Strange grey spots on new veg tan?

[fredk]

I've tried both

The boiling water method tightened up this knife scabbard hanger and made it very firm 

I never liked using an oven. I found the results too unpredictable

 

[Yukonrookie]

Gotcha. Will it change form much, or mostly just shrink a bit? 

[fredk]

I found it would shrink quite a bit in any direction. It was totally unpredictable

[Yukonrookie]

Good to know. I just ordered some leather hardener/firmer. For most of my projects I like the temper of the leathers I work with currently. That’s a side of W&C a couple heavy weight Double Butts of Italian veg tan and some shoulders of Italian. Of those the double butts have a firmer temper than the 8/10oz W&C skirting, which surprised me a bit. I had just finished a side of HO 8/10 oz tooling and decided to try out some W&C. Simply because I’m relatively new to the craft and want to get an understanding of the different makes and types of veg tan. Anyway, the HO had a slightly firmer temper over the same weight W&C and for the odd project that was good. Than again the W&C has a thing or two that I like a tad more than the HO so it evens itself out. Both are obviously top notch so I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m bashing one or the other, with my limited knowledge lol.

If you don’t mind me asking what leathers do you mostly work with? 

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

If you sharpen knives, or use any kind of file on metal and don't get it all cleaned up. This is exactly what happens. The little microscopic shavings will stain the leather. I ran into this problem and it took me a few months of research to digit it out. I no longer allow filling or sharpening in the leather shop and it solved my problem

[Yukonrookie]

I just wanted to give an update on the supplier and how it all turned out. 

I’d been meaning to do this a lot sooner. I’m dealing with health issues and have been in and out a bunch lately. Apologies for the delay.

So, the supplier is buyleatheronline.com and they took great care of me. They replied to my complaint in a timely fashion and after they made sure that my hide was a one off situation and that no more hides got contaminated, they right away sent me out a new piece of beautiful natural double butts. It really is excellent quality. No scars, blemishes or overly loose grain. Flessh side very nice as well. Of course completely free of charge and they let me keep the original one as well. 
I’ll definitely order more from them.

Since I’m very happy with their service and their handling of this I’d like to leave them feedback here. Is that something that’s done on here and, if so, where should one best place it on here? 

[dikman]

That's excellent service.  It's becoming something of a rarity in these days of internet shopping.

[Yukonrookie]

36 minutes ago, dikman said:

That's excellent service.  It's becoming something of a rarity in these days of internet shopping.

Yes, Sir. That it is for sure. Mistakes can happen to the very best of them. It’s how they then deal with it what makes a great business, in my opinion.