How to Make a Custom Tooled Leather Belt

[@richardmccain6415]

Nice job on a great looking belt!! Very helpful video!! Thanks for posting!!

[@jakeufford7356]

Glad it helped!

[@klown214]

Thank you for this. I’m about to make my first belt.

[@jakeufford7356]

Awesome! Good luck, let me know how it goes

[@inspectorgadget6510]

Great job! This has me wanting to try to make my own belt now…. Even though iv never done it nor know nothing about it.

[@jakeufford7356]

Go for it! They are a fun project

[@imrekocsis4614]

What an awsome video clear and precise instructions. I have just started leather work and found the instructuons for making and preparing a belt blank very usefull. Please keep up the good work it is greatly appreciated. I discovered your channel yesterday and am working through your content and have foud your tooling video's easy to folloe. Good luck with your caheel, best wishe and regards from Port Elizabeth South Afica.

[@jakeufford7356]

I’m glad you find them useful! Feel free to reach out with any questions!

[@imrekocsis4614]

@@jakeufford7356 Thanks cheers

[@briannalyles2318]

The belt looks amazing, I’m about to start my first belt and this video was very helpful. You hit all the details that I needed as far as how to measure and what hardware was needed (I’m still very new to leather work, only been at it about 3 months so I have a lot to learn) my only question is, from start to finish how long did this take you? I want to make a belt for my dads birthday coming up but I’m awful at time management. I would love to do a belt in one sitting but don’t know how long to plan for it.

[@jakeufford7356]

I’d plan for 2-3 days from start to finish just because certain steps take time to dry, especially dying and antiquing

[@sethterrazas5613]

I'm working on my first belt now and wish I would have watched this before

[@JarvisGandy]

Very cool young Brother .

[@raylenesenke7504]

Looks great like to buy a belt but witch one? Hanks amash bullhide? Witch company??

[@jakeufford7356]

I get leather from both Springfield leather and Montana leather company

[@Kay.Fin.]

So I did comment searching and saw you use montana leather but which exact thing on there do you use? I’m trying to make a few belts for me and my family!! Thank you

[@jakeufford7356]

I use 8/9oz Hermann oak for the top and 2/3 oz Hermann oak for the liner. Another good place to get it is from Springfield leather. For the Chicago screws I get them from Tandy leather but that’s because I have a store local to me. I’m sure you can order those from either Montana leather or Springfield. Let me know if there is anything else I can help with and hope this helps!

[@normanjuarez699]

Nice work.

[@jakeufford7356]

Thank you!

[@joshuatichota5046]

You’re going to go really far with doing leather. 😊

[@kipkirkpatrick475]

Hi, lots of critics in the comments, lol. Thanks for the video I'm about to order a leather working kit and I'm looking for suggestions.

[@jakeufford7356]

I know it’s harsh I was just trying to help. I started with a Tandy starter kit and that did me well.

[@kylarabrown1537]

Hi ! So i’m wanting to start my own western clothing line and obviously i want to have some leather tooled belts with my clothes, if you are a business in making belts, how do you have people order them ? Do they pre order ? and what happens if you get too many orders is that when you start to get a team of people to help ?

[@jakeufford7356]

Hey! If you want to personal message me on Instagram or Facebook I can help answer your questions specifically. But generally I have people order and give them and expected wait time. If I get too many orders I just close incoming orders and try to catch up

[@sienright]

get you a lid and two pair, hit a little duce steps!!! nice work

[@jakeufford7356]

Thank you!

[@richardanderson4916]

You can't use your strap cutter to trim the liner out?

[@jakeufford7356]

You can try but you have to at least cut one side by hand to get it in there

[@mkrak4637]

What spray you used?

[@jakeufford7356]

I used to spray saddle lac like in the video but now use tan kote

[@cristiangarcia8554]

Where do you buy your leather for belts and what type do you use? Also can the same one be used for like roper wallets?

