sharpshooter81

Although I am fairly new to leatherworking, I have completed alot of different projects from belts and wallets to custom rifle scabbards. All of my stuff to this point has turned out good with the exception of my leather being stiff and hard. I usually case my leather, do all my tooling, and dye it soon after tooling is completed. I usually apply my topcoat (fiebings acrylic resolene) within a few hours of dying with fiebings professional oil dye. The result is hard, stiff leather. What can I do or add to give me nice soft, supple leather projects?? I was thinking about adding a couple coats of Neatsfoot oil between the dyeing and topcoat stages. Would this work??? Also, how much will this increase the suppleness of my projects?? Thanks in advance for any input!!

I have a few already finished products that I would like to soften up.....are there any products that can be applied after the top coat is added??.....would really like to soften up my saddlehorn bags....hmmmmm....

I am fairly new to leather work....I have made alot of different items over the past few months, mostly gun and shooting leather and some horse tack. I am using vegtan and fiebings professional oil dye. To this point, after tooling, I apply the dye and when it dries I apply a coat of fiebings acrylic resolene.....but my leather is still very stiff and hard when everything dries!!.....I just made a lovely set of Saddlehorn bags with full basket weave and like I said, they are very hard and stiff!!! What does everybody use to soften their leather, and how do you apply it?? I want my stuff to be nice soft and supple....HELP!! lol

I like the idea of stitching a name patch on the bridle....I'm fairly new to this leather working stuff, I didn't think of that!!! LOL Thanks alot guys!!

A lady contacted me today and wanted to know if she brought her horse bridle to me, if I would stamp the horses name in the bridle.....No trouble to do it of course, just wondering if I can stamp lettering on something that has already been dyed?? She said it was a med brown oil finish. Any imput is greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!

I am fairly new to leather working....I have made different things, knife sheaths, rifle scabbards etc. The other day, one of the local horse owners found out that I did leather work, and she stopped by with a saddle she needs repaired. It needs the stirrup straps repaired (which I can do) and the saddle horn re-covered. The saddle horn is made of metal, and was originally covered with braided raw hide. The lady left the saddle here and wanted to see if I can repair it. I have no idea how to recover it....she said it didn't have to be recovered with raw hide, it could be just re-covered in leather. Can anybody direct me how to go about doing this? Remember I am a newbie to all of this and I'm sure there are a lot of terminology I have not yet heard of!! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!