Lining Belts

[Rlbuckers15]

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on a good, yet inexpensive for backing or lining belts. I want to step up my game a little and start using something because I always just leave them bare.any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

[Leather Stash]

Pigskin

[Dwight]

If you make the belt out of two equal thicknesses of veggie tanned leather, . . . contact cemented together, . . . sew the edges, . . . you will have a belt you can will down to your grandchild possibly.

They are absolutely sturdy, . . . strong, . . . look great, . . . wear great, . . . and if you carry "stuff" (cell phone, . . . handcuffs, . . . CCW, . . . pager, . . . ammunition, . . . flashlight, . . . etc) on it, . . . it won't sag.

If you use almost anything else, . . . the edges will not burnish really well together, . . . wind up looking raggedy in a couple years or so, maybe even sooner.

May God bless,

Dwight

[venator]

Personally I use two layers of vegetan back to back as suggested above, it allows for dying and durability as well as snazzy edges. Contact cement, sew and it's solid.

[byggyns]

In my first and only belt project, I used a belt blank from Tandy (8-9 oz). After that was tooled & dyed, I lined it with 2-3oz veg tan. The result was a nice, stiff belt that wasn't too thick with edges that burnished easily.

Hand stitching that thing took forever (about 4-5 hours). I need to lose weight to make my belt projects smaller

Edited January 19, 2016 by byggyns

[dfrensdorff]

I line mine with a 2-3oz Horween Double Horse Front......

[venator]

If only I could buy horween locally rather than paying almost as much for shipping as the side costs. . .

[club49]

I don't have a sewing machine and I never lined a belt. My question is, after you cut a glue you're lining, do you put a stich line and use a stich spacing wheel or do you use a punch? If using a punch do you go through both sides or one side and use an awl ? Go easy on me folks, I am new to this.

Jim

[grmnsplx]

I think a wheel, stitching chisel or pricking iron would be fine to mark your holes. You can then use your all to make the holes one by one as you sew - if that's what you want to do.

Now you can use a stitching chisel to punch your holes too. But I would caution you on that. Usually this is fine, but you have to do it right. Sometimes using a stitching chisel this way can cause your two layers to de-laminate and you'll have to try to re-glue that area and it sucks. The factors that increase the risk of that are,not having a solid base under your piece, a poor glue/cement job, using a really wide chisel (lots of teeth) and using a tool that is not sharp enough.

[rickdroid]

If you make the belt out of two equal thicknesses of veggie tanned leather, . . . contact cemented together, . . . sew the edges, . . . you will have a belt you can will down to your grandchild possibly.

They are absolutely sturdy, . . . strong, . . . look great, . . . wear great, . . . and if you carry "stuff" (cell phone, . . . handcuffs, . . . CCW, . . . pager, . . . ammunition, . . . flashlight, . . . etc) on it, . . . it won't sag.

If you use almost anything else, . . . the edges will not burnish really well together, . . . wind up looking raggedy in a couple years or so, maybe even sooner.

May God bless,

Dwight

Dwight

Hope Im not hijacking this thread

is there a specific reason to use two equal thicknesses as opposed to using a heavier weight on the exterior and a lighter weight on the interior?

[venator]

Yes.

Honestly any of the above would work but here's my two cents:

Wheel: I wouldn't use this to mark as generally I find they work best for small twisty things like holsters, in long straight lines I tend to wobble somehow, even if I've grooved the line.

Pricking iron: I might use this if my Contact Cement were very dry and I knew I wouldn't accidentally pull the layers apart as mentioned.

Awl: Hard to go wrong.

Personally after gluing I'd let it dry, then use a creaser to mark my groove for stitching, or cut a groove, mark the actual stitches with a pricking iron in the groove (deep enough to seat the awl) then I'd use the awl for each hole as I stitched.

[Dwight]

Dwight

Hope Im not hijacking this thread

is there a specific reason to use two equal thicknesses as opposed to using a heavier weight on the exterior and a lighter weight on the interior?

No problem, Rick, . . . I use two equal as I cut them side by side from the same piece of leather. I know the dye will be exactly the same, . . . I know the width will be exactly the same, . . . and I do not have to skive one end to make it lay down next to the other one by the buckle.

Also when you burnish, . . . sometimes (seldom really) the thinner one will want to do it's own thing with the burnishing, . . . I know what to expect when both pieces are side by side from the same cow. AND, . . . putting the thinner one on the inside is almost a guaranteed wrinkle patch. The thicker piece outside will not want to give, . . . forcing the inside to wrinkle. Sometimes I get a few small wrinkles in my belts, . . . but I can work them out easier with two equal thicknesses than with one fat / one skinny.

I also only have to stock one size, . . . only have to check one size before accepting the order, . . . and there is no appreciable savings in having a side of 9, . . . side of 7, . . . side of 5, . . . and a side of 3. They are for the most part the same price, . . . so why knock yourself out?

Hope this helps.

May God bless,

Dwight

[rickdroid]

No problem, Rick, . . . I use two equal as I cut them side by side from the same piece of leather. I know the dye will be exactly the same, . . . I know the width will be exactly the same, . . . and I do not have to skive one end to make it lay down next to the other one by the buckle.

Also when you burnish, . . . sometimes (seldom really) the thinner one will want to do it's own thing with the burnishing, . . . I know what to expect when both pieces are side by side from the same cow. AND, . . . putting the thinner one on the inside is almost a guaranteed wrinkle patch. The thicker piece outside will not want to give, . . . forcing the inside to wrinkle. Sometimes I get a few small wrinkles in my belts, . . . but I can work them out easier with two equal thicknesses than with one fat / one skinny.

