Belt Making Experiments
Posted: 27 Jun 2013, 17:21
This will be a description of my prototyping efforts, stemming from a request made by Pyra on this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=175&start=20
I would not put someone in an aluminum chastity belt long term because there has been a lot of noise in the medical community about the long term effects of exposing the skin to aluminum powder and aluminum compounds, often found in underarm deodorants. (Here's an article on the subject: Aluminum in Deodorants
However, aluminum does make a great prototyping material because it's soft and malleable, easy to cut and flange, readily available, and affordable. I buy aluminum flashing in 20" x 10' rolls from Home Depot for less than $15 US, and that's enough to make about three belts. Aluminum Roof Flashing
The first step is to make a pattern. What I generally do is have the person who will be wearing the belt is put on a poly or satin high-waist brief-style panty (tucking if necessary if they're male) and stand with their feet apart about shoulder width.
I then wrap their waist tightly with duct tape, above the hips and only on the top of the panty. This is the start of the waist belt. From the front center of that, I run duct tape down, around the crotch, and up the back to the duct tape waist belt. That's the start of the chastity part of the belt. I then layer more duct tape to make the shape I want the belt to be, as I prefer the front part to be wider than a simple strap - more like the front of a narrow thong kind of shape. By the time I'm done, the duct tape averages three layers thick in most places, a little thicker where there's more overlap of the pieces. I cut down both sides to remove this mess, then I cut off the exposed panty fabric as it's not part of the pattern - it was only to keep the duct tape from sticking to the person's flesh. The pattern is the duct tape. Using a satin, nylon or poly panty is best because those fabrics have the least stretch and the duct tape pattern will curl less once it's cut off. I've found spandex, cotton, and microfiber to cause too much curling of the tape because the fabrics have a lot of tension in them to make them fit snugly so they don't show through clothing.
I then flatten out the duct tape mess on a piece of corrugated cardboard (from large boxes), and I transfer the pattern with a sharpie, adding a little length on the sides I cut to give some overlap later. I cut that out with an x-acto knife, and trim and adjust slightly to make both sides the same, left and right. This is why I use 20" wide aluminum roofing flashing because front and back that gives me a potential 40" circumference of the waist belt without any overlap, and since all of the belts I've prototyped so far were fitted to people with a much narrower waist, the 20" width (times two) leaves plenty of room for overlap if I extend the waist belt part to the width of the flashing.
Next, I unroll the aluminum flashing a bit over a metal grate I use as a cutting table, and I place the cardboard pattern on top of that and center it, and once it's aligned to my liking I put bricks on it to hold it in place. I fire up the plasma cutter and trace around the cardboard, rubbing the edge of the cutting nozzle on the cardboard edge. I use a "Versa Cut" plasma cutter which cost me about $800 several years ago, and it's smallish, lightweight, and has a built in air compressor and runs on 120V. It cuts the thin aluminum like a hot knife in butter. Cut quickly as to avoid burning the cardboard.
The cutting nozzle has a diameter to it, so the cut will be outside the pattern slightly. I made a bushing that fits on the nozzle and remains there by an interference fit that increases that diameter so that the cut in the aluminum is 3/8" larger than the pattern all the way around. This extra 3/8" all the way around is very important.
Cut aluminum has very sharp edges, and since the belt has been cut out 3/8" larger in all directions, I now have 3/8" around the perimeter of the belt to flange and fold over, making a rounder edge that's not sharp. What I do is put the corrugated cardboard pattern over the cut piece and center it, and trace with a fine point sharpie the pattern again, so I have a visual of the 3/8" margin around the pattern, which I use as a guide for flanging and rolling it over on itself which makes the smoother, rounded edge we want to have.
