grmnsplx

I believe it is aldehyde-tanned leather. They use glutaraldehyde. They use this kind of leather where skin allergies are concerned. While some people can have allergic reaction to this kind of leather, I guess it's less common than chrome. While glutaraldehyde is an irritant, I don't think that any significant is left in the leather after the process. You can read thorough a patent here: http://www.google.com/patents/US2941859 An article on home tanning (multiple methods) including glutaraldehyde. http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_l/L-103.html

I also had this problem using feibings oil dye - saddle tan. I dyed one piece and it came out beautiful. A few weeks later I went to dye a few other pieces. This time I had cut the dye with alcohol (methanol, not isopropyl or ethanol). And It came out like absolute crap. and there was some kind of grey something on it. No Idea if it's fixable or what I did wrong. I guessed it was the alcohol but I dunno...

I would say that this makes things worse. Just my experience.

Lets' just back up here. Is it the flesh side or the grain side of the leather that's bleeding dye? Also, what makes you say that the water based dyes are any safer than the "oil" dyes (which are alcohol based)?

The antique gel is not recommended for the flesh side of the leather. Neither is the water based dye. So don't use those. In general those are not the most colour-fast things anyway. Oil dye is very colour-fast so you could switch to that. Even more colour-fast are the waterstains as they are acrylic based. I have hear that some people use the waterstains on the back of their leather and other dyes on the grain side. So if you are really stuck on dying the back then that may be an option.

Makes sense

Yes I think it's wood ash. It's alkaline and should help de-hair the hide. I think.

Shark skin looks great! Stitching is excellent. I think I would prefer the card pocket to flip down rather than up, though.

Looks real nice. Is there a particular cultural style you were trying to recreate here? I am not very familiar with Native American arts.

Yes, I am regretting the 3x3. I think 6 inches is a bit too big for the base. Live and learn.

Here are some progress shots. You can see the corner cutouts are 3x3 squares. But the edges don't quite line up when I open up the bottom

I am making a tote bag, but I think I have messed up and would like your thoughts on how to go forward. This is a one piece bag, so I started out with a 19x30 inch rectangle. I then cut out 3x6 rectangles from the middle of each side to that I end up with two 19x12 rectangles connected by a 13x6 rectangle in the middle. I folded the piece in half (grain side in ) and stitched the two 12 inch edges together. So far so good. Now I am supposed to pull the inner corners out to create the boxed bottom of the bag. The problem here is that the edges don't match up at all. I think the issue is that I forgot to account for the margin where I stitched the edges. I think the cut out needs to be adjusted by this amount. Does that make sense? I think I can fix this. I think the cut out should be maybe 3+5/32 x 6 inch. Thoughts? I'll post pics when I get home this evening. josh

Did the leather have a name? Was it referred to as "tooling leather"? Not all vegtan is best suited for tooling.

Tandy is really good with returns. If you don't like the tool, if it doesn't do it's job, if it breaks, take it back.

I made a scabbard for one of my swords (an Albion Steward). It was my first leather project (first anything project, really). It has a wood core, but requires very minimal tools. I did it in my tiny apartment. So if it's a matter of tools/machinery that is putting you off making a wooden core for the scabbard, I suggest you consider this method. You just need to thin slats of wood and a utility knife. I can provide links to tutorials if you're interested. Here is a link to some pics of the scabbard I made back in 2014. sorry, no progress pics: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151988329077691.1073741828.502617690&type=1&l=6479c930bd

Also, I made another wallet with a softer goat leather and was able to achieve a decent burnish. This stuff was a bit spongy and difficult to burnish so I cycled my burnishing with water and synthetic gum trag (japanese stuff called tokunol or something like that)

I have been able to accomplish a decent burnish on goat... This is a firm veg goat leather, lined with veg pigskin on the inside. When I burnish thin leather like this, I press it down on a flat surface and rub the edge with a cloth. Flip it over and repeat. I also place the piece down on the edge of a flat surface and rub against that (on the side). Get your moisture right, and you should be fine. The goat used in the wallet above is pretty firm so I had an easier time. A lot of goat skin out there is pretty soft so it's more challenging to burnish, but I think it can be done. I imagine the same for sheep. I have some veg sheep at home which I will try to use for wallet interiors also, so we'll see.

I just purchased some veg sheepskin (1.5-2.5oz) from tandy. I intend to use them for wallet interiors. I am not sure how well these will work though. It's more of an experiment. Tandy gets mixed lots of goatskins in every now and then. In the mix are a few veg skins. Keep your eye out for those.

I like it

Sounds fine to me. If you think the leather is dry and may crack, oil it or use a conditioner. Otherwise, it will soften with use.

The creaser looks great, but I don't see any creases...

I think a wheel, stitching chisel or pricking iron would be fine to mark your holes. You can then use your all to make the holes one by one as you sew - if that's what you want to do. Now you can use a stitching chisel to punch your holes too. But I would caution you on that. Usually this is fine, but you have to do it right. Sometimes using a stitching chisel this way can cause your two layers to de-laminate and you'll have to try to re-glue that area and it sucks. The factors that increase the risk of that are,not having a solid base under your piece, a poor glue/cement job, using a really wide chisel (lots of teeth) and using a tool that is not sharp enough.

Intriguing, but where are the creases?

I've never made the button stud holes but have you considered putting a small round hole at the end on the slit to prevent tearing?

It's in Tokyo. Specifically Shitaya, Taito ku, Tokyo. Pretty close to Ueno station. Here's the address 東京都台東区下谷２丁目7－1 Looks like it's right next to Iriya statiuon on the Hibiya line