GuitarLeatherDopeFiend

Tom, thank you for going out of your way to try to find it! I found a write up, between it and trial and error, I think I can figure it out!

That's a good idea, thanks!

Hi I am wondering if anyone has a general pattern for making a pair of fine gloves, not work gloves? Thank you!

I am planning on restoring a nice couch, the dye is just a little sun faded, but it is turning into quite the project. The couch is semi aniline which resulted in the following disaster; I had ordered "custom matched leather dye" from leatherworldtech, which because it is semi aniline, they sent leather paint instead of dye, which wasn't made clear by the label or communication, and was not color matched by any means. Unfortunately I didn't realize this until I had sprayed the entire couch, and had to remove the leather paint. To be fair, the paint did look decent, but I didn't want to paint such a nice couch, I wanted to re-dye it. They are going to make it right and send actual dye, but I need to remove the top coat with fiebing's deglazer to apply it. My question is, what is a good leather finish for furniture once the dye is applied? Any tips/tricks from anyone who has done this before? Thanks in advance, I appreciate the knowledge that is openly shared on this forum!

Ah, antique before sealer, I might just have to give that one a go. Nice, a good tight fit makes it so much more satisfying to go through all that work!

PREMIUM!

Looks really good, very clean work! I like the color how it's such a rich dark brown, I almost always get a red brown color, for whatever reason I have a hard time getting a deep chocolaty brown like this. Great job, how's the fit? That's my favorite part of making sheaths, getting a nice tight friction fit.

Awesome craftsmanship!

I imagine it would, the article was specifically about olive oil stains but I think the same concept applies. The corn starch should be even more absorbent than the leather, soaking up the oil. You really have to rub it in, I think this brings the oil to the surface so it can be extracted. I have a bunch of neatsfoot that I don't mind wasting, I ended up not liking neatsfoot so well because it feels too greasy to me, and I don't like the feel it gave my projects when I used it. So I'll over oil a scrap with neatsfoot and try the cornstarch trick and post the results in this thread. To me, olive oil is the way to go because it's lighter (as in less greasy) and it doesn't darken the leather as much. Plus it smells delicious, especially on a piece of Hermann Oak!

Thanks Koreric, I love the Kudu too, it's one of my favorite leathers i've worked with, it's VERY hard to skive thinner though. I enjoy doing the sunburst, I wasn't very good at it the first few I did, but I get a little bit better each time. Thank you YinTx, The kudu I have is very oily, some pieces moreso than others, but I have never been able to actually squeeze oil out. I've used it on several wallets, and never had any issues with color or oil bleeding onto clothing or wallet contents, although I live in western washington so I don't have to worry about heat making it bleed through. In my experience the oils and waxes make for a beautiful burnish and patina with use, the feel of the leather completely changes and becomes shiny and much smoother as the years go on. I picked up a trick on the internet in search of a cure for an olive oil stain, one spot had soaked up way too much oil and I thought the piece I was working on was ruined. It turns out you can put a small amount of corn starch on the oil stain and rub it, the corn startch starts to absorb the oil and pulls it out of the leather, I wonder if you could use this trick on your Kudu to pull out some of the oil so that you could use it on a wallet?

Thanks bikermutt, I was really happy with how this one came out, it should be a patina champ! I think I'll make myself one like this.

That's awesome!

Sounds like too much of a hassle to remove the finish, I think I'll take your advice and use a good deal of it for prototyping bags and other projects I have yet to tackle due to fear of wasting leather/money. It's free and there's lots of it to learn with!

Just finished this bifold recently and shipped it out to a great return customer in TN, I failed to get finished pictures, but this is just before gluing up the two halves and sewing them together. The outside is Hermann Oak veg tan that I "sunbursted" with a spray gun, the interior is Horween Kudu that I got from Nstar a long time ago, and the lighter colored card slots are Horween Dublin English Tan, there are also "Hidden pockets" and a black pigskin lining for the billfold. Saddle stitched with bronze colored Fil Au Chinois Lin Cable. Came in a little thicker than I had hoped at 9/16" when folded. Nevermind that my hand looks like a shelled lobster claw. Critiques welcome!

Looks great! Love Dublin, such a great leather, just used it for the first time recently!