Leatherworkers! By Guitarman (Read 732 times)

[Guitarman]

Had an old set of throw over saddle bags given to me today.  I cleaned them up and treated one side with some super moisturizing lotion.  It looks pretty good actually, but they need to be resewn in some places and one side has a hole right in the corner.

I'm thinking about putting some sort of hard liner inside them because they are all warped out of shape.  What's the best way to fix the hole and re-shape them?  What would you use as a hard liner?  Wood?  I was thinking FRP or chop up some old heavy duty storage boxes made of thick plastic.


Warped out of shape with threads hanging loose.


Missing strap but no biggie.  I can get a cobbler to cut me a couple of new ones.


Yikes! Dig the corner! Pedro was really hungry.


Totally lost their shape.  Thinking of some kind of insert.

[hobbles]

Mornin Guitarman,
As for re-shaping them, you can soak them in water and fill them up with paper to the shape you like. Then let them dry. The hole you can use leather glue and a piece of leather glued on the inside to fix that. You can have a shoe repair shop fix it or you can go to a Tandy Leather and get all the parts you need to do it yourself. You can start with a hand sewer. They sell leather and buckles. I use saddle soap for leather and wood, works darn good.
My walkin stick. 1.   2.   3.

[cyborg]

Yes soak in water but no sun or heat,, cool air dry or they come out like a potato chip ,,, and looks to me like a couple of 3 gallon cat litter bottles would be about the right size for the liners

[hobbles]

"or they come out like a potato chip"
Yep,, that's where the saddle soap comes in handy. The finishing touch. Use a little bit of water with the saddle soap to make it like the soap you wash your hands with,, soapy. Use a LOT, let it dry a bit and then wipe it off..

[cyborg]

I use leather honey myself,,,, astounding results,,, altho it may make the bags a lttle too soft,,, but with a hard liner it may not matter

[jct842]

I washed my leather jacket in the washing machine. I used woolite and saddle soap, after it was dry it was as soft as it was new.