hawkeye10 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 I bought a belt that I wanted to use for hand gun carry but it is to flimsily. The belt is 3/16" thick which I thought would make it stiff enough. It's 1 1/2" wide and I bought it at a saddle shop so that might give you some idea on how it was tanned. I waited for them to make it make it because I wanted it made out of the thicker leather. My question is what if any thing can I do to make the leather a little stiffer? I already have a gun belt that is really stiff and heavy. My main problem with it is it's too heavy but it's a very well made belt. Don Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JLSleather Report post Posted February 10, 2013 Thinner layers bonded together will make for a stronger item (two layers of 5 oz properly joined is stronger than 1 layer of 10 oz). Stitching adds even more strength. Your home is likely the same principle. Stand on the end of a board and it bows or snaps. Same thing with a sheet of plywood. But nail them together, and you can't budge either. The quote is, "a cord of three strands is very strong". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hawkeye10 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 Thinner layers bonded together will make for a stronger item (two layers of 5 oz properly joined is stronger than 1 layer of 10 oz). Stitching adds even more strength. Your home is likely the same principle. Stand on the end of a board and it bows or snaps. Same thing with a sheet of plywood. But nail them together, and you can't budge either. The quote is, "a cord of three strands is very strong". Thanks for the reply. The heavy belt I have is two ply and has two rows of stitching on each side. Like I said it is a very nice belt but it's heavy. I have another belt that was just about right but it shrunk. LOL I don't know what is up with that. Don Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted February 10, 2013 Belts shrinking or stretching are all about health. At least if you are overweight, you know what to do. When your belt stretches 3 notches, and you have lost all your energy, dropped 1/3 of your weight for no apparent reason, then you get concerned. Neither situation is great, but I know which one I'd sooner cope with. Back to stiffening your belt. Add a stiffener between the layers, something like Kydex, or poly type sheet. Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billymac814 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 (edited) It's probably made out of harness leather or English bridle leather which are usually a little on the softer side. There's probably not much you can do to stiffen it much, its probably too thick to stitch a second layer too unless you split it down and laminated a second piece to it. You could maybe rivet some kydex to the back of it but I don't know how well it would work being just a single layer. Normally stiffners are added in between layers and stitched in. I make my double layer gun belts from 2 layers of around an 8oz glued and stitched together. Its much stronger than one layer of equal thickness as the glue and two layers of top grain make it quite stiff. I don't believe the stitching adds much in strength but its there for good measure. To keep them from feeling "Too heavy and too thick" I skive the billet end down to about half and the buckle end is just a single layer where it folds. This way when your wearing it it doesn't feel too bulky and thick. I've seen where other makers don't take those extra steps and the belt is sometimes nearly an inch thick where its buckles at! Edited February 10, 2013 by billymac814 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hawkeye10 Report post Posted February 10, 2013 I guess I will just use it like it is. I thought maybe there was something you could treat the belt with that would make it stiffer. I can still use the heavier belt when I wear a heavy gun. Thanks for the reply's. Don Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
