What to do with 8-9 oz Belly's

[eatonjar]

I have a bunch of 8-9 oz Belly's that I'm not sure what to make out of them.  Any suggestions?

[maxdaddy]

I bought several of them at Tandy's Black Friday sale when they were $10 and made a bunch of whisky tumblers with them. They made great Christmas gifts.

[battlemunky]

Bellies tend to have some stretch to them so keep that in mind. Anything that is going to bear weight or that you don't want getting distorted should probably wait for a different part of the cow. Cupholders and things would probably be fine, maybe a rifle butt sleeve? Basically any wrap application would be fine I'd expect. I made a sheath out of belly once and it worked but you got to pick the piece you are going to cut out right and I believe I also wet molded it and baked it, so it hardened up really well.

[bikermutt07]

I haven't really had any problems with bellies. They supposedly aren't the best for tooling or heavy strap goods, but I wouldn't worry about making anything else out of them. 

As long as you aren't putting a lot of stress on the fibers they should be fine. Knife sheaths, bags, tool pockets, bracelets, wallets, any kind of covers should be good as well. 

Now, that being said, I wouldn't sell an expensive tooled molded pancake holster out of the stuff. Guns are heavy.

Just keep in mind that bellies aren't the toughest part of the hide. And just because it's a belly doesn't mean it's junk.

Have fun.

[OLDNSLOW]

some people would disagree about using bellies for belts, just saying, so search all the youtube videos you can about using bellies then decide for yourself. 

[fredk]

I've mixed opinion on making belts out of belly; for a man - no, for a woman - usually yes

As said above; if used to wet mould anything it usually toughens up a bit. Dipping it in very warm water and warm drying quickly toughens it up as well.

Bellies make decent clutch bags which owners seem to fill till they stretch. Coin bags/purses too.

[bikermutt07]

54 minutes ago, fredk said:

I've mixed opinion on making belts out of belly; for a man - no, for a woman - usually yes

As said above; if used to wet mould anything it usually toughens up a bit. Dipping it in very warm water and warm drying quickly toughens it up as well.

Bellies make decent clutch bags which owners seem to fill till they stretch. Coin bags/purses too.

I can see your point, Fred. I got some garment leather in awhile back from Mike @nstarleather and my wife asked for a belt. I said baby this stuff ain't for holding up pants. She said, Please, with these hips, that belt ain't holding nothing up.

[YinTx]

Also I have found that bellies don't burnish so well.  But if you are edge painting...might be ok.

YinTx