Marks on latigo leather

[DrmCa]

Someone gave me a present of a few dozen 1 1/2" latigo straps thinking that I could use them for making belts.

They have these strange linear marks on them. They mostly run parallel but at different intervals, along the length of the strap. Here, at this end, they are tight but further left they get more sparse.

Are they wrinkles?

Edited November 28, 2021 by DrmCa

[battlemunky]

Looks like it's close to the belly and those are natural stretchy areas. which can be seen in the  leather. That's my guess anyhow.

[Spyros]

Looks like shoulders to me, which is not the best possible cut for straps and belts.  Give it a stretch with your hands and if it doesn't feel too stretchy you can still use it, especially on wider belts, but ideally you'd want to avoid the wrinkly bits as much as possible.

Edited November 28, 2021 by Spyros

[DrmCa]

Yes, the leather is soft and stretchy, but I still decided to make a couple of training belts from it. So, these are my first 2 belts:

I use a 3D printed stencil for English tips and holes, and another (not shown as it is being redesigned) for the buckle end. Burnished on the drill press with a home-made wood burnisher.

Both buckles are recycled from old, ruined belts. The one on the right may even have come from luggage.