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Originally Posted by Ian
Yes, Philip does some excellent work. I'm hoping he will tell us more about the leather and where it came from. I suspect it is quite old and is recycled from something unrelated to weapons.
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Thanks, Ian. I like to use salvaged antique material whenever possible ,but often, it is not dimensionally compatible with the project (especially when applied to a curved slender object with a considerable expanse of material required between fittings. There are other issues as well -- fragility, and old crease lines on the salvaged stock that would be incongruous on the thing to be re-covered.
I used to e able to get some wonderful morocco-grained goat leather that was an excellent match for old shagreen as re texture, and it came in black and dark green which was perfect for virtually all Near Eastern and Chinese scabbard jobs. But the importer quit handling it. On this pulouar, I had some similar stuff that I got from a supplier that provides materials for restorers of vintage and antique cameras and optical equipment -- binocs, spyglasses, and their cases. It's thin and the surface is hard to the touch, like the originals. The downside is that it has virtually no "stretch" to it, unlike the goat I used to use previously, so forming it around a curved sheat can be tricky if you want to avoid wrinkles. But I have ways to address that and it "distresses" very well for a nice antique effect.