Leather for desk top

[Charles Castle]

Over Easter my wife and I want to restore an old desk my wife bought. The desk has a wooden insert in the top, covered with leather.
Does anyone know of a source in Melbourne for leather suitable for a desk top?
And does anyone know how that should be glued to the timber?

[underused]

Hi Charles,
Can't help you with where to purchase the Leather, but have a little info on how to glue it down.

Do you know whats under the leather? one of the best surfaces to stick it to is ply.
roughly cut the leather (oversize). mist spray the back with water, and roll it up. Let it sit for about 5-10 mins. While thats soaking the moisture, put on a mixture of 9parts white glue 1part water onto the ply (or whatever the bottom is). Use a roller to get it nice and even. Then brush on full strength white glue around the edge.
unroll the leather onto the top. Flatten the leather from the center outwards. use your palm,or a roller. Just make sure you get any trapped air out.
Crease around the edge, and cut it tight to the wooden insert. Use a razor knife (stanley knife).
Let it dry overnight. As the moisture from the mist spray and glue evaporates the leather will shrink tight to the desk bottom.
Cheers.

[Ashore]

Try your local saddlery horse type shop.

Rgds

[Buzza]

I've done a lot of leatherwork, and the task you are taking on is not the easiest. Leather supplies are hard come by these days. I haven't purchased any for twenty years or so, but when I rang a leather supplier in Adelaide, he told me that most leather has to come from Italy these days. A far cry from the Australia of yesteryear.

Is the leather that is already there chrome or vegetable tanned? The difference being, veg-tanned can be embossed, and chrome cannot. Chromed leather usually has any designs printed onto it. Veg tanned can be embossed. (Like western saddles etc

The thickness of the leather will be another issue, as most tables and desks I've seen have chromed leather that is quite thin, almost like a vinyl. Veg-tanned is fairly heavy, and needs to be skived to a thickness to suit the job, and this is done in a special machine. There are hand tools, but it will be a slow process. A hand skiver is a folded piece of metal that holds a razor type of blade.

As the other forumite mentioned, the leather has to be dampened and that process is known as casing the leather. Iused to make my embossing leather damp all over the top surface, and then store it in a plastic bag for four or five hours. To have perfectly straight edges after doing all of this will be nothing short of a miracle.

Gun holsters and such that I made, were embossed with a picture or design, and then stitched together. The gun was wrapped inside of a plastic bag and inserted into the dampened/cased holster. The holster was then wrapped fairly tightly with a bandage and left to dry out. The gun was then removed, taken out of it plastic bag, and of course, the gun and holster were and exact fit. The leather will then set quite hard and retain its shape. Use Dubbin to polish veg-tanned to a finish.

The original piece you have was probably cut with a press fitted with a blade that punched out the exact piece in one hit. They used hot glue in the leather products factories as well as woodworkers shops, and I think in both cases, that was Neatsfoot Glue.

The nasty version of course, is vinyl with a foam rubber underlay.

[Charles Castle]

Thanks for your help. I think it is chrome leather, but I can't be sure. There is no embossing or figuring of the leather. I may have to settle for vinyl, which will be cheaper and will be easier to use.

[bucket1]

I have found NSW Leather Co. in Collingwood to be very helpful.

[RufflyRustic]

Hi Charles,

Don't give up on Leather. While Buzza has raised some good points, I don't see why you can't try it.

Yes Vinyl is cheaper and easier, but it will never be as good as leather and you will know it everytime you look at the desk.

I'm sure you will be able to find the leather, and yes, it may take a bit of searching and waiting until you find the right piece, but I think your old desk is worth it. Sorry, this doesn't help with getting the desk finished over Easter.

To be honest, whether the leather is veg- or chromed- tan shouldn't matter as the leather isn't going to be embossed.

So Charles, go and find a few leather shops, saddlers etc, have a look at leather hides in the size and colour you want as well as thickness. Personally I wouldn't go for anything thicker than 2 mm.

Get some glue - I personally use Triton wood glue or weldbond with my leather work, one of those rollers for glueing and rolling wood veneer and have a go on a few test pieces first so you get the feel for it, and then put the leather onto your desk.

Go for it, I'm sure you'll find it easier than you are thinking now. If you'd like a few good sized pieces (15 x 15 cm) of the scrap green leather used for desk inserts to test with, pm me, I have stacks.

Cheers
Wendy

PS don't get me wrong Buzza's info is still very good and I learned some new tips from him, but it is more relevant to embossing leather which is, in my humble opinion, different to what Charles wants.

[tashammer]

Charles
Have you considered checking with somewhere such as Nicholas Dattner the builder of fine furniture in Collingwood(?) (if he is still in operation). Often such places have the necessary contacts. So, for example, there are several small but high quality furniture makers here in Launceston and those are whom i would start with.

[Iain]

Lefflers
66 York St South Melbourne VIC 3205
ph: 1800 337 006

They have absolutely everything leather, finished, thick, thin, stains tools etc etc, two floors of it, fabulous place.
Take a cut lunch as there is a lot to see, and the staff are really helpful
The car park is at the back of the place and I can' recall the name of the street but give them a call and they will tell you how to get there.