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I make items for our local rodeo, trophy bronc halters and last year, belts for many of the sponsors, as well as promotional items. I have been trying to come up with ideas for this year's items and would really like to incorporate hair-on items. Problem - to date I have never used this medium. I have searched the site and found many good ideas, but still have lots of unanswered questions. I have played with some scrap pieces experimenting with what I have picked up on so far, but am a long way from being happy with results and going head long into making an actual belt. Really hoping Bruce will come in as in past topics, he has seemed to be the site officianado on this topic, not that I want to deter anyone else from adding their two cents, all input is welcome. Questions I still have; - What weights of veg tan is being used on outside and as liner/backer? I want to be able to do some tooling on outside where hair is not exposed - Is the hair-on leather being used full weight, or is it being split thinner? Skived on edges only? I don't want the belt to get too thick - In a previous posting, I have read that one recommendation was to glue hair-on to the backing first, then cut belt width strips - last year I made 30+ belts of the same pattern - how much hair-on to backing would you do in one step? Double shoulder? Side? Enough for 5 belts? Could be a lot of glue to spread and try to manage even matching of two layers -Are the edges of the hair-on trimmed back a bit of hair? Need surface suitable for gluing - What is the minimum width (or nominal width) the edges of the top layer can (should) be cut to allow for two rows of stitching -I will be sewing with a cobra, what combination of presser foot/base would you recommend? Using left presser, sewing close to edge, top layer is rolling out on me so far I am certain that as I proceed, more questions will surface, but if the above concerns are answered, I am ready to use up some more scraps and thread. Belts need to be done by the middle of April! Thanks JJ's