Hello, I am contemplating crafting some Western style belt buckles.
Can anyone sugest the proper guage metal I should use for sturdiness
and heft?
I use 20 ga
Hi Chris,
Making buckles is one of my favorite products.
You dont say tho in what material you plan to make them.
That depends on the target customer, you could make then from solid
silver, or from brass. Let us know.
In the mean time I make mine from 2 parts, the back which is in
75/25 cu/zn ductile gildinjg alloy, some 3/32 or up to 3mm thick,
with the fronts minted to proof coin quality in sterling, bronze, and
nickel brass. this is 1mm thick and is riveted to the back with 4
1/16thin same metal rivets.
the whole buckle is made cold, no soldering.
I use 3 shapes, a 3in by 2in oval, a 3in round, and a 2.5in by 4in.
These are blanked out on my 6 ton power crank press, as are the
fronts prior to minting.
I use a brass template to mark where the 3 fly press tool tabs are
to be pierced leaving the tabs 1/4in wide by 1/2in long upstanding
all on one side of course.
One is then dressed with suitable punches to make the hook, and the
other 2 are dressed down over the wire rectangle that holds the
metal to leather clip.
This wire rectangle is made from stainless 3/32in wire held between
2 pieces of steel in my 3rd hand dressed round the front piece then
lifted off the jig.
The leather clip eliminates the need to double back the leather
behind the buckle, so it lays much flatter. Simple but impossible to
describe!! I make the backs in batches of 20, and the fronts are also
minted in batches of 20, I have many different dies to do this with my
minting kit.
Depending wether its a buckle to seriously hold up trousers, or a
ladies dress buckle for an evening outfit, the leather is another
story.
hope this helps.
ted.
I’ve made buckles from 20 ga copper appliqued on 18 ga brass. I’ve
roller printed patterns on 12 ga copper for buckles with one piece of
metal; I’d guess the final thickness was about 14 ga. 16 ga is about
as thin as I’d go without an appliqued border.
At least 16 gauge, probably 14
Thanks for the This gives me a lot to think about.
Chris Anderson