My leather desk is slowly getting a patina and I want to try to keep that nice surface unspoiled for as long as possible. I needed a protective layer on top for those time when I’m doing handiwork, and the blue self-healing cutting mats might work well, but I thought I could do a bit better.
I had some scraps of vegetable tanned leather left over and found one area I could cut into a rectangle and use as a work surface. I cut out the section, rounded the corners and cleaned the edges up a bit. This is a work mat, so I’m not going to sew or burnish the edges.
This leather is very dry and desperately needs some nourishment. I gave the topside two layers of B&E light leather oil and one thin layer on the back (rough-out) side.
After letting the oil soak in a while I applied a layer of B&E Beeswax Leather Balm and rubbed it into the leather, I then took a walk in the woods behind my place.
When I returned I gave it another good layer of wax. I used a hair dryer to melt the wax and let it penetrate into the leather, using the application cloth to really push it in.
With just a bit of work I now have a protective layer for my desk – hopefully I’ll use it when cutting things with a knife, or soldering, or doing other tasks that might mar the desktop.
I felt I should add one more image, showing the differences in colour in the same cut of leather depending upon how it was prepared. I didn’t use any dyes on either piece. The desk was treated with a couple of layers of beeswax (melted in with a hairdryer) and after that all it got was a coat of Fiebing’s leather balsam. The work mat was taken from a thick and less smooth portion of the same hide and got 2 coatings of light leather oil and then the same beeswax. This time I used a bit more wax and ironed it into the mat.
Comments are closed.