I do that the old school way - I place the pattern on an anvil - which is just a 4" square, inch thick piece of steel welded to a 2" metal square post that I clamp in a vice, and beat the edge with a large wooden hammer over the edge of the anvil and I keep doing that all the way around the belt. Once I have the whole belt flanged with an approximate 90 degree bend, I then bend that over more by laying the belt on the workbench top with the flanges facing up, I put a dull wood chisel behind the fold, then beat the fold over with the same wooden hammer. The purpose of the chisel is to help the flange bend on the crease and not roll more of the aluminum over. A wood chisel is the wrong tool to use but I have one so I use it. Once I've gone around the perimeter, I then lay the aluminum flat and beat the flanges down the rest of the way with the wooden hammer.
I then place the corrugated cardboard template over the flanged aluminum belt to check to see how close it is. If it's really close and consistent around the perimeter, I then have the person who is going to wear it stand as they did before, and I wrap the belt up their crotch and fold it around their lower body. To fasten the chastity belt temporarily, I use an old seat belt that has been sewn into a loop. I fasten the bucket on the front of the belt where it's the flattest, and pull the belt to tighten it, making sure the back part overlaps the front part on both sides. I then measure the overlap on both sides, add them together, then divide by two and now I have the same overlap measurement for both sides.
I take the belt off the person, set the overlap and bore an appropriately sized hole through both pieces of the overlap, to install a large snapper on each side. The two halves of the snapper are installed using a punch and a hammer, and once done this will keep the prototype belt on. I then have the person wear the belt for a while, and I mark it with a sharpie where the person says it pinches or chaifs throughout the day. Some trouble areas will be immediately obvious, others you'll find out only after the person has worn the belt for a while. You then use this information to make a new pattern, or adjust the original one depending on how it pans out.
---
Another material I've experimented with is carbon fiber (and fiberglass, the process is the same and much less costly). The difference in the making process is a little different because you make the belt on the person and there is no cardboard pattern. Because of the resin used, carbon fiber and fiberglass belts end up being less flexible so you can't lay them flat to make patterns then roll them around a person's body.
Because there won't be a pattern, any shape adjustments have to be made to the person's body before you begin. I've found that "firm control" undergarments work very well for this, and have the person wear one size smaller than they would normally select to achieve maximum compression. Something like this: Spanx Slimplicity
With the undergarment on, I have the person stand with their feet about shoulder width, and I wrap them diligently in saran wrap, from the knees to the top of the undergarment which is usually well above the navel. Here is the order I do the wrapping:
1. I wrap one overlapping layer around the hips to start. Since it overlaps it will stay in place long enough for the next wrap.
2. I wrap a piece from the navel, through the crotch, and up the back to around the same height. I trim this with scissors before pressing it on to self-stick.
3. I wrap one overlapping layer around both thighs.
4. I then place a piece of saran wrap from one knee to the other, following the inside of the thighs and across the crotch, trying to leave a little extra to "tuck in" near the crotch, slicing it part way here and there to allow it to flex and stretch around the tight bend of the crotch area as it transitions from thigh to thigh.
Then I repeat that a few times to get about three, maybe four layers. This helps ensure there are no seams for the resin to leak through onto the skin. The reason why I don't use duct tape is I don't want this mess to stick to the expensive compression undergarment. This allows it to be reused for more experiments.
The next step is to lay the fiberglass or carbon fiber. Have the person lie down on their back on the work table with their hips and waist area over a cut open hefty bag, and re-tuck any of the saran wrap that moved to make sure it won't leak. Now, cut out pieces of fiberglass mat or carbon fiber and drape that on the saran wrap, making sure there's a little overlap. Take them off, brush on a thin coating of resin onto the saran wrap, then re-lay the fiberglass or carbon fiber onto the wet resin, stipling more resin on top to fully wet it. Add more layers.
Obviously you can only do the front while the person is laying on their back but go around the sides as far as you can without the fiberglass or carbon fiber pulling away. I generally do about three layers because when dry, that will be rigid enough to work on after it's removed but it's still thin enough to be cut. Dry time depends on the heat and humidity in your work area, which is why I've only done this in the early summer when it's hot and not very humid - this shortens dry time. So does blowing a large fan on the area. The person you are modeling the belt on will have to lie there for a long while. Music in headphones helps pass the time.
