How do I avoid cracks when bending leather - Example of Small Bag

[GinBerlin]

Hello it's Gin.

I'm trying to make a small bag, using WALPIER BUTTERO - BLACK 100 - 2.0/2.2mm leather that I bought online.

When I bend the top of the bag (even after 1 times) it has a lot of cracks and looks used for long time.

How can avoid this? should I oil/wet the leather? 

Thanks in advance for your comments and help! 

Best regards from Berlin!

 

 

[Dwight]

Those are not cracks . . . they are wrinkles . . . they are produced by the bending of the leather.

Getting it fairly wet with water that first time you bend it will alleviate some of it . . . but also using a thinner leather will also make a big difference.

The thinner leather will not wrinkle as bad.  You may skive the area that bends . . . do that on some practice pieces . . . it may be your ticket.

Also you can bend it around a dowel . . . slowly and incrementally making the dowel smaller each time . . . pulling it around by the loose end . . . rather than just bending it over the piece.

BUT . . . wrinkles are part and parcel to leather and leather work.  It proves your work was not done in wool, cotton, or plastic . . .

May God bless,

Dwight

[sonnyboone]

I have some Walpier Buttero Black and the temper is quite firm and the surface glossy and stiff.  I was planning on using it for watch straps but find the surface susceptible to unsightly wrinkles, as you are depicting in your photo. I ended up using what I had on card wallets that don't bend instead.  It could be a case of leather choice for this pattern.  That Buttero black is beautiful but the surface is temperamental from my experience....

[GinBerlin]

Dear @Dwight and @sonnyboone,

Thanks a lot for your quick answers

I have tried to put some olive oil and waited 5 min before bending the top part.
The result is already much better. Less wrinkles and acceptable I guess.
I'll try the same mini-bag with a thinner leather and share the results here also.

Actually I try to reproduce an item that I found online, you can see bellow.
It uses I think 3mm leather for the belt part and 2mm for bag, I could find only WALPIER BUTTERO which are in those sizes.
Do you know what else can I use as leather which has similar look/properties? Any recommendations would be very valuable

Thanks again for your support! 

[sonnyboone]

I've been using Wickett and Craig black Latigo for the same reasons you're experiencing and have had better results.  I've read that Latigos are a bit more durable than a straight veg tan and that's been my experience,  but  I'll confess now that I'm a noob when it comes to leather work.  A second opinion on a Latigo vs Veg tan for bendy bits would be valuable.

I see you're in Berlin....  If you were a few thousand km closer  I'd drop a piece by your place to try!

[GinBerlin]

Wow the leather looks really nice 

Just that I'm using a laser cutter so can only work with Vegetable Tanned leathers

But will do some research and see if I can find it here in Germany, or something similar

Thanks a lot for all the support! 

Greetings from Berlin

 

[sonnyboone]

2 minutes ago, GinBerlin said:

Wow the leather looks really nice 

Just that I'm using a laser cutter so can only work with Vegetable Tanned leathers

But will do some research and see if I can find it here in Germany, or something similar

Thanks a lot for all the support! 

Greetings from Berlin

 

Is the issue using the laser cutter with a Latigo the toxicity of chromium burning out?  I'm getting interested in laser cutting too.....

[Rahere]

Latigo, if that's what it actually is, is a hybrid tan which creates a relatively waxy leather, which could help your question. It's mostly a Horween product, so very unusual to find in the UK.

[LatigoAmigo]

11 hours ago, GinBerlin said:

Just that I'm using a laser cutter so can only work with Vegetable Tanned leathers

I know that people on this forum have expressed concern about cutting leathers that have been tanned with chromium salts. I cut and engrave chrome-tanned and latigo leathers with a laser cutter, so to address those concerns I've invested in a fume extraction system. So far, so good. It gets rid of the burnt leather smell too.

[johnv474]

There is another trick that can be used to fold leather that wants to crack (even if, in this case, it was just wrinkling).  That old trick is to just use a little dish soap in water, and dip the leather or wet it about a minute before bending.  If you don't like the idea of using dish soap, you can use saddle soap too.  The soap element "makes the water wetter", as they say.