[@jakeufford7356]

I buy from either Montana leather or Springfield leather, If you’re not wanting to buy a whole hide though Springfield will cut the hide for you so that you can buy by the sqft. The type of leather that I use is Hermann oak veg tan leather. It is the same leather that’s used for everything that I tool but the only difference is the thickness. Belts I use 9-10oz and then line them with 2-3oz and wallets I make out of 4-5oz and the inside of wallets I make out of 2-3oz. Hope that helps and feel free to reach out with any more questions!

[@brianshriver104]

Hello! Is the 28” at the beginning of the video the waist size? I am about to start my first belt and I still do not understand the length to do.

[@jakeufford7356]

Yes so the best way to do it would be to measure a belt that you currently wear or if it’s for someone else then the belt that they wear, if you don’t have a belt to get a measurement from than you can just take a measurement around the waist but you have to make sure that you get the tape measure just as tight as you would get the belt if that makes sense. Feel free to message my Instagran @ju_leather or my Facebook @jake ufford leather if you have any more questions!

[@nealmclain6316]

What are you using to go around the letters.

[@jakeufford7356]

Just a paint brush with dye

[@analymoreno7846]

Where do you purchase your leather

[@jakeufford7356]

Montana leather co! I’ve gotten some other exotic hides from places like Frogjelly leather but my tooling leather comes from Montana leather

[@KyBothum]

What kind of pencil are you using when you are drawing out the design on the leather

[@jakeufford7356]

8B, it’s softer so it’ll show up better on the leather and erase easier

[@nynoperales6521]

What’s size or “kind” of leather it’s the one you used for the back

[@jakeufford7356]

I use 2/3oz Herman oak for the backing

[@cashtonlewis5133]

What type of sewing machine do you use and what would be the cheapest one

[@jakeufford7356]

In the video I use a Tippman boss but now I have a cobra class 4, any hand crank machine would be the cheapest option vs something with a motor at least for new machines

[@jojopaul6136]

What is the total thickness of the belt?

[@jakeufford7356]

12oz or so

[@gavycalderon5687]

Do you have a template on how to make the design? Or is something you personally draw?

[@jakeufford7356]

I hand draw every belt that I make, that way I’m able to customize them and add in elements at the request of the customer. There are many templates online though that are great to start on!

[@jakeufford7356]

Otherwise if you have any specific drawing questions feel free to reach out to me on Instagram or Facebook!

[@jakeufford7356]

I just wanted to get back to you and let you know that I just put out a pattern pack and there will be a video about it later today!

[@jojopaul6136]

What is the thickness of the leather?

[@jakeufford7356]

9/10oz for the tooled piece and 2/3oz liner

[@jojopaul6136]

@@jakeufford7356 Thanks a ton!

[@jojopaul6136]

@@jakeufford7356 Thank you so much

[@jasonking2943]

Did you freehand the design?

[@jakeufford7356]

Yes I did

[@jasonking2943]

@@jakeufford7356 that's awesome man you rock

[@jakeufford7356]

@@jasonking2943 I appreciate the compliment!

[@shed.projects5150]

belts definately work better with a buckle

[@jakeufford7356]

Just gotta open the Chicago screws and put a buckle in, all of my customers do rodeo and have their own trophy buckles to put on the belt. Otherwise any 1.5in buckle will fit on it

[@LucianaKAssis]

Lindo seu trabalho, parabéns!

[@jakeufford7356]

obrigada!

[@samplasse9886]

Could you possibly give a lost of everything you used in this video? Some of the tools and stuff ya used i got no idea what they are.

[@theristis9451]

Couldn’t tell how you punched in the design trying to learn myself

[@jakeufford7356]

It’s called tooling the leather, I draw in the design, get the leather damp and then use different tools to stamp in the design. That’s just an overview

[@lukasparo194]

Damn here I am like yea where’s the part where he pressed that pattern in….. there goes the custom belts for Christmas idea lol

[@jakeufford7356]

you can plan for next christmas lol

[@lukasparo194]

Gonna have to..Atleast I'll have a custom belt...Shhhh practical present practice

[@baciliozamora2552]

Price on your belts

[@jakeufford7356]

Depends on design. Something like this would be in the range of $175. If you’re interested feel free to send me a message on my Facebook page and we can get subverting figured out!

