leather splitting when i punch holes

[zenaca]

I have half a dozen hides i bought about 1998 or 99 or so and then life got in the way and didn't get to do any leatherworking since. I got out some to make some cell phone holders for gifts and when i would try yo punch holes for the lacing the leather would split right along the line of the holes . Are my hides no good now or is there something i can do like rub some neetsfoot oil or something on them .

It seems like the leather is all dried out or something, i sure would hate to have to throw out that amount of hides and have to replace them at todays prices!

[kevinhopkins]

Hello Zenaca,

There's a good chance that your hides are dried out a bit, but some persistent treatment with some good leather conditioner can help quite a bit. Bick 4, Lexol, saddle butter, Dr. Jacksons, Black rock, all will help. Once you do your tooling and get the pieces all trimmed to the shape that you need, that would be the time to treat the leather from the back side. You might have to do it a couple of times, and apply some heat from a hair dryer to get it to really penetrate, but it should help greatly. And make sure that your chisel or punch is sharp. If it's a chisel that you're using, make sure you don't drive it too far thru the leather, because that will also cause the leather to split.

Best wishes,

Kevin