Yukonrookie

@Mulesaw I will give that a try. It almost looks like some sort of oxidation but not sure how that’s possible though. This leather sure dries out super fast too. I’ll give a back piece a try. Thanks again

Well, thank you kindly sir. Still heck of a lot of practice needed though. The spots disappear a little when dry but not fully. The only times they’re not there is before I start casing for the first time. Now, this is only my second practice piece and the first one was even smaller so I’m not sure if all of it will have those spots but it sure is a disappointment. It’s not the leather from laederiet btw. That stuff looks great and is a joy to carve and stamp too. So thank you for the recommendation!

So I just got a piece of 9/10oz double butt veg tan leather and after casing the leather and starting stamping a practice piece I end up seeing these strange grey-ish spots. Anyone know what they are? I didn’t see them before casing but as I’m adding water and keep stamping they show more and more. I attached a picture of my partially stamped practice piece (I’m still practicing and getting a hang on things so it don’t look like much) . You’ll be able to see those spots on there. I also attached a pic of a half piece. You can’t see anything on it, until you put water on it. This leather is kinda strange anyway. It feels “sticky” when cutting with my swivel, like there is a lot of drag and some of the cuts look gray too. It’s dries out super fast and needs water more often than any other leather I worked with before. It even has a funny chemically smell to it. The supplier claims it’s all natural Italian Veg tan. No bleaching or such. Although it does looks pretty light, it doesn’t look as white to me as some of the bleached stuff. For what it’s worth, the flesh side LOOKS super clean. Unfortunately I’m not yet experienced enough to “read” leather so I’m hoping someone here might have an idea on what I’m dealing with here. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks kindly folks.

@Pan5N3 Thanks for the Tip. As soon as I’m back in Canada I will be placing an order with them. The free shipping option is great, especially since being from the Yukon can sometimes be a bit pricey. I think they’re located in Alberta too, right? Looks like they got HO and Wickett and Craig, too. I just checked out some of their videos and I totally agree, those videos are really nice when ordering leather online. Have you tried some of their imported stuff? Thanks again for the info. Much appreciated!

Hi everyone, I’m in the process of ordering some Angelus Dye and see that Angela’s also makes an Antique finish, which they call “Acryl Antique Finish”. Has anyone tried it before? I’m wondering if it works similar to, for example, Fiebings Hi-Liter, paste or Antique Gel? Does it highlight carving or stamping? Or is it just an Acrylic finish that gives the leather a vintage look, without making carving/stamping stand out? It being Acrylic, can the leather be oiled through it? Is it more glossy after it dried, or more on the matte side? I know, that’s a lot of questions…. If anyone has any experience with it, I’d be grateful to your opinion. Thanks in advance

@Mulesaw Thanks for the offer! I might just do that. I’ll let ya know if the leather from Buyleatheronline seem good to me. I can’t see it being as good as Laederiet, see as it’s quite a bit cheaper, but I hope it’ll be decent enough. If I end up ordering from Leaderiet again, I’ll first give them a call for advice. Thanks again

Yup, I totally agree. I’m hoping to find a place like that for leather and sounds like they might just be that place. I have one like that for welding supplies back home in the Yukon as well as a feed and horse tack store. I always know I get the right stuff for my needs and it’s a great feeling when they know the customer and his/her needs. What make things a bit more difficult is that I haven’t lived in Europe for 24+ years. I moved to Canada when I was 19 and only came back here for the odd visit. So much has changed. I don’t even know a lot of the German words what leatherwork is concerned. All good. I’m learning. This forum and the great folks here sure helps though. im looking forward to the double butts though. I mainly just decided to check out the other place because the prices are hard to beat. As a matter of fact I actually stayed away from buyleatheronline.com simply because the prices were too good to be true. I didn’t think the leather could be any good but when I saw all the comments about them on here I figured it couldn’t hurt to try a square meter and find out myself. I’m sure it won’t be as good of quality as laederiet though. What does riet mean btw? Anyway, thanks for your help. If you don’t mind could I hit you up if I end up more questions about stuff concerning leather? Like when I start making my first pair of chaps for example?

Now this sure is strange. I was sure I had replied on Saturday. My apologies. Those chaps you made are awesome!. In Canada I wear chaps regularly when I’m on horseback. Lots of tall and kwillow bush, where chaps come in quite handy I ended up ordering a Croupon from Laederiet. Thanks for the tip. I also gave buyleatheronline.com a shot too. Just a half bend for now though. The reviews are pretty good and their prices are hard to beat. Have you ever ordered from them before?

Thanks for all the replies guys and apologies for the late reply. @dikman I usually apply NFO after I’m done tooling. Warming the leather might be worth a shot. good idea. Thank you. @DieselTech I almost only use pro dye. After trying a few different ones I came across pro dye and that’s what works best for me now. @TonyV I tried saddle soap and it did help a bit. Thank you. Again, thanks for all the advice guys. I appreciate you taking the time to help out a new guy like myself.

