Freak_NL

I'm cutting them from a piece of shoulder. I'll definitely give that approach a go sometime (despite being limited to hand stitching). I did do a belt with two straps of 4 oz leather before, but the same effect happened there as well (just not as quickly). That one did not have any stitching though. Perhaps I should consider oblong hole punches as well for belt holes? By the way, I love the sturdy look of that belt. That's something I would consider making as a gift if I manage to sort this problem out. @Dwight I'll give your tips on Resolene some careful consideration. I've been using a small wet cube of kitchen sponge with a small amount of Resolene in a container for applying. I'll mix it up the next time. Now that you mention it, I think I've read that tip about prestressing the belt with an iron bar before, that could be worth a go. When in the whole process do you do that exactly? Thanks all for the help so far.

This week I reused an old buckle and made a new belt for daily wear. Nothing too fancy, just a single strip of veg tan 7/8 oz leather. For the finish I went through these steps: Dye-prep, and then dye (Fiebing's Pro Dye) Wait an hour or so Apply neatsfoot oil (not too much) Wait a day or so Burnish the flesh side with Tokonole Wait two hours or so Finish with Resolene Now, I am not dissatisfied with the resulting belt, but whenever I make a belt like this, the backside quickly develops this — what to call it? — buckling? crackling? bunching? On this photo the middle image is the backside at the tongue end: Is this simply inevitable with a belt made from a single strip of 7/8 oz leather? I've read some topics here about problems with a Resolene finish cracking, but this seems to be the leather itself which bunches up. I get the feeling I am missing something really obvious — either that this is just how it works, or that there is a better way to do this.