RuehlLeatherWorks

I'm trying to use green Fiebings professional oil dye on vegetable tanned leather. It seems to accept the dye easily enough, but when I go to seal it with Leather Sheen, the dye rubs off and leaves a green stain rather than a green dyed color. I want a solid uniform color if possible. Before anyone says it, I can't dip dye it. The project is a game board and only part of it will be green. HELP!

I currently use Siegel, but their prices have gone up recently. I was hoping to find an alternative supplier for backup. I found BookBinderWorkshop.com this morning. Does anyone have experience with them?

Does anyone have a supplier for undyed veg tan goathide? My current one has doubled their prices, so I'm looking for options. Thanks!

I need gold paint. I tested it on a piece of leather and it didn't adhere at all, really. There's another antiquing paste that I've used before, I just wanted to test out something I had on hand.

Maybe this is a stupid question, but is it possible to use testors model paint on leather? I have some knotwork on a pair of bracers that I'd like to accent, but I'm wondering about the long term effects on the paint or the leather itself. Is it possible? Is it too easily damaged?

I came up with a good way to do scales using the immersion technique that won't burn the crap out of your hands! Pre-drill all your holes and use an old metal coat hanger to dunk each scale. Sure it'll take a bit to do each scale individually, but it's better than pouring them and you won't have to find a way to get them off of the bottom of the pan when they're finished! This will also prevent scorching which sometimes happens when leather makes contact with the bottom of the pan as it sits on the stove.

It's not so much that it's the dye that cracks it. The leather is just so hard at that point that it's brittle. Even after oiling it, you have to be careful because there's places where the leather will absorb more oil than others, drawing it away from the surface, which leaves it brittle. From the reports I've read, the original technique was to submerge the leather in simmering water (Just below the boiling point) and then remove it wihen the edges changed color or when the leather stopped producing bubbles. Once this was done, the leather would be placed under a layer of straw, which is a very useful for insulation. This allows the leather to dry the moisture, while maintaining the heat.

What I typically do for hardening leather is to pre-soak the leather in the hottest water that you can get from the tap. While that is soaking, put some water on the stove and heat it to 190 degrees (about 87 Celsius). When this temperature is achieved, adjust the heat until the temperature is maintained (Just to be sure). Place the soaking leather in a sink (make sure the drain is open) and pour the water from the stove over the leather. You can see the leather turn darker and start to shrink a bit. When the edges of the leather become a darker color than the body of the leather, stop pouring water over it and remove it from the sink. I typically sandwich the leather between two hand towels at this point, but it's not necessary. I do it because it absorbs water but still traps the heat. Once the leather sits for about a minute between the towels, remove it and it should be the consistency of rubber. This is where you want to subtly shape the leather to any shape you want. Once it dries entirely, it'll hold that form. Now, if you want to dye it, make sure that it is entirely dry BEFORE dying it. After you have it dyed, you need, need, NEED to oil the grain of the leather, otherwise it will crack when placed under pressure. These cracks usually aren't more than just surface cracks, but they could develop into larger cracks as time progresses. Once the scales are hardened, dyed, and oiled you can start stringing them to the backing. You may want to drill holes with a power drill rather than a leather punch at this point, though. These scales will be HARD! I've used this technique several times with great success on bracers. In fact, I just finished a commission using this technique and they turned out great!

You could technically do this project with just a knife and hot water, but that would look a bit messy. First thing first, start at the following site: http://www.armourarchive.org/patterns/ Now, when I do arm armor, I use 10 oz vegetable tanned leather. I harden it using the water hardening technique listed here: http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Articles/Perfect_Armor_Improved.htm But instead of immersing the leather in water, I pre-soak it in the hottest water that I can get from the tap. While it's soaking I then heat a pot of water to around 190 degrees. Once it hits that temperature, I set the soaking leather in the sink and very carefully pour the simmering water over the surface of the leather. You'll be able to see the color change so you can really judge what parts of the leather need more effort. When you finish this, you CAN form it around your own arm, but wrap it in a dish towel first. The leather will start to cool and harden, so keep it on your arm until it starts to hold it's own shape. Ultimately, what you're looking for is the leather to hold it's shape while sitting on a flat surface without collapsing. After this has dried and hardened (I typically wait 24 hours. You can take an edge beveller to the edges (Inside AND outside, since that can get really sharp once hardened.) Just a reminder, Make sure you oil the surface BEFORE you try to flex it in any way shape or form. If you don't add a little oil, it WILL crack the surface. For this project, you'll probably want spalders, rerebrace, vambrace, and elbow cop. If you feel ambitious, I'd make a gauntlet with articulated fingers that would look awesome as a prosthetic.

