reddevil76

Springfield leather's home page is saying they gonna have some soon and asking people to get on a notification list..

Thanks, Bill! Not confusing at all. Thanks for clear and concise explanation.

I don't think there's any other way than neatsfoot oil and some sun. Is this the Hermann Oak? What grade is it?

Thanks, Bill. So can I say if the leather I am polishing is relatively new, then a single coat will do, and it only needs to be polished off and not rinsed?

The product description say "clean and lubricate fibres", so I assume it is applied and left as that. But googling it, I saw many comments saying that it must be rinsed off or the leather will crack. So what is the correct way of using it? I can't imagine placing a leather item under the tap to rinse it.

You can use this stitching method But since heat is a concern, you can use the stitching method, but instead of thread, use thin stainless steel wire. The type they use to lock oil drain plugs on racing bikes or cars. But to use wire, I suppose you will need to reinforce the stitching holes with eyelets.

Ellen, I share your frustration as I am in the same situation as you in a few ways. I have space constraints (working from a small desk in bedroom), I like to make clean plain items as well, and I pay alot for shipping too. Latest shipment, US$120 in shipping cost alone for 4 sides. So any mistakes is indeed costly for me. I too have looked at some other's commercial sites and wondered where they get such clean veg tan. But then again, we see only the finish products, but we don't get to see behind the scenes. Maybe they too "throw away" half a hide for every half they use, just to achieve such clean results? Anyway, some time ago, I came across Rowensworld.com. These folks sell leather from Tandy, but in a different way. They sell in pieces of 1 sq ft (you decide the dimensions), and they cut that piece only from the cleanest part of the hide. For the Live Oak, it was $10 per piece. I did email them asking if they could do a discount for 50 pieces. Their offer if I am not wrong is $8 per piece. By the sq foot, this is almost twice the price as opposed to buying the whole side. If you are one who can find projects to utilise the blemished parts, Buying the whole side still brings bigger returns. But if you don't wish to struggle with storing big hides, or cutting pieces from one, or having the headache of dealing with the blemished parts ( I hate to throw them away, yet don't know what to do with them), then maybe this is the way to go.

I suppose nothing beats trying at least one hide out myself

Spinner, how was the temper of the leather? Firm enough to do overlay style card slots in a wallet?

To all those who chipped in with suggestions, just thought I'd update that a week ago, the lady (Kim) who bought the leather received it and was kind enough to send me a pic of the first thing she did with them. I thought they looked great!

Hi Ellen, this "blotting" paper leather you mentioned, what brand is it? I might want to consider it as I rarely dye and apply finishes. But I do want blemish free leather and that sounds like what I am looking for.

Alrighty, be waiting for your updates..

George, have you seen the top grade Hermann Oak? How was it like? Mine is the B grade. I don't really like it. To be fair, if you do stamping, those small spots disappear under a basketweave. But I like to do plain items, and the thing is, I also like my current supplier very much and would like to stay with them. But their main line seems to be the HO. So unless the top grade HO is much better, I may have to look elsewhere which I am quite reluctant.

www.ohiotravelbag.com, leathercraft catalog, page 163 onwards

What thickness are you looking for? I have ordered tooling calf and tooling goat from Tandy before. 85% blemish free. 2-3 oz. For something thicker, I've just received my Hermann Oak. This is my first time ordering this. Frankly, I am quite disappointed. But I don't know if its due to my expectations too high? Previously I used veg tan available locally (which is from India), and they always had several big blemishes. But you could work around it. It was only $3.50 per sq ft and I didn't need to pay shipping. Then I splashed out about $120 to ship from US these 3 hides of Hermann Oak plus 1 Tandy's Craftsman Oak as I thought it wiser to spend more and get more yield. Now, I won't even talk about the Craftsman Oak (shudder). But these Hermann Oak hides had these small blemishes spread out here and there, and I could hardly cut a piece without a blemish no matter how I tried to place my patterns. It seems as if the cow just recovered from chicken pox prior to being slaughtered. I would think this is even more inconvenient than a few large blemishes which you could work around. I might want to try the Royal Meadow next time. But let's see if anyone have a better recommendation.

What a coincidence. Just received my undercut beveler in the post. Will try that.

Since it seems the only concern is "wipe off", you guys can consider using a resist. The resist if applied sparingly, works only on the very top layer of the leather. And since you are using a tattoo machine, you will actually pierce the leather plus the film of resist on it and the color goes beyond into the fibres itself where the resist does not permeate. And when you wipe off, the resist protects the other areas where colour is not intended. Just my thoughts.

sorry, here's the pic.

