VegTan straps hard on the toes!

[VegTan straps hard on the toes!]

Thanks for all the replies.

The neetsfoot has helped a bit and as Rocky Aussie suggested, getting the angle of the toe strap right has also improved the feel.

[VegTan straps hard on the toes!]

Hello from the Motueka Valley of the South Island of New Zealand. I have started making sandals using veg tanned leather. I am finding that the straps are too rough around the toes when a thong is used. Think: flip-flop. I am using a 4-5oz economy tooling leather for the straps. 8mm wide. I have beveled the edges and conditioned them with a beeswax based product and then burnished with a piece of boxwood. But yet they remain hard on the toes.

What more can I do? Short of just using a chrome tanned leather???

See pic.

Cheers,
Max

[Plough Gauge Bluz]

That's great MadMax. Thanks heaps! (:

[Plough Gauge Bluz]

A video would be awesome! As time allows ... thanks MadMax. 

[Plough Gauge Bluz]

G'day fellow leather workers. This will be my first post here although I have been snooping around here for a while. Learning what I can from the abundant knowledge held within this piece of cyberspace. So, I am into making sandals. Been struggling with cutting straps. So I splurged on a Dixon Plough Gauge. A beautiful specimen. Wow ... what a bit of engineering. Ready to throw out my Chinese made wanna-be draw gauge. But wait a minute ... I haven't yet figured out how to use the Dixon. Help!

I understand that you push it. But I'll be damned if I can get it to cut mustard. It seems sharp enough. I can't seem to find any videos with any old geezer pushing one of these beauties around. Cutting perfect straps with it. 100+ years on. Can one of you fine folk please lend a novice a hand?

Cheers!