moose leather revisited

[Blacktail]

A month or so ago I posted a question on the suitability of moose leather for a pouch. Well, the stuff finally arrived...and....it's no good! I was disappointed to discover that the leather seems to have been split. It's all a uniform, overly thin, thickness. Worse, it's suede on both sides!

This stuff might be good for making a '70s pimp vest, but not a shooting bag. I'll just have to order some cow hide.  What weight cow leather do you fellows like to use? 

[Beaverman]

5/6 oz. works well for a dyed finished leather or an oil tanned, i dont work with veg tan for pouches so Im sure someone will pipe in here with that info, T.C. where are you?

[T.C.Albert]

Vegetable or "tooling" tan cow hide at a 3~4 oz. is what I use, but as Beaverman says a heavier leather will work, its just more of a wrestling job to stitch and turn if reverse stitched...Also, most of my dying and antiquing techniques are especially geared to the "vegetable" tan leathers...I dont think many of those techniques would work on commercial chrome tans...which is what I suspect your moose leather is.

Dont give up on the moose splits...depending on what color they have been dyed, which can also be altered, they would make a good Native American styled pouch. And the softer split leather would lend itself to very well to quill or bead work...Use a "whip stitch instead of saddle stitching for construction, and you can apply creamed mink oil to the out side of the pouch to give it a greased, slicker and more used antiqued look. Dont incorporate fine leather fringing with the thin split leather, as the fringe will tend to tear...and if you think the leather is really too thin, simply line it with a light weight trade wool or even early styled cotton print...I have always made use of commercial garment suedes as a substitute for higher grade smoked brain tans in a pinch, and you may be happily surprised with the results you can acheive with your moose leather...besides, at this point you dont have anything to lose except a bit of thread.

Id consider any N/A styled bag from the early open top version seen in the famous "Death of Wolfe" painting,and common in the 17th anb 18th centuries; to later Seminole or Great Lakes styled bandolier bags...
T.C.Albert
 

[Blacktail]

Thanks for the replies boys. My wife has claimed the leather for moccasin soles now, but I may think of something to use it for. A couple more questions: I assume veg. tan is historically authentic? Also, who do you buy veg tan from?

[Beaverman]

I use veg tan for sheaths, ball bags, canteens etc. I either go to my local Tandy, because I like to see what Im buying, plus I can buy at wholesale, or I  wait until March at the BP show in Monroe and buy a quantity from Oregon Leather Co. , i have ordered from them over the phone in the past and have never been disappointed.

[knappinman]

blacktail, veg tan is another word for bark tan leather.  it is tanned using the tannic acid from plant matter, hence the word veg tan, many kinds of bark and even some leaves can be used to veg tan, it has been available commonly in every major time period,and almost every place in the world, in the middle east where they dont have a lot of bark they use pommegranet skins to tan goat skins, In Europe they used oak and chesnut bark, here in Utah the early mormon settlers used sumac bark leaves and seeds, as long as there was a tanner there was veg tan leather.  the modern veg tan is only slightly different in that it is usually tanned using quebracho which is a bark powder imported from South America. I think most of it comes from Brazil and I think they farm the trees to limit the impact on the environment.  anyway  the only difference in the stuff in the old days and the stuff now is a little bit of natural coloring which doesnt matter if you are going to dye it.  I have heard some saddle makers swear that oak tanned leather is far superior to quebracho tanned but the logic doesnt follow its all tannic acid and it all tans the same as long as the amount of acid is the same.  when I did leather sales I could hand a very experienced leather worker a finished and dyed peice of quebracho and they couldnt tell the difference, cause imho there is none so go for the bargain leather, dont let anyone tell you you need oak tanned cause ya don't

there is more than you ever wanted to know about veg tan
jason