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AdrianS

A Potentially Strange Question

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Hi guys,

I bought my first "natural" vegetable tan leather. It's very pinkish and extremely solid - something I didn't expect (oh the troubles of purchasing online).

The leather I had in mind was more beige in colour, like a very white coffee. I also hoped for something a bit more pliable and with a softer hand. Quite a lot of the videos and work I've seen floating around online have leather with these two traits.

My questions are - well the obvious one is; where can I get this sort of leather from?

But the other thing I'm interested to know is what's the difference in the tanning process that makes natural vege tan vary as described?

Are there any certain attributes I can specify to a tannery which would help them to understand what I'm after?

Any help would be much appreciated!

- Adrian

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Different age of the steer or other animal affects the color. Where the animal grew up. On the range, feed lot, Europe, Australia, Brazil, etc.

Methods of tannery. If you have a Tandy close by, visit them and look at the leathers available. Now, I don't want to hear all the blather about Tandy from anyone. They are still the best place for folks just starting out. You can normally see many kinds of leather, feel, and drool.

You must remember that leather products you might see in person or on this forum have probably been finished with some product.

That might have been Neatsfoot Oil, Olive Oil, whatever. You will find a slight pink, tan, to brown even, in a hide. We are talking about a natural growing, animal. Just like humans they come in different colors and textures.

Your first endeavor needs to be in Google-ing everything you can imagine about leather, there is much to learn. After that you can think of buying some Al Stohlman books on projects you might like to try.

Just some food for thought.

ferg

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Aside from what Ferg stated, there will be differences in the "Grade" available from various tanneries. I pretty much exclusively use Hermann Oak and I've tried all grades they offer. 2 sides of HO I've purchased have been "Craftsman Grade", which equates to C grade. One of them had a really nice grain side (top), but the back was exceptionally stringy and fleshy. This one was lighter color as one tends to expect from natural veg-tanned hide. But, the 2nd one I purchased was more "pink", or russett, in color. This one was quite stiff and pretty dried out. Since then I've purchased nothing but B and A grade. The B grade usually has some stringy flesh in the belly region with a few more stretch marks and a few tannery marks in the field of the hide. The A grade is pretty clean and mostly usable all around. My point is that even within the same tannery, and also the same "grade", you can get many varying results.

My thoughts on your situation is that you bought cheap and ended up with a C grade hide, or possibly even an imported B grade. For reference of where to purchase, you can buy Wickett & Craig direct from the tannery - I don't because I haven't tried their product yet. You can buy Hermann Oak from several locations. Springfield Leather Company carries both B and C grade (craftsman grade) for a decent price - and they'll cut to size so you only get what you need. Sheridan Leather Outfitters and Goliger Leather are the two places I go for A grade. Both of these are also reasonably priced, but as far as I know you have to buy the whole side.

Do you mind if we ask where it was you purchased from? If you're not happy with the leather, it's possible that they'll let you return it for an exchange, but you'll likely be stuck with the return shipping.

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Thanks for the in-depth replies.

I actually took the safe option and bought off-cuts from eBay to get an idea what I was about to delve into. I didn't really intend to use the leather for any project, but to experiment with it and figure out how to manage the beast that vege tan is.

I've been in contact with Wickett & Craig because from browsing these forums, some people seem to be quite happy with it although most seem to be Hermann Oak type. I've told them what I'm after, but no proforma invoice yet - maybe all you leatherworkers are making their lead time longer!

Cyberthrasher, your experience with the grades is extremely helpful - thank you! The stuff I've got fits your C-grade description perfectly. Judging by price, I believe W&C's highest quality natural tooling hides are known as "standard" grade - can anyone confirm this?

Speaking of tooling hides, I'm after the natural, matte (not shiny) finish with a soft-hand, but I don't plan to do any "tooling". It's quite contradictory, but is there a way to treat the surface to prevent superficial damage whilst retaining the look and feel?

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I bought a box of veg tan scraps from eBay when I was first starting. I found it to be very poor quality; very stiff. The back was obviously very shaggy and someone had tried to gum it slick but whatever they used mmade it quite flinty. Blunted a stitching gouge. A lot of it is still sitting at the bottom of my scrap bin.

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