iknowshaun

I'm not usually into ladies bags but I really like the style of this, does anyone know if the bag type have a formal name? I'd like to try and make something out of undyed vegtan leather like this for my wife, maybe try some tooling on it.. or do you think the leather required for this would be too thin to tool? Thanks Shaun

Thank you!

Awesome, thank you. Cheers Shaun

Thanks for the advice Chief, I definitely agree, the dark brown and chocolate oil dyes from fiebings are pretty dark using them straight. I've also found saddle soap makes my dying blotchy if you don't wash it evenly DavidL, same as what Chief said, totally messed up a belt this way so ended up dying it black. Cheers Shaun

Wow, I really like the idea of using alot of beeswax in the finish. I was wondering Dwight, have you found that finishing with too much wax has any affect on using something like dubbin or nfo at a later date, like it makes the leather too impermeable or too hard? Cheers Shaun

Looks solid! Nice belt.

Hi Chief31794, would you dip dye something even if it was diluted with denatured alcohol? Just wondering if the tint would be even because I've been thinking of doing this, just waiting on some dye reducer to come through at the moment. Thanks Shaun

Thanks for the comments all, sux it kinda kicked off on the thread but that's what opinions are about I guess. learnt something from everyone. Take it easy. Thanks Shaun

Oh and Red Cent, thanks for the link, never tried it and I'll keep my eye open for some of it in the UK, recently bought some fiebings mink oil for oiling wallets and card holders, it's pretty cool too and smells kinda good. Cheers Shaun

Thanks for all your replies. 'Hi im Joe' , I've heard the same thing and yeah there's loads of conflicting info out there, I'd love to think it doesn't as I really like the way it works on leather, I've got a belt hanging that's had it for ages so I'm keeping an eye on it. Marine mp, that story on the cow had me laughing man, yeah you're right, the cow has probably put it through alot more than a waist will and I'm probably overthinking it, I'll let you all know if it turns out to be the wonder conditioner, ha ha or as Toolingaround mentioned, I fall back on neatsfoot oil, which I'm really fond of too. Yeah there's so many different products and ways to do it, I think being spoilt for choice is the the problem here and I'm trying to use everything! Thanks for all your comments and wisdom Cheers Shaun

Hi all, It's been a few months since I've really dived back into leatherwork and started making belts again. Ususally I used to use dubbin to condition the leather but after trying a few different things and reading up alot on these boards and other sources I decided to make a mixture of beeswax, neatsfoot oil, dubbin and a small bit of parrafin, which once melted together forms a vaseline like textured conditioner. So I've been rubbing this onto the front and back of my belts, it goes in great and the leather absorbs it and seems to like it. The thing I'm worried about is how do I know this mixture isn't weakening the leather in the long term or isn't good for it in the long term? I've had a belt for 5 months with it and it rocks but obviously if I was to sell a belt I'd want to know it's done no harm to the leather. An example of this would be, firstly I was trying olive oil in the conditioner and while it works great on the belts I then read it can cause the leather to rot in the future! So I substituted with neatsfoot oil. So does anyone have any knowledge on whether or not anything I'm putting into the mixture can have an adverse affect on the leather in time? Any additions to the mixture or advice would be greatly appreciated Thanks Shaun

Looks super sleek, nice colour too.

Thanks very much Electrathon, apologies for butting in PennyPower.

Thanks very much Celticleather, I've emailed J & F J Baker as i was at J T Batchelor yesterday and they didn't have anything over 3.5mm , I'll phone them today and ask if they're able to get it in though. Yeah I kinda figured it would be a little more expensive but I'd like to make some real nice belts with it that have a good heavy feel and hopefully can at least make my money back! Thanks for your reply Shaun

Love the detail in the individual feathers. Cheers Shaun