tinkerslane

Hi all, so i've been making leather wallets and accessories for a while now and i've used a variety of leathers from various tanneries around the world but as a home grown, somerset farmer i'm now trying to focus on using english bridle leather thats been tanned in the UK for the things i make. My problem is that i'm struggling to find a UK tanned leather thats thin enough to form the internal portion of the wallet. English Bridle is generally supplied from 1.8mm (Sedgwicks) upwards but i'm looking for a maximum of 1.2mm. I obviously want to avoid chunky edges. I realise most of you will probably suggest skiving the edges thinner but before i do, does anyone have any suppliers of thinner bridle in the UK? Or alternatively another skin type that might do the trick? I'd be interested in what peoples views are.

thanks guys, seems I've yet to find anyone that actually likes the stuff! I'm using it on 3mm veg tan at the moment. I think I might jump ship to edge paint before I waste any more leather and time. Edge paint on order :-)

I know that I am reigniting a very popular thread on this forum but I’m having real issues with Fiebings Edge Kote. I’ve made a number of items recently that I’ve used edge kote on and the finished result looks great. My process is to bevel the edges of my work piece, burnish with gum tragacanth and then apply the edge kote. Once dried, it looks great. Drying time is well over 24hrs. Yesterday I happened to pick up my wallet with damp hand and I noticed that the edge kote simply rubbed off. I got a damp cloth and went to town on the edge and it all pretty much came off! I contacted Fiebings yesterday and asked them if I was doing anything wrong and they came back and said that gum trag clogs up the pours in the leather as it should and doesn’t leave anything for the edge kote to adhere to. But reading the edge kote bottle, its meant to go on after burnishing and should be waterproof and so I don’t understand, if you’ve burnished properly, there shouldn’t be anything to adhere to as E/kote is a finish??! They also said I was right to apply it after burnishing and that I should try a burnishing agent other than gum trag. So basically they are saying burnish, not with gum tragacanth, but leave enough roughness for the edge kote to adhere to. That doesn’t make sense to me. So anyway, last night I set up a few experiments. Burnishing with water, burnishing with saddle soap as per Bob's instruction and another with gum trag again. Once dried I applied edge kote and all of them looked great. I came home from work today, lightly buffed each piece and again….great. I then lightly rubbed a damp cloth over each of them and again it all came off. What can I be doing wrong? Surely I don’t then need to seal the edge kote? I did see Bob’s instruction on edge finishing and it looked very comprehensive so I’ve ordered some of the bits to enable me to try his process but as I’ve got Edge Kote I’d really like to try and work it out. I’m worried because I’ve sold a few wallets made in this manner and I’m just waiting for the call to say I’ve ruined someone’s clothes. Could do with some help!! Thanks

Thanks Art, i shall give that a go

Hi guys, I'm fairly new to leather work and have been making a few belts recently for some friends. Mostly i've been dyeing my veg tanned leather with brown fiebings pro oil dye. My process is to cut, dye, buff, apply a resolene finish and then buff again with beeswax. They've turned out a nice rich colour that looks lovely. I've tried the same process for belts dyed with black pro oil dye and once dyed and buffed i get a nice glossy finish yet when i add resolene and buff with beeswax i get an awful finish. The leather looks blotchy and marked. Almost as if the dye is rubbing off. Its nothing like i get using the brown dye. I give a good coverage of dye which seems to penetrate very well so basically....i'm stumped! I also notice i get a really streaky finish applying resolene which is why i buff it. Is that standard practice or should i be able to get a nice finish applying just resolene? I'm finiding it quite frustrating! Many thnks in advance Steve