Double Layer Belt Wrinkles

[mrmauser303]

Hello,

I am fairly new to leatherworking and have mostly been teaching myself through trial and error. I started by making single piece holsters for some of my revolvers and then moved on to two piece "high-ride" style holsters for automatics. I had been pretty happy with my beginner results and thus, with those few creations as my only experience, decided to move on to a more challenging project, a complete western style holster and belt rig. It wasn't long before I realized I was still lacking in some basic principles.

I started making 2 1/4" double layer belt out of two ~7oz strips that I cut with a strap cutter out of a double shoulder. The leather was the Crafstman Oak brand from Tandy. The straps were cut in the "left leg to right leg" direction. The resulting double strap was very thick, but not noticeably more than some of the other professionally made belt rigs that I had on hand. I dyed the strips with Fieblings Oil based dye in saddle tan. My intention was to leave the inside strap natural, but after dripping some dye on both pieces I elected to dye them both, possibly part of my error. I glued the two together using ECO-FLO leathercraft cement and set let it set overnight under a weighted down board. The following day I removed the piece and bent it around my waist. While doing so the inside leather piece instantly formed wrinkles.

It was permanently damaged, as if the epidermis pulled away from the rest of the skin. I went on to make some smaller test pieces using some different techniques. Some with both layers dyed, some natural on the inside, some with the leather cement, some with contact cement...In the end they all showed some deforemation of the inside layer. The dyed ones were worse, but even the natural leather showed some wrinkling, certainly more than on any of my purchased double layer belts, which can be bent fairly tight without any effects. As you can see in the photo, I stubornly went ahead and punched holes for stiching, but stopped before completing because it looked too bad and was getting worse the more I moved it.

What am I missing? Is it the leather? Is there much difference in the budget stuff that tandy sells vs something more expensive? Did this cow have low collagen? I found a few posts of similiar issues. This one it was led me to this forum: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=51994 which is on a single piece of leather, and didn't seem to have much resolution. Once I made an account here I did some further searching and found this post: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=62389&hl=wrinkles which looks similar, however the consensus here was that it was cut from a belly piece, and mine is from a shoulder. I suppose they could both be cases of bad leather, but before I spend money on something new I want to make sure I am not doing something incorrectly or not doing something at all.

Any direction y'all can give would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.

[Northmount]

The inside layer has to get shorter when curved around your bod, so it wrinkles. One method to reduce the wrinkling is to glue up while curved, not flat. Higher quality leather may help also. Stay away from leather closer to the belly. Many belts are cut from along the backbone.

Tom

[Dwight]

I used to have a bit of trouble with this same problem, . . . found out if I glue, edge, burnish, and stitch the raw leather first, . . . it works out better for me.

I then dye the thing, . . . and I just dip dye it, . . . give it a good soaking, . . . then curve it into a circle a bit smaller than the belt size, . . . maybe 2/3 what it should be.

Next I let it dry for about 10 minutes laying on the bottom edge, . . . then flip it and leave it for about an hour on the top edge. It then gets hung up by the buckle end for the finish drying, . . . which is all night or so.

When I add the Resolene, . . . sometimes I'll get a very slight rippling of wrinkles, . . . but by allowing the belt to dry about 80%, . . . I can then work it over the edge of my hand in the direction of the "bend" and 90% of the wrinkles work themselves out.

Anyway, . . . that's how I do it and it works for me.

May God bless,

Dwight

[mrmauser303]

Thanks guys. Do you think it might help to use a thinner piece for the inner band? So instead of using two 7oz pieces use a 9oz and a 5oz that way the inner piece has less difference between its inner and outer radius?

[DavidL]

glueing only the edges might help.

[Red Bear Haraldsson]

The two thicknesses might help. I discovered the 'radius turn' problem when I was making a butt-stock sleeve for my rifle. Made a form out of paper, got all the lines straight and even. I even cut it straight (which is a first for me). Then I wrapped the 8-9 oz leather around the stock to find it an inch short on each side. Not being one to throw out such a nice sleeve, I'll tool it up and put it on the grandson's BB gun.

Here's what you could try:

First go here:

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=19338 This post is by Jim Simmons, download the file he attached and read it up. In it he explains how to glue up the lining on a holster. A belt will be very similar, but if glued in a curve, it will always hang in a curve (but, if done correctly, there will be no wrinkles!).

Then go here:

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18101 This post is by Hidepounder, aka Bob Park. Download his file and read that one up. In it, he explains how to get a good smooth edge on your work.

Just from these two files, your work should grow by leaps and bounds. I have a list of people here as long as my arm that I use for advice. But, in my opinion, for a beginner, those two files are must haves.