Once dry to "tacky", I have the person flip over onto a new cut-open hefty bag and I do the back in the same fashion, making some overlap to the partial sides that are already there from before. Again, three layers is probably enough. This time you have to wait until it's not all that tacky, because you want it to retain shape after cutting it off on the sides. I use a rounded edge scissor as not to cut the expensive firm control undergarment or the person's flesh, and I cut through the saran wrap. Once it's cut on both sides, if you've let it dry enough, you can peel off a lot of the saran wrap but not all of it. The belt will also be a little floppy but not terrible, and you can reshape it manually on the bench using any kind of sander. I use a 1" wide belt sander most of the time. Shape the edges all the way around and measure to make sure it's as symmetrical as you can get it. I sand out the remaining saran wrap by hand, using 60 or 80 grit paper. I don't make it perfect, but you want the new layers of fiberglass or carbon fiber to bond with the same material, since the resin won't stick to the saran wrap.
From there, just wet the belt with resin by brushing it on, and add layers of fiberglass or carbon fiber mat on top of that, cutting it to shape as you go. Wet it afterwards for the next layer. I generally do three layers at a time, then after it's fully dry (overnight) I'll lightly score it with sandpaper for a few more layers. One of the things I always do is stiple fiberglass or carbon fiber along all the edges, so that they're far rounder than how they're left from shaping. Stipling over an edge is difficult and takes some practice.
The more layers you put on, the stronger the belt will be. Once there are enough layers to where I'm satisfied as to the strength and stiffness of the belt, I use a disc sander with a medium sandpaper to shape and smooth the edges facing the skin a little further. The only thing left to do is create the closure mechanism on the sides - for my experiments thus far I've just drilled holes and fed workboot shoelaces through because they're durable and can withstand a tight bend. The belt is then installed on the person, and the laces tied. Because these are prototypes, I haven't worked about locking mechanisms or a person's desire to remove the belt themselves, because they're not permanent belts to begin with. I made them to experiment and play with different techniques.
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=175&start=20
I would not put someone in an aluminum chastity belt long term because there has been a lot of noise in the medical community about the long term effects of exposing the skin to aluminum powder and aluminum compounds, often found in underarm deodorants. (Here's an article on the subject: Aluminum in Deodorants
However, aluminum does make a great prototyping material because it's soft and malleable, easy to cut and flange, readily available, and affordable. I buy aluminum flashing in 20" x 10' rolls from Home Depot for less than $15 US, and that's enough to make about three belts. Aluminum Roof Flashing
The first step is to make a pattern. What I generally do is have the person who will be wearing the belt is put on a poly or satin high-waist brief-style panty (tucking if necessary if they're male) and stand with their feet apart about shoulder width.
I then wrap their waist tightly with duct tape, above the hips and only on the top of the panty. This is the start of the waist belt. From the front center of that, I run duct tape down, around the crotch, and up the back to the duct tape waist belt. That's the start of the chastity part of the belt. I then layer more duct tape to make the shape I want the belt to be, as I prefer the front part to be wider than a simple strap - more like the front of a narrow thong kind of shape. By the time I'm done, the duct tape averages three layers thick in most places, a little thicker where there's more overlap of the pieces. I cut down both sides to remove this mess, then I cut off the exposed panty fabric as it's not part of the pattern - it was only to keep the duct tape from sticking to the person's flesh. The pattern is the duct tape. Using a satin, nylon or poly panty is best because those fabrics have the least stretch and the duct tape pattern will curl less once it's cut off. I've found spandex, cotton, and microfiber to cause too much curling of the tape because the fabrics have a lot of tension in them to make them fit snugly so they don't show through clothing.
