jaeiger

Hi Andrew, thank you so much for a detailed and informed post. That is exactly what I was looking for, thanks!

I've sent them an email and am awaiting a reply, but all the same, I'd like to know if anyone else has any experience with this. It seems that everything I read is saying chrome tanned leather doesn't develop a patina at all, and that vegetable tanned leather is the end-all be-all of leather, but I know this isn't the case for all applications, and I can't help but imagine that there's a good reason the highest end leather goods companies are using chrome tanned leather. It certainly wouldn't be because it's cheaper to make, given a) the cost of high end chrome tanned leather and the cost of all other components they use - they didn't get where they are by cutting corners in that regard. So, does anyone have any experience with this?

Anybody?

Hi all, for my next project, I'm strongly considering using Perlinger shrunken calf from fineleatherworking.com. It looks and sounds great, and I am planning on using it for a messenger bag for my own everyday use. Before I pull the trigger, though, I just want to know - can anyone with experience with this or any other high end chrome tanned leather comment on how it patinas over time? I know it's highly scratch resistant, but when inevitable wear marks start showing after years of use, how will its broken-in appearance look compared to say, bridle or harness veg tan leather goods? Will it just look cracked and unnatural, or will it darken/"scar" as veg tan products do? Thanks!

It's going to be an external gusset bag. Looking at my design, I don't think there's anything in particular that will be a severe bend, maybe where the gussets meet the panels but that's kind of to be expected I guess. From pictures, it seems harness leather has a bit of a texture / non-uniform color throughout the sides, so I think it'll be ok in that regard. My first bag was with some lower grade chromexcel, which wrinkled profusely. The difference is that the rest of the chromexcel had a very smooth texture and even coloration, so the wrinkles were emphasized even more so, it'll be for personal use, in any case. That's good to know about the Italian leather - I'll have to look into that. Thanks!

I see, that's definitely good to know. What I'm planning to make is a double gusseted messenger bag; the design will be fairly classic so I think I should go with harness leather to make it a little more casual. I want it to be suitable for daily use and I think the aesthetic of bridle leather might make it look too formal. The softness/plaibility will help with this too. Thanks so much for your feedback! Out of curiosity, where do you source your Italian veg tan from? Can you elaborate more on how it darkens? I love leather that takes on a patina nicely.

Thanks all for the replies. It sounds like it comes down to name equity, workability, and aesthetic all in favor of bridle leather, and perhaps practicality / durability for the harness leather. Andrew: regarding the comments above your post saying that harness is a lot stiffer/ harder to work with, what would you say to that? I plan on getting my side split to 5/6oz for what that's worth, will it still be fairly stiff at that thickness?

I'm doing my research on the leather I want to use for my next project, and am pretty enamored with the qualities of bridle and harness leathers. I noticed that a lot of higher end bag and briefcase makers gravitate towards bridle leather, and harness leather does not really appear as much in fine leatherworking (that I've found ). However, reading about the properties of either kind of leather seems to indicate that, for a given tannery, the harness leather is the same as their bridle leather but with even more waxes / oil / hot stuffing, leading to higher strength and weather resistance. That being the case, why is bridle leather so overwhelmingly favored?

Thanks guys for the great, detailed responses! It's been a huge help. While the suggested methods listed didn't end up working for me, they did get me thinking to the point where I think I've got it down now - left hand awl but right hand needle in first, left hand needle going in second and on top of that. Stitching away from me, with the far point of the hole being down and away. Seems like I get better diagonals on both sides without casting the thread but, as DavidL mentioned, maybe that's just as per the leather. And oldhat - definitely! I have to work on my positioning for sure.

Hi all, I've been having a bit of trouble getting my front and back saddle stitches looking good and matching each other. I always get at least one side that, if not totally straight (- - - - - ), is at least not as sharply diagonal as the other side. Before I go further, let me preface my post by saying that I've seen both of Nigel Armitage's saddle stitch videos multiple times in trying to fix this. I've tried several different methods of stitching (first needle under the loop made by second needle, over the loop, clockwise knot, counter-clockwise knot) and haven't been be able to find a method that gives me consistent results on both sides. I ended up making a test piece of leather, which I'll show below, where I put all of my attempts on one piece, and hopefully you guys can help me figure out what's going on. The holes were made with my diamond chisel, so as to remove any awl positioning/angle inconsistencies. With the exception of one test (which, as it would happen, ended up being my best result), I stitch left hand priority - awl in left handle, left hand needle going in first, and away from me, so that the holes are pointing down and away from me. For the other test, I tried stitching with the same hands order, but towards me instead of away. Test piece front side Please excuse my archaic hieroglyphic labeling. From left top right, top to bottom: Top left: Awl in left hand, left hand needle first, left hand needle goes over the loop made by the right hand needle. Stitching towards me (i.e. end of hole is up and towards me). Top middle: Awl in left hand, left hand needle first, left hand needle goes under loop made by the right hand needle. Stitching away from me (end of hole is down and away from me). Top right: Awl in left hand, left hand needle first, left hand needle goes over the loop made by the right hand needle, Stitching away from me (end of hole is down and away from me). Bottom middle: Same as top middle, but I make an overhand knot with by looping the left hand needle thread clockwise over the right needle as it comes through. Bottom right: Same as top right, but I make an overhand knot by looping the left hand needle thread clockwise over the right needle as it comes through. Test piece back side Note that the left to right order is now reversed (because it's flipped over. Top left is now top right, and vice versa). We can see that the only samples that look good is top middle and top right (which is top middle and top left from the first image, respectively). This seems counter intuitive to me as, any way I try to figure it out, these two methods result in the second needle getting pushed up at the end of each stitch, when, according to Nigel's videos, it should be pushed down to match the holes (for when I'm stitching away from me -> hole is down and away), and the opposite for when I stitch towards me. I tried making a test piece using the top middle method to see how this plays out on a longer amount of stitching: Test piece front Test piece back This time each hole was made with an awl so there'll be some inconsistencies with positioning. In any case, we can still see that the front side stitching is actually less angled than the back side stitching. I think this may be related to the tension as when I pull harder, it seems to make a nicer angle. However, it never gets to be as nice of an angle as the back side. In the past, for my old pieces I used top right method from the test piece, and my front sides would look great while my back sides did not. I've seen Nigel's videos numerous times, and tried out various techniques while removing my awl positioning as a variable and still can't seem to get it right. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the replies everyone! Did you receive some sort of shipping confirmation? I haven't received anything beyond the receipt.

Hi all, just a quick question for everyone here who's bought tiger thread from Abbey UK Tried a quick search through the forums and couldn't find the answer. Would anyone know approximately how long they take to ship out the thread and the delivery time? I'm in Canada so an answer from somebody in North America would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!