Leather Coaster Material

[mikejw]

I recently made some leather coasters as giveaways for a booth. My initial plan was to use a budget-friendly raw veg tan side glued to cork coasters, but getting the edges perfectly flush seemed impossible. I eventually settled on gluing a split to the raw veg tan to get the thickness I needed. My process ended up being: rough cutting both leathers, gluing them, dyeing, burnishing the flesh side, die-cutting circles, and finally, stamping. 

I'd like to simplify things to: die-cut the leather circles, then stamp the pattern.

To make this happen, I need leather that's already dyed, has a reasonably smooth flesh side, takes a stamp well, and darkens where stamped for good contrast.

I'm looking at bridle and harness leather. Does anyone have recommendations on which might be better for this application? Also, what weight of leather would you suggest for coasters?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for your insights.

[RWentz]

I have used the 12/13oz bridle leather and it worked out great.

[RidgebackCustoms]

https://www.weaverleathersupply.com/products/chahinleather-holster-leather?variant=44039388397708

 

Weaver's Chahin leather is pre-dyed and still will case and stamp.  I've used it for guitar straps using simple stamp patterns and it works well.