BrianEugene

This Brooks B72 came into my hands for the right price (free), and I'd like to rehab it. It is seriously dried out: cracked all over and looks like aligator skin. But, none of the cracks go all the way through, and the rivets are in fine condition.

I've searched the forums, but couldn't find anything about a Brooks this far gone. The posts I could fine talked about putting neatsfoot oil or proofide on the bottom. I'm skeptical that would be enough and simultaneously worried about overdoing it.

Any advice is welcome. Before and after pictures would be awesome.

And while we're at it, is there a way to date Brooks's?

ColonelJLloyd 

That's a wall hanger, man. Sorry.

The original B72 from my Sports wasn't nearly as dried as this one but had started to tear around the rivets on the nose. I put a lot of Proofide on it over the course of a few weeks. It soaked it all up and was plenty comfy, but I replaced it with a VO model 8 because I could tell it was only a matter of time before the tears became worse. It looks cool on a bookshelf in the dining room now.

4Rings6Stars

Many will say no way, toss it but not me.

I had a similar condition saddle (I believe it was an Ideale but it was so far gone I couldn't read the stamp) that I brought back. It will never be perfect, but as long as those cracks don't go deep and the leather is not brittle you have a chance. No guarantees it will ever be usable but what have you got to lose?

I sanded/filed mine smooth and applied lots of mink oil then proofide. I stupidly didn't take any before shots but here is an after:

slowandsteady

Find a local saddle(horse that is) maker. They can do some pretty amazing restorations.

BrianEugene

My thoughts exactly, I've got nothing to lose other than leather conditioner. Also, I don't think the pictures adequately capture how little used it is. It's dry, certainly, but it looks like it might not have ever been broken in in the first place.

Sanding first. I hadn't thought about that idea. Could you define "lots"? Is it possible to overdo it? Did you go for top, bottom, or full soak? Am I opening up too large a can of worms if I ask what the advantages to mink oil vs. neatsfoot oil vs. proofide vs. et. al.?

It is actually the bookshelf in my dining room right now...haha. I dont' think my girlfriend appreciates it as a piece of art like I do.

Ex Pres 

Flame time:

From a CR discussion a while back: SOAK IN A BUCKET OF WATER for a few days.
Then let dry - stuff with newspaper to retain shape - and apply protectant of your choice.

BrianEugene

I had this idea myself, but didn't know whether or not it would work. BTW, I plan to let all the suggestions roll in before I act. And I'll post "after" pictures when it happens.

lotek 

soaking in water is great if it's misshapen. (I can't see photo's from work)
if it's only dried and cracked the sanding and treating solution works for that.
I'd avoid neatsfoot oil since it tends to soften the leather. I'd heat the saddle
with a blow dryer, apply Proofide (or similar) and let it soak in, repeat as needed.

Check the CR list archives I'm pretty sure there's a post or two on the subject.

ColonelJLloyd 

If you're going to heat it, I would suggest an oven (if yours has a very low setting) over a blow dryer.

Andrew F

Cool I didn't know that Brooks made a B72GS (Gator Skin)

+1 sand and proofhide, may work.

CV-6 

I revived one not quite so far gone using Gloveoleum....baseball glove oil. Applied to the saddle, then wet a paper shop towel (not soaking, wet and wrung out) with it and wrapped saddle. Placed it in a plastic bag and sealed it. Let it go a couple of days and repeated. After the third app, I stopped applying it to the saddle and just replaced the paper shop towel with another that had been "treated". Kept doing it until it seemed like saddle stopped accepting more oil. Wiped it off thoroughly and then wrapped it in dry paper shop towel to get rid of excess. Note I wrapped only the finished part, not the underside. Result was a very rideable, if not real pretty, saddle.

That one...well good luck.

rhm

I don't know about all this.

The idea behind sanding it is to remove all the cracks. That's fine, but I'm not sure how much will be left. I'm not really sure it's necessary, though.

Saturating the fibers with some kind of oil is definitely a good idea. But if you're going to sand it, sand it dry.

