ancient leather belt rebuild for a friend....and please dont laugh

[Angst]

ok...opening myself up for a load of grief here but what the hell....

a guy i've got to know recently asked me if i could do anything with his grandfathers belt...this thing started off pre-war....then was handed to his dad then now to him...his fathers passed away so its somewhat sentimental.

i was EXTREMELY dubious as i've never done anything like this before....and i remembered recently reading one of luckylees posts (i think it was a bag made with exotic leathers etc) where he said that ''nearing the end he was crap*ing himself in case he made a mistake''....or words to that effect. well this project had certain parts of me twitching nervously too....

the two problems were its condition (literally falling apart and mis-shapen) and already on the point of being too short. i would think this had been repaired at some point before hence the short length.

time was an issue too as he had an important family do coming up and wanted to wear the belt so i had to use what i had....and i also needed to try and make whatever i did to it sort of fit in looks-wise.

so i chopped up an old belt of mine....and dug out some 1mm leather that i think had been used for upholstery...i deglazed it to get out decades of sweat,grime and grease so the glue would take...scuffed up and scratched all my bits in an attempt to make them look aged/worn....re-coloured it with finish....whacked in new rivets which i also scratched up so they didnt look too new....and so on. and when it came to cutting off the buckle....i was like, ok have i thought this through properly....went to do it and again was like, ok have i thought this through properly....this went on for 20 minutes. i wasnt sure if the leather i was using to extend the buckle end would stretch in time so i only lengthened it by about 2 inches just in case....but that was enough for him to now use a different and stronger hole if he wanted and the hole that was already damaged i left the repair stitching in for old times sake and backed it with my old belt so it was now strong enough to continue using too.

anyway i was happy simply that it all worked out....and my mate literally choked up when he saw it. i did it for no charge and i guess with all my fussing and worrying it took maybe ten hours to do all told including to drying, deglazing, glueing etc etc. i was tempted to rebuild it the whole length but as i said time was an issue plus i wasnt sure how that would work out comfort/bend-wise.

so...job done....but never again. next time someone asks i'm passing them on to lee!

 

[Perrari]

Unbelievable ! Good restoration job. I can imagine you were crapping yourself.

 

[richardww]

looks a proper job, good on you, bet the owners well pleased:You_Rock_

 

[awarner]

Nice job can't beat the feel of a well worn favourite belt.

 

[RichardIT]

Good job

 

[Colin.W]

first class job not a leather worker myself I wouldn't know how to even start a project like that, I remember restoring an oak side table a few years ago I could tell it was old so I was careful to restore it appropriate to it's age, it wasn't untill Id handed it back she told me it had sentimental value.

 

[Dannytsg]

Very good restoration job that. Nice work

 

[Biker]

it wasn't untill Id handed it back she told me it had sentimental value.

Sometimes it's better not to know these things before you undertake them. I once carried an antique desk with a workmate up three flights of stairs and through three doorways which were too small for it, just squeezed it through and no damage to this desk. Then we were told it was worth £25000.

Had I known that before I too, like Angst said, would have called LuckyLee to do it.

Really excellant job you done there buddy, very well done. I so know what pressures there are in a job of that type. not a case of measure twice cut one, but every step of the way is checked and pondered over it's easy to undermine yourself with doubt. Just VERY well done on that.
:You_Rock_

 

[Dreadhead]

youv pulled off a hard job there it looks great solid work

 

[jpgrilo]

Great work. I love it!!!

JG

 

[Toadflax]

Always good when you can do something like that. Even for new belts that I make, I get more and more nervous the nearer I get to finishing, 'cos one slip can ruin it. I recently did a similar thing for a 1970s guitar strap for one of the guitarists in our band.

Well done. You should be rightly proud.


Geoff

 

[Tengu]

I think you did a great job.

 

[grey-array]

that looks great, really nice save of an heirloom
Top job there, and hey who wouldnt get jittery
Yours sincerely Ruud

 

[Angst]

lol....25grand.....phew....that coulda been nasty! ta for your compliments/sentiments guys....appreciated! i'm feeling much better now about what i did....'undermining' is right biker yup....the seriousness of dealing with something 'personal' for another can be quite overwhelming and whatver you do theres always a part of you inside thats unsure.

many thanks!

a

Sometimes it's better not to know these things before you undertake them. I once carried an antique desk with a workmate up three flights of stairs and through three doorways which were too small for it, just squeezed it through and no damage to this desk. Then we were told it was worth £25000.

Had I known that before I too, like Angst said, would have called LuckyLee to do it.

Really excellant job you done there buddy, very well done. I so know what pressures there are in a job of that type. not a case of measure twice cut one, but every step of the way is checked and pondered over it's easy to undermine yourself with doubt. Just VERY well done on that.
:You_Rock_