Any suggestions as to how a ranger style belt buckle can be formed, bent. I don't have a metal shop to fabricate forms or a press to apply pressure except for a large mechanist vice.
A very simple method is to use a denim jeans legs, two layers, filled with sand, a blunt and rounded piece of pine and a hammer. From it with the face of the buckle against the sand bag and the wood "punch" against the back, hit the wood with a hammer but go easy at first until you see the results you want. JMO
You can make forms from wood, cast resins, or thermoplastics and use the vise you have or borrow a bigger one and maybe a use a piece of pipe as a cheater bar. (If it's a Chinese vise, maybe better think twice?)
Somewhere, years ago, I saw a tutorial type Internet article on the use of a vise as a metal forming press - but can't seem to find it...
Dig around, you may have better luck?
The buckle and loop(s) are not gonna be as much of problem as forming a tip with these soft forming materials - but you can get around that by fabricating it from 3 pieces. Top, bottom, and a "ribbon/strip" between 'em...
Brian
"There are those who constantly divide the people of the world into two kinds - and those who do not." - Robert Benchley
Bruce Cheaney out of Gainesville, Texas has a ton of videos on YouTube, I remember one showing how he does some doming of buckles and conchos, as well as his jig for bending keepers. You might check his out there, he also has several other helpful videos on the subject of buckles, Spurs, bits, and leather too. (Also, If you are hard pressed for work space, an easy why to start out is to order premade items, I know it takes away the sole authorship of an item, but for me starteing out it made things alot easier. www.Stevesfinethings.com has alot to offer and wont cost you too much. )
I have a casting 9"x9" square and about 3/4" thick of old lead pipe I melted down to use as a catch for firearm pins and I've used that to dome buckles and pendants also.
initially i made a set out of oak. later i used an automatic cutting torch to cut a set in 2"thick steel. if you cut a set , you'll want to make the radii of the negative and positive curves a bit tighter than the curve you want on the buckle. this because the buckle will spring back a bit.
