Finishing Edges: Veg Tan vs Chrome Tan?

[MtlBiker]

Am I right that it's really difficult (maybe even impossible) to finish the edges of chrome tan leather?  If that's so, maybe I should use chrome tan only for items where the edge is folded in and stitched (like bags and purses for example) and for things where the edge of the leather would be seen (maybe small pouches, wallets etc) I should stick with veg tan.

I just made an AirPod Pro case using a beautiful red chrome tan leather in about 3.5 oz weight.  And I haven't been able to finish the edges so that they're attractive.  Maybe I just don't know how to do it.  But I do know that veg tan would have been easier to cut to shape (especially for cutouts where the edges would be visible).

Anyway, this project was just for me to see if the pattern was good and to give me something to practice hand stitching on.  And I liked the red chrome tan. 

 

 

[Tugadude]

Paint the edges with Edge Kote or similar.  For red you could use black or get lucky and match the red.

I will try to link some info for you.

https://fiebing.com/product/edge-kote/

There are other, spendy brands and they are getting good reviews.  You get what you pay for.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Tugadude

[Hardrada]

Chrome tan's edges CAN be dyed and burnished if the leather is firm-tempered, such as Chromexcel. You may need to use something other than Tan Kote, though, such as Uniters. You'll also get better results with an electric filleteuse, but I've done it with wood burnisher and Tokonole.

[MtlBiker]

22 hours ago, Tugadude said:

Paint the edges with Edge Kote or similar.  For red you could use black or get lucky and match the red.

I will try to link some info for you.

https://fiebing.com/product/edge-kote/

There are other, spendy brands and they are getting good reviews.  You get what you pay for.

I guess I should have tried Edge Kote.  All I tried was tokinole and a burnisher and it didn't work well.  Probably the chrome tan I used was just too soft and flexible.  In any case, it was a learning experience and I'm going to try the same pattern/project again using veg tan.

Thank you!

 

[MtlBiker]

21 hours ago, Hardrada said:

Chrome tan's edges CAN be dyed and burnished if the leather is firm-tempered, such as Chromexcel. You may need to use something other than Tan Kote, though, such as Uniters. You'll also get better results with an electric filleteuse, but I've done it with wood burnisher and Tokonole.

I know so little about leather and had never heard of Chromexcel.  (Is that a Microsoft product?  ...Excel?  )  I guess the chrome tan leather i used for this is just too soft and flexible.  Didn't work well at all with tokonole and my burnisher.  But at least I got to practice hand stitching small items.  I'm going to try what @Tugadude suggested... using Edge Kote.  But I'm also going to do this project again with veg tan.

Cheers!

 

 

[Hardrada]

13 minutes ago, MtlBiker said:

Is that a Microsoft product?  ...Excel?

It's right there with FirePoint!

[Danne]

I would stay away from Fiebings edge kote (My opinion) I don't think I ever seen really good results with that edge paint.

Brands like Uniters, Fenice, Vernis600, Stahl, Giardini are popular good brands.

Here is a tutorial I made (I use Fenice and Uniters EP2000

 

[Spyros]

I would also avoid edge kote.  I used to hate painting chrome tan edges and I used to avoid chrome entirely for this reason, but I found a lot of my struggles was because I always tried to do it with edge kote.  When I finally gave Fenice and Uniters a go it felt much easier, I don't know why, maybe the viscosity was just right for my method (I use an awl to apply it).  Also when I made mistakes and I got a little paint over the edge it was easier to clean up with a bit of isopropyl alcohol and/or a rubber crepe, or let it dry and pop it off with a blunt knife.

[MtlBiker]

@Danne and @Spyros - Thank you for that.  I get Fiebings and Eco-Flo from Tandy and don't recall ever coming across other brands.  I'll see if I can source one of the other brands here in Canada.

But for veg tan leather the Fiebings is alright?

[chuck123wapati]

1 hour ago, MtlBiker said:

@Danne and @Spyros - Thank you for that.  I get Fiebings and Eco-Flo from Tandy and don't recall ever coming across other brands.  I'll see if I can source one of the other brands here in Canada.

But for veg tan leather the Fiebings is alright?

i use it. Works fine for me and what i make. 

[Danne]

14 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

@Danne and @Spyros - Thank you for that.  I get Fiebings and Eco-Flo from Tandy and don't recall ever coming across other brands.  I'll see if I can source one of the other brands here in Canada.

But for veg tan leather the Fiebings is alright?

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm quite certain that Eco-Flo is produced by Fenice.

A lot of the brands I recommended are quite low viscosity and require multiple coats for good results. But if you want less coats you can for example use Uniters EP-Full primer and Uniters EP2000 edge paint as a second coat, and get a good result with two coats. I have also seen similar results with Giardini products (I haven't tried Giardini though)

And I can't say how the durability compares to more coats and heat and sanding in between. 

[Hardrada]

19 hours ago, MtlBiker said:

@Danne and @Spyros - Thank you for that.  I get Fiebings and Eco-Flo from Tandy and don't recall ever coming across other brands.  I'll see if I can source one of the other brands here in Canada.

But for veg tan leather the Fiebings is alright?

Eco-Flo is Tandy's house brand.

Yes, Fiebing's is alright for veg-tan. I even use it in my English bridle belts and it's fine as long as you burnish it well and finish it up with Tokonole.