Belt liner cracking

[Kolton45]

Hey so I got some questions about lining belts, most of the belts I've made have just been single ply due to having to hand stitch everything but I've made a few that are lined I use 8-9oz with a 2-3oz liner all Hermann oak and they all turned out good and seem to be holding up good except one the liner is starting to crack up the guy wears it to work everyday and he works construction the belt is just about 2 years old I'm wondering if theres something I coulda done different to make it last longer or if it's just due to abuse and nothing I coulda done different

[PastorBob]

It could be from abuse.  Did you put any type of finish on it?  i sprayed a should strap with saddle-lac once and it started cracking after a while of constant bending of the strap.

[Dwight]

I virtually never do an 8 / 4 belt . . .  they are always like 6/6 or 6/5 or 5/5 . . . trying to keep them pretty close to the same thickness.

Lately I've been using a hide I got from Weavers some time back . . . it's a heavy 7/8 . . . and I've got my splitter set for about 110 thousandths . . . which gives me a .220 belt . . . right at the size I really like to make em.

Never had one do what you are talking about . . . and I've got some steel lined belts out there . . . doing their work.  

May God bless,

Dwight

[chuck123wapati]

2 hours ago, Kolton45 said:

Hey so I got some questions about lining belts, most of the belts I've made have just been single ply due to having to hand stitch everything but I've made a few that are lined I use 8-9oz with a 2-3oz liner all Hermann oak and they all turned out good and seem to be holding up good except one the liner is starting to crack up the guy wears it to work everyday and he works construction the belt is just about 2 years old I'm wondering if theres something I coulda done different to make it last longer or if it's just due to abuse and nothing I coulda done different

What do you apply to keep the leather conditioned/ oiled/ leather needs lube of some sort to keep its flexibility, Another thing to think about if he continually gets it wet the oils will eventually wash out and leave stiff dry leather that cracks. 

if you sent it conditioned and flexible then maybe all you can do is educate the customer on proper maintenance of his leather.

[Kolton45]

Thanks for the replys and I usually use olive oil to get my desired darkness then finish with tan kote 

[doubleh]

Since he works construction sweat is probably the culprit. It's  going take an oil on the inside layer to prevent damage and it is going to have to re-applied by the user. Since it is a work belt I would just use an oil on the complete belt.

[Tugadude]

5 minutes ago, doubleh said:

Since he works construction sweat is probably the culprit. It's  going take an oil on the inside layer to prevent damage and it is going to have to re-applied by the user. Since it is a work belt I would just use an oil on the complete belt.

I agree.  

[tsunkasapa]

2 minutes ago, Tugadude said:

I agree.  

[SaintJoy18]

28 minutes ago, doubleh said:

Since he works construction sweat is probably the culprit. It's  going take an oil on the inside layer to prevent damage and it is going to have to re-applied by the user. Since it is a work belt I would just use an oil on the complete belt.

Yup! Operator error (i.e. end user abuse)

[Doc Reaper]

I also agree with the sweat problem, but there is another culprit. I made a good fast cheap belt for a customer that worked inside of tractor trailers, he said he would rather unload some boxes by hand because it was easier to get them out of the trailer.

   When I asked how he would move so many somewhat heavy boxes repeatedly, his reply made sense as to the condition of the belt. The boxes were mostly bulky and he would get a corner of the box on the belt and just hold that box on the belt and walk it off the trailer!

I’m sure he was nothing but a fountain of sweat at times inside a tractor trailer on hot days, but it explained why his belt was misshaped and starting to crack. Sweat soaked (eww) leather and odd added weight do weird things to a belt!

Edited August 18, 2022 by Doc Reaper
Missed word, added it in