Begginer Issue With Beltmaking

[mlapaglia]

Just make sure you oil the belt with some Neetsfoot oil 24 hours after dying and before applying the finish. Give the oil 24 hours to soak in completly. 2 light coats. Dont over oil it. Dying and tooling takes out some of the leather oils. Neetsfoot returns those oils. Just get pure neetsfoot NOT neetsfoot compound. The compound is nasty due to the additives

If you find you are making a lot of belts you might find buying a back from Springfield even cheaper and cutting your own. Strap cutters are not expensive. Just tell Springfield you are making belts and ask for then to cut you a straight edge on one long side.

I have spent a lot of money at Springfield and like everyone they make the occasional mistake but have always made it right and quickly.

Edited January 28, 2014 by mlapaglia

[JDTagish]

Spencer,

I've had the same issue with the Tandy Pro Waterstain. It may have something to do with the quality of the leather as other more experienced people have suggested, but I've gotten the same issue with the Pro Waterstains, but did not have the issue with other stains/dyes also cut from the same hide. IMHO, it has something to do with the waterstain, and may be in the application and how "wet" it is to work with the waterstain itself, since it is applied (per instruction) with a lightly damp sponge, but the sponge itself becomes more saturated (wetter) as you apply the stain along the length of a belt. (or other larger item) I wonder if its related to how wet the leather gets during the process, and then how it's dried. I've gotten that wrinkled result after just leaving the item on a flat surface to dry, and in particular anywhere that the item is bent during the application or before it is fully dry.

Although using a higher quality leather may produce a different result, I'm inclined to think it's the waterstain that is causing the issue rather than the leather. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way to "recover" from it (make the leather lay down again) but one thing I would consider trying if the piece is destined for the trash anyway would be to wet the surface that was dyed, and then use a warm (not hot) iron on it and see if that will get the bubbles out of it. I've had decent results using that method, but only on things that were going to be trashed anyway, or scrap, just to see what would happen. YMMV, of course.