the start of my Balteus

[thecrocman (anton)]

this is the start of my Balteus project

the leather




the leather cut


this balteus will hopefully after it is done will be a centurions belt with tinned
plates

[thecrocman (anton)]

more to come soon (at least i hope)

[M. Demetrius]

Is that belly leather? somehow, isn't that just like it should be?

[Aetius Helvius Merula]

Dude, best of luck with your balteus. That was my first reenactment project. Are you making your own plates?

[JVL]

What thickness is the leather?

I have one question too about my own balteus plan:

Are there any finds of plain, simple belt plates found aprox. 150 A.D.?

[Primvs Pavlvs]

I hope thats not belly leather as it appears to be. If it is! It will stretch all to pieces.

[Magnus]

It shouldn't be too bad paul for a belt, since it won't be load bearing. Plus the plates will hopefully help with that a bit.

[thecrocman (anton)]

I hope thats not belly leather as it appears to be. If it is! It will stretch all to pieces.

from your comment i am sad to say yes :oops:

What thickness is the leather?

about 6 oz plus or minus 1 oz

Are you making your own plates?

i hope to at least i will try to make then my self and if they doe turn out good
i will buy them

[thecrocman (anton)]

here is the start of the buckle. does the shape of the buckle look ok to you ?



and the pugio holders

[M. Demetrius]

The shape matches fairly closely to some of the buckles that are seen. Many, if not most of the buckles people have talked about on this group seem to have been cast rather than worked plate. It would be much easier, if a smith had the choice, to sand cast a buckle than to work it out from sheet, I'd think. The choice of buckle shape, if I'm not totally off the mark, depends a lot on the century that you're depicting. They changed quite a bit from pre-Julius Caesar days to Hadrian's Wall days. Chime in somebody with pictures and such, and help the man out, please.

But don't follow my advice, I'm not an expert on much of anything at all. The belly leather should do all right for a belt, and as someone pointed out, the plates will give it stiffness. For futures, though, shoulder or back is stronger and less elastic. Also, the leather guys know that, and charge more for it. Who told them, anyway?

6 oz ought to be ok. I have a couple of civilian belts (no plates, just leather and a buckle) made from about that weight, and they do just fine.

[Matt Lukes]

My understanding is that it matters greatly whether it's veg-tanned leather or not- apparently, according to the lady at the leather place I go to, veg-tanned belly leather doesn't have such a huge tendency to stretch. You could always address the issue if it is of concern by running a stitch down each edge.

The buckle pattern you have Anton is a bit too 'spade' shaped- it should be a clean curve.

[M. Demetrius]

Here's a couple of buckles. I think this was snagged from Holger Ratsdorf's site. Your drawing is definitely on the right track. Keep after it! you want to have the right shape, because by the time you've filed and ground and cut and polished, it's a shame if it's the wrong thing after all that labor, you know?

Sorry if my previous post was not as instructive as it could have been.

[thecrocman (anton)]

ok i see now i will most likely try to copy number 5

thank very much for the pic

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Yes, those are definately Holger's work Dave!

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

It' not Holger. It's Hans Binsfeld work:

http://www.binsfeld-replikate.de/pix/Sc ... mplett.jpg