it's about 3 cycles.

I have actually found that my biggest issue with the round buckle is that it has a way of tearing up my edges! As Ron can attest, I pay a lot of attention to burnishing hard, smooth edges, and I hate seeing them get frayed by the buckle.

[Bugbear]

Fair enough, but you should still make him do it because you might not always be who you are, right now.