Beginner with questions about belt straps

[BriarandThorne]

  On 11/24/2021 at 1:57 PM, HandyDave said:

Looks alot better then mt first belt as well. And it has allready been said but it is much cheaper in long run to buy bigger pieces of leather and cut your own straps if your doing several. I started off buying precut belt blanks and didnt take long to see the money i was throwing away buying the precuts. And just like most things the bigger pieces you buy or the more you buy the cheaper it works out in the end.

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Thank you. I've been looking around at some bigger pieces since I posted this. Being new to this, I'm not sure where all I should be looking but I found some bridle double shoulders on Springfield leather. Are those a reasonable option? A side is a bit out of my price range at the moment but some of those weren't outrageously priced. I'm slightly confused by bends and backs and cullatas but I'm sure I'll get it figured out. 

  On 11/24/2021 at 2:49 PM, PastorBob said:

nice belt.  Definitely a fun hobby / business (if lucky).  Where in MO are you located.  I am in Carthage.

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Thank you. I'm in Jefferson County. Hello neighbor.

[BriarandThorne]

  On 11/25/2021 at 12:22 AM, Spyros said:

They're all different but generally yeah.  You'll find there are significant differences between english bridle from an American tannery and english bridle from England, not necessarily better or worse, but different.  Sometimes there are differences even between colours of the exact same leather, if you get tan sedgwick bridle it's a different beast than black sedwick bridle.  And sometimes differences between hides of the same thing... leather is all organic, nothing is ever exactly the same

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Thank you for the info. I've been slowly working my way down the leather rabbit hole. Bridle, strap, harness, skirting, etc. It's a lot to take in!  

[Spyros]

  On 11/25/2021 at 1:54 AM, BriarandThorne said:

Thank you for the info. I've been slowly working my way down the leather rabbit hole. Bridle, strap, harness, skirting, etc. It's a lot to take in!  

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Don't worry about it too much.  Just get your knowledge in the ball park so you don't make any crucial mistake like buying suede or something to make belts, and start ordering.  People will tell you this material is good for that etc, and it's generally valid advice, but in reality you'll never know about a particular leather until you actually feel it in your hands and start working it.

Generally in the big shops like buckleguy/weaver/tandy etc, the leather they sell in belts and straps is good for ... belts and straps (duh).   Go in their websites, sort for leather in straps and read the descriptions, that will give you a good idea of the attributes you're looking for, and which types of leather generally have these attributes. But remember it's not gospel.  Buckleguy sells Horween Dublin in straps, but Dublin is fairly stretchy and nowhere near as firm as English bridle from an American tannery, which again is *usually* not as firm as English bridle from England.  You can still use Dublin but it would have to be fairly thick.  Then you also have latigo, tooling veg tan, all those leathers are typically used for belts with good results.  

Another way to narrow it down is in some websites you'll see a section for "saddlery leather".  Typically almost anything in that section will be strong and firm and therefore good for bridles, straps, belts.

Two other things to know: regardless of the type of leather or the tanning process, the strength of leather is mostly in the very top layer: the outside skin or "grain". 

So if you're going for strength avoid anything that has this layer shaved off.  Anything that says top grain, suede, genuine leather etc it's generally not a good option for strapping.  And the other thing: as long as you have the top layer (the grain), any kind and almost any thickness of leather will make a strong and durable belt if you line it with itself (ie double it up), glue, and stitch it with a good quality polyester thread.

Edited November 25, 2021 by Spyros

[HandyDave]

And if your doing belts stay away from very much belly area leather. Its naturally more stretchy and alot of times has more flaws. I allways stay up on the back for my belts. Ill usually get about 6 to 10 good 1 1/2" belts from a side depending on side. Then i have plenty left for a few holsters or knife sheaths. I got a little sister who likes taking all my small scraps and pieces that i cant use or dont want to use and makes earrings and bracelets and other smaller such like that. I also seem to end up doing alot of belts for the bigger guys. Average waist size i make belts for is 42" to 48" so the sides allow me to get those longer straps easier. I done a padded folded belt for a ladies father that total length of belt was 76". 

[BriarandThorne]

Thanks for all of that, Spyros. That's very helpful and informative. As far as sizing goes, should I look for double shoulders or are single shoulders able to be used for straps? Are single bends generally long enough to use?

 

Thanks for the tips, HandyDave.

[Spyros]

  On 11/25/2021 at 3:48 AM, BriarandThorne said:

Thanks for all of that, Spyros. That's very helpful and informative. As far as sizing goes, should I look for double shoulders or are single shoulders able to be used for straps? Are single bends generally long enough to use?

 

Thanks for the tips, HandyDave.

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Yeah, a bend is basically a rectangle that contains the best part of a hide, and it is what they cut the best quality belts out of.

Shoulders is probably second best, it just usually contains stretch marks.  The leather can be a little weaker on the stretch marks, but not unusable.

Just shoulders, unless we're talking about a big animal, would probably not be long enough for belts.

Get a bend, or double bend, or a culatta (which is bend+shoulders).  You could of course also get a whole side, but then you're stuck with the belly, which is unsuitable for most leatherworking projects and certainly not good for quality belts, like HandDave said.  It's usually soft, stretchy and wrinkly, although the best leather types like bridle have a higher yield (ie even parts of the belly are still firm and uniformed enough to work with).

Keep in mind all those definitions like bend, culatta, butt, etc can also vary a little from merchant to merchant and tannery to tannery so make sure to see what they actually mean by every cut before you order.  Buckleguy is good like that, they include their definitions in the bottom of every item on their website.

Edited November 25, 2021 by Spyros

[BriarandThorne]

  On 11/25/2021 at 3:58 AM, Spyros said:

Get a bend, or double bend, or a culatta (which is bend+shoulders).  You could of course also get a whole side, but then you're stuck with the belly, which is unsuitable for most leatherworking projects and certainly not good for quality belts, like HandDave said.

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This is very helpful. Thanks for all your input.

[Spyros]

  On 11/25/2021 at 4:04 AM, BriarandThorne said:

This is very helpful. Thanks for all your input.

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no problem mate, good luck

[Klara]

Something that hasn't been mentioned yet and which I didn't know until recently: A well-made strap is supposed to be cut in the direction of the animal's spine, not at right angles to it. Which is why double shoulders, even if the measurements look good, don't work - the length is in the wrong direction (does that make sense?)

(I'm saying "supposed to be" because I have a double shoulder and a double butt and various pieces where I don't know and I'm using them however I get the needed length and so far everything has worked out fine. But I'm only making things for myself at the moment...)

 

[alpha2]

I had to return a number of belt blanks to Buckleguy recently. Worst pieces of leather I'd seen, was supposedly water buffalo. The surface looked like plastic (it wasn't, just the way they finished it). I made one belt, just to see if it was salvageable, it wasn't. 

This was one order, of one type of leather, can't speak to their other offerings.