Belt Leather Cracking At Buckle Fold - How To Eliminate It?

[Mike516]

Ok so let me get this straight...you guys who wet the leather do it before you stain, right? So the leather gets the bend but you can still sew in a lining, then bend it back for the buckle and not get a crack.

Dwight. when you use resolene, obviously you use it after you stain as a finish. So the resolene would go on last, after the belt is stained and lined, just before you put the buckle on, is that right? Or do you make the fold and let it dry before putting your buckle on?

I apologize for asking again, I'm really trying to avoid another belt cracking but I'm getting a little confused, and trying to figure out which of these methods might work best for me. I tried the "wet forming" which works good but makes it difficult to sew in a lining.

I like mink oil, so I wonder if that would work instead of resolene.

[Dwight]

Mike516, yes you are right, . . . the only thing that goes onto my belts after the resolene, is the dust that gathers hanging in the closet........lol.

My outside piece on a lined belt stays flat for stamping, sewing, tooling, and all that stuff.

Then when all that is done, . . . it gets dyed.

When that is dry (and I mean DRY................), . . . I'll actually flex it a bit in my hand, . . . nothing serious, . . . just roll it enough so if I lay it on its edge on a table, it will stay standing up, . . .  maybe a 40 inch circle????

Then comes the Resolene process, . . . with a 1 inch pig hair bristle brush (them cheap little rascals at harbor freight, . . . I get em when on sale).  I give it a good coat on the inside, . . . going back and forth, . . . brushing out all the bubbles.  That includes the buckle end, . . . I usually do it last.

I then flip the belt over, . . . give it a real good coat up at the buckle end, . . . and this is when I do my bending, . . . and I do it kinda of slowly, . . . making a really good bend, . . . usually with a small wooden dowel where the buckle would be.  

I then complete the Resolene treatment to the rest of the belt, . . . come back up and touch up the buckle end, . . . lay it on the top edge on a piece of cardboard for about 15 minutes, . . . flip it to the other edge and allow it to fully and finally dry.

Tomorrow, when it is fully dry, . . . I'll take it to my electric burnisher (think 1 hp electric motor with  burnishing wooden tool on the shaft), . . . i burnish the edges, . . . put on the buckle and belt keeper with 2 chicago screws, . . . it's done.

Seriously, I have never had a problem since I started it this way.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Mike516]

Thanks Dwight, much appreciated. I may give that a try. Might try mink oil as well.

 

[Dwight]

I've never done it, . . . but I have heard of folks using mink oil as their final finish, . . .  

Can't be all bad, . . . I mean, heck, a couple hundred years ago, what were your options:  mink oil, bear grease, tallow, beeswax, olive oil, . . .  many items were used then that we have developed replacements for now.

Give it a whirl, . . . worst thing that will happen will be like some of my "experiments", . . . off to the "didn't work out" box.

 It's getting pretty full  

May God bless,

Dwight

[Northmount]

Dwight's comment about shaping the fold around a small dowel makes a lot of difference.  It's the real secret of the process.  If bent back tight with nothing inside the fold, the outside fibers are really being stretched.  Had the same thing happen on a wallet a while back.  It's important to avoid folding and pressing as if it was a piece of paper.

Tom

 

[Mike516]

Right now I've been using the buckle and wet forming around the bar. I don't like making the holes before I stain though, but I will use something like Dwight says.

[jrny4wrd]

On March 22, 2016 at 2:59 PM, Mike516 said:

Yes, veg tanned. And yes, it does help, thank you.

I have never had this problem before. Now all of a sudden I'm having issues. Another collar cracked today and it's pretty frustrating. A lot of wasted time, money, and materials.

I have never had to do any of this extra stuff before bending this leather. I'm thinking I got screwed on this hide. I really have to consider finding a new supplier and paying the extra $ for better hides. I thought I could buy cheap hides since I'm doing dog collars mostly and don't have to worry about range marks and stuff. But if this is going to be an ongoing thing, it looks like that is not the only consideration when it comes to leather quality.

I should just go back to bed at this point.

One thing you can do is to cut it off at the bend and use another piece of leather for the buckle. Glue both ends and fold it around the top and flesh side of the collar/belt stitch/rivet it into place. This way the cracked part is hidden and you have an other layer on top holding the buckle. 

[RockyAussie]

TRY this trick. If it is crap leather it will break anyway and you perhaps should not use it. Get a scrap piece and practice first this, warm up a soldering ironquite hot, and put the flesh side against the upper shank (not the tip)and pull it around for a couple of seconds.Then hold firm for a few seconds and quickly fold the leather over tight and keep held for about 10 seconds. It should now want to stay in this folded position.The flesh side will show a bit of singeing but in this position should not matter. I use heat to soften and shape with a heat gun a lot but it does take some practice. Regards Brian

[Mike516]

Thanks for the advice RA. It was crap leather and I have since switched to Herman Oak. I still wet form, but the leather is so much nicer, I'll never go back.

[klaykrusher]

On 3/27/2016 at 0:56 PM, Dwight said:

Tomorrow, when it is fully dry, . . . I'll take it to my electric burnisher (think 1 hp electric motor with  burnishing wooden tool on the shaft), . . . i burnish the edges, . . . put on the buckle and belt keeper with 2 chicago screws, . . . it's done.

Dwight are you really running the resolene finished edges against the burnisher?  For what purpose?  On mine all burnishing is done, then resolene or MnG, and I'm done.  Just wondering if something I may want to do also.

As for the buckle end, after I glue the liner, I wet the fold inside and out, and test fit the buckle.  Make any adjustments and then go through the remaining steps.  When applying the resolene, I gently fold over same as Dwight described.  No cracking so far with HO leather and some not so good cheapy leather.