Paddywhompus

What's this 'cut rate'? The thickness? What would improper use of skinning knives cause? Thinner areas in the leather? I've noticed holes, scratches, etc are marked in the pictures by the seller to inform buyers. Unless you need an entire side and a lot of sq ft. It seems like a viable buy if you're capable of working around bad spots. Of course, mine is going to be for tool pouches, so small imperfections that show on the surface won't bother me if they don't interfere with the integrity of the leather and its ability to perform its function, which is hold my tools. Although I have decided to go with 6/7, maybe even 5/6oz leather for my pouches, not too much weight but thick enough to ensure my tin snips don't punch through over a few months of dropping it in there.

Of course it all depends on the seller, but there's ones with 300,000+ good reviews that sell leather that claims to average say... 22-25 sq ft. yet some I find, Bridle and Latigo for instance are oddly priced 100$ or 150$ for the particular side. Obviously with so many good reviews and high rating they're not selling garbage, but I wonder what exactly the drawback is to such a low price for all types of thicknesses and leather tans? Odd color chosen? They all show marks, scratches and whatnot, but it still doesn't really explain the such cheap price. I currently reside close enough where SLC is a short drive and I can hold and touch all the leather to see what I get. No offense to them but their leather store is like a mad house, everything seems so scattered. Tandy recently opened up a joint nearby however they seem to think their stuff is the 'bees knees' with price, although it is laid out well. Just strikes me as a slight odd Latigo and Bridle, sold at 20+ sq ft, for way under the price. How and why? Seems too good to be true but... with all the reviews, what would you think? Reason I'm inquiring is because I intend to buy some Latigo soon to finish a tool pouch set I've been crafting for work. I've been using Vege tan for most of it, but to flip the pouches I need something far more supple, so I'm wanting to see how good of a deal I can truly get on my work. Thanks!

I personally find Neatsfoot Oil and bees wax or "Sno-Seal" to be efficient in applying a nice dark color and giving the leather much suppleness. I choose those because they are natural oils and waxes with no added artificial 'magic in a can' crap. I typically do 2-3 passes on my projects with the oil, then finally stuff them with bees wax and put them under a heat lamp to absorb the wax. I am a sheet metal roofer, so I deal with hot, cold, rain, snow, chemicals, and rough abrasions from asphalt. I also crafted my own drill holster, leather tool belt, suspenders and a heavy duty tool bag for work using those methods. The tool bag is semi new but the rest is pretty old and still holds up strong as ever. I unfortunately made my straps out of regular vegetable tan (I had no idea what I was doing and was just doing research, not asking questions) leather, they have stretched some unfortunately, although they hold 50+ lbs for 8 hours, but given my experience with their performance in my kind of environment, the neats/wax combo gives the leather the level of supple you want. As for with use, that happens too. The leather has gotten far more supple with use on the field beyond my oiling, that happens naturally, but very slowly, the neats/wax oil combo kinda speeds up that process. Hope that rant helps, happy crafting!

I may be cutting it too short, I use a pair of lineman pliers, Kobalt brand, and I lay it flat with the rivet to cut the shank off, so it may be cutting it too close, like maybe an 1/8th. Unfortunately all my sample rivets are at work with my bag. I use setters I bought from SLC and then tap it down with a regular 16oz claw hammer. I don't have a ball peen, I have it on my 'later' list. Also, if I did leave a little more 'meat' on the shank that may solve my issue, I never really thought about the amount left on, some of them felt loose because I feel like I didn't get the washer down tight enough and left too much. Some of them wouldn't work out because I was trying to put them on as 'last minute' touches. I think the best way would be a flat surface. I just noticed that sometimes even flat it happens. Might just be something I need more practice at. I am still new, this was my 4th project.

I've tried several things, slowly tapping the washer on or trying to fasten it securely but I have found some don't want to stick, they go normally but end up being pushed up whenever I cut the tip and try to flatten it, resulting in odd shaped tops. Can someone explain this? Is it like screws and nails in a box? A random some will not work quite right? Or am I doing something wrong? I have the proper setters and use a poly and regular hammer to shape them. My latest project was this tool bag I made for work, it turned out great and holds everything. I just wish some of the rivets looked a little nicer.