Best case scenario, you can get the leather soft enough to not to tear/crack all the way through when you ride. I don't think you want to make it support your whole weight. So I'd cut a piece of a fairly hard foam, to the approximate shape of the inner surface of the leather, and squeeze it under the leather. It should put no pressure on the leather except when you sit on it.

Good luck! It'll be interesting to see how good you can get it... and how long it lasts. I'm guessing you can get it good enough for a bike you don't ride much. I doubt that saddle will last more than a couple hundred miles no matter what magic you can work on it.

IknowURider

Take the mounting hardware off, scrape the rust off that, and save. Give the saddle a proper burial. I would not put it in the oven. I tried that once on an old B-17, It shrank. I just think it's too far gone, I could be wrong though.

531phile 

Thanks for reminding me to put proofide on my Brooks!

noglider 

And if you don't get the outer surface perfectly smooth and pretty, you can cover it with a stretchy seat cover, made of nylon/lycra. Niagara sells them for $2.87. You still get all the advantages of the Brooks saddle except it won't look like one.

gaucho777 

Nice salvage job. Do you recall what type/grit sandpaper you used?

sekaijin

Here is the advice I got from another BF C&V member (sorry, I forget who) for a saddle I restored:

"Wrap for 1/2 day in a damp towel. Then, let it dry for about an hour without the towel until it is moist like a fresh piece of Wonderbread. Then, generously cover it on both sides with mink oil and put a plastic bag over it overnight. Keep it in a warm place to heat the oil - put by a heating vent, in the sunshine or use a hair dryer. Repeated the next night, and then buff."

Results were good, but my saddle was nowhere near as far gone as yours. Good luck! I would try to save it too, how can you not when a saddle has that much character.

Thumpic

sanding?? why would you want to lose any leather?? I would try the various soaking methods and see how much the cracks shrank before I removed any thickness.

nlerner

I say try Ko-cho-line:



Neal

RobbieTunes

Initiallly, I thought...."why?" But it's none of my business.

Secondly, I thought....sand it while it's dry, then hydrate/oilate/permeate that leather with something good for it.

Fix the hide, remove the rust, then dye and treat. It may give you years of service, maybe a few rides and "boingo," but it would be fun.

Tertiarily, I think it's a worthwhile project, even if it fails. You'll then know a limit. I think a cobbler would take a crack at it if you convinced him/her you didn't have expectations.

I'm trying to use big words since JohnDThompson's "innominate" on the unique bike thread.
It makes me feel less inferior, even if they're not real words.

Plus, they were out of Yuengling, so I'm making do with Heiney....

4Rings6Stars

With my saddle (which looked a lot like this one), the cracks were at least 1mm deep so simply softening the leather would have still left me with a very rough and bumpy surface. The saddle is 5mm thick and very sturdy so losing a little leather didn't hurt the strength (noticeably) of mine.

Gaucho - I used pretty fine sand paper and only took off a little at a time then I would run my hands over it and take off a little more until it was smooth. Sorry I don't remember the grit but I'm guessing around 400, maybe finer.

ColonelJLloyd 

That's what I'm saying. That's about how long it takes to break in a new one (although the B67 is a better and less expensive replacement for most purposes).

Mike Mills

Gloveoleum is mostly neat's foot oil. If you get too much on your saddle will DIE! I hate neat's foot oil. I cannot remember how many times I've tried it and ruined the item.

MACAQUE

i had a brooks that was in just as bad shape as yours... i figured it was so deteriorated, i can either trash it or experiment with it at least...

it was a prime candidate to try the sanding and shellacking technique mentioned elsewhere in C & V...

i sanded it down slowly with 600 grit sandpaper, and just tried to smooth all the bigger cracks down. then i applied 5 layers of shellac (over the course of a couple of weeks), and it turned out great!

sorry, the shutter on my nikon went out, but i will post/PM you pics when i get a camera on hand.

Ragooch

Try the bucket of water and saddle soap. Filling it with lots of oil will make it look like a saddle again but it will most likely tear in half after a few rides. All that oil makes them rancid.