Leather belts: I had the luxury of living in a town with many
paper/lumber mills, and there was a firm that did nothing but supply
all the mills with drive belts.  What a joy to go there.  The two
fellows operating it were 88 and 93 years old, and they could look at a
belt, figure how much it had stretched over the years, and make you a
new one in a day.

If you live near mills still using leather belts, where skiving is
still done, you're lucky and might get something that will be nearly
impossible to find in the future.

Thomas Binnall