I then flatten out the duct tape mess on a piece of corrugated cardboard (from large boxes), and I transfer the pattern with a sharpie, adding a little length on the sides I cut to give some overlap later. I cut that out with an x-acto knife, and trim and adjust slightly to make both sides the same, left and right. This is why I use 20" wide aluminum roofing flashing because front and back that gives me a potential 40" circumference of the waist belt without any overlap, and since all of the belts I've prototyped so far were fitted to people with a much narrower waist, the 20" width (times two) leaves plenty of room for overlap if I extend the waist belt part to the width of the flashing.
Next, I unroll the aluminum flashing a bit over a metal grate I use as a cutting table, and I place the cardboard pattern on top of that and center it, and once it's aligned to my liking I put bricks on it to hold it in place. I fire up the plasma cutter and trace around the cardboard, rubbing the edge of the cutting nozzle on the cardboard edge. I use a "Versa Cut" plasma cutter which cost me about $800 several years ago, and it's smallish, lightweight, and has a built in air compressor and runs on 120V. It cuts the thin aluminum like a hot knife in butter. Cut quickly as to avoid burning the cardboard.
The cutting nozzle has a diameter to it, so the cut will be outside the pattern slightly. I made a bushing that fits on the nozzle and remains there by an interference fit that increases that diameter so that the cut in the aluminum is 3/8" larger than the pattern all the way around. This extra 3/8" all the way around is very important.
Cut aluminum has very sharp edges, and since the belt has been cut out 3/8" larger in all directions, I now have 3/8" around the perimeter of the belt to flange and fold over, making a rounder edge that's not sharp. What I do is put the corrugated cardboard pattern over the cut piece and center it, and trace with a fine point sharpie the pattern again, so I have a visual of the 3/8" margin around the pattern, which I use as a guide for flanging and rolling it over on itself which makes the smoother, rounded edge we want to have.
I do that the old school way - I place the pattern on an anvil - which is just a 4" square, inch thick piece of steel welded to a 2" metal square post that I clamp in a vice, and beat the edge with a large wooden hammer over the edge of the anvil and I keep doing that all the way around the belt. Once I have the whole belt flanged with an approximate 90 degree bend, I then bend that over more by laying the belt on the workbench top with the flanges facing up, I put a dull wood chisel behind the fold, then beat the fold over with the same wooden hammer. The purpose of the chisel is to help the flange bend on the crease and not roll more of the aluminum over. A wood chisel is the wrong tool to use but I have one so I use it. Once I've gone around the perimeter, I then lay the aluminum flat and beat the flanges down the rest of the way with the wooden hammer.
I then place the corrugated cardboard template over the flanged aluminum belt to check to see how close it is. If it's really close and consistent around the perimeter, I then have the person who is going to wear it stand as they did before, and I wrap the belt up their crotch and fold it around their lower body. To fasten the chastity belt temporarily, I use an old seat belt that has been sewn into a loop. I fasten the bucket on the front of the belt where it's the flattest, and pull the belt to tighten it, making sure the back part overlaps the front part on both sides. I then measure the overlap on both sides, add them together, then divide by two and now I have the same overlap measurement for both sides.
I take the belt off the person, set the overlap and bore an appropriately sized hole through both pieces of the overlap, to install a large snapper on each side. The two halves of the snapper are installed using a punch and a hammer, and once done this will keep the prototype belt on. I then have the person wear the belt for a while, and I mark it with a sharpie where the person says it pinches or chaifs throughout the day. Some trouble areas will be immediately obvious, others you'll find out only after the person has worn the belt for a while. You then use this information to make a new pattern, or adjust the original one depending on how it pans out.
---
Another material I've experimented with is carbon fiber (and fiberglass, the process is the same and much less costly). The difference in the making process is a little different because you make the belt on the person and there is no cardboard pattern. Because of the resin used, carbon fiber and fiberglass belts end up being less flexible so you can't lay them flat to make patterns then roll them around a person's body.
