Show us your leather

[k4727]

also decided to apply some pitchblend to my fh bracelet

original courtesy of SE

NOW

AFTER PITCHBLEND

[mikecch]

Some goodies from unlucky:

Bracelets made of real bridle leather from Clayton of Chesterfield:

Dark brown Clayton bridle belt loop holder with Damascus button:

Horsehide wallet with mule deer sinew threading:

Herman Oak natural leather wallet:

Kangaroo braided loop:

And something special, tote bag made with grained Horween Chromexcel and Clayton hairsheep lining:

Pull-up!

[LC_Miey]

Mike. All the goods are very well made and beautiful. the damascus button is excellent. Im impressed by all of them

[mikecch]

Thanks LC!

The tote is my first experience with grained CXL - it's really interesting, having a similar shine and pull-up as the regular CXL stuff we see on US footwear - but it's grainy!!!

P.S. I didn't make these, so please direct rep at unlucky in the leather crafts thread

[TheNorthern]

I must concur with LC. those are all very nice pieces!

[Ord]

+1 in the compliments for the new acquisitions from Unlucky.

I was wondering if he could make a belt from that bridle leather (i like the "veiny", darker one).

Do you have any details on the tanning/stuffing process Mike? (rethorical question, i'm pretty sure you even know the name of the cow whose hide they have been made from, and the last meal it ate before being slaughtered)

[mikecch]

^ Haha, cheers Ord. Scott has mentioned the possibility of making belts from the Clayton leathers, best to shoot him an e-mail.

From what I know, it is a vegetable tanned leather processed/curried in the traditional English method (well, roughly)...here's a couple of videos from the tannery:

http://www.youtube.com/user/jclayton1840

I have no idea how and if extra dressing was applied.

[w11114m]

Dark brown Clayton bridle belt loop holder with Damascus button:

Champion. ( 10 chars )

[lamooood]

my FH bracelet

[spy]

crosspost from another forum, here's a guy updating on a bag I made him last year after lots of love. He hasn't even mink oiled it yet, imagine the color that will bring out!

Took some more bag pics. This is about 3 months in. I also feel like I should apologize to spy because I have absolutely not been taking care of this bag properly at all. But I feel like it's that episode of Pete & Pete where Inspector 34 learns that the right way to eat chicken wings is all messy and stuff... sometimes the right way to treat leather is in fact the wrong way. Or? I dunno. Going with it for now.

Absolutely no sign of wear and tear on the stitching.

Gallery link. I did finally break down today and give it a decent coat of beeswax.

here's the bag when new:

[corter]

my roomate's wallet. the thing's been left on the roof of a car, dropped in a sink full of dishes, and washed in a machine- still going strong. New:

7 or 8 months later:

[mikecch]

OGL for myNudies forum belt...two months effective wear:

Grain has jumped out a bit more...

And the flat burnish going strong:

[corter]

that kinda looks like it needs oil a little bit- that grain looks close to splitting

[mikecch]

^ I actually just oiled it a couple of days back...there are a few areas where the grains 'peels' a little, and I haven't been able to do anything about it (didn't want to wax it heavily.)

Like this:

The 5th picture shows a massive scar, and has always had that interesting scar texture

I do think the grain on this leather is more fragile and prone to splitting than the others I've owned.

IIRC a couple of it's sister belts suffered massive grain splits en route to other forum members - kinda strange~

[corter]

you shouldn't have to wax it or anything, most certainly not have to oil it twice in two months unless it's sitting in direct sun alone the whole time. It should be getting smoother over time- that flake won't go away. I don't mean to speak poorly but your belt alone has a ton of scarring and branding on it, looks like the animal it came from was pretty marked up and the hide wasn't exactly top quality.

[mikecch]

^ Yeah, the leather does have quite a lot of markings. But I asked OGL specifically to send me the one with the most scars; odd as it sounds, I like scars on natural leather.

The flaking grain is an issue though... any suggestions?

[ItsJustNC]

Yea, i second Corter

The thing is, the flaking is actually a very week point in the leather. Even if you were to throw on a ton of neatsfoot over it, it wont go away. If i'm not mistaken, it comes from branding scars.

And i once had a piece of 7 oz oil tanned, the branding scar actually tore through the whole piece of leather when i was just flexing it.

[mikecch]

^ Oh wow, that's pretty spectacular.

I think I'm going to try a little bit of melted beeswax on the peeling bits in a couple of weeks time.

[corter]

^ Yeah, the leather does have quite a lot of markings. But I asked OGL specifically to send me the one with the most scars; odd as it sounds, I like scars on natural leather.

The flaking grain is an issue though... any suggestions?

I understand liking marks and scarring, I'm the same way! problem is when you get a hid with that much scarring in general, it's simply not going to be treated with as much care during tanning process because the tannery knows it will be sold as a c grade hide for little money, hence the flakey grain. People generally use that type hide for filler or structure pieces in saddles, leather tile, dying, etc, and you never see it in it's natural form like that.

For the flake, I have no clue what you would do short of glue the flakes down individually with leather weld. Its basically the top grain coming separated from the flesh, so once it's detached it's permanent. There's no product that will oil it back into shape, as you've seen by it's condition after you've oiled it. Maybe just stop caring about it and wear it a bunch and let the flakes happen? Could turn into a nice distressed look in a little while, and it should stay strong- looks like thick enough leather.

[MJR]

8 months old.

[mikecch]

Yeah, I might just let it sit for now, see what happens.

[andyy]

looking for someone to make a custom belt with a custom buckle! hit me up if you're interested

[blackfuture]

This is one of zissou's little key holders. I forgot exactly when I bought it, but it's at least a year old, probably closer to two. The scrap on the right was trimmed off when new, so it is the original color.

Corter after about two months

[mikecch]

Some Chromexcel & camel leather craziness!

[BrownMetallic]

that's an Unlucky CXL tote, right? niiice!

[OXW]

Chris_N triangle!

[mikecch]

that's an Unlucky CXL tote, right? niiice!

Yes sir, made in Utah by Mr. Willis.

[Danny @ Rivet & Hide]

Love this biker jacket worn by Justin Theroux. Has that retro 80s padded shoulders but a clean single breasted front.

love to get my hands on one although bet it cost a bomb. any ideas?

[coleslawyum]

Kind of like a padded Buco J-100. Real McCoy's sells them for ￥180000. I think its probably a vintage piece. I know a lot of jacket makers make or made this particular style so it's easy to thrift or order a custom joint.

[devilish]

Jacket is ok but he looks like a tool in that fit. I bet that he has no idea who Crass are/were. He should have just stuck to the typical Ramones/Ironic Metal band shirt instead.

Props for getting to do Jennifer Aniston though, I guess.

Oh and Coleslawyum is right that style has been made by almost every 'biker' jacket maker out there at one time so just search for one used.