3rd Century Roman Ivory Ring-Buckle Belt Reconstruction

[Tarbicus]

Thoroughly non-authentic, and not the real deal in any way, but in the interests of animal conservation and the bank balance there is this alternative which also requires some pleasant relaxing time being creative:
[url:3irxxc02]http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/MainPages/faux-ivory.htm[/url]
[url:3irxxc02]http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_faux_other/article/0,,HGTV_3401_1370888,00.html[/url]
[url:3irxxc02]http://www.desiredcreations.com/howTo_CAivoryHorn.htm[/url]


And sword related :wink:
[url:3irxxc02]http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=64214&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=[/url]

[caiusbeerquitius]

Some news.
I have finsished all ivory parts except for the two pendants which will be finished next monday or tuesday:


I organized myself a skin of vegetable tanned sheep blank leather ( only the rest on the picture ) :


I cut out two identical straps of leather in the desired from for the belt itself, and two more for the elongated strap end.
I dyed the leather red, and brought it to a car-saddler to make the skiving. Car-saddlers usually have a rarely used skiving machine around, which helps you to get quick, cheap and professional skiving for your leather works

Next step was to fold the leather edges over and to glue them into place. Then I cut out a piece of linen to go between the two leather strips. I glued everything together. This is the result:




The next step will be to make the edge-stitching with blue linen-thread.

[Tarbicus]

Mmmm

Nice.

[aitor iriarte]

Excellent work, Christian!
Therefore, what is the exact cross-section of your belt and on which sources have you relied to adopt it? :?:

Aitor

[caiusbeerquitius]

Cross-section:

leather, skin outside upwards, edges folded over to the inside
linen
leather, skin outside downwards, edges folded over to the inside

pic:


Based on several bog findings of baltei,
and an unpublished iron-age belt from southern Germany (Weilheim bog)
and a long discussion with Holger.

[aitor iriarte]

Mmmh I recall having had a (shorter) discussion by phone about that with Holger...
At first I thought that the belt cants would appear strange if made that way but you're convincing me... Are details of those baltei available?
Which thickness of leather (and linen) have you used?

Thanks!

Aitor

[caiusbeerquitius]

Well, I used the sheep skin just as it came. Sheep blank leather is quite thin (between 1.0 and 1.4 mm). This is also, what mekes it necessary to have the double-leather-construction. The linen is necessary to keep the leather from bending into undesired shapes. The finer the linen, that is the more threads per cm, the better. But also a regular linen will do. The linen-thread-stitching gives stability to the whole construction and keeps the two leather layers on the right point of each other.
One of the most difficult things was to get a hand on the vegetable tanned blank sheep leather ... :?

The baltei are in:

Stjernquist, B. 1954: 'Runde Beschlagplatten mit Befestigungsöse', Saalburg-Jahrbuch 13, 59-68

See also
C. Engelhardt, Vimose Fundet, 1869 (?)

[caiusbeerquitius]

Don´t know why I never posted this, but anyway, here it is:

[Marcus Mummius]

Nice!!!! 8)

[Primvs Pavlvs]

Christian,

Would you please post some close up photos of how the two layers of linen meet? I misunderstood your earlier post. ( I think)


Thanks,

[caiusbeerquitius]

I made a brief drawing, and two close-ups:

[Marcus Julius]

There are plenty of substitutes out there if you do not, or cannot use real ivory. There is even a product called Ivorex I believe. Its made from real ivory. Its bonded together with some type of resin, or glue. I have seen knife handles made from this, and you could not tell it wasn't real ivory. It even ages, and works like the real thing. You could also try producing this in bone, or antler.

I forgot to add that there are several sources here in the US which you can purchase mammoth ivory, and its not that expensive for something of this size. Also there is a cheaper alternative that gives a good look of ivory. Its tagua nuts http://www.oneworldprojects.com/products/tagua.shtml

One other thing to consider when deciding to go with real or synthetic ivory - is whether or not you plan on travelling with your gear in the future. Ivory will likely require TWO CITES permits every time you cross an international border (not sure if there might be any kind of exceptions for EU countries). You will need a permit both for the country you are leaving, and for the country you are entering. If you don't believe me, ask the police bagpipe band who had their pipes taken away because they didn't have CITES permits for the ivory mouthpiece.

What about to use another kind of ivory like ones from walrus or hipopotam? Is legall?

Depends on your definition of legal. Both of those animals are also CITES regulated. It's all legal, as long as there's a paper trail. Even if an animal is SO endangered that harvesting one of them is completely illegal, you will still have natural deaths (in a zoo or such) from which ivory can be legally obtained. Personally, I am still undecided on which would be better - use of a more common ivory, such as Elk which doesn't require a permit, or a pure synthetic. One one hand, at least it's still ivory, but on the other hand, if it's not authentic it's simply not the real thing, and it doesn't matter what the substitute is.

More information can be found at the CITES website.

So back from hijacking the thread. Very nice belt, and great work on the ivory.

[Martin Moser]

Very nicely done, Christian! What did you use to dye the leather with, btw?

[Robert Vermaat]

That is candy to the eye.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Wow, awsome thread Christian! I am impressed!
Also, while I am against the poaching of ivory, it would be a double shame not to utilise that which is legally available! To just burn it would be a crime as well!


That is a very nice belt!