Hmmmm..... I may make another attempt at a leather Helm..... Does anyone have a good pattern for a viking style ocular?

I was just going to ask this myself. I wonder if 'watering down' some black dye with Neatsfoot oil would work...

He's using 12oz leather. The lacing will snap looooong before the leather on the bracer would tear.

No, making the brass bits is currently beyond my capabilities, though I hope to get some casting done over the summer.

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/shoe/SHOEHOME.HTM http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/resources/AY17-16-Leather%20and%20leatherworking.pdf Here's some more links for people interested.

Very nice design! On a side note, that's exactly where the term "Cut purse" came from, though I believe it came from when the purse was carried on a single leather cord, making it easy to cut through.

A little more about the pouch itself: It is crafted from 2-3 oz oak tanned cowhide. It is hand stitched, dyed, and softened. It has a simple edge groove around the belt loops and flap and has antiqued brass embellishments with a simple brass "D" buckle. It's constructed the the same size and shape as the portion of the original pouch from the 15th century. Here's the excerpt from the York Archaeological Trust's publication, Leather and Leatherworking in Anglo-Scandinavian Medieval York: I am taking orders for these purses as depicted in the photos above OR with the optional recreation buckles below. Price for the "D" buckled purse is $48+shipping. Price for a purse with the recreation buckle is $50+shipping.

Nice job! Not to nitpick, but the straps cross to the inside of the foot so that you can cross your leg over your knee and buckle it. Great job on them, though! They turned out much better that my first attempt!

OK. PM sent.

That's correct, it's all made from 2-3 oz leather. The stamp is one I picked up on eBay and it's made from a hard plastic, so it's taken a little practice to get it to work properly. I've been using the Triquetra on my logo for a while and I was thrilled to finally find a stamp with one! http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=triquetra+leather+stamp&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

I've found that lacing is best for heavy leather and hardened leather, but soft leather bracers generally do OK with buckle straps. Now, you don't have to reinforce the lacing holes with eyelets, but I tend to do so just because of the effect it gives. I figure the modern bracer isn't accurate anyway, so why worry about the authenticity of eyelets! If you want more references for armor you can check out the pattern archive at http://www.armourarchive.org/

Here's the basic pattern I use when making my bracers. Measurement A is the circumference of the wrist. Measurement B is the length of the forearm to the broadest part of your forearm, not the elbow or the crook. Measurement C is the circumference of the widest part of your forearm. Now, take these measurements and lay it out like I have with the blue lines. Now, here's the trick: subtract a full inch from both the wrist measurement and forearms circumference measurement! Why? This gives you room for lacing and/or buckles. Now, the added modifications I placed on the pattern are a few examples I came up with through trial and error. The first is the semi-circle cut from the wrist. You'll want this on both sides of the wrist since this allows for a greater range of mobility for your wrist itself. The second part is the taper at the bottom of the bracer. This is really just a decorative element, but it can be shaped, contoured, and decorated easily and it adds a lot to the finished product. Finally, I've come up with a few minimums for closures: if you use eyelets and laces, use no fewer than 8 eyelets (four on each side). If you use buckles, use no fewer than 3 buckles (per bracer). Fewer than either of these mentioned and I find that they slide forward on your arm and cause serious discomfort.

This is so stunning that I would be terrified to actually USE this! How in the world can you even display this? The back is as beautiful as the front! I wouldn't know which side to show!!!