Brigg

I have some horse hide leather and it has a pretty heavy shine to it. It is not shell cordovan. Is there a way to dull it without damaging it? Are normal leather conditioners also okay to use on it? I know for some shell cordovan shoes I bought some saphir product specifically for shell.

I've attached the ingredients. Anything Fiebings is on the cheaper side but it does contain mink oil. I am not worried about "ethics". Minks destroyed the cabin of my boat a few years ago.

I am looking for a nice conditioner/protectant for natural undyed leather. I have experimented with Fiebings Mink Oil Paste, Fiebings Carnauba Creme, and Saphir Universal Creme. I liked the Mink Oil pasted the best as it doesn't really do much to the color of the leather and it smells pretty good. I am curious why it does not seem to be very popular (or maybe I am wrong about that). I know there are acrylic products like Resolene but I am not sure I like the idea of covering a nice leather in plastic and making it shiny. Are there other more natural products that protect leather that I should consider?

Thank you both for your help. I went for the Craftsha 39mm (wanted the 36mm but they only had the 39mm on Amazon).

I have now experimented with various knives and tools for skiving and I have found that I like the straight single bevel Japanese-style skiving knife. I have a cheap $10 one which actually works quite well however, the handle is too fat to get the lower angles I would like. I would like to buy a nicer one and I am wondering which knives you would recommend as well as which steel? It seems to me the common steels are D2, White, Blue #2 and, Blue Super. From owning Japanese kitchen knives I know that Blue Super has the best edge retention but for cutting leather I wonder if the ability to more easily polish and sharpen White steel would make it superior for skiving. I'd like to be under $100 unless there is a compelling reason to spend more on such a simple knife.

I agree with the RM Leather Supply recommendation. I would also look at https://districtleathersupply.com/ They sell really nice Italian veg tan leathers by the square foot. The benefit of the District Leather Supply is they offer leathers in A and B grades so if you are curious about a leather you can buy the B grade piece (still really nice) for a cheaper price and experiment with it...not sure if they have really shiny leathers though. RM leather sell Museum calf which you might like but it is a chrome tan.

I bought a crocodile skin wallet from John Lobb (St. James) while in London... https://www.johnlobbltd.co.uk/product-category/accessories/leather-goods/crocodile-wallets/ When I was there I asked if I needed a CITES certificate and they said no. This might be of use: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cites-imports-and-exports

Interesting product. Too bad they don't make it any finer than .55mm.

The Made in Jupiter leathers other than Alran Sully are American leathers processed in China. They are not from Haas.

1 liter for $10-24 !? Why is Fenice so cheap compared to the others? Am I looking at a different formulation for use with machines? They have the Matte and Matte Plus versions. The Matte Plus has more colors is that what you use? Supposedly Amy Roke edge paint is the Hermes formulation of Stahl but they aren't shipping it out of China at the moment.

I will take a look at your guide. I am not set in any particular way yet as I am not getting consistent enough results. 1. Right now I am not doing more than three coats (not including primer). I want a nice looking finish that it as good as finish I see on Hermes, Moynat, and Goyard products...I think around here that would be considered good not great. 2. I am mostly doing small things at the moment. 3. I do not need to mix my own colors. Do you know where I can buy Fenice edge paint in the US?

What is your favorite edge paint and why? I am trying to learn how to get a nice edge finish on chrome tan leather with edge paint. I have Fiebing's Edge Kote in black and brown and have yet to get a good result. I also have three bottles of Uniters as well as their primer and gloss finish and I am getting much better results with Uniters. I want to replace my black and brown edge kote and I am wondering if I should try another brand. I have attempted heating Uniters and I am not sure what is supposed to happen visually. I know if it smokes it is too hot so I get hot enough not to smoke but all I seem to do is make it look worse. I use the wax spatula tip on my electric creasing machine.

Very cool to see pictures of first projects. I will try and post a couple of my first tomorrow.

0.5mm is the thickness recommended by the book. The book uses all Remy Carriat leather which is chrome tan...it is embossed though so it may be firmer. I've ordered samples of the leather. Will experiment with that.

I am making projects from the Leatherwork School book and it shows using a heated tip like an F3 to create a crease line where she folds the leather over. My assumption from looking at the pictures and reading the instructions is that this will make the leather easier to fold cleanly and evenly. I tried this with a 0.5mm chrome tanned calfskin lining and an FN2 tip and found that it did nothing...I mean it made a proper crease line. I played with turning up the heat and didn't really make much difference. What could I be doing wrong? Or am I misunderstanding her instructions?

