Cheap Black Leather Belt Blank 2" for Vader

[megaweapon]

Hey all. I thought I would share my latest ebay find.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Leathercraft-Be...ryZ83938QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Pretty cheap 2" belt blank for $6.99. I haven't got mine so I can't give any quality assessment so I'll update this when I get more information.
:cheers

Denny

 

[CGClone]

Not bad if you dont have a Tandy leather in yoru neighborhood. Otherwise after shipping it would be more than just running in and getting one there.

 

[wannab]

I thought ESB belts were 2.25" and ANH belts 2.5"?

Doug

 

[Hermes]

Doug, not to contradict you directly, however, I´m quite positive that the ANH belts are 2 1/4 inch.....

Hermes!

 

[wannab]

That's why I said "I thought" as opposed to "I know", however either way 2'' is too small.

Doug

 

[Darth Stone]

And I would add to this that these straps are 1/16 of an inch under 2" as the add describes, bummer:angry

 

[megaweapon]

Lovely, and I just ordered one. I was under the impression it was 2" from a website Darthblade http://www.darthblade.com/costumes/darth_vader/belt.htm

Well, I think the seller has bigger ones, I'm going to try and get mine change:redface
Denny

 

[rickrickrick]

All belts are sold by the size buckle they accommodate.

If it says 2" wide, or 1 1/2, or whatever, it is actually always a bit narrower. This is true of all belt blanks, including Tandy.

Where did you get a width over 2"? I've always read Vader's belt was 2".

Rick

PS - There aren't many neighborhoods that Tandy is in. In most states there's only one store in the whole state.

PPS - Tandy is having a sale online right now thru the end of August - belt blanks included!

 

[ddocvjm]

The answer is: 58 mm wide for both ANH and ESB.

 

[wannab]

Fantastic -- thanks ddocvjm!

So using the online converter, that works out to 2.283" folks!

So if you are going with the above auctioneer and want the right width you need to get the 2.5" and trim it down (should be easy enough).

Doug

 

[ddocvjm]

That is what I did. Get the 2.5" blank and cut it down. I used the Tandy strap cutter and it worked perfectly.

 

[TK-4140]

Hey all,

to be absolutly correct all belts ANH, ESB and ROTJ were 58mm because they used for all Vader belts the same German WWII Firemans belts that were also used from German Elite Offiziers. Original they were brown but than all Offiziers got the order to dye there belts black and that´s the point. Here is a pic from an original belt:

That belt is over 60 years old and in abolutly perfect condition as you could see. It takes me about 3 years to find one and cost me about $250-300,- for one belt.

And here is the result of a finished ANH belt I did for a good friend here in germany also with an original belt.

Greetings Guido

 

[bubba fett]

Wow Guido that is amazing!!!

 

[sapper36]

Hey Guido - Any chance you could post pics of the ends of that belt? I'd be curious to see how the original hardware fastened.

 

[megaweapon]

Kind of an update from my end...Since I wound up getting the wrong belt it turned out to be somewhat fortuitous because I split the belt blank down the middle and used the leather strips to make my chest box strap system. It turned out pretty good too. I ended up getting a 2 1/4" Don Hume duty belt with the correct stitching. I got it at C&G wholesale for $49. I had to modify my russ boxes as the leather was too thick to fit through the slots but that was easily corrected with my dremel. Very nice quality belt too.

 

[sapper36]

Looks like a nice belt, but the German belt seems to only hace one row of holes centered. I'm gonna keep looking. If I can get some better pics of the original German belt I'll see if I can't find a leather worker who can replicate it reasonably well.

 

[sapper36]

Hey Guido - Any possibility of getting some pics of the original belts ends?