African leatherman holster

[Akers]

A family member wanted me to make him a leatherman case out of his (Blesbock )hide he killed in Africa. It was very challenging being it was very soft from the way it was tanned. The hide is very, very soft. I couldn't get the edges to slick like I like for them to, (maybe somebody has any experience working with soft leather has any advice) even after sanding and burnishing, the softness combined with the glue just wouldn't become slick. He was very happy with it. (Maybe us leather workers are just to picky) Lol. It was also very hard to keep the hair out of the stitches up the sides, but I finally managed to get it done.  The stain was actually a little darker, I couldn't get my phone to capture the true color for some reason that day. Overall I was happy with how it turned out, being my first one. 

 

 

[battlemunky]

That looks great!

[Akers]

Thanks

[Riem]

Hi Akers, you mentioned how soft the Blesbok hide was - most probably a "rug tan", i.e. a hair on tannage. Not entirely sure it will be a full vegtan or a kind of combination tannage, but there's almost no way to burnish an edge on such leather. Very popular tannage among trophy hunters. Did you de-hair the back piece yourself? Looks very nice with the hair on front piece. 

I have an Oryx (Gemsbok) skin in such a tannage that I still need to decide what to make with it. 

[ryano]

Great job on your work. A small tannery, near me, tans African hides from all over the world.

[garypl]

I like the way you made this sheath!  I would have tested some good edge paint on some scrap and worked it a bit to see how well it stood up to repeated bending.  I think edge paint should work on this type leather as I have used it on a few soft leather projects like wallets and eyeglass cases and it has not cracked or rubbed off yet.

Gary

[Akers]

Thanks Ryano, garypl,   Hi Riem, sorry for the late response, I haven't had a chance to get back on here since you ask about (de-hairing). The back piece is just a piece of veg tan, died with a light coat of fiebings tan antique and resoline.