Question on Saltwater

[minellix]

Those who work with saltwater shark, do you prep the flesh side of the leather before gluing it up. Sand down the loose fibers and such? I've only worked with freshwater shark in the past which is too thin and fibrous to do anything but trimming with scissors

[Frodo]

On 7/4/2022 at 9:32 AM, minellix said:

Those who work with saltwater shark, do you prep the flesh side of the leather before gluing it up. Sand down the loose fibers and such? I've only worked with freshwater shark in the past which is too thin and fibrous to do anything but trimming with scissors

I have not worked with it but a buddy of mine does, he folds the ends under like a him

 

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Frodo

[Ed in Tx]

When I work with shark I first remove the loose fiber by hand and then use an oscillating orbital sander to thin the piece down and smooth it out. If you don't get rid of that loose stuff you may end up with issues like the hide separating from the base material.

I found that paying a bit more for a higher quality hide is best.