Sun, heat, water, and plain ‘ol age can wreak havoc with the condition of leather. We can help with that!
Sometimes, repairs are needed. Sometimes, all that is required is some TLC.
This Boy Scout hatchet sheath is around 50 years old. The owner knew that it’s snap was broken. In addition, the leather was looking really rough. As it turned out, cleaning and conditioning, along with reinforcements for a new snap, were all it needed. Now, he has his original Boy Scout hatchet, along with a nice sheath, to pass down to his grandchildren.
This project was a flea market find of my own. The gunbelt had seen very little wear but had been allowed to dry rot in places. (It was also several inches too small for me!)
The end tab, at the buckle, was rotted. I removed and replaced it, adding a bit of length.
After that, the buckle was set too far back, so I removed it, restitching in a new position. In addition, I stitched through the old holes, just for appearance.
The strap end of the belt was in good shape, but I still needed several inches to make it fit. In this case, I cut the tip of the strap end off and added several inches of new leather. Repositioning was again required. Again, I put a decorative stitch through the empty holes.
The belt didn’t sit smoothly in place, so I added a tab retention strap at the buckle end and another retention strap at the opposite end. After that, the front of the belt held evenly in place.
A little scratch embellishment of my last name and first initial completed reconstruction.
The above photos display the repaired and reconditioned belt.