Dan207

I already bought some cheep tools and a small piece of leather. I did a small design and it came out pretty good. Then I had this pile of leather given to me. most of it seems really nice, but I don't know what may or may not be veggie tan. Is veggie tan always a light cream collar? some of the stuff I got looks like that, but won't take water. OK, that being said. How do I "know" what is and what isn't vegetable tanned? God bless Thanks Dan

I'm just starting out at this hobby. I have some real beginners questions. I tried using the search function on this forum with no luck. So... here goes. Is veggie tan the only leather that can be tooled, or can other leather be used by using other methods? Does the age of the leather make any difference in how you would prep it to be tooled? I had a pile of leather given to me. Most of it is quite old. some looks like veggie tan, but won't take water properly. some is thick, some thin, dark brown to light tan. You name it, I think I have some. But I don't know if I can tool any of it. I've tried some small pieces, but they don't react to the tooling like the piece I bought from the store. Any help and much patients would be appreciated. Thanks Dan