Need Help W/ Mouse Pad Surface

[SirNanigans]

I have decided to make a classy and high quality mouse pad to go with my new PC peripherals. The aesthetic is crucial, but functionality is the most important part. Aesthetically, I want it black and simple to match the simplicity of my keyboard. Functionally, I want it slick, and I mean slick like greased up ice.

So my quandary is how make a lasting slick surface from leather that can be easily renewed as it wears but wears rather slow, and how to make it without an artificial glazed look. Any ideas?

As far as I have brainstormed, I have come up with these ideas:

-Wax, wax, wax. Just soak it through with the stuff.

-Rub in some if my black silicone caulk, possibly thinned.

-Rub in shellac prior to waxing

As far as the silicone caulk idea goes, I know that silicone is used extensively in lubricants, but that its thick, pure form is too squishy and grips things. Perhaps the support of the leather and the microscopic thickness of the silicone surface will help negate that squishiness and allow the silicone to act as a lubricant rather than a grip. I chose the caulk over a lubricant spray because it's opaque black (helps enforce the color of the finish), it's going to cure and hopefully be more lasting, and it's free because I already have some. Any thoughts on this in particular?

Thank you much for reading; +1 thanks for responding.

[camano ridge]

If you are not going to be tooling it, get a piece of hot stuffed veg tan leather. It has been hot stuffed with oils and waxes. It is very firm and smooth. Most of what I have has a polished look to it. You can wax it some more with renisance wax orr similar durable wax product.

[JoeSnuffie]

A glass burnisher might get veg tanned leather a lot smoother for you, requiring less of a coating of 'shiny stuff'. I have leathers that turn out nice and shiny without any help at all and some that would need a lot of help. I guess it depends on the grain. You can apply 50/50 Mop and Glow / Water in thin layers until you get close to the finish you're looking for then one of those leather pastes or waxes to finish it up to a shine.

[SirNanigans]

Thanks for the tips. I know already that I will be using 7-9oz tooling leather, from a shoulder cut. It's what I have, and this is going to be a $10 or less project.

I will certainly test those ideas. Perhaps to imitate the hot stuffed leather I can saturate some with the neatsfoot oil I have? Durability aside, maybe this will help me predict the results of the hot stuffed leather. As for the Mop and Glow, I bet I have that where I work, so that's an idea.

A primary concern is the softness of the leather. Of course leather is much more firm than cloth, but it's not as firm as the hard plastic mouse pads made for this kind of slick feel. I currently use cloth, and I am trying to make a mouse pad that works like plastic but looks and feels (to the limits of our senses) like leather. So something I am really interested in achieving is a flexible surface that is hard and/or rough on a molecular level. This will create the feel of a flexible natural surface for the human hand, but provide a slick and hard surface for the Teflon feet to glide across.

Its a tough problem to solve. I will start some trials with wax and finishes, but still await some ideas for harder materials like lacquer/shellac or rubbers that can be worked into or onto the surface without changing the appearance too much.

[camano ridge]

I don't think you will get near the results trying to hot stuff yourself. The hot stuffing process is done as part of the tanning process a mix of heated oils fats and waxes are saturated into the leather and the leather is then dried leaving the pores filled with the oils and waxes. I think what ever process you go you won't get there with leather alone. If you wetted vegtan then left dry it will stiffen and be firm however you won't have the give for comfort that you won't. I wood think laminating the leather to a piece of nepreme or an old mouse pad would give a better surface.

[Northmount]

If you saturate it with neatsfoot oil, it will never dry out and will be mushy. Apply sparingly and wait 8 hours or more.

Tom

[SirNanigans]

Hmm...

Camano, I think you might be right.

The silicone idea is farfetched, in my opinion, although I am most excited to see how it works. Silicone rubber is very, very grippy in the form that I have it now, and I doubt that a medium like leather will change that. However, your prediction that adding a new surface is necessary gives me more confidence in the shellac idea.

I will try applying shellac at several different pound cuts to see if the level of saturation changes anything, and then try waxing it with a paste wax that hardens a bit if it's not slick enough. My only concern with wax is that constant friction will erode the wax quickly, especially where my hand contacts the pad rather than the teflon feet.

Hopefully shellac, silicone, wax, satin sheen, or some other applied surface will do the trick. Otherwise I am switching to black anodized steel, not as classy but very functional. Perhaps I could get a teflon surface for a mouse pad as well... that would be exciting to test out.

[SLudlow]

Have you considered working with a thick hot stuffed chrome tan? If you aren't tooling it, that is.

[electrathon]

Just a thought. Mouse pads are for the purpose of making a roller ball mouse stick properly to a desk. Now days the mouse uses a laser and there is no longer a purpose to have the pad below it. The only exception I know to this is if you are using a mouse on a clear glass table, then there is no surface for the laser to bounce on.

[Tree Reaper]

I have decided to make a classy and high quality mouse pad

Ostrich works.