Belt etiquette?

[Monkey@Arms]

Can you post a pic or a link of the belt? I can't find it on their website.

You can see one in this thread. They are very light tan in color, and from what I've read most people who buy one put in quite a bit of effort in coloring it.

Best regards,

Jake

[muirkirkca]

I have a black English saddle leather two prong 2 1/4 belt which I wear inside the loops. Bought from Kirkpatrick Leather in Toronto for $45. They have a less expensive model for $35.

For those who may be interested there is a site in Thunder Bay, Canada that sells some unique Scottish items - tams, bonnets, sporrans etc. Name is penny's.ca.

Thunder Bay is at the west end of Lake Superior. Their prices appear very good.

[canawler]

Can you post a pic or a link of the belt? I can't find it on their website.

Here is the 3" belt mentioned earlier. I found one with brass colored buckles to wear with brown accessories and I just purchased a second with a chrome buckle and dyed it black.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...5-L&lpage=none

For my casual kilts, I picked up this 2" belt, mentioned earlier and dyed it black.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...cStoreNum=8125

I didn't have any problems with the dying. I just used black leather dye from a shoe store and followed up with neutral shoe polish. I tried slicking the edges of the 3" black belt and this also worked well.

[sharpdressedscot]

Alright, thanks for the tip.

[Bugbear]

Glad that worked well, I'll keep it in mind.

[CactusJack]

I didn't have any problems with the dying. I just used black leather dye from a shoe store and followed up with neutral shoe polish. I tried slicking the edges of the 3" black belt and this also worked well.

I was wondering how that worked out for you, I have one of the belts from Lowes and need to dye it black. How many coats of the balck dye did it take?

[canawler]

I was wondering how that worked out for you, I have one of the belts from Lowes and need to dye it black. How many coats of the balck dye did it take?

Keep in mind I know nothing about dyeing leather other than what I've read on XMarks. If I remember correctly, the 2" plain tan belt took two or three coats but really, the first coat seemed to cover it pretty well. I initially wasn't real happy with it because it seemed to cover and not soak in as I thought a dye should. It also took forever to dry. After applying two or three coats of neutral polish I am very happy with the belt. I've worn it a good deal this past summer and had no problems with the dye rubbing off.

I also just dyed the 3" oil tanned belt last week. Again knowing nothing of dyes, I assume its ok to use on an oil tanned belt. This one did seem to soak in the dye better than the first belt. It took two or three coats to achieve a really uniform finish and it dried much faster.

Next time I will try some better quality dye. I assume the dye you get at a leather working shop is better than the stuff in the Kiwi bottle.

I will try to take some pictures of the belts when I can.

[James MacMillan]

After fighting with dye rubbing off, I went to some pros and found out some stuff.

They say - The dye isn't the important part, it's how you seal the leather. They recommended Neat-Lac Leather Finish. I bought a can and used it per directions printed, and everything works fine. (made and sold by Tandy)

About the dye, I had best coverage with edge dressing products.

[CactusJack]

Keep in mind I know nothing about dyeing leather other than what I've read on XMarks. If I remember correctly, the 2" plain tan belt took two or three coats but really, the first coat seemed to cover it pretty well. I initially wasn't real happy with it because it seemed to cover and not soak in as I thought a dye should. It also took forever to dry. After applying two or three coats of neutral polish I am very happy with the belt. I've worn it a good deal this past summer and had no problems with the dye rubbing off.

I also just dyed the 3" oil tanned belt last week. Again knowing nothing of dyes, I assume its ok to use on an oil tanned belt. This one did seem to soak in the dye better than the first belt. It took two or three coats to achieve a really uniform finish and it dried much faster.

Next time I will try some better quality dye. I assume the dye you get at a leather working shop is better than the stuff in the Kiwi bottle.

I will try to take some pictures of the belts when I can.

Thanks for the info, I have the 3" oil tanned belt and some of the Kiwi dye and will be attempting my project next week. I look foward to the pictures and will post some of my project aslo.