Finish Q for Chuck Burrows, or Others

[JD Alan]

I'm addressing this to Chuck, because it comes from his excellent DVD on holster making. If others can weigh in, so much the better.

While finishing off the California holster, you go back and forth between gum trag and bag coat, with some oil to boot. It seems from the DVD that a person could use just one or the other, so I'm wondering why you would use all three. I guess I still don't understand what each one does that the other may not.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, JD
   

[ChuckBurrows]

Howdy JD - I'll see if I can explain - but it's 1:10AM and it's been a looooong day....... so I'm not sure how coherent this will be.......    

1) Oil or other conditioner: This is used to return the oils lost due to wetting while tooling and/or after dying. This keeps the leather "alive" and/or supple. My general purpose conditioner is Lexol, but I also use EVOO, Neatsfoot, or dubbin - a mix of beeswax and tallow used by the old timers - a good commercial version of dubbin is Montana Pitchblend. Like everything I do/use it all depends on what I want the final product to be as to look and feel. Despite what the Sno-Seal site says all finished leather has oils added as part of the process.

2) Gum Trag: mainly used to smooth and burnish edges or the flesh side of the leather. It is a vegetable gum that helps "lock" the loose fibers together. The Amish folks at the no longer in business Mast Harness recommended it also as a top coat.

3) Bag Kote, Tan Kote, Harness Dressing, Neat Lac, etc.: These are all finish coats that help "seal" the leather - I mainly use them to prevent dye rub off or again to get a specific look. Each has it's own more or less specific look i.e satin, matte, glossy which can also be dependent on how it's applied.

IMO #1 - reconditioning - is always important. The other two are more dependent on the look you want and whether you use dye or what type of dye you use. I generally use a combination of all three to acquire the look I'm after depending on different factors including the customer's desires.

Getting the finished look I want is the "fun" part for me and can get fairly complicated in the sense I may: dye, remove dye, re-dye, add conditioner, remove dye and conditioner, add dye, let age in the sun, burnish, add dye or finish, remove dye or finish, etc. - you get the drift. For most pieces it takes several days to get the look/feel I want and my best work can take several weeks to get the "right" look/feel - a luxury I usually don't have unfortunately. That includes drying/aging time, etc. - Of course I'm not working on on it all that time, although some days I can put several hours into doing/re-doing a piece. In my case this is all done in order to get an aged look that looks like/imitates the real McCoy as much as possible - time can really help, but again it's not always feasible. Much of what I do as regards finishing is not an exact "science" - I have no routine way except in the most general way and I continue to develop/experiment so it's hard to define a specific how-to. Worst part is that sometimes I do things a certain way and everything comes out just right - then I either do the same exact things and don;t get the same result or more often I forget what I did exactly. 
On the other hand one can get a nice look , albeit a more as new look, with just doing the basics: if dyed - condition then add a top coat. If not dyed or using something like vinegaroon to stain, then just condition and add a top coat if desired. Don 101's recent Slim Jim in the Show Us thread is a good example of what I consider a great as new look.......

Hope this helps and any questions ask away........

[JD Alan]

Thanks very much for that great explaination Chuck, it's just what I was looking for. I'd never heard of bag coat, but I do have some Tan Kote. I have to say buying your DVD was the best investment I've made in leathercraft so far.

I've looked at every picture of your work on this forum, and your finishing is first rste, just as many others have commented on. I was really impressed by Don101's finish on that newe SlimJim, so thanks for weighing in on that one.

I appreciate you taking time so late (early?) in the day to answer this rookie's questions.

Thanks, God bless, JD   

[Dalton Masterson]

Chuck, you mentioned Sno Seal, do you use it for anything? I used to use it on my boots, but havent in a long time. Is it good?
DM