Dwight Report post Posted June 8, 2022 Just made 4 belts . . . for 4 children of a friend. One black . . . two saddle tan . . . one medium brown . . . all are 2 layer . . . bonded with Weldwood contact cement . . . stitched. My problem??? One of them did something I've never seen before . . . the leather at the buckle end (about 8 inches of leather where it folds over . . . buckle goes in . . . 2 chicago screws . . . and belt keeper . . . the usual way of making a belt. That 8 inches of belt went to hell in a hand basket . . . after it dried from the dying process . . . it is flimly, wrinkled, flattened out wider in the middle . . . and just looks like hades warmed over. I want to cut that 8 inches off . . . and re-sew that end . . . and I know someone has done that in the past and made it really look good . . . I'm sitting here like a dumbkin trying to figure a way to make it look good. Rescue me guys . . . I need to get this order out. May God bless, Dwight PS: after making belts for over 20 years . . . this is the one and only that has ever done this to me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Samalan Report post Posted June 8, 2022 I would cut about 6" off skive back about 2" the reason for 6" you said the bad part is about 8" but two inches of the bad part will now be in the skive on front and back, make up a new end glue that on front and back and all the way to the end just like normal you can make the ends on the skived round or whatever just remember if it's round you need to skive that way, then stitch it up showing the add on you can thin out that front if you like but not to much it will look very nice. I'm not a Belt expert but I have done this and it came out looking better than the original design IMHO. Good luck Dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted June 8, 2022 here's how i lengthened one , should work for you as well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Samalan Report post Posted June 8, 2022 1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said: here's how i lengthened one , should work for you as well. That's what i just described thanks for showing that Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted June 8, 2022 6 minutes ago, Samalan said: That's what i just described thanks for showing that yw! great minds think alike i guess. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YinTx Report post Posted June 8, 2022 I think I've seen belts that are 3 pieces, to keep the world centered and balanced and looking intentional. YinTx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bland Report post Posted June 8, 2022 Sounds like you got into a bad piece of leather. Don't know what or if there is tooling but from what you described it sounds pretty far gone. If it were me, I would throw that one in the give away (Goodwill) pile and start again. No sense losing a customer over bad leather. You can push one and get it finished in a day, you're a pro. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwight Report post Posted June 11, 2022 On 6/8/2022 at 4:59 PM, bland said: Sounds like you got into a bad piece of leather. Don't know what or if there is tooling but from what you described it sounds pretty far gone. If it were me, I would throw that one in the give away (Goodwill) pile and start again. No sense losing a customer over bad leather. You can push one and get it finished in a day, you're a pro. I'm thinking that is the route I'm going to have to go . . . I looked at adding the extra layer . . . but it won't be like the sibling's belts . . . and that just one way or another may start a family fight . . . and like you said . . . lose the customer. First of the week I'll get back to it (church yard sale going on now . . . and I'm the grill cook . . . lol) May God bless, Dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted June 11, 2022 imo I think you'd be better off making a fresh one. I think you can do it in time given. Better to be a bit late with a good item than on time with one you're not really happy with Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lobo Report post Posted June 11, 2022 On 6/8/2022 at 2:59 PM, bland said: Sounds like you got into a bad piece of leather. Don't know what or if there is tooling but from what you described it sounds pretty far gone. If it were me, I would throw that one in the give away (Goodwill) pile and start again. No sense losing a customer over bad leather. You can push one and get it finished in a day, you're a pro. Agree. Maybe one end of the strap came from the belly area, variations in density, wrinkling, other potential defects. We don't always see potential irregularities in the leather until assembly, stitching, finishes applied, etc. 43 years in the business, I made a lot of chew toys for the dogs. For whatever it might be worth, I used to cut my belt straps from sides, laying out from the back to the belly and angled for the lengths I wanted. Always marked the end from the back, then when assembling two straps I alternated the two pieces so that the ends were reversed (back to belly ends). This reduced the effects of slight irregularities in thickness so the overall belt was more uniform and stronger. Usually did 5 or 6 belts per week to fill pending orders. When new shipments of leather sides arrived I laid each one out and cut a few straps from the middles, leaving two pieces that were then easier to handle when laying out holster patterns on the bench. Kept the straps for use as needed, replenishing various lengths as each size was used up. With the straps already cut it was easy to lay out all the week's belt orders and do them all at the same time (cutting, assembly, cementing, stitching, etc). Knock out 5 or 6 in a couple of hours, then they were ready to go through finishing cycles (edge burnishing, oiling, final finish, hardware) with the week's other orders (holsters, pouches, etc). Working in batches is much more time-efficient than doing single pieces from start to finish. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwight Report post Posted June 17, 2022 On 6/11/2022 at 10:31 AM, Lobo said: Agree. Maybe one end of the strap came from the belly area, variations in density, wrinkling, other potential defects. We don't always see potential irregularities in the leather until assembly, stitching, finishes applied, etc. 43 years in the business, I made a lot of chew toys for the dogs........... Don't have a dog . . . but it would go there if I did. Now you want to hear the really scruffy part ??? I made the second one . . . out of the same side of the hide . . . was careful to make sure no defects . . . careful to make that buckle end come from the "back" . . . umm did it look good. Went out the next morning . . . checked it before dying it . . . darned if it didn't have a bad spot on it . . . picked up a small drop of contact cement . . . will not let dye thru . . . looked like garbage. Made a third belt . . . got it all sewed (double stitched all the way around) . . . dyed . . . noticed a small scar on the back side of the belt. Thankfully the final finish will cover that one . . . I am going to be glad to hand this order to it's owner . . . and he and I will laugh about the problems . . . as we are good friends. Thanks everyone for your comments and your support . . . May God bless, Dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
