Oh, yes - very much correct on the "lighter" being color. I also forgot to mention "the nail" test...

Posted by Patterson from 63.104.29.46 on October 02, 2000 at 14:45:01:

In Reply to: Darkening the leather... posted by Patterson on October 02, 2000 at 14:02:09:

The New Zealand lamb is very thick. This helps a lot with the overall look and drape of the leather. Again, though, lambskin is not the most durable leather in the world. I submitted the samples I had to the "nail test".

I took the point of an 8# nail, and placing the leather on a work surface, pressed down hard and dragged the nail across. The winners? Horse was first, with goat a not too far distant second. The surfaces were scored, though not perceptibly broken. The pebbling of the goat hid more of the scoring, but I had to give the horse the win. These two leathers are tough! One thing to note on the goatskin? The sample I have from Fs has a tighter pebbling then other samples I’ve seen. That may be just the one sample I have, but that has been my biggest problem with goat. The horse, on the other hand has very similar grain as the lamb – tight and smooth.

The big losers hands-down were anything made from lamb. All samples shredded and ripped clean through. This stuff has "the look" but horse and goat have the substance.

Honorable mention? Well, deerskin did very well. The surface did break, but the skin remained in one piece. This stuff is very deep brown and has the look of lamb. It is pricey. VERY PRICEY! But it would be a nice choice and would age well. Also, the cowhide fared about as well as the deer in overall survival, but looked like hell.

Hope this helps!

Patterson

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: The New Zealand lamb is very thick.  This helps a lot with the overall look and drape of the leather.  Again, though, lambskin is not the most durable leather in the world.  I submitted the samples I had to the "nail test".

: I took the point of an 8# nail, and placing the leather on a work surface, pressed down hard and dragged the nail across.  The winners?  Horse was first, with goat a not too far distant second.  The surfaces were scored, though not perceptibly broken.  The pebbling of the goat hid more of the scoring, but I had to give the horse the win.  These two leathers are tough!  One thing to note on the goatskin?  The sample I have from Fs has a tighter pebbling then other samples I’ve seen.  That may be just the one sample I have, but that has been my biggest problem with goat.  The horse, on the other hand has very similar grain as the lamb – tight and smooth.

: The big losers hands-down were anything made from lamb.  All samples shredded and ripped clean through.  This stuff has "the look" but horse and goat have the substance.

: Honorable mention?  Well, deerskin did very well.  The surface did break, but the skin remained in one piece.  This stuff is very deep brown and has the look of lamb.  It is pricey.  VERY PRICEY!  But it would be a nice choice and would age well.  Also, the cowhide fared about as well as the deer in overall survival, but looked like hell.

: Hope this helps!

: Patterson

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