amcardon

I only have a fraction of experience compared to the majority of workers on here, and I use neatsfoot fairly exclusively, but have used EVOO in the past. I switched to just neatsfoot after taking a tooling class in Portland, OR and the instructor was asked about which oil is best. The instructor, who was also a chemist, said he would only ever use neatsfoot or legit EVOO since so many other oils are solvent extracted and have some amount of solvent remaining in the oil that can affect the leather. Granted, I don't know much past that, but that was enough to make me not want to try anything else. Can anybody support or debunk this?

I "hot dip" all my leather holsters and sheaths in a 1:1 mix of beeswax and neatsfoot oil. If you get the mix too hot it will cook the leather (ask me how I know) that will look great but be rock hard. I dip and keep the item submerged for a couple minutes, let it drip/cool, sit for 24 hours, then buff with shearling or cotton. It took a while to figure out proper temperature, process time, but I'm happy with this method. Running the stitching wheel over the threads while the piece is still warm from the wax/oil bath really makes them look great as well... Every once in a while I'll get a piece of leather that doesn't want to absorb anything and I'll do this same method but during the 24 hours after dipping, I'll run a heat gun on low over the piece to melt the wax and help drive it in a little bit more, it really seems to soak it in when coaxed with a little heat (just enough to melt the wax). I know many would say that dipping in oil is too much but in my experience, albeit quite limited, it has worked very well for me.

Amen, brother!

Thanks guys! Hopefully I don't screw up my buddy's machine I've been looking around to buy one but as a hobbyist leatherworker in med school with 3 kids, it's just not too high on the priority list (just high on the "I want" list!). Thanks again!

Hey guys, I've been asked to make some 2-layer leather belts for Christmas presents but do not feel like hand sewing 8 belts! Anyway, I have access to a Rex 11-155R machine but I've never used an industrial machine before and was hoping to get some input... Does anybody on here know if that machine would be up to the task? Any suggestions on thread/needle combo? I've only ever done sewing by hand (knife sheaths, gun holsters, and a few rifle slings, all saddle stitch) so this is a whole new ball of wax for me!

I think for your first project you did excellent. It looks tightly and neatly stitched, matches the original rifle sling, mounts well and looks comfortable, what more could you ask for? I'm no leather expert but have made quite a few bags, sheaths and holsters and that looks far better than my first few projects. I think you should be dang happy with the pad. Well done.