Legolas's Belt [NEW PICS 08FEB2012]

Sandman0077

Sr Member
Been on a leather kick lately, so I've decided to do some Lord of the Rings themed pieces starting with Legolas. Can't seem to find any original type buckles for sale, so that will have to be last, but I can do the tooling and dying for now.

To start with, does anyone know the actual length of the original belt? I bought a 56" belt blank (as I've run out of uncut leather that size). I'm REALLY SKINNY (28" waist) so I can't use myself for average size. I'm thinking I should cut it down to 42" because that's the biggest I see at the store for sale.

Opinions?

Anyways, back to the build, I started with these photos:

Legolas_belt_cal.jpg

elfbelt.jpg

legsBelt_tip_judy.jpg


And through some clever computer work, came up with this pattern:

PatternBlackandWhite.jpg


Currently cutting the tip and tracing the pattern. If anyone could give me a proper length that would be awesome! If not, it will be around 50".


**UPDATE**
Thought outside the box and googled Orlando Bloom's waist size. Strange enough, I actually found it. 32 1/2". So considering that the Legolas belt is over pants, shirt, AND tunic, I'd say that give it about a 33-34" length minimum. So take that, and the fact that he has to put the end in a knot, I think it's safe to say at least 42", possibly 46". I haven't measured it out yet.
 
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Re: Legolas's Belt

Got the cutting and grooving done already.

2012-01-29155031.jpg


2012-01-29161647.jpg


2012-01-29165011.jpg


Starting the tracing now.

Anyone know where to get Legolas's buckles from?
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

Calling it quits for the night. Got 1/4 of the belt pattern traced out. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow.

2012-01-29201527.jpg
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

That looks awesome ! If you ever make any items for the 2nd age elven warrior
let me know :love
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

***UPDATE***

So I just got home and almost murdered my cats. They happened to knock over my dampening bowl and soaked a section of the belt for an unknown amount of time. I'm trying to salvage it by soaking the entire belt in cold water and letting it air dry. Hopefully this works. If not I will be starting from scratch :'(
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

Cold water shouldn't have any negative effect on the leather whatsoever. Unless there was something mixed into it.
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

Cold water shouldn't have any negative effect on the leather whatsoever. Unless there was something mixed into it.

No, just water. My main concern was it darkening the leather and making it splotchy and show after staining. It seems to be doing well as of now. I will attempt some pattern tracing in the morning while it is still damp.
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

As long as the water in the bowl wasn't really dirty the difference should be negligible. For best results, just soak the rest of the belt while its still wet and let it all dry together.
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

I've gotten back into a LotR kick lately, and your belt just fuels it. The tooling looks great so far, and really looking forward to the progress.
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

Please use an awl for punching holes. The belt will last much longer. With holes that close together, there is a huge risk of the leather ripping between the stitch holes. If you punch with an awl, the leather retains most of it's strength and the leather relaxes over the hole and holds the stitch more securely.
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

I've gotten back into a LotR kick lately, and your belt just fuels it. The tooling looks great so far, and really looking forward to the progress.
Thanks a lot!

Please use an awl for punching holes. The belt will last much longer. With holes that close together, there is a huge risk of the leather ripping between the stitch holes. If you punch with an awl, the leather retains most of it's strength and the leather relaxes over the hole and holds the stitch more securely.

Good to know :thumbsup I don't currently have an awl, but I will be sure to order one. I have never used one, just always punched my holes and have never heard of it weakening the leather. Thanks for letting me know early on in my leathering experience! I don't think I haven't learned something new from each project. :)
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

That is true about the awl, but with the holes punched lengthwise as opposed to across the width of the belt, the odds of the leather tearing, especially in belt thickness, are pretty low. You'd have to use an awful lot of force to make it tear.
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

That is true about the awl, but with the holes punched lengthwise as opposed to across the width of the belt, the odds of the leather tearing, especially in belt thickness, are pretty low. You'd have to use an awful lot of force to make it tear.

That's what I thought.
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

Very excited about this project! I'm getting back into LOTR's as well... It's looking great so far! Glad the cats didn't do too much damage. When I first started reading it I thought it was going to say they chewed it up! Water isn't so bad...
 
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Gorgeous! We're having this made by a friend of our's, along with the rest of his gear.

Your's looks gorgeous! I'm slowly learning the tricks of the leather trade, so I can be this good one day ;)!
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

First of all, thank you all for the kind words! Kind words = Motivation!

Started the tooling work, and ran into some kind-of-obvious issues I didn't notice. The leaves are completely flat on the original, where as my tools leave a somewhat 'dotted' appearance. I'm thinking of making my own tool for this out of a bolt probably. Too late for this belt, but if I ever do another one I can do it flat. Also, the vines are not cut, but what appear to be grooved out. Luckily I caught that before I started cutting the vines on the outside (already cut the ones at the folded portion; Good thing you won't see those!) I will have to get a stand alone groover for the vines, and hope I don't mess it up!

2012-02-01230152.jpg
 
Re: Legolas's Belt

Here are a couple tools I can recommend for you:

Tandy Leather Factory - Craftool Pro Modeling Tool Med/Large Round Spoon

Tandy Leather Factory - B60 Craftool Beveler Stamp

This design isn't cut at all and from what I can see there's no damage done to the leather. The original was most likely not made by hand, but by a special attachment for an embossing machine. Basically a pattern carved into a cylinder. The belt is soaked and then pulled through a machine, and the cylinder sets in a repeating pattern. That would probably be at least $1000 worth of tools though. These ones will allow you to make the same pattern if you're careful enough, which you appear to be from what you've done so far.
 
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