How Do I Make Leather To Have The Vintage Look?

[ant]

Hi,

I wanted to try something on my leather strap.

Thinking of making the new leather strap look very vintage and old.

Any advise?

[CitizenKate]

Hi ant,

What type of leather are you planning to use?

Kate

[landm42006]

That strap honestly looks like it has been sanded in the areas that usually make a lot of contact (lug ends and keeper area). The edges have been unfinished or not edge coated or burnished. These straps are fun to make, and you really can't mess up.

Make the strap the way you normally would and stitch. Then lightly sand the areas with some fine grit paper (120 or higher should do it). Wet the strap with some water, and with a fingernail brush and shaving cream, scrub that strap. Then rinse the strap off, let it air dry, and perform the process again or as many times as it takes to achieve the look you desire.

Just my two cents. I make watch straps for myself, but am not into the vintage look. You can also go to ebay and find some old ammo pouches and use the leather for straps. The pic you used in the pic looks like a strap from a vendor know as "Gunny".

Enjoy, and post pics of your project (and the watch you are putting it on please.

Regards and S/F Marty

[ant]

Hi ant,

What type of leather are you planning to use?

Kate

either veg tanned leather

Calf leather or HERMANN OAK LEATHER

[CitizenKate]

You can also achieve that look just with the application of dyes and stains. One thing you can try, is to drip a little brown dye onto a piece of cotton cloth, and rub a little of the dye in random spots on the strap, or perhaps more around the edges, then apply antique over the whole thing. I'll be at my leather bench later today, maybe I can try it and let you know the result.

Kate

[ant]

You can also achieve that look just with the application of dyes and stains. One thing you can try, is to drip a little brown dye onto a piece of cotton cloth, and rub a little of the dye in random spots on the strap, or perhaps more around the edges, then apply antique over the whole thing. I'll be at my leather bench later today, maybe I can try it and let you know the result.

Kate

Hi Kate,

That will be good.

If possible post some pictures if it is not too troublesome.

thanks

[JohnD]

There's also some stuff here http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=20462 that may be useful.

[Antrax]

ant

I did a vintage mod on a old cheap panerai look alike strap. I placed on a bath of oxiclean for a few hours then I used a hard brush and scrubbed really hard. Then I used a sand paper and used selectively. I got really good but I'm not that much into the vintage look. I also used lemon juice on a piece of butter color cayman piece and it turned darker but got stiff. I used some Nesfoot on a piece of veg tan. I'm still learning and experimenting. You should try different techniques. Take some scraps and try different things until you got what you where looking for.

I have seen a lot of people doing the vintage thing. So try everything and have fun doing it.

By the way, the easiest way to do it is to get a vintage ammo pouch and use it to make the strap. I saw a few old leather pouch in my gun store last week. I will check them out when I get back.