tooled leather

[snowplow]

Hey guys, l planning on making my wife a nice tooled leather arm guard. For any of you who have used one, will the string slap ruin it? I'm wondering if l should plan a raised panel for the string to hit that's not tooled.

[Bud B.]

It would depend on the type of tooling, but it would eventually show signs of wear unless cared for properly. A good waxing from time to time would help. Not a soft wax, but a harder protective coating. Keep it slick. Paraffin wax type like a hard candle wax. But with everything with friction, wear will occur unless you stay on top of it each time it is used. It would take thousands of shots to make the tooling disappear totally with no care of the leather.

[reddogge]

That's known as "patina".

[Chad Orde]

I do allot of them and it's nothing to worry about.

[snowplow]

Sweet thanks guys