Is this stitching weakening the belt loop?

[GeneH]

I am making a run of the mill hatchet loop style carrier. Seems the punched slits for stitching will weaken the belt loop. The leather is 2 in wide, 8 oz, punches at 7 or 8 SPI.  Here’s 2 pictures. The strap is the vertical piece. Should I scrap it and just use Chicago screws?

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2019 by GeneH

[Tugadude]

Yes, by definition any time you cut a hole in something it weakens it and possibly compromises the strength.  Think of it this way, when you get a paper check, the paper is typically perforated in a dashed fashion to make it easy to tear where you want it to.  Kind of what is going on here, right?

But an equally important question is how much is the strength reduced and is it enough to cause failure?  I think that will be problematic in the long run, especially if it is flexed repeatedly.  If it is just going to hang there, maybe it isn't a big deal but then I would ask, if it isn't there to reduce stress or keep the leather together do you need it anyway?  The fact that it is 8oz. leather helps some.  Maybe go down to 5 spi?

Just some thoughts.

[YinTx]

Plus the 4 chicago rivet/screws indicate that this has been designed to withstand a great deal of stress.  I'd forgo the weakening feature of added stitches, and just go with the rivets.  As long as they aren't "decorative" cap rivets, but solid or threaded rivets, they will be quite strong.

YinTx

[GeneH]

Yeah the intent was to hold the belt loop to the hatchet holder. I expect it to be flexed and after I punched the holes I realized that it makes a very good hinge that seems would weaken very quickly. An alternate method, not stitching, is what I'm thinking now. 

The Chicago screws are solid brass from the hardware store. Plenty strong themselves. The big advantage of the screws, (unless I glue also) is that the strap can be changed out for a different mode of carrying. 

The hatchet is only 1 1/4 lbs but you never know what kind of pulling or twisting stress will happen when out camping or tromping in the woods. 

 

Edited February 13, 2019 by GeneH

[Tugadude]

How about two vertical stitching lines spaced 1/2" apart just to keep the leather tight there?  This way the stress is going "against" the line of stitching.

[GeneH]

2 hours ago, Tugadude said:

How about two vertical stitching lines spaced 1/2" apart just to keep the leather tight there?  This way the stress is going "against" the line of stitching.

Looking at the sketch, can you describe where those 2 vertical lines would be? Down between the Chicago screws?

I tried stitching vertically with a curved needle on a test cylinder and that didn’t work out too well for me. Also tried a lock stitch and didn’t like the way it looked.

pretty sure this is what it feels like to paint oneself into a corner.

[Tugadude]

The stitching could stop at the screws.  No need to go past them as it would add little.  Or skip the stitching altogether and just move two of the screws higher.

[Rockoboy]

5 hours ago, GeneH said:

can you describe where those 2 vertical lines would be?

On your drawing, the stitch lines are horizontal. I am fairly sure what @Tugadude suggests, is having the stitch-lines running vertical along the edge of the vertical strap.

I would stitch 2(two) lines, each stitch-line outside of the Chicago screws.

[Tugadude]

28 minutes ago, Rockoboy said:

On your drawing, the stitch lines are horizontal. I am fairly sure what @Tugadude suggests, is having the stitch-lines running vertical along the edge of the vertical strap.

I would stitch 2(two) lines, each stitch-line outside of the Chicago screws.

That works

[GeneH]

UGH. Looks like I'm going to have to either shorten or bend a couple of needles. Will hitting the middle of the needle with a torch, and probably destroying any tempering the needles have, be a problem? Should I just dip after bending and hope they are not brittle for being too hard?

I read somewhere a long time ago that a U shaped stitch line was the strongest but that didn't seem to make sense with nylon webbing if we are not damaging the webbing. However with leather this makes total sense!

The ID of the hatchet loop is just under 2 inches so I'm really in a tight spot.