This listing is for one of our most popular types of leather, vegetable tanned. This listing is genuine cowhide hand cut into a leather belt blank for crafts and leatherwork. A leather "belt blank" as opposed to a "belt strip" means it comes with pre-punched holes, rounded end, and pre-skived turn back for an easy fold over a buckle.
If you are making a new belt or just need to replace an old belt with new leather, you are in the right place. Basically this is a normal leather strip that is a couple steps closer to becoming an actual finished belt. We did the work so you don't have to. To make our belt blanks, we punch four holes for snaps or rivets and one longer oblong hole for the belt buckle's prong to come through. We also round off the end of the strip as well as skive down the thickness of the turn-back to make it an easier fold over a buckle. As you can see from the second picture, on the unfinished side of the leather, we skive (make the leather thinner) from the last hole to the end of the belt, down to about 5-7oz thick. This makes it much easier to fold over a buckle when you are assembling a finished belt.
Once you receive your belt blank, you can measure whatever length is required, add some holes and punch out a belt tip shape of your preference on the opposite end. After that, add some hardware (snaps, rivets, Chicago screws, etc. and a buckle) and you are done making a complete finished belt. You can leave the edges raw or sand them down and burnish for a more professional look.
These gorgeous cowhide leather belt strips are cut from B grade veg tan double shoulders. Veg tan leather is a favorite of crafters because it offers a blank canvas to create a million different projects. One of the main reasons leather crafters love veg tan is because these veg strips tool, stamp, emboss, carve, wet mold, and take dye beautifully. There is simply no end to what you can do with a veg tan strip.
This listing is vegetable tanned leather belt strips cut from vegetable tan leather imported from Turkey. These belt blanks are clean and ideal for dress belts, purse straps, rifle slings, or guitar straps. The color of the leather may vary slightly from monitor to monitor but you can expect your leather to arrive with a beige color from the plant extracts that will change to a caramel tone with a natural patina over time and use. Our belt straps are hand cut from tight dense grain European steers and young bulls. The length of the strips range from 48" to 60" on average. Depending on the specific hide we cut from, the length can vary slightly but we guarantee that all of our strips will be at least 48" in length and most will be longer, closer to 55" or even 60" long.
The tannery we source our leather from is an award winning tannery that has won the prestigious honor of Tannery of the Year several years in a row. The family owned tannery has kept their well balanced tanning recipe a secret, and we can understand why. When you receive your leather, you will notice a color balance that we cannot capture with a camera.
This listing is for b/c grade leather. This means that the leather will have minimal imperfections such as bug bits, scars, range marks, grain damage, or oxidation. We do not count fat wrinkles as a defect in the leather, fat wrinkles are found in almost every cowhide that is tanned and we believe it adds to the character of the leather. These pieces are ideal for a leather crafter that does not require high end leather like Hermann Oak, EC, or Wickett and Craig.
We offer these strips in two different weights (thickness): 6-7 oz, and 8-9 oz - reference our leather weight guide for more information on picking the right weight/thickness.
*note - the 3/4oz and 4/5oz leather is much lighter in tone than the heavier weights. This is simply because the thinner leather requires less tanning time and so it is a beautiful pale light brown making it the perfect blank canvas for any project. The heavier weight leather like 6/7oz and 8/9oz has a darker honey brown tone that you will love.
We offer strips in the following widths: 1”, 1.25”, 1.5”, 1.75”, 2”
During checkout you can choose both the width and thickness you would like by using the drop down selection boxes. If you don’t see the width or weight you need please contact us. If you need your strips cut "buckle cut" (cutting 1/8" less to allow for easy use of buckles) let us know by leaving a note when you checkout or message us directly. Once we have your specifics we will make the necessary adjustments and make sure your order is perfect before shipping it out.
We love working with leather crafters and there are no dumb questions when it comes to leather work, we are happy to answer any and all questions for you. We have experienced master craftsmen available to help you with your project or to just toss ideas around with.