This video shows how the Japanese pre-weather their veg tan wallet. I suppose besides what is shown in the video, you can also sun it after the whole process, to complete the aged look. As for the above belt I made, I simply apply a layer of resist, wait for it to dry, then lightly and randomly run through with a fine grit sand paper. The grit then creates "scratches" in the resist, which I then follow up with some dye applied on a sponge. It completes the look. The control of the look is at the part when you work with the sandpaper. Here is another example, where I went criss cross with the sandpaper.

Are you looking for something like this?

$15 for a swatch is kinda ridiculous. Springfield leather shipped 4 sides plus a handful tools & hardware from theirs to Portland for only $25 shipping. Of the sponsors of this site, I have contacted not only Springfield but also RJF leather. RJF replied promptly, and offered to send swatches. But I informed him that I am in Singapore, and we both agreed it is too costly for him to send me swatches. It was kind of him to offer nevertheless. In end I went with Springfield because I needed some Tandy stuff, yet I also wanted the Hermann Oak from them. So when they agreed, for the Tandy stuff, to honour the prices that I would gotten from my elite membership at Tandy's, it sealed the deal. Everything was fuss free, and Jill whom I was handed over to finalise the order was tip top on service as well.

Big Gun, yes I am in Singapore. I've been looking at youtube videos of sewing machines in action. The aerostitch is something i would want once I have a steady job. I'm even daydreaming of clicker presses and dies! Talk about dreaming big. Anyway, thanks for all the great suggestions

A china product... so, what happens when it fails. Send it back to china?

Big Gun, that's an idea too. I've been looking at patterns for Tote bags and i could probably make up a few to be sewed by machine. I'd probably line them with canvas inside. But the only guy in town with a machine to sew it, is my friend who got me here in the first place. Ironic eh?

Well, there aren't any shows or events here. I did browse through over 20 pages of ebay listings to get an idea of what camo products is out there. It seems that mostly is camo patterns from Mossy Oak. I've listed it several times on Ebay and sold only 3 woodlands hides to a lady in Texas. As Big Gun has aptly named it, after the listing fees of the previous listings, the final value fee, the paypal fees, I made about a 15% loss. But I'm happy to just get back some money. Then I listed postage at $19, but actual postage was $31 for registered articles. Which was fine, I'm happy to pay a little more to ensure all goes well. It reach US in a few days and got stuck at NY customs. After 2 weeks, the lady started asking for a refund, though I did provide a tracking number and documentation from the post office to show it has left Singapore and is in US now. Later, I convinced her to help both of us check with her local post office. Only when she went to her local post office, and the people there informed her that it is likely to be at customs (send it for lab test, could it be? Declaration says goat leather and probably they wasn't convinced), did she agreed to wait a little longer. It was something out of both of our control, and I can definitely understand her frustration. Many times I shipped items to the US and this is the first time it has happened. Probably due to the fact that it is leather, rather than finished goods. Nevertheless, I will definitely try to list it on ebay again, after some time. Recently, I couldn't even get 10 pages views on a listing and all the listing fees were rather draining. I'm definitely going to try my hand on some holsters and quivers once I have some veg tan available and a Tandy book in hand. Bkingery - I am warmed by the responses here and it goes to show other than what the newspapers tell us, this world is still full of good people. Following the ebay sale, I thought the only way to move these is to take a slight loss on them. And I rather have the discount go to the buyer than have it go in the form of fees to Ebay. So I've revised my prices in the classifieds some time ago to reflect that. Even then, I wouldn't want anyone to buy them just to help me. Though I could do with some help right now, but I am of the thinking that there are others more deserving. I would be happy if a buyer could use the leather to make something which could turn a profit for them. I am admitedly rock bottom now with my jobless situation. But I still have food and shelter, and have family. In fact my girlfriend extended a loan to me to order some veg tan from Springfield. Her reasoning is that I could not only keep myself occupied (my thoughts have been swinging to drastic actions recently), after I have made some products, i could sell them and pay her back. She has tried to take me out in the past few months, and I have been resolute in staying home as I believed I should not be spending money which I either did not have or her money. So this works for both of us, as i can be kept busy, and the money is not down a endless hole (for e.g. spending it on entertainment) and could be paid back. Nevertheless, I am touched by the help extended. And God bless you all for your kind hearts.