Do I "need" 1/4 laces or is 3/16 just fine?

Please share your knowledge on how to keep your vintage gloves in great shape and looking sharp.

Do I "need" 1/4 laces or is 3/16 just fine?

Postby dapert » August 20th, 2008, 11:35 am

I'm about to order some lace from Tanners to redo a few gloves I've got and maybe do a color change on a few others and I'm not sure if I need to get any 1/4" lace or not. They say it's for the top of cather's, firstbase, and larger gloves but I'm not doing any of those gloves. I'll be doing a few from 11-12".

I've read a few things from some of the more seasoned restorers here and some use the 1/4" for the webs and fingers of all their modern gloves.

I'm just not sure it's a must have for my situation so I wanted to consult those in the know before I order. A few of these will be gamers and a few just knock around gloves for playing catch. My son is only 13 so his gamer won't see the same intensity as it would in high school level ball.

I'm I ok with getting just the 3/16"?
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Postby yankees23 » August 20th, 2008, 1:01 pm

If you don't mind me asking where are you purchasing the Tanners laces? Can you buy in bulk?

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Postby dapert » August 20th, 2008, 1:38 pm

directly from Tanners...they wanted me to go through their Canadian Rawlings guy but he sent me back to them for my bulk laces.....I'm the equipment manager for our local little program here so they set up a dealer account for me since I'll be ordering some things besides bulk laces

Unless I've read incorrectly I think several other forum members have been able to set up dealer accounts with them because they are buying lace in bulk. Not sure if the fact that I'm in Canada is why I had to go through an extra step or two not but in the end it works out fine.

I've got some of the league issued cather's mitts that need work on so I can certainly put the bulk lace to good use.

I'm here on a business assignment for two more years but I figured since I was here I'd do the best I could to help the local program out. I lived in Arizona from '84-'06 so I'm used to a baseball environment and it's been a real shock to see the state of baseball in NW Calgary. I know hockey is king here but there are a bunch of kids that love baseball but the equipment and coaching available just isn't up to snuff.

There's really only one local sporting goods store to get quality gear and the parices are insanse...even with the "discount" they give to leagues. Their proces are almost twice suggested retail price.

All of our league issued catcher's mitts are cheapo Cooper gloves with plastic or vinyl liners. They are total junk. But I figured if I can at least clean them up and relace a few of them it's better than nothing.

Wow went off on a major tangent there. To answer your question yes you can buy in bulk from Tanners if you set up an account with them.
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Postby awarsoca » August 20th, 2008, 1:50 pm

for the 13yo, unless his leaguemates have discovered some crazy hormones, the 3/16th will be fine
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Postby rmiller » August 20th, 2008, 2:06 pm

Setting up a Tanners account shouldn't be a problem. And I would definitely recommend it if you plan on purchasing in bulk on a regular basis. You can download the catalog from their website, and they will email you the price list. I talk to Joy all the time over there- she’s great.

Triple C leather has great people to deal with also, and a very good, high quality product. They will send out samples as well- they have several options in thickness, width, and color. My understanding is that they custom cut the leather to customer specifications. Triple C actually has a bit better price on bulk than Tanners, and they come highly recommended from a few members of the forum.

Both are good, you can't go wrong with either.
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Postby wjr953 » August 20th, 2008, 3:03 pm

dapert,
Depending on the age of the glove, Tanner's 3/16" might just be too thick for what you're doing. Some mitts/gloves just can't accept laces that are too thick, it makes it very difficult to pull the laces through. This is especially true with catcher's mitts. In places where you have a double run of rawhide, you could encounter major problems with really thick laces. rmiller suggested Triple C as a source for laces, and I have to agree with him on that. This may be something for you to check into. I recently received a sample card from Triple C, and they have lots of options in colors and thicknesses. The advantage with Triple C is that they will cut the thickness of the laces to your specifications. Personally, I love Tanner's rawhide laces, they're the highest quality that I've ever used. Having said that though, I'm still going to purchase a supply from Triple C in the future to address that thickness problem. The other important thing to do is to be sure to prep both the glove/mitt that you're re-lacing and the new laces you're putting in. I use Vaseline Petroleum Jelly for this, and although it can be messy at times, it works great. The VPJ helps the new rawhide slide through the lacing holes better, thus preventing tear out of lacing holes. (Experience is a wonderful teacher, I learned this lesson the hard way! lol) Of all the gloves/mitts that I've ever worked on, catcher's mitts are by far the ones most in need of cleaning & conditioning. They're always getting dirty, which sucks the moisture right out of them. They're thrown in the bottom of the equipment bag with the rest of the gear piled on top of them, left to sit in some equipment shed or garage exposed to the elements. Nobody ever really notices how badly a catcher's mitt needs attention until a fastball goes blazing through the webbing at the worst possible time. That's just my two cents, hope this helps you.

