Smoothing flesh side?

[zbean]

Howdy,

I'm making a sheath and am stumped on how to go about smoothing out the flesh side of the leather I'm using. I have several production sheaths where the flesh side is a velvety smooth suede-like finish. Should I be sanding it, burnishing it, or otherwise to make its fibrous appearance smoother? I considered slicking it with gum trag, but it seems to act as a sort of resist when dyeing.

Apologies if this has been covered and my searches have missed it.

Thanks!

-Beans

[MADMAX22]

I dont know about for holsters but I like to take mine after I dye it and use some tan kote and right after I apply it while its still wet I take my slicker/bone folder and run over it to smooth it out. Makes a very slick appearance once its dried.

I know that some people order there leather with the flesh side having been sanded and pasted or something like that. I cant remember who does it.

[wildrose]

I have a slicker. It is a chunk of glass with a wood handle, and part of the glass is smoothed/rounded. It works great for smoothing the rough side. Mine was custom made but I can't for the life of me remember by who!

[ShirleyT]

Barry King makes a TERRIFIC glass slicker! http://www.barrykingtools.com/handtools.htm

[zbean]

Thank you all for your responses!

I'll have to check out the Tan Kote and the Glass Slicker. It's sounding like the Slicker is more the avenue I'm looking for on this project. Do you case the leather before using it? I may have jumped ahead in the steps of the process... I've already applied Fiebing's oil dye, would that impede the action of a slicker?

That Barry King model is beautiful. It would make the rest of my tool collection envious!

-Beans

[Leerwerker]

I have a small tutorial at

http://sites.google.com/site/leatherlearn/Home/fuzzies

[pino]

I'm not expert but what I do is to apply some mink oil either liquid or creamy on the flesh side, rub it thouroughly and let it dry. The outcome ain't bad at all.

[D.A. Kabatoff]

Beans,

if the other posts don't help create the look you want, you could sand the leather. I usually order sanded flesh side hides from Hermann Oak if I have a roughout saddle to make, but once in a while I'll have extra leather from another side that needs to be sanded to match... the are my observations when I need to do this: It can be messy and time consuming depending on how big a piece of leather and how stringy it is. Firmer leather from the top of a hide near the spine will sand nicer than belly leather.

Start with about 200 grit and work your way to something very fine. Sand lightly back and forth to get rid of the stringy stuff and then in a single direction with the grain of the leather as the surface gets smoother. Don't use much pressure as this can keep pulling up new strings instead of sanding off the existing ones.

hope it helps,

Darc

[rickybobby]

I have had good luck sanding some pretty "ratty" leather with "crocus cloth" sand paper. I buy it at the hardware store so it must be a common product. It seems to work well because it has a cloth backing. It is brown in color and does not stain the leather.

Like Darc said in prev. post, I start with #180 or #200 grit. I use 1/2 a sheet wrapped around a sanding block. The 3m brand block work best for me but I think you can use any.

Sand with straight lines with the #180 or #200 grit, when finish looks even on whole hide (side) change to finer grit #240 or #320 grit and use "cross sanding " technique. Cross sanding is done by sanding back and forth 2 or 3 strokes then 2 or 3 at a 45 degree angle. This helps keep the surface "flat" and helps "loose" any sanding lines. Do this across the whole side and everything should look even.

Keep your shop vac handy, it gets pretty messy!!! Good luck, post some pictures!!

Rick Jorgenson

[zbean]

Again thank you everyone for the responses, I'm really liking the knowledgeable, helpful attitudes here. Sorry for the delayed response on my part, I work a 3x12 schedule at present.

Leerwerker and Pino, I went with an approach similar to yours; I used a damp sponge and the round bit of my bone folder and tried to slick it down as best I could. It came out pretty well I think. It's got a still semi-rugged appearance, but feels mostly slick, albeit porous, to the touch. For this application I think it will do quite well. It's a sheath for a Ka-Bar USMC knife that belongs to my father. (Also did a stacked leather washer re-handle on the knife.) My grandfather was in the Navy in WWII and traded a marine for it as I'm told.

I don't have any pics yet, but will be certain to post some once it's completed! I'm quite excited about it.

Darc and Rick, thank you so much. I think this was the look I was initially thinking of, but I got impatient because the fam and I are headed to the coast to see my father in less than a week. I'm hoping to have it ready to hand over by then. I must remember this method in the future, it can give items a really nice touch.

-Beans