Tracym Report post Posted August 5, 2012 I've been getting Birdsall lace from a Springfield. Got nice lovely stuff, conditioned and beveled it and was good to go. But my recent shipment, it's literally 2 to 3 times as thick, and very stiff. In addition, the back of the the leather is soft and shaggy. Really night and day. They say the skins are thicker in winter (which it is in Aus now). Very hard to work with - it really needs splitting and I don't have a splitter. I have to take tons off with a bevelor, and I'm still not sure it's nearly as nice. Has anyone else noticed this? Is the quality from y-knot lace (probably from Amazing Lace) likely to be better? I'm not up to cutting my own yet, and I need to be able to get colors. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stelmackr Report post Posted August 5, 2012 Is the quality from y-knot lace (probably from Amazing Lace) likely to be better? YES. IMHO. Bob Stelmack Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tracym Report post Posted August 5, 2012 YES. IMHO. Bob Stelmack Thanks, I'll give some a try. What is nice about Springfield is, they will sell it by the yard now. I don't really need 50 yards of pink for example. I suppose if I have to, I can battle a few yards. I'd hate to have a whole spool of what I've gotten recently though. They are very nice and helpful at Springfield, don't get me wrong, I am happy to do business with them. Most of what I got from them was very nice and I was completely satisfied with the quality, service, and price. It's just a little bit lately that has been so different. Interesting, he said I was the only one who had mentioned it. They can only sell what they get, it's what's coming in from Birdsall. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tracym Report post Posted August 5, 2012 Hmmm now one roll I have of black, when I condition it (Lexol) the color is bleeding off on my hands. Is that normal, to be expected? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
badLoveLeather Report post Posted August 27, 2012 Whenever I use that lace (same lace yer talking about) I just run it through a waxed canvas and it handles the fuzz on the backside to a certain extent. plus whenever I'm lacing I try to use shorter pieces and seam to keep the lace fresh and looking good. I DO have a problem with that lace stretching a bit more than I'd like it to. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spinner Report post Posted August 28, 2012 Y-knot is definitely more consistent, higher grade lace. It's much thinner as well so it lays down extremely well. The drawback is that being thinner it stretches alot more than Springfield's does over a long run so I tend to lace with it using no longer than 4' sections. Makes for more splices but if you're good at them it won't matter. On the Springfield issue of thickness, you're dead right. I just bought four 50 yard spools of the 1/8" black classic and there is definitely two different thicknesses in batch. Fortunately, I ended up with two rolls of each thickness so I rubberbanded them together so I know which to splice to which when the roll ends! As for the back, they are a little fleshy but not bad. I usually condition and seal with Pecards anyway so it lightly burnishes the back smooth before I lace and the back is a non-issue. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