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Postby dapert » August 20th, 2008, 3:47 pm

Thanks for the tips. I got in touch with Triple C last week as well and they are going to send me out the samples as well. You know I never even considered the thickness of the laces. I was only focused on the width.

Funny you mention catcher's mitts. While going through the league's equipment shed I found a Rawlings RCM50 Lance Parrish and a Wilson Tony Pena laying in the bottom of a trash can covered with broken shin pads. The gloves were so dry, dusty, and nasty they looked a pale yellow. I followed the tips I've read on this forum and they cleaned up nicely and look great. They both need lacing so I started my lacing career on them. The only lacing I had access to was Tandy 5/32 and it seemed to be an almost identical match for what was there already. They came out good and feel like new again. I guess I'll have to see how much thicker the Tanner's lace is because the Tandy laces went in with no problems but at the same time they didn't appear to be too small either if you know what I mean.
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Postby wbunnell » August 20th, 2008, 3:51 pm

I think you would be fine with Tanners 3/16" laces. Most gloves I run across use 3/16" and only occasionally 1/4".
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Postby rmiller » August 20th, 2008, 3:53 pm

you wouldn't happen to have some before and after pictures of those mitts you cleaned up and laced would you? Before and afters are a big hit around here- I know I'd love to see them! :)
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Postby wjr953 » August 20th, 2008, 4:18 pm

dapert,
I have always kept a supply of Tandy 5/32" natural and 1/8" chocolate on hand for vintage gloves. The only problem is that the last 6-12 months, Tandy's quality has seemed to be going downhill. The quality of the rawhide from spool to spool is extremely inconsistent. This is especially frustrating if you need a long run. All of a sudden, the lacing is thick and not very pliable, then it changes back to thin again and when you put any tension on it to tie a knot, the new lacing keeps breaking. In addition, the color quality varies quite a bit from spool to spool as well. I'm hoping that I can replace Tandy as a supplier and use Triple C instead. I have to say that I am very impressed with the quality and consistency of Tanner's stuff. When you finish a glove with Tanner's, it looks really good and it really complements the glove. Tanner's is real solid quality leather, it will hold up for a long time.
One of the local LL in my area sends me their busted out catcher's mitts every year before their season starts. Every year I tell them the same thing: If you give them back to me at the end of the season, I'll clean, condition, and make repairs to them before you put them into storage, so they'll be ready to go for the following season. They never do listen though. It's easier (and cheaper) for them to maintain the gloves if they let me take care of them before they're put away. The way that they do it is more work for me and ends up being a lot more expensive for them. Hey, it keeps me busy either way. I just hate seeing good quality gloves/mitts get neglected like that. I honestly don't know what's so hard about cleaning and conditioning a glove/mitt before you put it away for the season. It takes all of about 30 minutes per glove/mitt, and it extends it's useful life. What was it old Ben Franklin used to say, "an ounce of prevention....,"

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Postby dapert » August 20th, 2008, 4:26 pm

rmiller,

I took before pics but we just moved and I can't for the life of me find the memory card they were on. I intended to try to load them up on here since they popped my restoring cherry.

The search continues. It's got to be somewhere.
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Postby rmiller » August 20th, 2008, 4:44 pm

Usually I just have to say, "honey, where's the ...." and she knows right where "it" is. Car keys, wallet, my shoes, whatever! :lol: I can never find anything and it drives her crazy.

sounds good. I think I speak for everyone when I say we can't wait to see 'em!
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Postby dapert » August 21st, 2008, 2:06 pm

well last night I found the pics of the cather's mitts...they weren't on a memory card at all...they are actually on the camera's hard drive...I have to eBay a USB cable for the camera to get them on my PC. The one that came with it is a compiste cable so the pictures don't look good on the computer at all.
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Postby docglov » August 21st, 2008, 2:57 pm

we used nothing but 3/16 laces untill 1978 when the owners son's catchers mitt web broke at which time 1/4 was added the web and fingers of all our gloves. He was not very happy about the broken mitt and promised dire things would happen if it happened again, not much difference in the strength of the 2. But clearly his sicentific test was all that was needed for us to jump through the ole hoop. I can say that now that we are a public co, ha

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Postby Mike_2007 » August 21st, 2008, 4:21 pm

Doc -that is a great story on the 1/4 laces :o At least fatter laces look cooler 8)
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