Quote Originally Posted by MacBean View Post
and here's the esential solution for belts from cavscout:

Assuming your belt edges are essentially squared off, you wold first want to bevel the edge. Tandy sells edge bevelers of various sizes. This begins the rounding process by slicing off the sharp corner edge. We're not talking a drastic rounding. This is a very subtle radius, just enough to blunt the edge. The beveler will only take off a thin sliver of leather.

If the belt edges are not dyed to match the belt, you may want to dye the edges.

Then Burnish the edges which is a fancy way of saying rub them smooth. There are many ways to do this but essentially you want it to be a smooth rounded edge when your done. Essentially all your doing is getting the short edge fibers to lay down smooth. Using bees wax or other edge treatments will help and somewhat seal the edge but some will just use hot water and elbow grease. A piece of burlap or denim is often used to do the rubbing. You'll spend a lot of time and effort on this phase and this step is why the price of a none-edge treated belt and an edge treated belt are so different.

Once the edge is round and smooth, you can coat the edge with one of several edge seals or coats.
It should be noted that this only works on "Real" leather. Stuff with a plasticized finish or that's made from leatherboard will NOT survive this process.