I would think it would be due to the depth of color, evenness of it. How smooth it feels and how much easier it is to work with over harness.

In a way, it doesn't answer the question of --- is bridle leather that supple or do they oil it/water it to allow them to do that? I don't know if they water it because it would leave impressions on the leather, which their leather does not have any. It's a real head scratcher, but I am very curious to figure out how it's done.

http://www.occidentalleather.com/videos.php That's their company site and the first video demonstrates how they make them, you can see around 2:00 they make them inside out via sewing machine. Then around 2:55 you see the guy flipping it on a pole inside out. That's what I'm wondering, how they're taking such thick constructed leather and doing that. If you look at the photos of the pouch you see the seams where it's sewn are thicker than the hem. EDIT: Plus a few guys I work with own Occidentals, and they are sewn all the way down the seam, so they have to be flipped.

Well in my previous attempts I was able to get it to flip but it was very hard and ended up crinkling the leather. I'd like to be able to keep the face as smooth as possible without it crinkling on me. Now another question I have is their pouches are very supple, it's very bendy. Do you think there is a particular type of bridle leather that's milled or something they're using? It was mentioned to try milled veg tanned leather but the lady said it would also be very difficult to flip inside out. I'm just getting some mixed answers and I've seen the video of them making their pouches and they flip them very easily, so I know it can be done. I just need to find the right combination? I'm cornfused because they claim bridle leather can be as stiff as veg but I read all over bridle is supposed to be way more supple than veg is and can be because of the bridle tanning process. That confuses me too. EDIT: The lowest I want to go is 6/7oz because I feel it has the thickness that will be suitable for my work. I've already made a drill holster for myself for work, a leather tool belt and suspenders with a cell phone case. They've all held up really well through all kinds of weather, so I feel like veg tan leather can hold up just as well as bridle. Although I have yet to make anything out of bridle leather because I can only find full sides and not just pieces.

Can someone tell me how exactly they take bridle leather that's 8/9oz (they claim in a video) and flip it like that? This pouch http://www.occidentaltoolpouch.com/Occidental-Leather-5017DB-3-Pouch-ProTool-Bag-5017DB.htm is made out of 8/9oz bridle leather. I went to the leather shop and they say that bridle leather can be as stiff as veg tanned leather but will hold less water making it less supple. I don't understand how they can make it flip inside out at that thickness. I'm still slightly new to leather so can someone help me understand this or provide some insight? Thanks. I'm building a tool pouch for work much like that one, but more specific to my tools and occupation.

This is my first project with leather, I've made a few things before, just a belt and suspenders for work, and now I'm working on the pouches and I'm having trouble turning them inside out. I've heard of wetting them but I'm reluctant to do this. I feel like it could be bad for the long-term wear of the leather, I may be wrong. I've also beeswaxed it and oiled it with pure neatsfoot, about 5-6 coats of oil and 1 of wax. In spite of this, it's not supple enough and the edges still feel stiff. I've watched videos on a company that makes them and it looked pretty easy when he did it, but I'm unsure of how oiled it was, because trying the same method, it just doesn't work out at all, and I don't want to crack or cause ripples in this leather too. I've tried before on a pouch but the measurements were wrong and it didn't come out as I wanted, and in my attempt to turn it inside out, it's now supple enough but it's also got ripples all over it. I want it to be 7/8oz because it's what most leather tool pouches are made from in thickness, and it needs to be pretty resistant to cuts and hard abrasive areas. It's going to be dealing with extreme heat and cold, rain, including caulking and other chemicals. So I want the leather to stand up to that sort of punishment. However for my screw pouches I want to use something a little thinner, maybe 4/5oz or a little thinner depending. If there's anymore questions I can try and answer, ask away. Surely there's a simpler way that doesn't require so much time and effort.