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Hey there, Some questions on using Belly leather. My apologies if this post is a bit long winded. From what I have read it is more flexible with a looser grain. How does this effect tooling & carving? Will it maintain a good deep impression as the item ages? Can it be used for small items such as belt buckles, cuff bracelets and flask covers without a huge compromise in quality despite the looser grain and stretchiness? Why do many people consider bellies to be scrap leather? (the low cost is obviously appealing to a beginner but I don't want to make useless products just to save money) I just made my first leather purchase at W & C, directly from the tannery. I spoke with the gentleman on the phone and mentioned this was my first time purchasing leather, that I was on a budget and wondered whether it would be more cost effective to get a full side (belly and all), or just the back (less square footage with belly removed). I naively was under the impression the cost would be the same per squre foot, and the guy said nothing to indicate otherwise on the phone. He said the back would be more cost effective as it was smaller and the belly is removed...however when I recieved my invoice the price listed per square foot was $8.25 rather than the $7.15 I was expecting- uh oh! I ignorantly failed to notice at the bottom of the website page, the little box that it mentioned an additional $1.20 surcharge per square foot for the back. The man on the phone never mentioned the surcharge and actually quoted me the price without it (a couple hundred dollars less than the actual cost!). Oops! Never going to do that again! SO, to make a long story short I plan to order a full side next time, and am wondering, what to do with that belly leather? Obviously the quality is not the same, but if I am able to make small items that hold their tooling and don't require much strength with belly leather it would be fantastic! In that case I could save a tonne of money and buy bellies for these kind of items. However I do plan to sell some of my cuff bracelets and don't want to be giving a customer a substandard product. Any thoughts/opinions on the matter? Anyone with some experience in regards to using/tooling/dying the bellies? Here are some pictures of the kind jewellery/items I want to make (unassembled):