Found in attic...old leather

[WestKentucky]

I was working in my rental house and came across 2 large pieces of leather. One piece is thick, appears to be cowhide, and is tooled over with flowers and such. It appears to be part of a kit for making a large handbag, or possibly even a storage bag for the front of a motorcycle. The second piece is considerably thinner, it appears to be gator belly, but it is a large piece. Both are pretty dried out but are in decent shape. I plan to use them to try my hand at a couple holsters. I will probably try a pocket holster and possibly try to get a piece of kydex for a second holster. The gator belly I have no clue what to do with, but it looks good so I want to do something. First chore is getting the leather oiled up so that it is even usable. What oils should be used on these pieces to get them usable again.

 

[rcmodel]

I would not oil them till after you make something out of them.

You will need wet leather to form a holster or such.

And you cant very well wet oiled leather.

As for oil?
I use Pure Vegetable oil for my leather projects.

Otherwise use Neatsfoot oil.

rc

 

[WestKentucky]

Makes sense...thanks RC.

 

[Sunray]

Boots for the gator. A big hide screams jerkin to me though. That'd be a longish vest.
Mind you, dried out leather doesn't make good anything. Put some mink/neat foot oil or the like on first. Leather conditioners from Tandy's or a shoe repair shop.
How thick is thick? Holsters usually start at 8 ounce. That's about 1/8" thick.
Plain rubber cement will do for holding the parts together for putting the stitch holes and sewing.

 

[WestKentucky]

pics

The gator...or what I think is gator... is about the thickness of a penny. The other is about 2 or 2 and s half times as thick. My PT99AF is in for size reference.

 

[Double_J]

The gator looks more like embossed pig skin. It would make a nice wallet, belt, etc. I know we sold a BUNCH of it when I worked for Tandy Leather. The other bag is probably a kit of some sort. It would be a decent learning piece but not much more than that. I would order a decent single shoulder or double shoulder from Tandy along with a pattern book/kit before I used either of those pieces.

 

[rcmodel]

Good advice.

The 'Alligator' could be real, or embossed.
But judging from the apparent age?
I vote real.

The cowhide purse appears to be an old used handbag, probably taken apart after the leather lacing wore out on the edges.

I would wet it and see if water will penetrate it.

If not it probably has old lacquer finish on/in the leather pours, and will be very difficult to do anything with if you can't soften it with water to mold it.

rc

 

[M-Cameron]

I use Pure Vegetable oil for my leather projects.

the Veg oil doesnt go rancid on you?

 

[rcmodel]

No, it does not go rancid.
This is not used cooking oil we are talking about.

And old saddle maker told me about it 25 years ago.

His first job was bottling 55 gal barrels of pure vegetable oil into 4 oz bottles with some 'Magic Saddle Oil' label on them.

The 'Pure' in vegetable oil means there are no food partials or salt in it to go rancid, or rust guns.

Here it what it does on stuff I have made.



rc

 

[CraigC]

I'd oil it first to prevent cracking. Extra virgin olive oil. You don't want to soak it. Put a light coat on it and let it soak in overnight. Do this two or three times and it should be ready.

 

[rcmodel]

I disagree.

You have to see if you can wet it first to form it..

And you can't wet it to see if you can form it after you oil it!

And you can't make a holster out of it unless you can still wet form it and make a holster out of it.

rc

 

[OYE]

Leather thickness varies over the hide. But we prefer leather thickness closer to 3/16 inch rather than 1/8 inch for a good looking long lasting holster for in the field.
OYE

 

[M-Cameron]

]No, it does not go rancid.
This is not used cooking oil we are talking about.

And old saddle maker told me about it 25 years ago.

His first job was bottling 55 gal barrels of pure vegetable oil into 4 oz bottles with some 'Magic Saddle Oil' label on them

Ah nice, I've always used a mix bees wax and lemon oil on my leather. ...I may have to give olive oil a try.

I know a lot of guys who use olive oil to oil their shinai, and they always complain that it goes rancid after a while, which is what made me pose my original question.....but I'm guessing the oil must react with the sugars and starches in the wood, which you wouldn't get in the leather, I'm thinking.

 

[aarondhgraham]

Just don't make the mistake that I did,,,

I'd oil it first to prevent cracking. Extra virgin olive oil.

I read about this in a leather-craft mag back in the 70's,,,
It's claim to fame is that it doesn't darken the leather.

So I trotted down to the grocery store to get some.

I found extra virgin olive oil,,,
But I didn't notice that it was garlic flavored.

One stinky purse. :banghead:

Aarond

.

 

[CraigC]

You have to see if you can wet it first to form it..

And you can't wet it to see if you can form it after you oil it!

And you can't make a holster out of it unless you can still wet form it and make a holster out of it.

I agree that he needs to ascertain whether or not it has a synthetic finish on it. But oiling the leather (not soaking it), is not going to prevent you from wetting it. I treat all my holsters with extra virgin olive oil before and after wet molding.

The olive oil must be extra virgin and don't buy the cheap stuff. That is, oil that is made from the first cold pressing of the olives. Anything else will be acidic.

 

[OpticsPlanet]

Lots of good recommendations here, but one word of caution... apply any oil gradually and judiciously. Over use will make your leather a limp, floppy wet noodle.

George P.

 

[Bill.45]

Pecards is a great product for leather items.

 

[judgedelta]

You've already got more good advice than you need, but maybe look into Lexol.

 

[Red Cent]

Some of use a drying booth or the oven to hard form some holsters. Nothing new. Wet a piece of leather, sun dry it, and you get a piece of stiff leather.

I also apply NF oil after I cut the pattern. And I usually apply after everything is dry.

An interesting tidbit. Put some NF oil in a clear container. Add warm water. Cold water will coagulate the NF. Drop one or two drops of soap in the mixture and they all will blend together.

I usually wipe all my leather with water spayed from a mister and a couple of drops of Lexall (leather cleaner/soap) in the water. Dye or water will soak in quickly and will not leave dark spots.

You will find there are so many different approaches to leather conditioner. Just don't over do it.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Thanks RCmodel for the tip.