StephanieR Report post Posted May 15, 2017 I'm completely new to the leather world so excuse my naiveness. I'm thinking I want to use veg tan leather for my first project. I'm a portrait photographer and I would like to create a pouch for photos to gift to my clients. I have marked three shades in the attached photo that I would like to achieve. 1. Is it possible to purchase veg tan leather already dyed? If so where would l find that? 2. If not do you know of a company that makes a grey dye or would I need to use black with a dye reducer? 3. If I wanted the "natural" look what would be best to finish the leather with? Do I need to finish it at all or could I just leave it as is? 4. I'm somewhat worried that the dyes would be toxic to photos. I would like to present the pouches as a long term storage solution for photographs but I'm unsure as to whether or not that would be considered archival. I have spammed my photography groups with the question and no one has any idea. Any insight about this would be appreciated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billybopp Report post Posted May 15, 2017 Leather is a bit acidic, and probably not a good choice for archival storage unless lined. Grey dye is pretty useless stuff...more paint than dye. No finish is needed if you use something like bridle leather. Check http://wickett-craig.com .. They make some really great leather. Bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brianm77 Report post Posted May 15, 2017 (edited) NorthStar had some grey hides, not vegtanned, but nice leather. May be worth a look. It was in the for sale - leather and lace section. Edited May 15, 2017 by Brianm77 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted May 15, 2017 1. yes, most good leather suppliers will have some available but grey is not common and may need to be ordered in - at extra cost. 2. Black dye will still give you black 3. Leave it as it comes, or put a couple of coats of 'Resolene' 4. yes, it will be 'toxic' to the photos. The chemicals used in tanning leather will attack the photo inks or silver based image in a matter of days. The alternative is to use an archival rated storage pouch within the leather pouch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephanieR Report post Posted May 15, 2017 Thank you for the info. I guess it's time for me to find a suitable liner. I would think I should find a material that isn't breathable so the photos aren't coming into contact with the leather at all. Now I am questioning the wedding album manufacturer that I use considering that they offer a variety of leather albums. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephanieR Report post Posted May 15, 2017 Am I correct in thinking that most colored leather will be chrome tan leather? I would like to stamp clients names or initials into the leather but I was under the impression that I would need veg tanned leather for that. Is that not the case? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StephanieR Report post Posted May 15, 2017 1 hour ago, Brianm77 said: NorthStar had some grey hides, not vegtanned, but nice leather. May be worth a look. It was in the for sale - leather and lace section. I'm sure I'm clueless but I did a google search for North Star leather and I could only find a website with finished goods for sale. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halitech Report post Posted May 15, 2017 2 hours ago, StephanieR said: Thank you for the info. I guess it's time for me to find a suitable liner. I would think I should find a material that isn't breathable so the photos aren't coming into contact with the leather at all. Now I am questioning the wedding album manufacturer that I use considering that they offer a variety of leather albums. The photo albums would have plastic pages to hold the photos which would prevent the photos from contacting the leather. Plus, it's probably lined as well 2 hours ago, StephanieR said: Am I correct in thinking that most colored leather will be chrome tan leather? I would like to stamp clients names or initials into the leather but I was under the impression that I would need veg tanned leather for that. Is that not the case? 95%+ leather that is colored, is chrome tanned. Only veg tanned leather will take the water needed to stamp names, etc. You can do a gold foil stamp or heat stamp but you would be needing a new stamp for each customer and they aren't cheap Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billybopp Report post Posted May 15, 2017 Most colored leathers are chrome tanned or combination, but veg tanned can be colored too. I recently bought some really beautiful veg tanned bridle in burgundy from Wicket and Craig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikermutt07 Report post Posted May 15, 2017 Look in the for sale section here for nstarleathers leather. He is a manufacturer of finished goods and offers hides to members here. He buys actual "lots" of leather. When he can't put it to use he passes on the savings to us. Really great guy. Also letter sets are available to heat up for applying names to chrome tanned leather. Hexnhit is a supplier of these letter sets. They are custom ordered and I hope to purchase some someday myself. They are not cheap, but seem to be a wise investment. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted May 15, 2017 1 hour ago, Halitech said: 95%+ leather that is colored, is chrome tanned. Only veg tanned leather will take the water needed to stamp names, etc. You can do a gold foil stamp or heat stamp but you would be needing a new stamp for each customer and they aren't cheap Not necessarily; one can buy the individual letters and do them that way For about $50 one can buy a full alphabet set of letters 1cm [3/8''] high letters in italic script made in brass for use with a pyrogravure/soldering iron Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
