asitcomestome

I am just posting this to share. I like classic leather just fine. Don't shoot the messenger. He shows his leather at 5 minutes into the video.

I also get my polishing compound from Princess Auto here in Canada and I love working with it. The brand is 'Enkay' and they claim to be out of Brooklyn N.Y. I rub some on like a crayon onto a couple 2" x 12" pieces of MDF and add a few drops of mineral oil. It makes a great slurry and you can easily see where the edge is making contact. I use the coarsest available (Black emery) then finish with what's called 'White Diamond' for my honing. On the packages scale of coarseness the Black is coarser than Brown Tripoli and the White Diamond is just finer than the Tripoli. Also to sharpen concave gouging tools like stiching groovers I will load an appropriately sized piece of fiberous twine with polishing compound and run it through the cutting hole.

Thanks for the replies! I think Southtexas nailed it on the head. After I gave it a baking soda bath I cleaned it with saddle soap but didn't oil it. I suspect that's the culprit. We also have a 'death valley' equivalent humidity level here so the oil is probably an essential on all future projects. Would neatsfoot work or is there some thing better? Also thank you TwinOaks for the pH tip I'll be more mindful of it from know on. The replacement will last considerably longer now!

Hi All, I thought I had the vinegaroon all figured out my batch was yeilding great looking results. Also I was (so I thought) neutralizing the acid with a baking soda bath. I had made a plain belt for a friend with a vinegaroon finish a little over a year ago. I ran into him at a crew call and asked how it's holding up, .....it had huge fissures and cracks through out, the thing looked like a 30 year old tire! The fissures also tore out a belt hole and the keeper loop! My friend claims that he rots out watchbands all the time and wasn't upset. I was though and am making him a complimentary replacement. Anyone have some thoughts? When I replace his old one I'll post some pics of it.

Google found these 2 books both titled 'Leather Manufacture.' one from 1891 and one from 1906. You can read every page and it appears they are downloadable as well. They mostly focus on tanning & processing of leather but there are old dying recipes in the back. (Remembering that chemical safety back then was minimal at best!) One should probably leave most of them well alone, but they're interesting none the less. Leather manufacture 1891 Leather manufacture 1906

I toss a few of those Silica packets that come with your new shoes into my toolboxes. Those packets just sit there absorbing moisture in the air.

Thanks for all the replies! More to follow!

I made this for my wife over the weekend to replace a broken vinyl pleather cell case. Any constructive criticism is welcome.