Beef Tallow on Dry Vegetable-Tanned Leather
Beef tallow is the oldest fat in the leather trade. Here is what it does to dry vegetable-tanned leather, and why museum conservators keep warning against it.
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Wax Bloom: Buff It Off or Leave It
A white haze on bridle leather after a dry winter is usually wax bloom, not damage. How to tell it from mould, and why the trade prizes what owners wipe away.
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A Bridle Leather Dog Leash Built to Be Handled
A bridle leather dog leash has to survive wet hands, sudden pulls and a living animal. Where leashes fail, and how a first build should handle each point.
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Hand Burnishing Edges on Vegetable-Tanned Leather
Friction, moisture and pressure close the raw edge of vegetable-tanned leather. What each pass does to the fibers, and when edge paint is the better call.
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Woodhull 4752 in Natural Brown Leather
Woodhull 4752, a hand-built briefcase in natural brown leather, photographed open on the workshop bench and again finished in the Marcellino NY studio.
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Why Bridle Leather Is a Hard First Leather
Waxy, thick, stiff and slow to soften. A briefcase maker’s opinion on why bridle leather is a hard first leather, and why he still would not cut anything else.
