Thread: Searching quality leather

Originally Posted by Jaatinen1982

ordered from online store some leather and mentioned that it's need to be almost perfect. Well I got my package and it was all rubbish. There is only about 30-50% usable leather for strops. Now I have to send all back.

It is exceptional to use all, or even most, of the leather on a cowhide.

Take a whole side of cowhide for example (which is the leather used for most strops today and which is the source of latigo, english bridle, steer, etc).

The skirt bit which is near the belly usually gets thicker, softer, more fibrous and wrinkled/creased. In other words most of this skirt can be cut off and discarded,

There will be range marks like scratches and wounds from posts and wire, possible horn marks, marks from insect pests that burrow into the skin, branding iron marks, fat wrinkles, etc, etc. Areas that are prone to stretch and strain, like the shoulders, are often very lined.

In my experience approx 60% of the hide will produce good quality, fair faced leather that is suitable for strops. A small percentage will provide good quality strops with a bit more work, such as using a small skiving machine to remove thicker leather. The rest will provide some second quality strops and leather that is of no use.

So your 50% usable surface is quite good for a beginner.

The above deals with fair faced leather with the original skin surface.

In order to reduce waste, manufacturers remove the very top or skin layer by a process of milling, which produces a leather with very fine nap and silky suede like texture. A lot of small marks are removed during the milling, so you get more usable leather out of the hide. The finish is either fairly dry (like dovo) or oiled and waxed to produce bridle.

Even expensive leather like shell and kangaroo have marks. This is exacerbated with shell cordovan, which is oval. Obviously the round edges have to be cut away. With kangaroo you have to allow for the obstreporous nature of the savage little beasts and the scars they inflict on one another.

If you want to keep your outlay to minimum you only have one sensible choice - go see the product, feel it, and forget mail order.

Regards,
Neil