Leather question

elof_alv

elof_alv

Gold Member
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Mar 13, 2009
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Guys,

Is there a way to determine if leather was chrome or veg tanned? Aside from killing a knife, that is...

I got some kangaroo leather that I'm planning to use as a lining, but not so sure it's veg tanned as advertised. It's for somebody else's knife and I don't want to screw up.

Thanks.
 
One old timer trick I read about is to burn a small scrap. Supposedly if the ashes smear green-ish it's chrome tanned, if black it's probably veg tanned. Not sure how accurate that is though.

What makes you wonder?
 
I got it wet to mold around the handle, took quite a bit of trying to get it wet.
 
I got it off ebay because I could not find the one that I had before...
I did look for veg tanned.

How quickly would chrome tanned leather cause reaction on a blade?
 
Burn a scrap, no wondering, if its got a green tint to the ashes its chrome tanned.

All chrome tanning leaves a certain amount of the chromium salts in the leather, when it gets damp the salts are released.
 
Let us know what you find out!
 
leatherman said:
Burn a scrap, no wondering, if its got a green tint to the ashes its chrome tanned.

All chrome tanning leaves a certain amount of the chromium salts in the leather, when it gets damp the salts are released.
Click to expand...
Cool. I've used the test with good results, but didn't want to recommend it as a fact. Love getting some backup. ;)

Yes, please let us know what you find.
 
Came out black, so I'm gonna go ahead and glue it all up.

Thanks guys!
 
Good to hear! Better safe than sorry. :D
 
Wow! I bet that is one slicing machine! Congrats!

That reminds me, I need to get to some coating stripping. I have two that really want to be sharp but the coating is in the way. Last one I tried clogged up my stone with that mess.
 
I don't have an ASH yet, so far I've been working on 3 sheaths for them though.

I'd say that if you want to preserve the stone without stripping, just glue a piece of leather to a piece of timber and use that as a sanding block before hitting the stone. I've managed to fix a few rather rough convex edges using such contraption and even convexed 2 smaller blades with it.
 
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Good idea! Sand paper I've got! :D
 
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