Leather cosmetic repair problem...

[Rayban]

I have a friend who has deep scratches in a trophy saddle fender....More like gouges...and he would like to fill them in with something. He won't be using this saddle any more so the fix is just cosmetic, but I would like to come up with a putty like substance to fill in these deep scratches...about 1/16" deep x 1/8" wide x 3" long....two of them.....running parallel about 1/2" apart. I would then like to stain/dye over whatever to help blend in with the leather.

Any suggestions on what to use?? Would a silicone caulking work??

Thanks,

RG

[rdb]

Never tried this with leather, but part of my life as a carpenter, the old trick was to mix sawdust with elmer's glue, to fill the nail holes or scratches....maybe take a belt sander to some leather, and use the dust mixed with a glue...might work

[Jordan]

I read elsewhere that there is some stuff, sounded like bondo for leather, havent the faintest what or where it might be, sorry, and good luck with the fix.

[Rayban]

I read elsewhere that there is some stuff, sounded like bondo for leather, havent the faintest what or where it might be, sorry, and good luck with the fix.

Funny you should mention that, the guy who I'm fixing this for..( I hope) asked me if there was such a thing....think I'll google it...

[Kayak15]

Rayban,

I just googled "Bondo for Leather" and got a lot of sites that are willing to sell you repair kits. Don't know anything about it myself.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=b...G=Google+Search

One site that I looked at has a lot of short video clips on how to do repairs.

http://www.vinylproleather.com/

Good luck!

Kayak15

[ClayB]

When doing embossed leather pictures (mostly figure carving) we use putty made from mixing leather dust (ground up leather) with either rubber cement or contact cement. Sometimes it is used to sculpt on the front of a carving and when painted by certain people, you cant really tell where the leather ends and the putty begins. I am not sure, but maybe you could mix dye in with the dust to match the color of the saddle before adding the cement. It wouldn't add any strength to a cut or scratch, but if all you want is cosmetic, I think it would probably work. You would just apply cement to the gouge, then when tacky, fill in with the putty. Once it starts to dry a little, you can work the putty smooth with a modeling tool or spoon or anything with a smooth surface. Licking the spoon keeps the cement from sticking to it (I know thats's kinda gross, but it seems like saliva is what works the best)

[TracyMoss]

I would like to see some results in this little adventure

[gary]

When I was in the Army and we had to repair boots and other things that the British Army likes to have really shiny and we had dinks, dings and gouges to repair (most often boot toecaps) we used to use a mix of beeswax and boot polish of the right shade. It took a bit of experimenting to get exactly the right colour. It's not too good for things that flex a lot like Sam Browne belts but works fine on fairly rigid structures. Also, as the beeswax hardens nicely, you can replicate the carved pattern in it.

Might be worth a try if the saddle's no longer in use.

Gary

Edited February 4, 2008 by gary