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Baldric Buckle


Jib

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Yes., If it were me., I would get a Brass 3" re-enactors buckle from Tandy Leather (Search Tandy leather) then take it to a Saddle and Tack man....,I am sure they can pop in a few brass rivetts for you.

I am not Lost .,I am Exploring.

"If you give a man a fire, he will be warm for a night, if you set a man on fire, he will be warm for the rest of his life!"

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Where does one find an assortment of buckles large enough for a 2"-3" belt. I've got my brother sculpting a cthullu inspired buckle with tentacles and a wing. But it would be nice to find some nice period... yet funky buckles. Anyone know of such a place?

Pogue

Conceptual Simplicity, Structural Complexity, Achieves a Greater State of humanity.

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Has anyone here ever tried lost wax casting?

I took a class in Lost Wax and jewelry making in High School....

We had a kilm to heat the wax outta the investment plaster.... and a certrafuge to get the moulten metal into the hollow mold.... A bit too complicated just for making a belt buckle tho.... (unless you were going to make a lot of them....) of just go really low-tech......

For making just one or two buckles, it would be more cost efficent to just cut them outta thick sheet brass or sheet metal.... then file (or cheat and use a dremel tool) to "fancy" them up..... then just bend a chunk of brass rod to make the toungue.....

Silver soldering some "filligree" onto the serface may be more work .. but it would look nice for a real fancy buckle.....

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""Has anyone here ever tried lost wax casting? I want to learn so I can make my buckles..""

no need for 'lost wax' unless things are really ornate, or have undercuts or other complicated curves or shapes to be followed, or you wish to mass produce.

For something simple like a belt buckle, you can easily sand cast it. I have made numerous sand casts, some of them quite detailed. Usually I cast in 'white metal' (basically a zinc alloy) but I have also cast Aluminum. Brass is something I have not quite gotten up to, but it is only a matter or heat and a proper crucible (the zinc and aluminum I melt in a simple cast iron pot and ladle)

To sand cast you do not need a 'centrifical caster' just get a high enough riser and proper vents.

You just need a 'pattern' to press into the sand, which can be made of wood, or anything that will hold together. The sand can be as simple as play sand, mixed with some boiled linseed oil (for this type of bonded sand, you need to bake it to harden it so that it will hold together as a mold) I use natural

clay bonded sand that I dug up in my grandmother's back yard, but natural casting sand can be purchased. Anyway, it is a good hobby. Wish you luck on your belt buckle.

No Fear Have Ye of Evil Curses says you...

Aye,... Properly Warned Ye Be says I

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I need something pewter colored.

So... Steel?

You can go with stainless steel if you don't want it to rust. Or use mild-steel, which you can polish, then apply gun-blueing solution to give it a rich, deep-blue-to-black color.

Or you can heat-blue it. But that's a pain in the butt for such a small project.

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"I need something pewter colored"

Jib, pewter is a low melting alloy to my understanding, it could easily be melted in a cast iron ladle over a charcoal briquett fire with draft supplyed by a small shop vac. With a little research, I am sure it would be within your ability, if you were willing to try to learn 'lost wax' Sand casting is quicker and easier, and certainly within the realm of the backyard tinkerer.

No Fear Have Ye of Evil Curses says you...

Aye,... Properly Warned Ye Be says I

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