I don't have a business on eBay but I do occasionally selling things I no longer need. eBay and PayPal used to be the same company. They separated several years ago but now eBay is doing all the transaction processing themselves so the fees are slightly less to sell on eBay and eBay gets to make more money by getting to charge a processing fee that would have went to PayPal.

Mine has a beveled edge on the inside and it is factory "sharp". RM Leather sells a Blanchard one and their description says

I am aware of this. I would love this kind of apprenticeship...I think they are very rare in the USA. I am going to try the Amblard Leather Atelier but this a one day a week for a year sort of course. Not the same as 3-5 years everyday but I am very lucky to have anything at all that is local. I have very nice Germany cabinets in my kitchen and the guy that installed them went to school for 4-5 years to get a Masters in Cabinetry Manufacturing and Management...I wish we had more vocational schools like they do in Germany. I tried to get an apprenticeship at Arion Press as they are local here in San Francisco but they haven't had an opening in years. How amazing would it be to learn how to make a $10,000 bible?

This is the same link I posted above. Because of this website I started leather crafting. I thought my Hermes wallets were saddle stitched because of the angled stitched...NOPE.

Thanks Bill. I did not know that there are rounded sharpening stones.

I bought the "French" knife I first posted in this thread as well as a head knife from Bruce Johnson and one from Terry Moore. Off the bat the head knives feel more comfortable in my hand but of course they came super sharp. I am going to work on sharpening the outer part of the French knife today. I am definitely fascinated by this knife...I have no idea how to go about sharpening the inner part of the knife...I also am not sure how to make a good sheath for it.

It is hard to make recommendations without knowing what you are making and in what style. I am new to leather working too and figuring out the right weight and temper/firmness can be difficult. I've bought nice hides from Maverick Leather and Hide House. I have also bought nice lining leathers from Springfield Leather Co and Weaver Leather. If I were to start from scratch knowing what I know now I would have bought leather from Rocky Mountain Leather and District Leather Supply. The reason is 1) you can buy 1-2 sqft or quarter hides and 2) you can get the leather split to the correct thickness and 3) the leather quality is very high. Maverick and Hide House are both great but as a beginner I rather pay a bit more to get to work with different high quality leathers in the correct weight. If you are doing tooling and want to work with natural veg tan only then buying a whole hides might make sense.

Yeah this might be the way to go for now. It's expensive but I can get what I want (other than Rémy Carriat). Which tanneries do you recommend buying swatch books from?

I am new to leather crafting and I am loving it. What I am not learning, or have not figured out yet, is how to buy leather. I have been buying cheaper leathers in the correct weights for my projects either as half hides/full skins or as a bulk lot. I have also tried discounted scraps of higher end leathers and learned that I like Rémy Carriat Arbola, Haas Novanappa and Haas Boxcalf...I also love working with Walpier Buttero but it is too firm for my taste. So far I've gotten a very nice re-tanned Italian navy calfskin hide (hit), Sepici tooling side (miss), Coach saffiano bulk lot (miss). Would it be best to: 1) Buy name brand leathers by the square foot for specific projects (most expensive/sqft and not possible for Remy Carriat...maybe there is a good alternative?) 2) Buy name brand leather in full or half hides in two or three colors (expensive up front but cheaper/sqft) 3) Get samples of similar (regularly stocked/produced) leathers from no-name tanneries and then buy full or half hides when ready (time consuming, potential high quantity purchase required). 4) Buy discounted one off hides (potentially the cheapest if you don't make mistakes but can not buy repeatedly) What would you recommend? It seems to me that most people I talk to at places like Maverick Leather, Hide House, Springfield leather, etc. are understandably not familiar with the name brand leathers I like.

Thank you all for the great comments! I appreciate it! I am going to keep trying to make new things and learning new techniques until I come upon a product that I think there is a good market for. The spark to my interest in leather craft was also not being happy with designer wallets. I have wallets from Hermes, Goyard, Moreau, Moynat, Faure La Page, Pinel & Pinel, and Swaine Adeney Brigg and after stumbling across this trunk restoration website with a blog post about saddle stitching I was annoyed to find out that none of my wallets were hand stitched. I thought Hermes hand stitched everything because they use an angled stitch...turns out none of my Hermes wallets are hand stitched...I have an old ostrich skin notebook cover and a small picture frame from Hermes that are hand-stitched. That said I do appreciate the quality of my wallets...I can't yet make a wallet that is as perfect as an Hermes or Moynat wallet. They use such thin leather, it is really impressive how tight and crisp they get everything.