IHG-083 - Big Brass Belt Buckle
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Patinating nicely.
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As much as I love this buckle, every time I wore it I found myself wishing it wouldn’t stand up so high on one end and wanted it to sit flatter and more level on my denim. Last week I found a local/nearby welding shop and took it for tinkering. I asked them to remove the pin, grind down the two lateral supports where the pin attaches, amd reattach the pin leaving only 7 mm of free space between pin and buckle plate. This is the end result…
The welding caused a bit of discoloration/color shift, which is visible both on the welded spots but also on the face of the buckle. The welder explained that the copper bit of brass ‘moves’ out of the alloy mix and collects in certain spots, giving rise to the pinkish/coppery tint. I think the color shift looks good!
Really happy with the change in functionality…the pics show how it looks from above when worn. (Unfortunately I never took pics before the deed)
I’m sure everybody that owns one of these will be able to see the change. Going forth, I think that any future buckles of this type only need a space under the pin equal to twice the thickness of the belt intended for use.
Really interested in what other buckle owners think about this.
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@motojobobo I'm just now seeing this post. I’ve been wanting to do this exact thing since I bought this buckle. Like @sabergirl I basically quit wearing mine because of this issue which is a shame because it’s such an awesome buckle. I really need to find someplace to do this.
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Looking at @Chap ‘s solution made me realize there is a simpler fix. The Chap solution may be of interest and use to @xtcclassic , @neph93 and @sabergirl !
Thread your belt around your waist the other way around. That way, the longish supports will sit lower on your denim. The right side (looking from the wearer’s perspective) of denim is ‘lower’ than the left half. That height difference will nearly compensate for the long pin supports of the buckle. That would be the simplest fix…kudos to @chap for that breakthrough!
Of course, tightening the belt with the ‘wrong’ hand is a non-trivial exercise, as I discovered playing around with this change!
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Cheers @motojobobo I just thought it was meant to be worn this way