Treating The Flesh Side (Inside) Of Bags?

[Skald]

I am making a simple leather satchel/messenger kind of bag. And I won't use any (fabric) liner on the inside, as I find it kind of "unmanly", and probably one of the first things what will be ruined on such a bag. I COULD of course use some thin leather and cement it to the backside of the leather, but preferably I would like to have the good ol' flesh side free as it is. The problem is, that I guess dirt of all kinds would stick to the flesh side of the leather, which wouldn't be all too good (there's a hygiene aspect to it of course, besides that it would look bad).

The flesh side of the leather isn't like VERY smooth either, if you put some effort into it, you might grab a "flesh thread" with your nails and jerk it out. So I want to prevent that.

So, if you have done anything similar, how did you treat the flesh side? I mean, there must be dozens of people here who have made cell phone cases and bags and what not, with a "free flesh side"? Once I made an iPod-case, and just rubbed some Fiebing's antique stain on the flesh side, and sort of burnished it with with a piece of smooth reindeer antler, and the result was pretty good. It lasted for about a year, before you could start to see "cracks" in the finish.

Also, I am not very found of super glossy finishes, probably mostly out of fear for them staring to look wrinkled or cracking up after some time. I am a kind of "natural is best" guy, so I would pick something more organic before some mega acrylic finish, no matter if they work well. I am of the opinion that leather should be able to breathe and live its own life, not be capsuled in plastic.

There's an old "hunting satchel bag" that belonged to my grandfather, which has a "free flesh side" at its inside, and it looks rather smooth and nice. He might have brought it back from America I believe, as he went there in his 20'ies. He is dead since like 32 years ago, so I can't really ask him what the inside looked like when he got it, and if the finish it got is due to "patina" of if it's original.

So, how do you treat your flesh sides the very best way? A dark finish is all okay, maybe even preferable.

[RicsLeather]

The short answer is that you can burnish the flesh side for a nice smooth surface. If you want color the flesh side of the bag. To get a very nice, smooth finish on the flesh side, spread a light coat of gum tragacanth on a section of the flesh side and let it dry a bit, then take a bone creaser and rub down the section you covered. Repeat the process until you've covered the entire grain side. This process will partially seal the grain side and smooth it out.

Like you said, another option is to line it with pigskin or another light lining leather.

Hope this helps.

Ric

[Scary Leatherworks]

saddle soap, canvas and elbow grease will help with the flesh side, sort of burnishing it. I do that on some of my sketch pad covers and 3-ring binders that I don't line. sometimes I have to fine sand a few areas after to smooth it out the re-do. I does darken it a bit. here is an example

Edited August 11, 2011 by murse

[Skald]

Thanks folks.

Sounds partly a little like my experiment with the iPod-case, only that I just used antique stain instead, and that the result didn't last very well because of that.

Gum tragacanth seems to be a problem to get hold of here in Sweden, because nearly all mail goes by airmail these days, and it will get ruined as it might freeze during the flight. Some several sellers at eBay don't ship internationally because of that.

I will however try these suggestions out the best I can. The sanding in between several layers sounds like a really good idea, and I never even thought of that myself.

[moeg]

Hi Skald,

gum tragacanth works very well for slicking down the flesh side and for doing edges, but if you bend the leather some cracking will sometimes show up. If you want to test it, just go to a store that sells cake making supplies. It's used for stiffening up the icing on cakes (I'm having second thoughts about eating cake now) It can be bought in powder form, so no problem with the freezing.

Supplier in the UK

Moe

[Skald]

Hi Skald,

gum tragacanth works very well for slicking down the flesh side and for doing edges, but if you bend the leather some cracking will sometimes show up. If you want to test it, just go to a store that sells cake making supplies. It's used for stiffening up the icing on cakes (I'm having second thoughts about eating cake now) It can be bought in powder form, so no problem with the freezing.

Supplier in the UK

Moe

When searching for the word at eBay, I've actually found some several sellers speaking of it as baking supplies. If I only knew what it's called in Swedish, and I'd find a supplies for baking who has it hehehe... The thing here in Sweden is, it's kind of Soviet Union when it comes to finding "special things" for crafts or whatever. And if you find someone who sells it, it's like Tandy stuff, costing fours times as much as over there. In addition, I live a helluva bit up in northern Sweden, so the only option is really to order things from either southern Sweden, or buy it even cheaper from England or USA.

Further on, I don't mind some "cracking" of the burnished surface, especially on stress points, I guess we can call it "character" or "patina".

[Billsotx]

I am making a simple leather satchel/messenger kind of bag. And I won't use any (fabric) liner on the inside, as I find it kind of "unmanly", and probably one of the first things what will be ruined on such a bag. I COULD of course use some thin leather and cement it to the backside of the leather, but preferably I would like to have the good ol' flesh side free as it is. The problem is, that I guess dirt of all kinds would stick to the flesh side of the leather, which wouldn't be all too good (there's a hygiene aspect to it of course, besides that it would look bad).

The flesh side of the leather isn't like VERY smooth either, if you put some effort into it, you might grab a "flesh thread" with your nails and jerk it out. So I want to prevent that.

