I checked out the tutorial and noticed this:

"Once I'm happy the leather is pliable enough it's time for shaping. I used to use sand but found it a bit of a pain really and now use pearl barley. It's still traditional and much easier to remove from the item.

Packing the barley take a bit of time and the judicious use of a length of dowel to make sure it takes the shape you are after. It's a fair effort too, a guide being that if you push hard enough to break the dowel then that's too hard!"

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index...pic=3084&st=45

The barley sounds easier to use than sand.

To see the pics you need to sign in as a member (its free to be member). If you are at all interested in leather work and haven't checked this site out take a look, a lot of good stuff.