Does one of you know how to speed up the aging process of leather bags or saddles?
For my new Harley WLA project I bought some new repro leather items, they're nice but awfully new....
Any suggestions how to make them look old instantly?
Thanks....
Maarten
email (option): mr.bighealey@hotmail.com
Maarten I had a similar dilemma with my Indian. I never like the look of the new 'ORANGE' saddle bags so I acquired some old originals. But they were so tatty and broken I almost wouldn't use them, but I persevered and got them repaired by an excellent saddlery girl I know and have given them lashings of saddle oil over the years and I love them know.
On the other hand my saddle had a brand new natural colour skin fitted. It was a pale creamy colour which would probably have looked ok after about 20 years use
First I tried brown boot polish but it went orange, and oil didn't help. Then I bought some dark brown leather die off ebay and then it was "shit or bust" First I mixed a bit in some oil, then I wiped it over again neat, then more oil. See the result, it doesn't look out of place against my ancient bags.
I have another friend 'Stuart' who simply soaked his new 741 bags in old engine oil, but he really didn't care about having a 'Rat' look. So I would suggest 'Neatsfoot or something like this stuff I use and add some darkness to it as you go.....You can't put too much oil on them. Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
Thank you all for your tips...
Ron, that's a great result you have with the saddle...
email (option): mr.bighealey@hotmail.com
Fake patina?...Nearly as bad as an 'ex factory' rebuild...
...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
It is a strange paradox, you restore the vintage machine so it looks nearly new but then make the new leather bits look 70 years old?
Rob
email (option): robmiller11(a)yahoo.co.uk
Well for me it was just a case of making my saddle colour match that of my bags. Much the same as if I'd fitted a new painted part. The saddle still looks quite new.
I don't know if this orange colour you get with these US repro leather parts is correct, but I don't like it Fortunately as part of the British army we have a different set of standards...."If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't, paint it"
Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
Restore or 'patinate'..we're all faking it...But I can't help thinking false patina is faking it a bit more, as it's ultimately an attempt to deceive...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
Ian I think you know that am not one for patina, fake or otherwise, and have argued that point on several occasions. As I said the issue with my new saddle skin was simply the colour. I can't believe the original colour of the leather would have been cream and I just coloured mine to please myself and to what I think it might have looked like in 1942, without any attempt to make it look old. The saddle bags however were already old and I did my best to make them look the best I could. Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
this stuff will darken down leather a bit at a time, and feed and preserve it at the same time.
recommended to me years ago by an old time horseman.
I know it darkens down leather,'cos the leather stuff I used it on I did not want darkened
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ko-Cho-Line-Leather-Dressing-/142260441879?hash=item211f621317:g:Ns8AAOSwImRYjI-p
Hello,
for the leather items i use "SAPO"since years, and old uncle who work at "Forestier" saddelery say us it's maybe the better thing for the leather, maybe he is right ( or maybe he was paid to say that... )
http://www.equiphorse.com/graisse-a-cuir-%22sapo%22-a11838.html
very good stuff who not darken the leather as the oil,
and for the colour of a new creamy leather, who is never oiled, just use professional wood color ( the solvant version) it work very well, and with a small gun spray you could also darken a little more just the portions you want to make more fake patina...
Arnaud
email (option): leger-arnaud@wanadoo.fr
@Gert....I like your solution to my problem, especially the 9mm gun part...
email (option): mr.bighealey@hotmail.com
I know how to make a Harley look older. I found the perfect answer in the M.W.E.E. ledgers.
Apparently they liked this sidecar outfit so much that they torched it !
the results so far....
email (option): mr.bighealey@hotmail.com
Well Maarten I much prefer the brown look over the orange colour of the new items..... Would they really have been that orange colour originally
It makes me think that any Harley rider at the time would have been a potential target. Probably the enemy would even have had to wear sun glasses Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
That's why the 9mm bullet holes Gert suggested are a realistic modification...
email (option): mr.bighealey@hotmail.com
What a sales pitch...'Buy Westgate Gold Label Hide Food for you motorcycle panniers...Tested extensively on old bags'... ...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com