BlackDragon

Aquilim 315 sells for $30 32oz at Springfield Leather Barge sells for $32 32oz on Amazon Weldwood sells for $20 at my local Lowe's I have the same issue as TomE on the edges but I've been trying to control how thick I put it on at the edge, which is working out better

In my book that is not grade A. It almost looks like they let it dry in a roll and when you lay it flat it wrinkles. The color looks to dark as well, like it sat exposed to sunlight.

I've seen prices range $160 and up. Buckle guy sells python for $220

I believe the white one is python.

Antique is used as a top layer after the leather is dyed. The leather is tooled, then dyed to a color of your choice, then you add a coat of clear finish like Resist or Resolene, then add antique and wipe it down. This will leave the antique in the crevices. Then add another coat of your clear finish to lock in the antique. Trying to match dissimilar leathers is going to be really, really tough. If you're going to use chrome tan pick a color then try to match the vegtan the best you can. Using a contrasting vegtan can work perfectly as well. Take a dark brown chrome tan then add a light tan or natural vegtan, it will work well together. I found this on pintrest;

It came out great! I actually like the brown dyed thread in that area as it doesn't take away the flow of the pistol to holster.

8oz is pretty think for a wallet. I would go with 5oz, it will still tool but you'll have to use a lighter hand. For the interior I use either 2/3oz vegtan or English bridle. When tooling remember to use blue painters tape on the flesh side so help minimize stretching.

If you want to get completely technical about it, if you're doing everything with machines then, no. But what is "objects partly or entirely by hand."? How "partly by hand" makes someone an Artisan? The only machines I use are a sewing machine and a manual skiver, could I still be considered an Artisan? I also look at Artisan as "expensive" but that's why I said if I had a shop in an expensive area I could call myself that to bring in people with money to spend. If I were to call myself that in my current area people wouldn't come to my shop because they would think I was to expensive. It's marketing really. You make up a bunch of words in order to get people to buy your stuff. In the end people can use whatever term they want in order to define what they do. They just have to be able articulate to people what that term means because some people will still have questions for specifics. I've heard one person call themselves a leather smith. The term works, you understand that it means it's a person that works with leather but technically it's wrong. A smith is a person that works with metals; blacksmith, bladesmith, silversmith, etc Either way you would still have to define what that means to a person. When people ask me what I do I just say "I own a leather shop" or I just say "I'm a leather worker". It opens a conversation and I expand by saying I make most anything except saddle and shoes. I used to scuba dive a lot. I became a dive master rather quickly and worked weekends with an instructor doing scuba classes. I also did dive tours at the beach for divers that weren't familiar with the area. Some friends, for whatever reason, would introduce me as a professional scuba diver. I'm not sure why they introduced me that way, I only did it on the weekends, but I would cringe when they did. To me it sounds kind of... off putting? elitist maybe? I'm just a guy that likes to work with leather and I make some money at it.

One problem with coming up with another name is eventually it'll become co-opted by someone that wants to seem like a professional. Leathercrafter was a professional name but now it sounds like you may do it like a hobby and make knick knacks. If I had a shop in an expensive area and wanted to bring in people that had plenty of money to spend I would probably call myself a Leather Artisan. I don't do anything different but it sounds more high end so it may attract more high end customers.

Thanks!

Thanks all. I add a welt because it allows for a snug fit without over stressing or warping the leather. There is also less stress on the stitching when drawing and reholstering.

I had a customer come in wanting a holster for Heritage Rough Rider .22. The pistol has a beautiful set of wooden red grips. He wanted a cross draw holster so he could carry it around as a mouse gun while he's working on his property. I used 10oz vegtan. The dye is Fiebing's Pro yellow with just a little brown to give it a deeper golden color. Finished with Resolene 50/50

Nope, it's the Cobra holster plate without the feed dog. The presser foot set is from Hennigan though. I primarily use a #23 needle and the narrow presser foot has just enough room so I don't use the Cobra presser foot unless I go to a larger needle.

