Should I wet leather to make it easier to work with?

[gareth643]

Hi All,

I have just recently got into leather work and have been making some leather dog collars, the leather I'm using is 3.5-4mm old English bridle butt leather. I was wondering if I should wet the leather to make it easier to bend when I'm stitching the buckle or will this make the leather weaker? 

 

 

[Tugadude]

Wetting the leather is unnecessary and could lead to stretching. it won't make it weaker.  4mm leather is not very thick and shouldn't present any issues in workability.

[chuck123wapati]

1 minute ago, Tugadude said:

Wetting the leather is unnecessary and could lead to stretching. it won't make it weaker.  4mm leather is not very thick and shouldn't present any issues in workability.

[Dwight]

I'm going to have to go against the grain here . . . that leather is 1/4 of an inch thick . . . which in my opinion is not thin leather.

Bending it over to go into a buckle while it is dry can cause the front to crack . . . and then you are in deep doo doo . . . might as well toss the collar if the front face of the leather cracks in the bend where the buckle goes.

For all my belts and stuff like that . . . I do not bend it until I dye it . . . it is really wet then and will bend without any possibility of cracking.

Just my way of doing things that prevents problems down the road . . . and 1/4 inch leather on a dog collar will not stretch enough to make any kind of difference . . . so just pass up any worry about it stretching.

May God bless,

Dwight

[MikeRock]

Dwight,

4mm/25.4mm/inch =0.1574 inches thick..  less than 3/16"