[@TheRobq7]

Good looking belt!!!!! I enjoyed this video, but I almost gave you a thumbs down. The title of the video leads one to believe you'll be showing how to do the tooling. You only got technical with the very basic lay out of the belt. Brother, I'm not trolling or being mean, just an honest critique. There were a lot of little details that were not explained and that seems like a lost opportunity. I would love to see you do another similar video with a more in depth explanation of your work.

[@jakeufford7356]

Thank you for your feed back! I was not trying to be misleading with the title so I apologize but I see where there could be confusion. The reason that I don’t go into detail about things like the actual tooling itself and drawing is because I learned all of those things from KZbin or paid for online courses and it wouldn’t be right for me to steal their content and turn around and try and say it was mine. Otherwise do you have any other specific things that you felt I missed out on? I’d appreciate you letting me know and I can keep them in mind for future reference! I’m new to KZbin and making videos so I appreciate the feedback! If you have any questions that you’d like me to answer specifically please feel free to reach out to me on my Instagram @ju_leather

[@blkcc1]

@@jakeufford7356 Since you asked about things to make your videos better, I have a couple ideas. First I would like to say you do great, I would like to see you get more views and subscribers. Tighten the shot to show more of your custom work, that's why people come to watch! Use bright lights on your work subject, it'll seem too bright to you in person but will look great on video because cameras work better with light and loose quality when the ambient light gets darker. I have done YT videos and always fail on this! I have also learned that even with a "not-great" video people will watch as long as it has good sound. You can also take a video like this and break it down to a belt layout video, and a staining and antiquing video, a carving video, you know like a couple 10 min videos rather than a single 30 min video. I mention this because constant and consistent videos will build an audience. Remember that even though you paid for training or watched other videos, you personalize it in your own way when you do it. I'm sure you probably picked up a couple hints here and there making it your own. I'd also hammer down the threads and/or use a groover for the thread line to make it more flat and resistant to abrasion and wear. Keep up the great work and I wish you YT success and your leather company success in the coming year(s).

[@jakeufford7356]

Thanks for the suggestions! This video I filmed on my iPad and since then I have gotten a new camera and a little LED light to have some more lighting and I should be able to get some better angles. As far as video length I like that idea and am looking to make more shorter videos with less broad topics to make it easier to post consistently. As far as stitching since I made the belt video I have put a lot of time in with my sewing machine learning the ins and outs of it and have much better stitching then I used to. Although I haven’t had luck getting the stitch groover to work. Thanks again for the suggestions! I will keep them in mind

[@richardanderson4916]

You could save yourself a lot of time if you took a small scrap of wood and two smaller scraps, built a little bridge so your inch and a half belt fit exactly under it, then mark the top of tge bridge exactly in the middle. Then you could slide it up and down your belt always knowing exactly where the center of the belt is in an instant. Just a suggestion.

[@jakeufford7356]

I just use a wing divider and set that up at half. Maybe if punching holes took longer I could build a jig for it but punching holes is only around 5-10 minutes of the overall process

[@cathyshafer8962]

You “sped-up” the process I tuned in to watch

[@jakeufford7356]

Which part were you looking to see?

[@annikaanderson4624]

Watchinf this gave me a brain aneurysm

[@jakeufford7356]

Get well soon 🙏

[@pozaszlakiem3376]

The beginning of the movie was going to be interesting. later you used a sewing machine that sews awful. Finally, you destroyed effect without burning the edge. As for me, 6/10 rating.

[@jakeufford7356]

Thanks for the feedback! I’ve improved on sewing and edges since this video was made. As for the 6/10 I’ll take it

[@yes-ld1qc]

This gave me ptsd flashback

[@jakeufford7356]

Get well soon🙏

[@readytostartshooting]

Do u have a video on how you stain yours and thats on the basket weave with them diagonal stamped ?

[@jakeufford7356]

I have a video on how to color but I’d like to do an updated video soon