A friend of mine had an old saddle and halter/bridle she wanted cleaned. The saddle hadn't been cleaned and had quite a bit of mud, grime, and dust. I cleaned it up and replaced a couple pieces. The halter/bridle didn't have mud on it but it was grimy, swollen, and is starting to disintegrate. It felt like it had been drowned in wax and weighs a lot. I has a curb chain but it had a rusty quick link holding it on. She wanted it cleaned but I advised her that it was on it's way out and it should be completely replaced. The new halter/bridle is made with 10oz vegtan. The crown, brow band, nose band, and cheek pieces are double layered.

I used a piece of hard plastic and some electrical tape for the time being. I was working on a bridle, had my finger curled under and didn't realize my finger fit in there.

I learned something new yesterday. I don't use the holster plate very often but I've come to the realization there is enough room between the plate and the arm to easily fit a finger. Don't ask how I learned this. I'm thankful I was moving the wheel by hand at the time.

I usually just use leather worker. People know what it means and I really don't have to explain it to much. Now if I'm at a fair I may use leather crafter or leather artisan/craftsmen. To me crafter sounds like you may sell cheaper small goods like key fobs, lanyards, wallets. Artisan/craftsmen sounds like you sell more expensive things even though they are the same item.

Through my searching I found a small saddle maker in VA that went by that name but the trail went cold after 2011. It may or may not be the maker, he could have retired.

One thing I notice on my phone is that after I click on a post in the New Posts section and I go back to the New Post menu the link is gone. This doesn't happen on the website.

This is a great resource! Thanks @NerdyLeather for taking the time to do this. And thank you @Johanna for turning it into a PDF.

Thanks for this I'll have to do more research on this. Just to be clear this is for keeping leather in a museum/conservation environment, not a working environment.

Don Gonzalez has a couple videos on breaking down a saddle and cleaning. He gets into a lot of detail and shows you the tools he uses, some he made himself. https://www.youtube.com/@DonGonzalesMaker/search?query=breaking down a saddle

If you want to remove the dirt and grime you can use warm water, saddle soap, and a sponge. Then wipe off the soap with warm water, let it dry thoroughly, then wipe some neatsfoot oil on all of it. If you add wax after the oil soaks in it will deepen the color and add a little protection. Leather, like your skin, needs to breathe to stay healthy so I don't recommend keeping it in a tote. If you do store it in a tote make sure it's completely dry because wet leather will mold. Most tack stays in a barn or tack room its entire life and as long as it's taken care of it can last decades. Your tack is 100 years old, it's seen heavy use and it's still around. If you're going to keep it on display in the house or tack room just wipe it down every year to remove dust and condition it.

The white looks like mineral deposits from sweat. The brown can be dirt or the leather is deteriorating. Since you're retiring the equipment you can wet it and lightly scrape the mineral deposits off. There is quite a bit of cracking, that cracking means the leather is failing and in pic #3 on the left side that degradation is pretty severe. I wouldn't get to deep into cleaning since it's only going to be for display. The deposits just attest to the life and use of the gear. I would just brush it off, wipe it down with a damp rag, let it dry, and add a little oil to preserve it.

It's hard to determine what the white is without pictures. It could be mold, sweat, dirt, wax, or some type of chemical. When washing down saddlery it's common for the dye to rub off. Leather becomes soft when wet and can be indented easily, let it dry completely before putting unnecessary pressure. First thing I do when a saddle comes to my shop is to brush as much of the dirt and grime I can. As I'm cleaning I start determining what needs to be replaced or repaired. I can do small repairs and replacement but if the saddle needs to be broken down I don't take on the job. Normally I remove the stirrups completely but these would not come out and if they were going to be this difficult removing they were going to be harder to get back in. I then start to wipe it down with warm water to get any mud off as well as softening any waxes. I then go at it with saddle soap, warm water, and a sponge or toothbrush. I wipe it down with warm water as I go so the soap doesn't dry on the saddle. Once I'm satisfied with how clean the saddle is I let it dry for at least a day. Then I oil it with neatsfoot oil and let the oils soak in for about a day. At this point I determine whether or not to add some dye if to much dye came off while washing it and let it dry. I then wax. I use Fiebing's Leather balm with atomic wax and get great results. Before After washing and letting it dry After