Official Thread - Braided Belt

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The Parts of Star Wars (a great site which I was dismayed to find is gone, having not been there in a while) had the braided belt listed as being part of a horse bridle. They had some photos of a similar braided bridle, and it was dead-on accurate.
 
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Pics from the Jango mannequin at Cel2:
jango_06.jpg


jango_35.jpg
 
Those look a little on the thick side. I don't think that each braid could be much thicker than 1/4". There are 20 braids and the girth is about 5 1/2" to 6" wide.
 
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Look also, in Horse tack for "braided leather lunge line". These are a constant thickness throughout their entire length, and come up to 30' long! On the down side though, it'll still probably take 2-3 to get a 14 strand girth, depending on your waist measurement.

Good luck!

-Sarge
 
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The braid is a 4 strand 1/4" round braid. It is not hard to do, just time consuming. I will be purchasing the leather in a couple of weeks & I'll keep you posted on the progress. I'll also take pics for a tutorial that I'll host on my website.
 
The belt could be made with whip rope. The kind used to make bullwhips and such. Doing a search proved that this route would not be the most cost effective but probably one of the quickest routes.
 
Okay Fetters,

After much searching and scouring of the Imperial databanks, I have FOUND IT!!! THE SECRET OF THE BRAIDED BELT!

Now, it'll take a while, but just sit down in front of the TV for a couple of hours and get it done.

This is the site that shows how to make a 4-strand round braid, EXACTLY like Jangos belt.

Now, according to sources, Jango had about 20 of these single braided ropes fit together to make one large belt.

So, here's the scoop -

Just go to any hobby or craft or fabric store and get leather laces or leather string, 1/8" in size.

Since your braiding will actually shorten the leather quite a bit, the length of each strand of leather lace will need to be approximately 3x your waist size.

And since you actually double-over the lace to make 4 strands from 2, your strands need to be 2x the 3x of your waist size.

Confused? Okay, I'm a waist size 36, so 3x that is 108 inches. So, I'll need 4 strands of 108 inch leather string.

BUT

Since it's actually 2 strands just doubled over to make 4, that's actually 216 inches. So for each braid, I'll need 2 strands of leather at a length of 216 inches, each.

All in all, for me, that 40 strands of leather lace (or string), 1/4" in diameter, and each 216inches long. Sounds like a BIG project.

Got it??

Then go and print out this site:

http://www.rudedogleather.com/classes/4cord1/4cord1.html

Thank me later, guys...let's get some belts made!!


***********EDIT***********
After starting my braids last night while watching Shark Week, discovered a couple of things. First, 1/8" leather will work fine! I got a few spools of it at a Michaels Craft Store in Texas. $10 for 75 feet. Which is good for several braids.

Now, my above calulations for the lengths of leather needed were a little exaggerated. 4 strands of 108" leather were enough to go amost 1 1/2 times around my waist. So, beware of that.

Plus, the leather will stretch a bit after it is braided.

That being said, make your own appropriate calculations and good luck!!
 
Mirax,

Yes, you should be able to find spools of leather lace or leather string (use the 1/8", it's pretty common) in the Leather Craft section of many hobby/craft stores.

And yes, the process is very similar to making bracelets, but even more so to making bullwhips, which is how I found the tutorial in the first place.

Good luck!!
 
Here's something I Found while surfing the same site BArdo found the braid instructions.
http://www.rudedogleather.com/classes/lace/lace.html
Since I haven't found any leather lace that was thin enough to get that look of the belt on the C2 mannequin (see top of page) I figure why not make it. Get this tool, hit the thrift stores and find a brown leather jacket for reasonably cheap, seam rip it, and use the pieces to make lace that is the perfect thickness for a braid. Not to mention, you'll get more lace from the jacket than any spool you'd buy.. And probably cheaper.
 
I've heard Velcro, and I've heard buckles. I know the ammo belt is attached with velcro cuz you can see it in the pic of the C2 manequin up on the top of this thread. As for the braided belt... Maybe whojedi can enlighten us as he got to play with the C2 Manequin.
 
connecting the braids

Well my first braided belt i made
seen here http://starwarsparty.com/braided_belt/index.htm
has material stitched on the back of each individual braid but i don’t like the look of it- even though it is on the back! so my new one (with more accurate braids that look AWESOME) I am using very thin leather chord/thread to weave each braid to the other. this is much cleaner and more flexible as well as being a bit lighter. then the connection in the back will have two nylon or leather straps (haven’t decided yet, with quick release plastic buckles. then the whole thing will be covered with a strip of leather, like seen in the pictures in this thread. this belt is going to be AWESOME! a bit more expensive than I originally thought due to the time and materials, but it will be VERY screen accurate
 
Good work Dave... Looks like the one I'm working on. What kind of lace are you using? I'm making my own with a large piece of upholstery hide and one of those lace maker tools I posted about earlier. I went this route because all the pre-made lace I found in the store was to thick and made the braid look bumpy.
 
I finished mine about 2 weeks ago. Here's a quick scan of it.
What I did was, after the leather was braided, I took a 6 1/2" strip of a thin leather, and made a belt out of it. Then I glued all of them down tightly to the belt (the back side of the belt), with leather cement. Works like a charm!!!
site1002.jpg

If I REALLY feel motivated......I MAY make more.
 
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