How To Poke A Hole In A Belt

Holes are punched in leather belts as the last step in the manufacturing process or to existing leather belts for a meliorate fit around the waist. This process is typically done with a leather pigsty dial and is relatively unproblematic to achieve.

Although in that location is a wide variety of leather hole punches available in the market, they may not be readily available to you lot. The practiced news is that you'll be able to utilize other tools and methods to punch holes in your leather belt.

The iv best ways to punch holes in belts without using a leather hole punch are to either use a ability drill, a heated smash with pliers, an awl with a mallet, or a manus drill. While we always recommend using a hole dial to achieve the best results, you'll be able to use the above tools to achieve a like result.

Accept note that average belt holes are between 4mm to 6mm (metric units) and five/32 inches to fifteen/64 inches (imperial units) in diameter. Please consider this, when selecting any of the methods that we will go through in this guide. Here's a quick reference that you can use:

• Small chugalug hole size: 4mm (five/32 inches)
• Medium belt hole size: 5mm (thirteen/64 inches)
• Large belt hole size: 6mm (xv/64 inches)

Method 1: Using a Power Drill

The next all-time method to a pigsty punch is using a power drill. For this, you'll demand a power drill and a drill chip that matches the size of your existing belt holes. If you're crafting a leather belt, you tin use drill $.25 that are between 4mm (v/32 inches) to 6mm (15/64").

Important Tips

• Use a drill bit that matches the holes of your leather belt
• Ensure that you leave equal altitude between holes
• Make certain that your leather belt and the wooden block are secure during the process

How to Employ a Power Drill to Punch Holes in Leather Belts

Choose a power drill with your preferred drill bit size. Then, take a pen or an awl to mark exactly where on the belt you plan to drill the pigsty. Lightly marking information technology with an "10" or a simple indent volition practice the trick (if you're adding a hole, ensure that the distances remain the same).

Next, place a wooden block underneath your marked spot and ensure that it's firmly held in place. The wooden block should be at least 2 inches thick to ensure that you don't drill through your table or workspace.

Begin drilling a pigsty until you feel the drill bit has completely penetrated the leather. Leather belts are fairly thick, and then information technology may take a little while. To clean up the edges of the hole, motility the drill upward and down to articulate whatever chaff.

Selecting the most suitable drill bits for your power drill can make a difference in creating a hole that matches all of the others. Y'all should too keep the belt properly secured during the procedure since information technology may begin rotating with the drill.

Method ii: Using a Heated Blast & Pliers

You can likewise punch make clean holes in your leather belt by using a heated boom and pliers. This method is one of the nearly cost-efficient ones on this list and merely requires the two aforementioned components.

The heated nail will penetrate the leather's cobweb construction, creating a round hole. To ensure that the nail matches the size of your belt holes, choose a blast size with a approximate between 4 to eight or penny size 16d to 40d for best results.

How to Employ a Heated Nail & Pliers to Punch Holes in Leather Belts

Begin by simply property the nail with pliers over the stove fire until it heats up enough. If you have an electric stove, you can heat the nail in the oven at 400° F in an oven-safe dish or foil boat for 3 to 5 minutes.

Start by keeping the chugalug firmly stretched on a surface, with ane finish below your foot and the other end in your hand then that you can easily create the hole. Afterward a few minutes, when the blast is heated sufficiently, push the point of the nail where you want to make a hole and apply pressure. Take note that this may take a couple of attempts.

This will result in a make clean, pocket-sized, and regular hole. Y'all can too mark where you want to create a hole beforehand to avert errors.

It may take a few attempts to fully penetrate your leather belt. If that happens, repeat the same procedure by stretching the chugalug and pushing the nail through it using your pliers.

Method 3: Using an Awl & a Mallet

An awl is a tool that is typically used for piercing holes in leather. Although awls are mainly used to make tiny insertions for stitching, they can likewise be used for punching holes into leather belts, with the help of a mallet.

How to Use an Awl & a Mallet to Dial Holes in Leather Belts

Begin by marking where you want the pigsty to be and placing the belt on a wooden block. Adjacent, place the awl over the marked surface area and brand ho-hum and short strokes with the mallet to drive the point into the leather chugalug.

After the awl has penetrated the leather, go along inserting the awl using the force from the mallet until you lot achieve the desired hole size. Keep in listen that you'll demand to select a mallet with an appropriate diameter to match the hole sizes of your chugalug.

While this method is workable, it may not be the best for punching larger holes. This is because, during this process, no parts of leather are removed. Instead, the awl pushes it to the side to create a pigsty.

Method iv: Using a Hand Drill

Using a mitt drill is some other possible and artistic mode of creating a hole in your leather belt. A paw drill works similarly to a power drill, however, you'll need to operate information technology manually.

Compared to a power drill, we but recommend manus drills for smaller-sized holes. This is because the drill bits for hand drills are typically smaller in size drilling larger holes takes a lot more effort.

How to Apply a Hand Drill to Punch Holes in Leather Belts

Like all other methods in our guide, mark the spot of the new hole and place the leather belt on top of a wooden block. Since you'll demand both easily to operate the manus drill, you'll need a partner to agree the chugalug down or a clench.

Later securing the leather belt in place, place the drill bit (matching the size of the desired pigsty) on the marked spot and brainstorm rotating the cranking handle until the drill penetrates the leather.

Initially, you may crave a little more pressure level to ensure that the drill fleck doesn't motion out of position. After that, clean the edges of the hole by moving the drill upward and down and brand sure that you don't apply backlog pressure level on the handle every bit it may suspension.

Methods to Avoid When Punching Holes into a Leather Belt

While the same methods tin can help you create a perfectly round hole in your leather belt, the post-obit are ones you should avert since they do not make circular holes and tin can even cease up damaging the leather or potentially cause injury to you lot.

• Scissors – Pair of scissors are not recommended for creating round holes in your leather belt since the motions of creating a hole expose the sharp side towards the inner side of your hard. Using scissors may as well expose the leather fibers, damaging the material of the chugalug.

• Knives – Information technology isn't easy to create perfectly round holes using knives since it requires time to achieve perfect results. Handling can as well be dangerous as the knife may sideslip on the shine leather surface and offers but express leverage.

• Screws – Many people ask if it'due south possible to create perfect round holes using screws, just that'southward not the instance! Due to its threads, you lot'll stop up inserting the screw into the leather instead of removing parts of it to create a hole. Moreover, pulling out the screw afterwards inserting it into your leather belt may damage it instead.

While you're able to employ most whatever type of method to punch holes in your leather belt, nosotros strongly recommend that you use a leather pigsty dial whenever possible, as this ensures the most effective and efficient results.

Source: https://www.leatherskill.com/punching-holes-in-belts-without-a-leather-punch/

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