Need Help Getting Started

[ranchmom77]

I bought a 4/5 oz single shoulder from Tandy with the intent of experimenting with a few small projects. My first one is a bronc halter noseband. I made myself a pattern and got the leather piece cut out... But now what?

It's pretty stiff stuff so do I need to put some neatsfoot oil on it before I case and tool it? Or do i case it, tool it, then apply the oil? I plan to dye the entire thing as well.. When do I do that? I'm going to hand sew a soft piece of suede on the underside for padding, but I sew it together last after gluing it, correct?

I've found several helpful posts about the order of things, but couldn't find one that mentioned using neatsfoot oil in the order of things.

I really really really appreciate any help to get me off and running.

Thanks so much!

[WScott]

The neatsfoot oil is classically used to re-soften the leather after casing and tooling. Typically you soak the leather (case it) do all your tooling and then oil it. Basically it puts the oils back into the leather that the water took out when you cased it.

You can dye before or after oil, especially if you use a solvent based dye. This is a good point to do a test try on a scrap piece of the same leather from your project. Just see how that leather takes up the dye with oil and without and which way looks and feels better to you.

For lining, you can glue it to the back and then stitch it...again some projects need to be dyed before stitching ( my preference) and some you can dye after stitching.

Don't forget to run an edger to bevel the edges , usually done before dying and then burnish the daylights out of them with a little gum trag.

I hope some of this helps. When in doubt, test it out...that is what scrap is for!

Springfield leather has some good videos on dying leather

Cheers and good luck

Scott

[ranchmom77]

Thank you very much for your reply Scott.. I appreciate it! Will I need to edge it again after I glue and stitch the underside on?

Also, for a later project, if I cut a shape into the noseband and added a piece of designer leather for an inlay between the two pieces, how would I edge the shape in the noseband?

Thanks again! Ill get started on the casing process

[clarktonystark]

great video on dying, thanks for that post.

[WScott]

I do hope some of what I wrote was helpful.

Take everything with a grain of salt and try different ways yourself.

There are so many ways to "skin the cat" and there is no one way to do stuff, but some ways work better. I read, watch videos and search postings and take what I like then try it out and test before doing a project. Do your research and then test to see if you can make it work in your hands.

Here is another leatherworker thread on the steps of making something and a good discussion follows

http://leatherworker...=15#entry310681

No problem for the video

Here is one on edging. I like these guys because they have such a great sense of humor and know what they are talking about

RM, I would glue oversized lining to my pre-edged leather project, let glue dry, cut the lining back with a super sharp knife, do my stitching and then burnish the edges with gum trag or saddle soap and a hand burnisher from Tandy (the wooden one) to give a nice rounded and smooth edge that blends the top leather and the back lining into one.

[WScott]

Are these like what you are making??

[ranchmom77]

Yes those.. Hers are gorgeous!