So, if you have done anything similar, how did you treat the flesh side? I mean, there must be dozens of people here who have made cell phone cases and bags and what not, with a "free flesh side"? Once I made an iPod-case, and just rubbed some Fiebing's antique stain on the flesh side, and sort of burnished it with with a piece of smooth reindeer antler, and the result was pretty good. It lasted for about a year, before you could start to see "cracks" in the finish.

Also, I am not very found of super glossy finishes, probably mostly out of fear for them staring to look wrinkled or cracking up after some time. I am a kind of "natural is best" guy, so I would pick something more organic before some mega acrylic finish, no matter if they work well. I am of the opinion that leather should be able to breathe and live its own life, not be capsuled in plastic.

There's an old "hunting satchel bag" that belonged to my grandfather, which has a "free flesh side" at its inside, and it looks rather smooth and nice. He might have brought it back from America I believe, as he went there in his 20'ies. He is dead since like 32 years ago, so I can't really ask him what the inside looked like when he got it, and if the finish it got is due to "patina" of if it's original.

So, how do you treat your flesh sides the very best way? A dark finish is all okay, maybe even preferable.

Where you say you burnished, you were actually slicking. Search around on these forums for "slicking." Most saddle makers will slick their leather to compress it, stretch it, hence take the stretch out of it. Ultimately, you'll mat all those little fibers down so they are less apt to catch, ravel, whatever you want to call it. Gum trag is a good coating, but I'm used paraffin, just take a bar and rub in on; that's after it is slicked and dried.

If you're going to build more stuff like this, then buy your leather with the flesh-side already treated. Herman Oak calls it mossback and Wicket Craig call it gummed. You'll find some folks turn their nose up at gummed backs, but it's a mainstay for custom gun leather. On occasion I'll build a halter or harness and I use WC gummed without problems. Even if you order this, you should look into slickin'. When I'm building something that I want to be light and fast, high-speed low drag - I slick it even though it's mossback.

Gum trag is a derivative of the legumes. This might help you track down the baking aspect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_tragacanth -or- http://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=6196&catid=204

Good luck, and let us know what you ultimately come up with.

Edited August 11, 2011 by Billsotx

[Skald]

Where you say you burnished, you were actually slicking. Search around on these forums for "slicking." Most saddle makers will slick their leather to compress it, stretch it, hence take the stretch out of it. Ultimately, you'll mat all those little fibers down so they are less apt to catch, ravel, whatever you want to call it. Gum trag is a good coating, but I'm used paraffin, just take a bar and rub in on; that's after it is slicked and dried.

If you're going to build more stuff like this, then buy your leather with the flesh-side already treated. Herman Oak calls it mossback and Wicket Craig call it gummed. You'll find some folks turn their nose up at gummed backs, but it's a mainstay for custom gun leather. On occasion I'll build a halter or harness and I use WC gummed without problems. Even if you order this, you should look into slickin'. When I'm building something that I want to be light and fast, high-speed low drag - I slick it even though it's mossback.

Gum trag is a derivative of the legumes. This might help you track down the baking aspect: http://en.wikipedia..../Gum_tragacanth -or- http://www.bakedeco....=6196&catid=204

Good luck, and let us know what you ultimately come up with.

Ah I see. I have a problem to keep apart all these terms, as I am not "native English speaker", and learn both Swedish and English terms for techniques and materials etc. And sometimes I don't know the equivalent in the other language, most often what I should call it in Swedish.

Great thanks for the tip on mossback/gummed leathers. I'll be sure to remember that next time I need to order more hides, it should spare a whole lot of extra work.

[TwinOaks]

If you have particularly stringy flesh sides, you can also shave it if you have a good razor.....kinda like shaving wool felt. Then again, if it's THAT stringy, it may be beyond use.

I've also had good success using TanKote for slicking the flesh side.....I don't know what's in it, but it smells a lot like Gum Trag.

[Tina]

Gum tragacanth seems to be a problem to get hold of here in Sweden

Jag använder som det kallas i Sverige "Gum Arabic" till kanter & dylikt, jag tror det är det samma som Gum Taraganth, det luktar och ser lika ut och uppför sig precis likadant. Köper detta här i min favvokonstaffär i Sverige :-)

http://www.skcab.se/...abic_75_ml.html

Edited August 12, 2011 by Tina

[Skald]

Jag använder som det kallas i Sverige "Gum Arabic" till kanter & dylikt, jag tror det är det samma som Gum Taraganth, det luktar och ser lika ut och uppför sig precis likadant. Köper detta här i min favvokonstaffär i Sverige :-)

http://www.skcab.se/...abic_75_ml.html

Åh tack så mycket. Du får alltid vara min läderslöjdstolk märker jag. Gum Arabic vet jag ju vad det är, det borde gå att fixa. Skall bara se hur det ligger i pris jämfört med att köpa motsvarande mängd från utlandet. Tack tack.

[Suicide]

Åh tack så mycket. Du får alltid vara min läderslöjdstolk märker jag. Gum Arabic vet jag ju vad det är, det borde gå att fixa. Skall bara se hur det ligger i pris jämfört med att köpa motsvarande mängd från utlandet. Tack tack.

Hi Skald,

It is the same story about all specific supplies here in Finland. If you still need the Gum Trag, drop me a message - I can recommend you one ebay saller. He is in US but all the stuff I've got from him so far (including GumTrag) were delivered quite fast and seems didn't get frozen while transportation (at least they are working perfectly for me).

Cheers