Belt Buckle - Making It Yourself

In this video I make a belt buckle from scratch for my 5 year old son to wear on “Go Texan” day. Once a year the rodeo comes to Houston Texas and around that time all the area schools designate a “Go Texan” day where the kids dress up in their best cowboy gear. This tradition dates back to the 1950s, there is usually a program at school were the kids perform different Texas songs and back in my day we even had to learn to Square dance. It’s a celebration of Texas history and the cowboy lifestyle of days gone by.
Well as a part of my son’s cowboy gear I decided to make him a big belt buckle. A buddy of mine gave me some pieces of scrap steel which I used as the main part of the buckle. This is the first time I ever tried to weld anything, so bare that in mind when you see my welds. I actually had to re-do the weld as the first time around it just didn’t hold and simply snapped off. I re-grouped and gave it another go using a different technique and while they sure weren’t pretty welds they did hold. It took a lot of grinding and filing to clean them up but in the end they will work especially since you can’t see them on the back of the buckle. I used a $3 thrift store belt for the leather and attached the buckle using a needle and waxed thread. There are many flaws with this buckle but since my son will only be wearing for one day out of the year I can live with them. I hope you like the video and as always thank you for watching. Also I really liked the idea of posting a video on February 29th.
Music:
The 1st song is: Fringed Trim Boots by Bird Creek
The 2nd song is: Hooky with Sloane by Bird Creek
The 3rd song is: Cross the Road by Silent Partner

[@taragaugler3102]

I, too, love belt buckles! I watched several videos ,not for more than a minute or two. Thank you for keeping it simple! I'm in construction and an artist. So basics, man! This was so great! Thank you.

[@danthemakerman]

Glad you liked it thanks for the comment!

[@Shopcat22]

That is a fine looking belt buckle. Love the hammered look. I think it might have inspired me for new project.

[@MichaelLawing]

That was really cool! I like the contrast with the flat star and the hammered buckle.

[@danthemakerman]

+Michael Lawing Yeah me too I was just going to do the hammered texture but I just felt it needed something else. Thanks for watching.

[@JohnSmith-ki2eq]

Love the hammered effect

[@danthemakerman]

+John Smith Thanks it turned out better than I expected.

[@MrTrashcan1]

Very cool. Rather than sew on the buckle permanently, you could get snaps (Home Depot sells them). Then he could swap out the buckle for others if he wanted. In fact, you could make him other buckles, like one with his name on it.

[@danthemakerman]

Thanks for the tips! Great ideas!

[@JoshMillarTheWoodMillar]

Some very cool techniques in this! Great job!

[@danthemakerman]

Thanks.

[@Woodtoolsworkshop]

Awesome! Fellow Texan here. I've often looked with envy at the guys doing blacksmithing for things like Scarborough Faire (happens about 12 miles from my house). Kudos for adding welding (and leatherwork) to your skillset. What's also awesome is the dobro background music. Who is that?

[@danthemakerman]

+Wood Tools Workshop - Always good to hear from a fellow Texan? Yeah huge respect for blacksmithing, its amazing watching those guys work. Thanks for the kudos but after watching a few more KZbin videos I realize how much I still have to learn. As for the music there are three songs.The 1st one is: Fringed Trim Boots by Bird CreekThe 2nd one is: Hooky with Sloane by Bird CreekThe 3rd one is: Cross the Road by Silent PartnerThanks for watching.

[@HelmetsMotoClub]

great result man, nice story " go texan " day

[@danthemakerman]

+HelmetsMotoClub Thanks for watching.

[@AwesomeWoodThings]

So nice! I mean, really, really nice! Wow!

[@danthemakerman]

+Awesome Wood Things Thanks Matt, its not perfect by any means but not bad for my first time trying something like this.

[@AwesomeWoodThings]

+Dan The Maker Man I briefly mentioned this video on the latest Woodworking Top Videos show that just when live! Thank you for being awesome!

[@ESCAGEDOWOODWORKING]

that was super cool!!

[@danthemakerman]

Thanks man.

[@Cactusworkshopchannel]

cool result man! nice!

[@danthemakerman]

+Cactus! workshop Thanks for watching man.

[@WoodByWright]

sweet! now I want one!

[@danthemakerman]

+Wood By Wright Haha glad you liked it.

[@rogershepherd9995]

Sorry to be offtopic but does anybody know a trick to log back into an Instagram account..? I was stupid forgot my account password. I appreciate any assistance you can offer me

[@maddoxulises1020]

@Roger Shepherd instablaster =)

[@diygeneration5566]

*Nice work! I would do such a buckle by spot welding, I think it's more technologically advanced. And the star can be welded instead of glued. When I will make such a video, I will write you ;-)*

[@muddyfences5559]

Cool tradition and cool build. Your tools look very familiar (HF). Those welders have an inherent frustration that can be fixed with some time and a little cash. Let me know if you want some help with that.

[@danthemakerman]

+Muddy Fences Thanks man I appreciate it, I need all the help I can get. If you want send me an email at [e-mail] with any tips or if you think others will benefit just reply to this comment. Thanks again.

[@muddyfences5559]

I will shoot you an email. In the meantime keep an eye out for an old microwave transformer.

[@uzairchougle385]

How much thick is the sheet which you used to build the star

[@king0fskill57]

look about 1/2 of a inch

[@birensahoo9060]

1000 buckle ka price kitna hai

[@daveosland3199]

Good Job! Did you wax or seal the steel to keep it from rust/tarnish or was it stainless to begin?? Dave

[@danthemakerman]

Thanks, its not stainless just mild steel. I didn't put anything on it, it hangs in my son's closet and I haven't noticed any issues yet. But he only wears it 1 a year so it doesn't see a lot of outdoor action.

[@codyorvis6598]

The welds weren't working the first time be cause you didn't really melt the base metal try starting the arc on the belt buckle and going up to the nail should work better but the plug weld method you used seemed to work pretty good

[@danthemakerman]

Thanks, I have weld a few more things since then but to be honest I still suck at it.

[@nghakmawiachhangte7374]

Nice work

[@danthemakerman]

Thank you!

[@aosadvanced]

That came out great! So cool to see what you created and even welded...cool!

[@danthemakerman]

+Peter Scalzitti Thanks man. Thanks again for the steel I used a piece of the shim material you gave a few weeks ago.