by 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.
br