How To Distress Deerskin's Edges?

[Suicide]

Hi,

It apeared I need some 4 oz deerskin strips with distressed edges. But all I the deer leather I currently has perfectly cut and even edges.

What I did try is to scratch the edge by different metal tools, skive it with sandpaper and blunt skiver blade, rip pieces off it with plies, hammer it , do all these in different combinations with dry and dump leather and got no good results. I mean esges still look like the was intentionally distressed, not just worned of damaged while skin processing.

Can you please suggest me a method which gives results like in the picture below?

Thanks in advace!

Edited December 2, 2011 by Suicide

[Jim]

You may want to see about the lower grades of deer hide. Most of the A and/or B+ to B grades will have finer edges whereas the dreades C's and D's or even the "scrap bin" parts will have the distressed look that you are looking for.

Hope this helps,

Jim

[Suicide]

Thanks, Jim,

Thats another option.

But unfortunately it seems like that piece should be premium grade in general and only on the edge must be distressed. That piece is mostly like the overlapped cover of that bag in my first post.

If there is no other options to distress premium, I am going to take your advise and to lace on that piece strip of lowgrade leather.

[Luke Hatley]

Suicide... this is what i have did,,,Lay the deerskin on a piece of metal or on the top of an anvil,then use the ball part of your ball-peen hammer then start hammering along the edge that you want distressed. this will give you a cut line that you cannot get with sissors....experiment.

Edited December 3, 2011 by Luke Hatley

[Jim]

Don't think that the lower grades are bad leather, when it comes to deer and elk hides anyway. They are just not as pretty and have more holes from poor skinning methods. I have use these often to make VERY rustic Mountain Man gear with good reults.

Jim

[Suicide]

Thanks, guys!

Luke, I slightly improved your method and got results. The improvement I did was a cutting - I rolled the piece, then cut it with the hacksaw trying to "chew" it as much as I can. Got fairly nasty cut after unroll. Then I hammered it as you said, put the only edge into can with water for about 1 hour, then dried and finally oil it. Excellent I don't need ask my neighbour's dog to suck that bag before going outside!