z0rthr4x

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond! I sanded the back in one direction with 400 grit sandpaper & that seemed to do the trick. I got some screw posts ty twinoaks good thinking, it never crossed my mind. I'll post the finished belt in the show off section when it's complete. Thanks again! ~z

I don't think that it looks horrible either to me it looks like a piece of hide as well but it's not for me & I've never seen such a shaggy belt strap before, so I am pretty sure that the person I am making it for would notice. I will experiment with my not as shaggy small prototype piece before I do anything to that belt. I don't have a belt sander. I'm pretty good with the skiver but it was too uneven for my tastes. I am starting to realize that I am to much of a perfectionist when it comes to leather craft. I will try the gum tragacanth, I think that the saddle soap will make the back all greasy but I'm not entirely sure.

Thank you for your quick response! That's unfortunate to hear, I only paid $8 for the strap & it was 55" when I first got it, but I wouldn't have thought that my leather guy would lead me astray like that : ( He's helped me with everything I know thus far. I hope the belt turns out ok, this project turned into a pain in the neck pretty quickly, but it's a learning experience. What is a flat bone folder by the way? Any other suggestions guys? Thank you for your time.

Hello. I am so glad to have found your forum! I am working on a hand-stitched veggie tanned leather belt after first marking & then hand punching over 700 holes I am at a standstill. The front of the leather I have cased, distressed, applied olive oil to, beveled edges & lightly burnished. My questions are as follows; Before I start stitching is what is the best way to burnish or mat down the back of the leather the non-flesh side I think? I was going to try saddle soap & lightly burnish the backside but I didn't want to risk it..... Is there a cleaner way to do the stitching rather than crossing over the two half suns (see prototype picture) without having to do each half sun individually? Is there an eaiser way to punch the ammount of holes that I punched inexpensively / quickly without all of the grueling labor / crazy measuring? I made a template for this one but it took forever with the wing divider rulers etc to get this perfect & I would like to do more in the future. Also the person I am making this for decided they wanted a removeable buckle after I had already cut the strap for riveting together and punched all of those holes, any suggestions on the snaps? I have line 24 & 20's the twenty's aren't long enough to go through the leather and the 24's I'm afraid will be to big for the ammount of space I have to work with.... any suggestions on this one? My last question and thank you all for listening is; I use an old rough sock & water to burnish my edges but sometimes it takes a lot of elbow grease & way too much time, I was going to invest in an edge slicker I have read through the forums about edge slicking, but wanted your opinions on the best brand of slicker for the best smoothest, shinest, and the most professional looking edges possible. Do you use water with a slicker as well? I have uploaded a few pictures of the project including the prototype. Thank you so much for your help with these matters I will be very grateful to anyone with a professionals insight. ~ z