How to smooth the inside rough leather of a belt

[atom1]

Hi to all,

I'm a newbie to this forum and leather working. I would like to know how to smooth the inside of a leather belt that I'm making? I am using veg tan shoulder from Tandy that is vary rough on the inside of the leather . I have tried to block sand it with different sanding grits also tried my belt sander. The only thing that improves the roughness that I can come up with is to use my round Maul and rub it on the leather back and forth as one would burnish the edge of the belt. Any suggestion would be appreciated, Thanks, Atom 1

[plinkercases]

Yup burnishing is the approach. if water dampening isn't getting it done try that gum tragacanth and a wood dowel, or even a fat sharpie. I usually do some flesh side burnishing when dying and it is wet with dye. However some times depending on the quality of the hide it can only get so good.... especially if the flesh side I fibrous and loose.

 

[LumpenDoodle2]

Agree, gum trag does the job for me, and the weapon of choice for burnishing is a very large bone folder.

[Glendon]

gum trag works. There is also a synthetic gum trag alternative which the Japanese leather site sell. That's great too. The one thing to keep in mind is that if the flesh side of your leather is fuzzy, there is only so much you can do to slick it down. That's one factor which determines what grade of leather you have. Even a decent B grade side should have an ok flesh side. 

[atom1]

I do thank all of you for the info. About  the only thing I didn't try is the gum trag, I do have some gum trag and will give it a try soon. Thanks again, atom1 

[Boriqua]

Probably goes without saying but be very careful not to get any gum on the face until it is finished. Man did I screw up something I spent alot of time on because a drop or two got on front. Didnt notice it until I dyed the front and there were these wonderful undyeable spots. In the garbage it went. I use Glycerine soap on the back. I take a fairly damp sponge, work up a good lather, rub it into the leather and then burnish with a heavy piece of glass. Comes out very nice and for extra you can hit it with resolene later.

[plinkercases]

Good caution on the Gum... they should sell it as a blocker. Thanks for the reminder too about the glass.. I work fro a consulting firm and often raid the samples library for stuff and found 3x5 glass samples with rounded edges and they are great for shaping and smoothing/burnishing. I am sure you may be able to pick them up at a glass and mirror place. Tandy's is goofy expensive.

 

 

 

[Boriqua]

24 minutes ago, plinkercases said:

Good caution on the Gum... they should sell it as a blocker. Thanks for the reminder too about the glass.. I work fro a consulting firm and often raid the samples library for stuff and found 3x5 glass samples with rounded edges and they are great for shaping and smoothing/burnishing. I am sure you may be able to pick them up at a glass and mirror place. Tandy's is goofy expensive.

 

 

 

I found an old .. I think Jewellery box .. at Good will and it was made of heavy glass and the lid is over 1/4 thick. Its about 3.5 inches by say 5.5.  Its perfect and I keep junk in the box and when I need to burnish I just snatch the lid, rinse and put it back. All for 99 cents!! 

I treat the insides of all my holsters with it and it makes it nice and smooth and you can really lean on it in a way I couldnt with just a bone folder.

Edited June 21, 2016 by Boriqua

[atom1]

Hi again, I did use the Gum Trag and it did lay the fibers down. The next day I started to stamp my makers stamp on the inside and the stamp would not make a readable imprint. I then used some glycerin soap and rubbed it with a thick piece if Plexiglas that I had rounded the edge and buffed to a high gloss. The imprint took vary little pressure to make a vary good readable stamping. The Belt that I used the gum on cracked on the inside when the belt was bent or flexed.  The belt that I used the glycerin soap on the inside was pliable and no cracks. Now with that said, Being new to all this and I haven't tried to dye over any of the above.

This brings up a question about dying over Gum Trag and Glycerin soap?  When should the dying be done before or after?     Thanks again, atom1 

[Boriqua]

I have always dyed first but I am anxious to hear other responses. I know you cant dye over gum Its miserable and like I said .. get some on the smooth side on accident and just throw out the piece or get real creative. However .. if you read Hidepounders treatise on edges he does glycerin on the edges and dyes over it later but I never tried it on large flat areas.

As a little extra insurance against color rub you can hit your back side with some resolene after you have allowed the glycerin to dry really well. Just a little or you might cause cracking.

[atom1]

Thanks Boriqua, 

I plan on testing on some veg tan  scraps to see what works or what will not work soon. Thanks again, atom1

[Boriqua]

15 minutes ago, atom1 said:

Thanks Boriqua, 

I plan on testing on some veg tan  scraps to see what works or what will not work soon. Thanks again, atom1

Be sure to post your result ! I am always lookng to learn something new.

[atom1]

Will do Boriqua. I haven't the time right now but when I do my test I will post them,  atom1  

[Colt W Knight]

On 6/21/2016 at 3:57 PM, Boriqua said:

I found an old .. I think Jewellery box .. at Good will and it was made of heavy glass and the lid is over 1/4 thick. Its about 3.5 inches by say 5.5.  Its perfect and I keep junk in the box and when I need to burnish I just snatch the lid, rinse and put it back. All for 99 cents!! 

I treat the insides of all my holsters with it and it makes it nice and smooth and you can really lean on it in a way I couldnt with just a bone folder.

I using a glass serving tray I found at the grocery store for a few bucks. I would like to have one of those nice Barry King ones though.

I asked a few local glass shops about making one, and they all wanted an arm and leg because apparently, polishing the edges on glass is a bitch.

 

[plinkercases]

I just double checked mine and it is actually a glass tile.. so rather than going to a glassier try a tile place. I mounted mine in a wood handle but isn't really necessary. I think I will now keep my eyes open in the goodwill places for a glass lid too.

[Boriqua]

Wow that looks great. I think anything close retails for like 40 bucks. Nice score!

[plinkercases]

I could find some more tiles and make them by hand and sell them on etsy...... or make a video on how to make them and sell them on etsy... but a hand made video....

But seriously if I do find more round edged glass tile a bet they would cost less than 40 bucks  USD a pop!

[impulse]

Hi Atom1

If the back of the leather is too rough usually indicates a 2nd grade piece. If the top looks good this can still be made quite usable by gluing and sewing thin leather on the back. This improves the appearance greatly as well as eliminating any stretching which is common with poorer grade leather. Gum trag and/or burnishing does not prevent distortion or stretch. Hope this helps.

Lois

[atom1]

Thanks impulse and others, I do know of sawing a liner and I do have a Cowboy CB-4500 to do that but that is just more time and work for the type of belt I am making. I do plan on doing that on a carved or stamped belts. 

I know that the use of smooth edge glass is used for Slickers and I had some 1/4" Plexiglas and I buffed one edge smooth AND rounded,  it works grate. It's about 4" x 5" x 1/4".

I want to thank you all for the grate suggestions on my questions. Thy helped me a lot THANKS, atom1