I also only have to stock one size, . . . only have to check one size before accepting the order, . . . and there is no appreciable savings in having a side of 9, . . . side of 7, . . . side of 5, . . . and a side of 3. They are for the most part the same price, . . . so why knock yourself out?

Hope this helps.

May God bless,

Dwight

That sure does help. I was wondering if there was a method to your madness ;-)

rick

[TinkerTailor]

That sure does help. I was wondering if there was a method to your madness ;-)

rick

Masticating mad methodology makes my muddled mind merry.

[JLSleather]

I don't make 1/4" thick belts unless SPECIFICALLY ASKED, and I haven't been for a long time. My belts are generally right around 3/16" thick -- a 7/8 or 8/9 oz front lined with a 3/4 oz backing.

I "could" use 2 5/6 oz, but i like to get the tooling depth. No problems with wrinkling. Just got an email from a cop with a new belt made of 7/8 + 3/4 oz- loves the way it carries a pistol, mags, cuffs, small flashlight... no worrries. Course, no "fancy" tooling on the duty stuff....

[Dwight]

I don't make 1/4" thick belts unless SPECIFICALLY ASKED, and I haven't been for a long time. My belts are generally right around 3/16" thick -- a 7/8 or 8/9 oz front lined with a 3/4 oz backing.

I "could" use 2 5/6 oz, but i like to get the tooling depth. No problems with wrinkling. Just got an email from a cop with a new belt made of 7/8 + 3/4 oz- loves the way it carries a pistol, mags, cuffs, small flashlight... no worrries. Course, no "fancy" tooling on the duty stuff....

And the tooling part is the big difference between our customer bases. Mine very seldom want tooling, . . . preferring a simple belt.

I might lean more toward your way if I had the customer base, . . . but without it, . . . no need to.

Thanks for bringing up the tooling subject, . . . some of the folks may not have considered it.

May God bless,

Dwight

[byggyns]

regarding your question about stitching:

I grooved the belt all the way around the top piece. I used a round hole at the tip of the belt & worked back down each side with stitching chisels (the diamond shaped Tandy ones).

I ended my stitching right at the end of the full thickness of the top layer- just before the skive from the belt blank started. I rounded the end of my stitch line, and the end of the liner as well. I'll have to post pics when I get home to show what I mean better.

I punched into the top layer before I glued to lay out where the end of the liner would end up. After I glued, trimmed and sanded, I used the awl to put the hole through the liner while stitching. Then I edge beveled, dyed the edge, and burnished.

I used resolene to finish the entire thing at the end.

[byggyns]

Here is the way I finished off the end of my liner

My biggest pet peeve is that I didn't round the stamping design out to the right curve. I stamped before laying out the stitch line.

Also, I'm probably going to make a different keeper, as this one didn't dye or crease like I want. I threw the keeper together as a last minute thing.

Edited January 26, 2016 by byggyns

[Kansan]

Dwight, you mentioned that you use two strips of leather that are the same weight. What weight do you consider to be ideal for this purpose, assuming the end result is some kind of heavy duty belt? 5/6 oz strips... 6/7 oz? I'd like to try it your way for my first lined belt.

Byggyns, I like how your belt came out, the stitching looks good to me. I see what you mean about the curve line of the stitches but would not have noticed it by looking at it. Good job!

[Dwight]

Dwight, you mentioned that you use two strips of leather that are the same weight. What weight do you consider to be ideal for this purpose, assuming the end result is some kind of heavy duty belt? 5/6 oz strips... 6/7 oz? I'd like to try it your way for my first lined belt.

Byggyns, I like how your belt came out, the stitching looks good to me. I see what you mean about the curve line of the stitches but would not have noticed it by looking at it. Good job!

Kansan, . . . IFFFF, . . . I had my druthers, . . . a perfect piece of 6 oz works best for me. That makes a belt that is just over .180 thick. I'll go up to .240 for special belts, . . . but the usual, . . . standard, . . . I like to keep in the .165 to .200 area. It makes a good sturdy belt, . . . yet it is not super thick and fat.

One thing you will want to avoid on belts that will be subject to loads, . . . never sew across the belt. What happens is the sewing becomes a perforation line, . . . and it makes your sewing line THE weak point of the belt.

It's an old trick I picked up from harness, . . . harness makers never sewed across their straps, . . . and while I'll admit never losing a belt to this, . . . I just have made it a habit that I do not do it.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Colt W Knight]

If you make the belt out of two equal thicknesses of veggie tanned leather, . . . contact cemented together, . . . sew the edges, . . . you will have a belt you can will down to your grandchild possibly.

They are absolutely sturdy, . . . strong, . . . look great, . . . wear great, . . . and if you carry "stuff" (cell phone, . . . handcuffs, . . . CCW, . . . pager, . . . ammunition, . . . flashlight, . . . etc) on it, . . . it won't sag.

If you use almost anything else, . . . the edges will not burnish really well together, . . . wind up looking raggedy in a couple years or so, maybe even sooner.

May God bless,

Dwight

+1

[Kansan]

Thanks for the advice. I'd like to use top quality leather but can't afford buying multiple sides of different weight HO leather, so if I can just order one weight that will save me money. I'll remember not to stitch across the belt... Since I'll be stitching by hand, any way to reduce the amount of stitching is welcome :-)

[dfrensdorff]

If only I could buy horween locally rather than paying almost as much for shipping as the side costs. . .

Maverick Leather in Bend OR.