[AT] Reconditioning Leather belting

Tue Jan 17 14:50:19 PST 2012

Larry sounds like your grandfather and mine had a lot in common.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Larry Goss
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 5:13 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Reconditioning Leather belting

LOL!  Ah well, Charlie, join the crowd.  Apparently, confusion is one of 
those things that many of my students suffered from.  I thought I was being 
absolutely clear in my instructions to them, but I wasn't.

My grandfather was born in 1875 as the third child in a family of four boys 
and a girl in Colorado territory.  He was the only one to stay with farming 
his entire life while the others went off to hard rock mining and other 
pursuits.  He learned smithing, cobbling, and surveying as an apprentice in 
his father's shop, but besides the everyday activities of subsistence 
dry-land farming, he helped construct the flood irrigation system that 
became the signature for the economic growth that spurred the area west of 
Longmont.  The Farmers Mill in Longmont was the first co-op west of the 
Mississippi river.  When that mill was built, warranties and guarantees were 
unheard of.  In those days, you purchased a second item of your hardware, 
and held it in reserve in case something broke or otherwise failed to 
function on the original purchase.  So when the mill was constructed, a 
second roller mill, a second wagon scale, a second Corliss engine, and other 
duplicate items were purchased.!
   Bottom line: My grandfather ended up with the spare hardware.  The spare 
mill was still operating when the farm sold in 1977.  Over the years, the 
Corliss engine was replaced, and the mill was being powered by an early John 
Deere D (1926) when the farm was sold.  But anyway, my grandfather would 
have known how to recondition this belt.

On a related topic, I have been thinking about my grandfather often for the 
last several weeks.  He was invited to town to watch the local militia go 
through their marching exercises.  The year was 1896.  Riding their wheels 
(bicycles) toward home, my grandfather was asked if he didn't want to 
volunteer for the militia so he could enjoy the fun? My grandfather said he 
had followed a horse's ass all day plowing in the corn field.  He didn't 
think he needed to do it at night, too!  The neighbor and friend was Ullyses 
Simpson Jumper (Sim).  He was activated with his unit for the 
Spanish-American war, saw action in Georgia, San Francisco, and the 
Phillipines, fought in the Boxer rebellion, and finally returned to Colorado 
after the Klondike gold rush.  My grandfather, meanwhile, never left the 
farm.  Around the end of last November, I came up with a copy of Leslie's 
Illustrated History of the Spanish-American War. I have scanned the entire 
book (over 650 pages) and have it avail!
able if anyone is interested in it.

Enough already!

Larry

----- Original Message -----
From: "charlie hill" <charliehill at embarqmail.com>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 10:30:37 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] Reconditioning Leather belting

Larry,  I'm not trying to be rude and absolutely know nothing that will help
with the belt but your response below is confusing to me.  You say on the
one hand "but I'm hoping to find a more modern product that "does what needs
to be done" " and then turn around and say, "Where's my grandfather when I
need him?"    I just don't think your grandfather would be telling you about
a more modern product.
In fact I doubt anyone has tried to make a product for the long term
preservation of leather in the last 40 years or more unless it was someone
in a museum.   Seems to me the answer comes from what was done in the old
days so you are more on the right track asking what your grandfather would
have done than searching for a new fangled miracle product.   One thing I
can promise you is that if you use any product that contains silicone the
belt is ruined.  It will look great for a little while and then start to
crack up and fall apart.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Larry Goss
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 10:33 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Reconditioning Leather belting

Right.  Thanks, Roy, Mike, and others.  This thread is heading in the right
direction, I think.  The belt has not been abused, but has been neglected to
the point of being useless until some major restoration happens to it.  I
suspect that it has not been used for 50-60 years (or longer), and is stiff
as a board.  I'm really hoping to get some feedback from sources that may
have information regarding the newer non-wax based treatments that contain
glycerin.  I have used a glycerin/alcohol combination for rejuvenating wood
for years, and some of the sites offering restorative products almost talk
about the process as very similar.  I also have referred to a repro copy of
a book giving old-time recipes and formulas for everything under the sun --
done the way they did things back in the 1870's.  One of the precautions
both the old and present-day information cautions against is how to get rid
of the build up of wax and residue from neatsfoot oil. I'm a long way from
having tha!
t problem at this point, but I'm hoping to find a more modern product that
"does what needs to be done" to this belt.  BTW, I do NOT plan on getting
close to this belt with any alcohol-based chemical.

I bought a quart of Leather New from Rural King last week.  I started using
that on the belt yesterday afternoon, and ended up swabbing on the whole
quart. I suspect the belt would take another gallon before it stops
absorbing that conditioner.  Maybe by that time the belt will be supple
enough to actually bend so it can be more easily handled. I'm tempted to set
up  a dipping tray for the belt as an easy way to satisfy the leather's
thirst for revitalization, but a couple of websites specifically caution
against doing that.

Maybe I should look for help in an old copy of The Farmer's Almanac?  But I
figure there are enough people on this list with experience on belt pulley
equipment and/or harness that I can find some guidance from them.  Where's
my grandfather when I need him?

FWIW, I don't plan on keeping this belt or the full box of Alligator belt
lacing that I got with it.  Those are available.  Maybe Andy Glines needs
another belt for his steamer?

Larry

----- Original Message -----
From: "Roy Morgan" <k1lky at earthlink.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 10:37:13 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] Reconditioning Leather belting

On Jan 16, 2012, at 10:57 PM, Larry Goss wrote:

> ... old flat belt at the Arden show this fall....20 feet long. ...
> needs some treatment and restoration/preservation so it can be used
> for flat belt pulley work.  What should I use?

I found a discussion at:
<http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/antique-machinery-history/leather-belt-dressing-111503/
>

One contributor says:
" Every old book I've read says to only use neatsfoot oil on leather
as belt dressing. The others will eventually ruin the belt. Other
types of belting are a different story."

I suggest you avoid bending the belt if it's dried or cracking, until
you can get your treatment into it.

Roy

Roy Morgan
k1lky at earthlink.net
K1LKY Since 1958 - Keep 'em Glowing!

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