Because there won't be a pattern, any shape adjustments have to be made to the person's body before you begin. I've found that "firm control" undergarments work very well for this, and have the person wear one size smaller than they would normally select to achieve maximum compression. Something like this: Spanx Slimplicity
With the undergarment on, I have the person stand with their feet about shoulder width, and I wrap them diligently in saran wrap, from the knees to the top of the undergarment which is usually well above the navel. Here is the order I do the wrapping:
1. I wrap one overlapping layer around the hips to start. Since it overlaps it will stay in place long enough for the next wrap.
2. I wrap a piece from the navel, through the crotch, and up the back to around the same height. I trim this with scissors before pressing it on to self-stick.
3. I wrap one overlapping layer around both thighs.
4. I then place a piece of saran wrap from one knee to the other, following the inside of the thighs and across the crotch, trying to leave a little extra to "tuck in" near the crotch, slicing it part way here and there to allow it to flex and stretch around the tight bend of the crotch area as it transitions from thigh to thigh.
Then I repeat that a few times to get about three, maybe four layers. This helps ensure there are no seams for the resin to leak through onto the skin. The reason why I don't use duct tape is I don't want this mess to stick to the expensive compression undergarment. This allows it to be reused for more experiments.
The next step is to lay the fiberglass or carbon fiber. Have the person lie down on their back on the work table with their hips and waist area over a cut open hefty bag, and re-tuck any of the saran wrap that moved to make sure it won't leak. Now, cut out pieces of fiberglass mat or carbon fiber and drape that on the saran wrap, making sure there's a little overlap. Take them off, brush on a thin coating of resin onto the saran wrap, then re-lay the fiberglass or carbon fiber onto the wet resin, stipling more resin on top to fully wet it. Add more layers.
Obviously you can only do the front while the person is laying on their back but go around the sides as far as you can without the fiberglass or carbon fiber pulling away. I generally do about three layers because when dry, that will be rigid enough to work on after it's removed but it's still thin enough to be cut. Dry time depends on the heat and humidity in your work area, which is why I've only done this in the early summer when it's hot and not very humid - this shortens dry time. So does blowing a large fan on the area. The person you are modeling the belt on will have to lie there for a long while. Music in headphones helps pass the time.
Once dry to "tacky", I have the person flip over onto a new cut-open hefty bag and I do the back in the same fashion, making some overlap to the partial sides that are already there from before. Again, three layers is probably enough. This time you have to wait until it's not all that tacky, because you want it to retain shape after cutting it off on the sides. I use a rounded edge scissor as not to cut the expensive firm control undergarment or the person's flesh, and I cut through the saran wrap. Once it's cut on both sides, if you've let it dry enough, you can peel off a lot of the saran wrap but not all of it. The belt will also be a little floppy but not terrible, and you can reshape it manually on the bench using any kind of sander. I use a 1" wide belt sander most of the time. Shape the edges all the way around and measure to make sure it's as symmetrical as you can get it. I sand out the remaining saran wrap by hand, using 60 or 80 grit paper. I don't make it perfect, but you want the new layers of fiberglass or carbon fiber to bond with the same material, since the resin won't stick to the saran wrap.
From there, just wet the belt with resin by brushing it on, and add layers of fiberglass or carbon fiber mat on top of that, cutting it to shape as you go. Wet it afterwards for the next layer. I generally do three layers at a time, then after it's fully dry (overnight) I'll lightly score it with sandpaper for a few more layers. One of the things I always do is stiple fiberglass or carbon fiber along all the edges, so that they're far rounder than how they're left from shaping. Stipling over an edge is difficult and takes some practice.
The more layers you put on, the stronger the belt will be. Once there are enough layers to where I'm satisfied as to the strength and stiffness of the belt, I use a disc sander with a medium sandpaper to shape and smooth the edges facing the skin a little further. The only thing left to do is create the closure mechanism on the sides - for my experiments thus far I've just drilled holes and fed workboot shoelaces through because they're durable and can withstand a tight bend. The belt is then installed on the person, and the laces tied. Because these are prototypes, I haven't worked about locking mechanisms or a person's desire to remove the belt themselves, because they're not permanent belts to begin with. I made them to experiment and play with different techniques.
