Leather for wrapping handles

[kuraki]

I'm wondering if someone can tell me what weight/type of leather I should buy in order to do leather wrapped handles. There are two styles I would like to do. "solid" leather wraps whether the seams are stitched or skived and glued, possibly wrapped over cord or something else to give a surface profile like this:

And the more common lace wrapping like a flat cord wrap, whether it's just coiled or woven somehow.

I've purchased leather lace that's just too heavy, I've purchased 3oz leather that is tanned in a way that I can't get it to mold around an underlayment, I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction so I can stop the trial and error by wallet method.

 

[Horsewright]

For your wet molding you'll want veg tan leather. Most light weight leathers are chrome tan and won't wet mold worth a darn.

 

[kuraki]

For your wet molding you'll want veg tan leather. Most light weight leathers are chrome tan and won't wet mold worth a darn.

Right. That's the problem. Is my best solution going to be to split heavy veg tan myself (or find someone to split it for me?)

 

[Geoff Flato]

Some places will sell thin veg tan

I've got a bunch of 3oz Herman oak, but I have no idea where it came from. A proper leather company (ie not Tandy) would probably be able to help you.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

For the lace to wrap handles, check the Japanese sword/knife suppliers and look for leather ito.

I have used pigskin to cover handles. Other choices are lining leather or "glove" leather used for lining leather bags and garments.

When shaping any leather, a trick is to wet it with denatured alcohol instead of water. It dries faster. I've used it on leather other than veg-tanned and it will help form to the underlayers. The trick is to wrap everything tight and let dry for a good while before removing the wrap.

 

[kuraki]

Is pig skin tanned in the same ways at leather? Or, I guess what I'm wondering most is if there is a tanning process for pig skin that makes it more/less moldable?

 

[kuraki]

I did find some 2-3 oz veg tanned cowhide so I'll give that a try.