Restaining A Finished Gun Belt

[Charlie B]

Hello from a newbie to leather work.

I have a project i am working on with a friend. He won a drop gun belt in a tournament and it is finished in brown and appears to be sealed. He needs to stain it black and would like to do some tooling on it. I don't want to do anything top this belt without some advice. I have a feeling it is a done deal but if anyone has an idea of what might work to at least stain it black I would appreciate the advice.

[TwinOaks]

Depending on the top coat, you might be able to strip it with acetone or denatured alcohol......maybe. One way to go would be to sand the inside of the belt (providing it isn't lined) to expose the flesh side then apply vinegaroon. You can do a search for "vinegaroon" and see how to make it. I recommend removing any and all hardware from the belt before using the 'roon, as it could corrode it.

If the belt is lined, and there's no flesh side to work with, you could just make a large batch of vinegaroon, drop the belt in it and wait 'til it turns black.

Probably the best route is to use the belt for a pattern and make another one.