Whats The Hardest Area Of Leather Construction To You?

[DavidL]

What would you call the hardest area of construction?

I been focusing on saddle stitching and neglected the other areas of leather working.

Now Im looking to get better at the other areas.

Dyeing leather - dilute dye and use sheepskin. Allow to dry for a few hours and add finish.

edge finishing - edge, sand, dye, saddle soap and machine burnisher w/ paraffin

hand cutting leather - scribe line with sharp awl and follow the line

gluing - scratch compass to get a parallel line, sand grain side and apply glue.

start to finish steps - hand cut, dyeing leather, gluing, edge finishing. Are the above steps fundamentally right?

any tips you can share to get a better result will be helpful.

[JoeSnuffie]

I've been airbrushing dyes lately and I am thrilled with the results over other methods when I'm looking for a nice smooth dye job. It goes on evenly, dries very fast and I can get any shade I want by diluting it and I can easily control how much hits the leather. I also use a fraction of the dye for the same results. Another benefit is that I can get a great even coat on the flesh side without using minimal dye. My airbrush setup is CHEAP! It's rigged from a $20 model car set.

For edge finishing, I cut, leaving excess, then I sand it with a belt sander to an even edge. Because I am using 3oz and under leather, I have to be really careful. After I sand, I dye then apply a mix of elmers glue and water and wait for it to dry a little. Then I burnish to a beautiful shine - the burnishing wheel is canvas covered, mounted to an old drill that's attached to the bench, and waxed regularly. The glue mixture really helps those thinner and softer leathers to stick and hold firm and hold a nice burnish.

For cutting straight lines, I have a stainless ruler with a thin cork backing that holds the leather quite firmly. I also use a rotary cutter which prevents the leather from bunching up under the blade.

For gluing, I use contact cement from the hardware store and apply it carefully with a cotton swab, let it set like the instructions say, then stick together. I also scratch or sand the grain side if its been dyed or finished.

Another great tool has been a chasing hammer. It's like a smaller cobbler's hammer, but it's what I need for the smaller items I make. I use it to hammer over the glued pieces for a better bond. It's great for flattening the thread after I stitch as well. And it also works great for making nice folds, whether for a passport case or the rolled edges of a wallet pocket.

[Dwight]

The part that aggravates me the most is cutting out the pieces.

The rest is kinda, sorta, almost maybe fun, . . . but cutting out the pieces (along with determining which old dead cow to cut up) is the one part that aggravates my gizzard.

I don't do enough of the same identical thing to warrant a clicker cutter, . . . mostly custom stuff, . . . so it is cut, whack, chop till ya get a piece of it to work with.

I also generally follow: cut out, . . . glue together, . . . sand edges, . . . bevel the edges, . . . stitch gouge, . . . sew, . . . burnish edges, . . . mold, . . . dye, . . . re-burnish edges, . . . finish, . . . add bling as needed.

Sometimes sewing goes after dye, . . . if customer wants white stitches.

May God bless,

Dwight

[DavidL]

I also find cutting out the pieces are the hardest parts especially if your ruler is not heavy or has no cork to it.

Airbrush seems like a good step up from hand dying. When cutting out two pieces of leather The two pieces are almost never flush, does sanding the edges with a sanding block work on thin leather? or does leaving one edge longer and trimming a better way to get a flush fit.

[Dwight]

I work with leather between 3/4 and what would amount to 48 oz (3/4 of an inch) thick.

My Harbor Freight belt sander and my Menards oscillating drum sander are my chosen sanding tools.

I have on occasion made both pieces bigger, . . . deliberately, . . . so when they were glued together, I could trim the excess with a knife, . . . but only on some special pieces do I do that. I prefer the belt sander.

Air brushing the dye does a "pretty" job, . . . but the dye is only on the surface. Any real good scratch and you are down to bare leather. I prefer to dip dye, . . . will only airbrush for special effects.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited April 25, 2014 by Dwight

[JoeSnuffie]

Dwight is right about the dye not sinking in on typical leather but the thin calf skin I use gets soaked through. It's soft and pretty porous and you can see the color on the other side unless you do a really light coat.

One of the hardest parts for me was consistent cuts of the same items, like wallet pieces. Paper patterns are nice but they aren't precise. I had 2 acrylic templates made with holes to mark the important places and a curve on one side in case I wanted to add one. It's amazing how much time this saves me and it was less than $20 shipped to have them made. I provided them a file made with LibreCAD and I was proud to finally use the CAD class I took 22 years ago.

With the rigid template, I can be sure that the lines are always straight and the marks are the same from piece to piece. No more measuring over and over and creasing those curved pieces is super simple now, I just trace the template.

[JREESER1]

The most difficult for me has always been getting the gusset seams straight on bags. Both inside and outside seams are always a challenge and require no distractions and all my concentration. I hope my new Cobra 4 is really going to help with stitch consistency with the round bed and slow speed.

My I add, when the gussets are good, it is most satisfying.

Great edges come next. Most of the time they are not easy. But in most cases it is just my impatience and sloppiness that cause issues.