Welt leather

[grogimus]

I'm sure everyone has banged their head into a nearby concrete fixture when they see the big hunk a welt cut out is going to take off their pretty double shoulder of beautiful veg tanned leather. I can't imagine belly leather working because it's kinda squishy but do any of you guys use a different part of the cow for welt leather? I don't want to skimp on my sheaths at all, in any way shape or form, I just see chunks of potential finished works being cut off every time I cut a welt out.

I just got a new double shoulder in that I'm drooling over, that's where my cringing at waste is coming from.

 

[Horsewright]

I do use bellies for welts but am picky about it. If it is too squishy as you say (I say if it doesn't have enough body), or too wrinkled etc I won't use it. I also save all odds and end pieces when I cut things out. I have a scrap bin/tub thats full. My criteria for whether a piece goes in the trash or in the scrap bin is is it big enough to get a wlelt out of it.

 

[leatherman]

I tend to search out bigger scraps to cut welts from as well, I dont get full sides all that often but when I do the belly part tends to be a bit better than those they have a stack of at Tandy.

Question Grogimus: Do you cut your welts in one piece for sandwich construction sheaths? In other words V shaped? If so, and yes I used to a long time ago, try a two piece welt. It greatly conserves leather, but it does take a bit more time to fit. If you need a visual I can take a series of pics and do a little tutorial on how its done.

 

[sheathmaker]

Both Horeswright and Leatherman gave excellent , sound advice. Belly leather is "generally" not of a quality that will finish and burnish nicely, if that is a factor in your work, and it should be. I try to use at least as good quality in my welts as the rest of the sheath for the edge finishing factor. I do get full use of the belly leather, however. I have a 14" splitter and I split the belly leather down to 2 Oz. and use it for linings. The top grain of belly leather is almost always as good as the top grain anywhere else on the side.

Paul

 

[Skystorm]

I just buy separate sides that are for welts only, you quit thinking about it at that point. Some bellies are decent but most are squishy, I usually just cut them off and put them in the Boy Scouts bin.

 

[M. McCord]

I generally use a two piece welt.
As leatherman said, it can be a pain to fit at times but it cuts down a lot on waste.

 

[Hengelo_77]

In shoe-repair, leather soles are pre-cut. I've thrown away about a thousend leather cut of bits that would have made good welds
(way before I got in to knives)
One man's thrash is an other man's treasure

 

[grogimus]

I tend to search out bigger scraps to cut welts from as well, I dont get full sides all that often but when I do the belly part tends to be a bit better than those they have a stack of at Tandy.

Question Grogimus: Do you cut your welts in one piece for sandwich construction sheaths? In other words V shaped? If so, and yes I used to a long time ago, try a two piece welt. It greatly conserves leather, but it does take a bit more time to fit. If you need a visual I can take a series of pics and do a little tutorial on how its done.

I think I get what you're saying. If I'm making a wedge shaped or Paul Long type V tipped sheath I do the welts in two pieces. I just cut off some leather for dangler loops and I see $$ worth of awesome leather that could be richly tooled getting wasted. I don't want to skimp on any part of my process, I just get a little sick when I use leather that could be cut, carved, and tooled without a blink and just using it as a filler.

 

[grogimus]

I just buy separate sides that are for welts only, you quit thinking about it at that point. Some bellies are decent but most are squishy, I usually just cut them off and put them in the Boy Scouts bin.

I talked to Roger from RJF leather about this exact thing when I ordered my last double shoulder. I think it would help to have it where I quit worrying about it, "it's a welt side only anyways". I make few enough sheaths where each shoulder is precious but I think it would be worth it to just have a welt piece that wasn't going to have anything else come out from it. Not necessarily because it's a lesser piece, but just because I quit obsessing about maximizing the usage of the leather.

ETA: As far as that goes, I HATE the waste when I square off an edge of a shoulder to cut dangler loops also. They add a nice addition to the sheath but they take up so much life from a shoulder it bums me out. Welt/dangler shoulders only. That would probably be more efficient, definitely less stress.

 

[Horsewright]

Ah buddy, its just a dead cow. A spendy dead cow for sure but a dead cow. We all hate waste and try to do as little as possible but its the nature of the beast (bad un intended pun), you're just gonna have some. We all have our favorite leathers/tanneries and to me that is one of the deciding factors. When I unroll that spendy side of dead cow, consistently from side to side how much waste is there?

 

[Mahoney]

If you are making up a bunch of sheaths that are sort-of the same size, welts are shapes that lend themselves to being nested. One side of a welt goes into the blade cut-out of the next welt and you can get 2 welts out of a piece just a bit bigger than would yield one. Sometimes you can get 2 welt sides into the blade cut-out and do a really efficient zig-zag of welts.

 

[Diomedes Industries]

Both Horeswright and Leatherman gave excellent , sound advice. Belly leather is "generally" not of a quality that will finish and burnish nicely, if that is a factor in your work, and it should be. I try to use at least as good quality in my welts as the rest of the sheath for the edge finishing factor. I do get full use of the belly leather, however. I have a 14" splitter and I split the belly leather down to 2 Oz. and use it for linings. The top grain of belly leather is almost always as good as the top grain anywhere else on the side.

Paul

...and this quote is what I am looking for in buying a splitter.

That settles my next purchase.

I just buy separate sides that are for welts only, you quit thinking about it at that point. Some bellies are decent but most are squishy, I usually just cut them off and put them in the Boy Scouts bin.

And this settles what I will do with the new off cuts I have been getting. We have a local branch and I am sure they would love the help and material.


Jason