Ok I'm finishing out a knife sheath, and wet molded it to the knife last night. I knew the leather straps were quite dried out from the dye, but when I wet the sheath the straps bristled out at the edges (with lots of the little fibers sticking out.) I had finished the edges of the straps prior to assembly using gum Tragacanth with a nice shiny slick finish, and it was a few days before I attached them.
Any way to save this?
I am thinking of conditioning with neatsfoot oil or lexol, but I am fairly sure that I will not be able to re slick the edges with it assembled.
Even if I cannot save this one how does one prevent this in future projects? I have never had this issue in the past.