Wickett and Craig drum dyed leather

[mliebs8]

Ok I received my new leather a couple of days ago and at first glance I thought well it looks ok but nothing special (I'm still new to this). So today I was excited to get home from work to make another holster and here's what I think so far.

The Bad: Cutting this stuff with a head knife is like cutting concrete with a butter knife, the backside is very hard.

The backing was not dyed black all the way through, I had to dye the back before I could glue the holster together.

Same thing with the edges, I had to use dye when I burnished them.

The Good: After cutting the pattern out the leather felt very soft and flexible.

The edges sanded down really easy and very smooth.

Seems to be easier to work with because it's so soft and flexable.

Don't have to worry about dyeing it.

The stitch groover ran through it like butter.

I'm only half way through with the project but so far I'm pretty happy with the leather. I'll be moulding it tomorrow so we'll see how that goes but to be honest, it's pretty pricey but I think it's going to be well worth it. On a side note I started using Weavers nylon thread today and it seems to be quite a bit better than the original that came with my Artisan 3000. The Artisan 3000 is a great machine by the way.

[mliebs8]

Well I went ahead and moulded the holster today and a few things are different from the Weavers I used previously.

1) Soaked the leather for 10-15 seconds, it should have been about 5-10

2) Put it in the press for 1/4 of the time as usual, detail turned out really nice but the holster was a little wet

3) This is the only leather I'm going to buy from now on, big difference in quality from the other stuff I bought

I know I'm still new to this but the difference in the leather is pretty amazing. My wife who is my biggest critic was shocked at the difference, good leather does make a difference.

[Randy Cornelius]

I have been using W&C leather for years and never had any that had hard spots or hard to cut. You may want to check the edge on your knife?

Also no one makes drum dyed that is struck all the way through. You will have to come back and dye the edges and backside.

I think you will find that it molds and forms good. It is also one of the best for tooliing in my oponion.

Randy

[mliebs8]

The problem is that the backing seems kind of hard, it crunches when I cut it. I cut another pattern today and it didn't seem as bad as last night. I've only cut unfinished leather so far so I don't really have anything to compare it too. I love the leather though, it's definately a couple of steps up from the last stuff I had. For some reason I was under the impression that drum dyed was dyed all the way through but oh well it is what it is.

[Art]

What weight is the leather? I have found that 6/7 from HO is generally struck all the way through and I have some 6oz WC harness that was struck through. Heavier 11oz WC I have found with undyed center, no problem, I dye or paint the edges anyway, but if I tooled dyes leather it might concern me. I have found heavier HO to be struck all the way through. I would be hard pressed to say which company is better.

Did you have any special treatment to the back like gummed back? This can be a little tougher to cut, however my knives generally cut both rather easily, sometimes a hard spot up in the neck/shoulder area on thicker hides.

Art

The problem is that the backing seems kind of hard, it crunches when I cut it. I cut another pattern today and it didn't seem as bad as last night. I've only cut unfinished leather so far so I don't really have anything to compare it too. I love the leather though, it's definately a couple of steps up from the last stuff I had. For some reason I was under the impression that drum dyed was dyed all the way through but oh well it is what it is.

[mliebs8]

The leather is 7/8 and 6/7, the 7/8 has more undyed backing than the 6/7. I didn't do anything before I cut it but the second piece was easier and I did cut it from the other end so maybe that made a difference.