Hi folks, I have yet another question to tallowed leather. I have some leather here that’s been slightly tallowed by the tannery. The supplier claims it’s tallowed sparingly and that it can be dyed. It takes Fiebings Hi-Liter Antique well, but I’m having some issues with dye. It does absorb the dye, but a little slowly and some spots absorb the dye faster than others. Any advice on this? It also tools and stamps well. Has anyone dyed, or worked with, tallowed leather? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance guys.

@Dwight thank you kindly, Sir! I will not “case” with alc before dying anymore. It did sound like defeating the purpose of oiling in the first place. Just read about it somewhere so I thought there must be a reason. I now know better. Thanks again

Apologies, in my first reply to your post I asked if you could recommend any leather from laederiet, but you already recommended these croupons from them. Thank you kindly for that. It didn’t have that bleached look, right? Did you carve or stamp some of it? I will give it a try. Now that I think about it I had ordered from them once before. This wasn’t leather though. Thanks again!

Thanks so much for the reply. Yeah, I do like this leather but applying dye is something that’s a bit daunting for me. It’s still hit and miss for me. More so than with other leathers I worked with so far. It will take dye though and the supplier “Lederversand Berlin” (maybe you heard of them?) claims it can be dyed well. The dye stays on the surface a second before it slowly absorbs it. Not sure if that’s bad though? I’m hesitating trying more leathers from yet more suppliers since it’s too often leather that has a bleached looking surface which I personally don’t like. I browsed Laederiet before. You seem to be happy with them? Is there any leathers that tool and stamp nicely you could recommend? Something with a more natural look to it, not too soft? I’m looking for quality all natural veg tan. I’m not too concerned about the price, within reason of course. Would you know about other places to check out in Europe and for those criteria, by chance? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I’d like to try different leather but if I was pointed in the right direction a little that would be awesome. Thanks again for the reply

Hello folks, This is my first post here and I’m quite new to leatherwork, I introduced myself in the new members section. Naturally I have me a load of questions. I won’t bug you too much all at once, so I start with one that’s on my mind at the moment, as I’m in the process of ordering me a couple of hides of 6/7oz and 9/10oz . Some info ahead, while I live in northern Canada I’m currently in Germany and will be here a few months. Anyway, in Canada I could’ve gotten some Hermann Oak or even try some Wickett and Craig but it seems that it’s a bit difficult to find that here. I found a couple spots but the prices are so much higher than in North America that I just can’t justify it. Thankfully there are good quality options from Italian and even German tanneries. So after some trial and error test buys I think I found a contender with what I assume to be good veg tan, all natural leather. It’s got a slightly goldish-tan hue to it and stamps and burnishes well, I’d say. Now, as I mentioned I’m still green and only worked with the typical bleached stuff until I tried some A grade Hermann Oak (what a difference) and now this stuff. This here stuff is slightly tallowed. It’s easy enough to case, but it doesn’t absorb the water as quickly as other leather I’ve worked with so far. I tried dying a bit of it and it takes some getting used to. So what are the advantages vs disadvantages to that, if any? Before I buy a couple hides of this I’d like to find out what I can. Anything I need to about it? Another question would be what exactly is a Croupon? I guess it’s a term for a back part of the hide. Do any of you know this term? Does it include part of the butts/bends? I haven’t heard this word in English before. Anyhow, I attached a quick picture I took of part of a “Croupon” that I cut in half. It’s 6/7oz and there’s a 4” strap of 10/11 oz as well. Any help with this would be much appreciated. Thanks a bunch in advance, guys.

That’s great to know. Until now my procedure was NFO, then after at least a few hours I’d deglaze with isopropyl and then apply my diluted dye. I had read comments and saw in YouTube videos people casing with diluted Isopropyl (50/50 to 75/35 ISO/Water) and I thought this could serve as my casing and deglazing solution, both at the same time. Any thoughts on this? I was wondering if it made sense to first apply NFO and later apply Alcohol. Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose? Oh, I got so much to learn lol

Pardon my barging in on the topic. I’m fairly new to leatherwork and have been putting on NFO before dying as well. Except I put it on with a cloth. Is there a specific reason to using the bristle brush? Also would you still deglaze after the NFO! Thank you kindly.

Hello folks, To state the obvious, I’m new here. Have been lurking around for a few months and decided to finally join. I’m pretty new to leatherwork as well but have always been fascinated by leather, even the smell of it. Anyway, I finally decided to dedicate some time to learn the craft and I enjoy it more and more. Since I live in the boonies I have to learn by reading books and what I can find out online. That’s how I stumbled across this place and sure glad I did. Greetings from the Yukon Territory, Canada.