TomWisc Report post Posted February 11, 2018 I am new to leather working and this is my first post. I have made a few belts using leather from a double shoulder, about 1/8" thick, and they turned out fine for a regular jeans belt. I see gun belts are about 1/4" thick and am wondering if glueing & sewing 2 pieces of 1/8" thick leather is as strong, or stronger, than a single piece 1/4"thick? I know there is lots of work to laminate 2 pieces together. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garypl Report post Posted February 11, 2018 6 minutes ago, TomWisc said: I am new to leather working and this is my first post. I have made a few belts using leather from a double shoulder, about 1/8" thick, and they turned out fine for a regular jeans belt. I see gun belts are about 1/4" thick and am wondering if glueing & sewing 2 pieces of 1/8" thick leather is as strong, or stronger, than a single piece 1/4"thick? I know there is lots of work to laminate 2 pieces together. Welcome Tom! No problem at all to glue and sew two pieces of leather to make your belt. Cut two blanks and make one wider by about 1/8” on each edge to make it easier to glue them together without worrying about lining them up perfectly. After the glue dries, trim the edges flush and then dye, finish and sew. Gary Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomWisc Report post Posted February 11, 2018 Thanks, Gary. I didn't think about cutting one blank larger than the other but that makes perfect sense to me. Which sides of the leather would you glue together? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garypl Report post Posted February 12, 2018 7 minutes ago, TomWisc said: Thanks, Gary. I didn't think about cutting one blank larger than the other but that makes perfect sense to me. Which sides of the leather would you glue together? Glue the flesh sides together so the smooth grain sides are facing out. Weldwood cement works great. After you glue and trim, sand and burnish the edges, and scribe lines to follow for your stitching. There is a lot of information here and on YouTube that will go into more detail on making belts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alpha2 Report post Posted February 12, 2018 Not that difficult. Just think of it as needing to trim to a uniform edge. Weather it's the front piece, or the back piece. You just need to cut the two pieces to a trim that you can bevel and burnish to an even surface. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sheathmaker Report post Posted February 12, 2018 (edited) I go one step further. I layout the belt width I want and then block cut that out with about 1/8" margin and then cut the back piece about 1/8" larger than that on both sides and then cement it flash to flesh, and then I cut out the actual belt width. Nice 90 degree edges and ready to edge and burnish. it wastes a little bit of leather, but the quality of the finish is worth it. I line everything I make so I use this procedure on just about everything,' holsters, knife sheaths, belts, head stalls spur leathers, whatever. Paul Edited February 12, 2018 by sheathmaker Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garypl Report post Posted February 12, 2018 8 hours ago, sheathmaker said: I go one step further. I layout the belt width I want and then block cut that out with about 1/8" margin and then cut the back piece about 1/8" larger than that on both sides and then cement it flash to flesh, and then I cut out the actual belt width. Nice 90 degree edges and ready to edge and burnish. it wastes a little bit of leather, but the quality of the finish is worth it. I line everything I make so I use this procedure on just about everything,' holsters, knife sheaths, belts, head stalls spur leathers, whatever. Paul Good point Paul - I like your method! Gary Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
