Leather belt ??

Pelallito

Well-Known Member
What is the best way to join the ends of a leather belt? I made a 1 by 42 leather belt for stropping on my grinder. It was an old belt blank that I had laying around. I skived the ends and used barge cement to glue it together.
It worked for a while. but blew apart today on me(VERY EXCITING, TO SAY THE LEAST)ooops
I then tried re gluing it and stitched the sides. It broke again.:(
The only thing that I have changed on the grinder was that I added a flat platten to the machine. Perhaps I need to strop without the platten. I will make a new belt and try again.
Any recommendations would be welcome.
Thanks,
Fred
 
I just purchased one from tru-grit (like $15) because I was scared of one blowing up in my face... Not sure how they join the ends but I'll take a look at it once it gets here...
 
I sewed mine together with spider wire fishing line. The thread is exposed and will get wore down over time. My has came a apart. I would be worried if one end was still attached to the grinder and slapping around but the worst that will happen is it will just fall off when it breaks.
Im open for better ideas though so I will be watching.
I could prolly thin slice the belt , sew it and glue a thin piece of belt over the threads to protect them......sounds like to much work though.
 
Thanks for the replies. I will make a new one today with a new belt. The previous one had been hanging in my shop for a very long time and was probably dried out.
I will skive it, cement it together, and then hit the glue joint with a hammer to flatten it. (The last was recommended to me.)
might stitch it up again. What is spider wire?
The knife I was stropping was knocked to the ground when it broke the first time. I was almost hit by the belt as well. I don't want to have that happen too often, preferably never again.
Regards,
Fred
 
Thanks for the replies. I will make a new one today with a new belt. The previous one had been hanging in my shop for a very long time and was probably dried out.
I will skive it, cement it together, and then hit the glue joint with a hammer to flatten it. (The last was recommended to me.)
might stitch it up again.
What is spider wire?
The knife I was stropping was knocked to the ground when it broke the first time. I was almost hit by the belt as well. I don't want to have that happen too often, preferably never again.
Regards,
Fred


Spider wire is fishing line made from the same material in bullet proof vests. Gel spun poly something .Its very abrasion resistant. I only did this because my belt had stretched so bad it would not stay on the grinder so I cut about an inch out of it and sewed it back up.
The best thing to do is probably buy a belt thats already together though. They are cheap enough and last for a very long time.
 
Patrice and shankmaker,
Thanks for the responses. I will go to your website, Patrice as soon as I finish this response.
I did make the belt yesterday and test ran it today. It seemed to work fine. I put a little bit of neatsfoot oil on it and will let it rest until tomorrow. Then I will really put it to use. I skived an inch and a half this time so there is a longer glue joint. Hopefully that will make it stronger. I will also remove the platten before using it in the future.
thanks again.
Fred
 
Barge isn't bad cement but I think there are better ones out there. Masters, Lion and Tanners Bond all come to mind.

When you are applying the cement, the first coat is almost certainly going to be fully absorbed into the flesh side (fuzzy side) of the leather. You will have to apply a coat, wait, apply again until the glue dries to a nice shiny surface. Same with the outside. Scratch up the smooth side so the adhesive has something to bite.

Every leather belt is going to have a little wobble. You just have to look past that but the joint should hold.
 
Back
Top