Old leather

[DwightT]

As I mentioned in my intro post a few weeks ago, I'm returning to leather work after a 30+ year hiatus.  I have a bunch of tools and stuff from back then (along with some really old tools that I inherited from my grandfather), and I have most of a side of leather that I bought probably 40 years ago.

Recently I finally got around to trying my hand at making a dice cup following the instructions in "The Art of Making Leather Cases" book and I cut the leather for it from that old side.  For the most part the leather took the tooling OK, but when it came time to do the stitching I ran into some problems.  Basically the leather was very stiff along one edge (what had been the edge before I cut it from the side) so I had a hard time in getting the awl to go through.  The awl was freshly sharpened so I know that it wasn't from using a dull awl.  It was just very hard to push through that edge and it ultimately stretched the leather to the point where I couldn't get a clean joint.

I'm still mostly happy with the project, but if I do any other projects with that leather and I have to sew it, I'll pre-punch the holes with a stitching chisel.

    /dwight

[Handstitched]

Welcome back to leather  

A pretty good effort since you haven't done it in 30 years. Well done. 

I have all 3 volumes of those books, and many more of 'Al Stohlmans books. Some date back to the mid 50's . They're looking their age, but forever helpful. 

HS

[doubleh]

I recently dug out my tools after about a 20 years layoff and have some 8-9 oz. Herman' Oak from the same time period. Some of it is large pieces and also some belt blanks. It's slightly less stiff than a board. What I did was mix up some Carve Ezz and completely wet down a belt blank. After it dried I did it again. Then one more wetting to case it. It was a little more difficult to carve than new Herman's but took the tooling just about the same as if new. I have since made one more belt and a pistol holster using the same method and having the same result.

I used an entire bottle of Carve EZZ doing the three projects but that is much cheaper than buying new leather.

[Ferg]

Probably 10 or 12 years ago I unearthed a piece of Veg Tan  at least forty years old which meant it was bought from Tandy.

I found a sketch in one of my art books that I decided to carve into that piece of leather.

It wasn't dried out, stiff, or hard. I tempered it and carved this design. Stored under two other leather pieces I done about the same time. It has never been stored or displayed in daylight. Some day I will probably frame it and give it to my youngest daughter.

Ferg

Edited July 22, 2022 by Ferg

[sbrownn]

Are you going to finish the edges or is that the final product?

[DwightT]

On 7/22/2022 at 9:09 AM, doubleh said:

I recently dug out my tools after about a 20 years layoff and have some 8-9 oz. Herman' Oak from the same time period. Some of it is large pieces and also some belt blanks. It's slightly less stiff than a board. What I did was mix up some Carve Ezz and completely wet down a belt blank. After it dried I did it again. Then one more wetting to case it. It was a little more difficult to carve than new Herman's but took the tooling just about the same as if new. I have since made one more belt and a pistol holster using the same method and having the same result.

I used an entire bottle of Carve EZZ doing the three projects but that is much cheaper than buying new leather.

I'll have to give the Carve Ezz a try.  Once I got away from that edge it hasn't been too bad, but it definitely doesn't carve or punch like new leather.  Part of it was probably how the leather was stored.  In my case it was rolled flesh side out and tied with a cord.  The roll has been stored in the garage for the past ~20 years, which means that it has been subjected to hot/cold cycles.  The leather that was in the outer layer seems to be in the worst shape.

 

On 7/22/2022 at 4:37 PM, sbrownn said:

Are you going to finish the edges or is that the final product?

I was just going to leave it be, but then I decided to go back and finish the edges.  I applied several thin coats of tragacanth gum, burnishing between each coat.  I have a wooden burnishing wheel that mounts in my drill press, so it makes it fairly easy to cure the gum.  Looks a bit better now.

    /dwight