Advice, making leather look old.

[nuttbush]

Pards,
I do nothing commercial, just my hobbies. I can't seem to get the right look on making my leather look old. I want to make some fringe and rough side leather look old, like on the the beautiful work done by the pards at Wild Rose and some of the Indian repo's at Prairie Edge. I have the page by Wayne Zurl and I know many of the artist use Feibings products with success. I want to make some fringe to decorate a capote, a buffalo skull, a lance, a beaded pipe bag, etc. Do I take a piece of leather cut to size, shade it, then cut in the fringe, or do I cut the fringe and then shade. I know good results comes from years of experience, but I don't really know where to start. Any help or suggestions of books or articles I could use would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Gene

 

[Black Hand]

Smoke it then cut to shape. I used my BBQ with a pipe off the vent, and used rotten cottonwood for color and odor. With dye, in some cases (unless you use natural dyes), it looks "dyed" and not "aged". The best thing it can suggest for aging is: Use it in the field. Thay will put "age" on it better than anything else.

 

[Tinker2]

Bury it in the back yard.



Tinker2

 

[bob1961]

Bury it in the back yard.
Tinker2

fer how long and where it's wet or dry....if dry what if it gets wet..........bob

 

[renovato]

Alamosa, take a look at old pieces, or repros that you like. Look for the details that make it look old, such as where and how wear occurs, the way stains and patina effect it. Do they settle into lines and wrinkles, or stain the peaks. Does the wear go through the finish into lighter leather, or did use make the worn parts darker? Etc.

The first thing to aging anything, from leather to furniture to guns, is learning to "see" how aging effects the look. It's a lot easier to duplicate once you know exactly what you're duplicating.

There are a lot of things you can use, from oils that darken the leather a bit, to even using dirt to simulate, well, dirt. Dyes are hard to control, but you can get some pretty good effects by using a sponge or cloth with a little diluted dye on it and squeezed out until it's almost dry. Very lightly rubbing spots transfers a slight, uneven film of dye that works for duplicating some stains and patina.

Been many years since I aged any leather knife sheaths and I didn't have any particular set techniques. I just kept trying things until I could duplicate one aspect, then went to work on another. When I had covered the various aspects that I wanted to duplicate, I combined them and got to work.

 

[Tinker2]

“fer how long and where it's wet or dry....if dry what if it gets wet”

I live in what use to be called the Great American Desert.
I don’t worry about “what if it gets wet”
I’m known to have staked thing out in the river too.

I have been known to bury bone, horn, leather, wood, paper,
guns, and other assorted things. some things I cook first, bury
later.

It takes a while, if I need some thing faster I mix up vinegar,
a small amount of steel wool, and a big pinch of copper sulfate.
All in a quart jar. let it sit a day and paint it on leather or wood.



Tinker2

 

[Nifeman]

Like this??

These are pics of a sheath my wife made awhile back. It's an elk rawhide overlay on veg tanned that she dyed...Bud

 

[renovato]

Bud, that's outstanding! It looks like it could be sitting in some museum somewhere. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Tinker2]

Very nice




Tinker2

 

First question I have is:
What type of leather are you trying to age?

A different approach is needed/required for the various types - what will work with braintain for instance doesn't usually work as well for veg tan and the commonly available "chrome" tan (one of the toughest to age and make it not look like chrome tan (a method of "tanning" which was first developed in the late 1850's, but was not widely used in America until the 1870's.....) will need still another approach.....

In my experience there is no single/best/only method of aging - what Plink said about looking at old leather is spot on - examining lots of it and then trying to replicate that look is the best aid I know of to get good........

aka Chuck Burrows aka Wild Rose.....

 

[Norskie]

Nobody's mentioned neatsfoot oil to simulate years of exposure to skin oils and dirt.

 

[Legionair]

If you want it darkened and aged quick, I'd suggest ash, soot, and oil sludge (put fuel oil in a jar and set in sun for a month, the bacteria will die and settle forming sludge - same process as winemaking).

Makes leather work gloves broke in and aged real fast - and if you only apply it once or twice instead of daily, the leather should still last.

Try it with some scrap piece first....

Legion