TFarage

There is a nice step by step on imgur I found via Reddit, might be of help:

Going to check that out, Thanks!!

Awesome idea! My dog could use a new one

@fredk Awesome! Thank you for the info, going to shoot them a mail later on. edit: oh wow, they have an amazing range of buckles for a great price too!

@Earl Ash Thanks for the tip. I would love to be able to order from them as well as other tanneries and suppliers in the US but customs costs would probably be through the roof I once ordered 5 tshirts form the USA and ended up paying the same amount i paid for my order to customs, it's pretty insance regarding that in the netherlands.

Ah yes! That is a great idea, at the risk of wasting more leather than usual, the positive trade off is that I would be getting way more stitching practise in! Will give that a go for sure. Thanks!

Excellent! I shall take a look, thank you.

Hi Thank you so much for your response. Belt blanks are indeed handy but I enjoy cutting my own straps(and it is way cheaper than blanks for now), this allows me to get different widths on the fly. While Tandy leather so far has not been top notch, it hasn't been garbage either. Like you I have had super good dealings with Tandy(my "local"store is in Spain). I think I will just get myself some natural double shoulders again and then worry about glazed stuff at a later stage, from what I have read in the mean time, adding anything to them would require deglazing first. Living just outside Amsterdam I cannot find any tanneries that do veg tan in the Netherlands, when I do "upgrade" from Tandy, it would be by going to a tannery and selecting leather myself. Until that point and as you said yourself, I can't justify the price for non Tandy leather.

Thank you! You mention a school, do you do apprenticeships/workshops or is it an actual school? I am toying with the idea of combining a holiday with some leatherworking learning abroad (England or Scotland)

Hi all, This is my first real post on this forum after lurking for a while and before I start I want to thank all of you for the amazing information you have shared. This forum has helped me avoid and overcome some crazy frustrations, which I come across often as someone who is trying to teach themselves leatherworking using the internet. Like most people, i started making belts, while none of the belts I have made so far are worthy of showing, I notice my skills improving with each belt. I bought an economy double shoulder from tandy last month and have already gone through it with some functional belts as result and a lot of waste(which I do not mind, as mistakes have been my main learning source). While I do not feel I should be picky at this point, the economy double shoulder which looked ok on the front had a very fuzzy back, so I am looking at more leather now in a different range. Also the economy double shoulder came in at 8 to 9 oz. (3.2 to 3.6 mm) and although the thickness of the belts I made is acceptable, I would like to try a thicker leather. I currently have the following in my cart on tandy and about to pull the trigger on it but decided to first get some advice: https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/classic-double-shoulders Tandy description: "The best way to produce a premium belt is to begin with premium leather. The rich color of these veg-tan double shoulders, which is applied during the tanning process, goes completely through the leather. The result is a glazed leather with exquisite beauty that is perfect for making all sorts of personal accessories. Available quantities of these premium double shoulders may be limited at times." It comes at the thickness I want and I like the fact that I do not have to dye it. My question is, does anybody have any experience with this particular Tandy item. Also, it is glazed, meaning it is finished to a certain extent if I understand correctly. Does this mean it will not accept any other finishes, like carnauba and sno-proof etc...? My other option is to go for the unfinished/undyed veg tan (only the non economy comes at the thickness I want) and while I do not mind dyeing and finishing, I was super curious about the pre-dyed stuff. Below is the natural veg tan double shoulder I am considering instead: https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/oak-leaf-double-shoulders Unfortunately my leather source is only Tandy at the moment due to the ease of getting leather and my lack of connections with local tanneries and or leather suppliers, which I am planning to build up eventually, but I see Tandy as a sort of training wheels to my leatherworking bicycle so to speak. I am sorry if I posted this in the wrong section, I wasnt entirely sure where it should go. Thanks again to all of you for the amazing information and the great creations I got to see on this forum. Tarek

Awesome! Thank you for the tip, will do that ASAP, although I suspect it is mostly the way I am holding the edge beveller and inconsistent angle which I can't seem to keep consistent along the whole length of a belt. Practise, practise

Thank you for this! Although I probably will still get an ugly result as I am still starting out, this will definitely help. I can't for the life of me take off an even amount all along a belt. It gets worse at the point of the belt. Decided to order a keen edge beveller to check if it will make a slight difference.