nstarleather

It's one of those "I know it sucks but we're doing the best we can!" situations. For a while during the pandemic our normal one week or less turn around time went to 3-5 weeks and we lost a "problem customer" because he insisted we get his order done one day earlier than I promised we could...and he got mad. In the end it's been the biggest blessing ever...the peace of not having to deal with him was so much better than any money he spent (and he was a $70K a year customer).

I've seen some quality drop in general...I think it's a combo of less workforce, supply chain issues and because of those to factors you get less quality "because they can"...I have an order in with one of the bigger USA tanneries for 5000 feet of one of their "Flagship leathers" and they've delivered 1500 feet since April 2020...they did have another 700 this year but I said to wait till they had more to ship. But, what am I gonna do? Nobody else makes it (one of those that people buy for the "name" as much as for the leather)...so I just wait patiently. So, they are really in the power position and if all the tanneries are working at full capacity (with huge waits), they can deliver lesser quality without worrying about complaints about quality or lead time.

So amazing to see two so similar posts…regardless it shows Tandy is selling some cheaper quality leather.

Hi Schick! Please post the picture here. I believe we already saw it: z9297at9x28a1.jpg.webp Everyone here will agree on the same the we said on Reddit. Chrome Tan is real leather and that is real leather but it's a low quality leather called a PU split. It's a cheap suede covered with Polyurethane. It's obvious from the back of the leather that it's not faux or bonded as those would have much more uniform backs. The fuzzy aspect assures me it's cheap suede covered in PU.

Yep that's the biggest red flag!

1st Email: Hello, I'm selling the rest of my printing due to ill health if interested leave a text so i can send the list of the items for sale thanks 2nd Email: yeah they are both leather and embroidery equipment these are the items i have to let go CS OSBORNE NO 86 $300 HF Osborne splitter $150 LARGE AND SMALL MALLET/CLICKER DIES $300 Used Tajima DC1215 $4700 SWF 4 Head $12000 OKI PRO8432WT Printer $2700 2014 Kornit Breeze $7000 AZON DTF DESKTOP $3600 Techsew SK-4 Leather Skiving Machine with Vacuum Suction $1700 Cobra Class 4 premium package $2000 clicker dies $900 I'm deeply sorry if i disturbed we once had a deal sometime ago before my email was down so i decided to check back in to know if you might be interested in one or two items ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So I had no need for any of this so it didn't go further. Here's my clues on both sides: 1: Not Scam: It's a list if pretty unique items, strange way to scam right? They're offering stuff that's kinda valueless unless you need the very specific item: Clicker and Mallet dies? Not worth much without more descriptions. He's also not offering at any "too good to be true" prices to start. So I'm seeing too much that would be very dumb if they were a scammer...He also didn't push back when I said I wasn't interested. 2: Possibly Scam: Price lowered but a huge amount when you asked. Bad grammar/writing. "Overly polite tone" which I see with lots of scams...like "Deeply sorry", etc. If I had to guess, I'd assume he's legit but always buyer beware.

When people are getting out of the game they will sometimes sell for whatever I can get. I've bought leather dirt cheap over the year from folks closing down or bigger companies discontinuing a production run. Always be careful but occasionally "too good to be true" can happen....I once purchased 600 feet of shell at $2.50 per foot lol! Now I wish deals like that came along more often! Sometimes a person with a business has to close and has nowhere to put the stuff so they'll sell dirt cheap. I keep an eye on equipment auctions and stuff sometimes gets sold at an incredibly low price. Based on the item and the price, the same dude sent me an email too (a couple months ago), he said he'd offered me an item or two before...I totally don't remember and I've lost my older emails but it's possible. Guy's initials JW? What is strange to me is that googling him isn't leading to any business I can see, sure lots of people aren't very into the web but it is strange. His wording and way of writing seems to be lacking...which is common for scams. Here's my suggestion to find out if it's a scam: Ask for a picture of the machine, then google search the image. If it pops up in other places, then there's no machine.

Instead of a new post, new offer: Horween DHF 3oz Espresso Color $3 per foot: DHF are a little “rough” when it comes to range marks and scars.

Then do what makes you happy! It's a no risk thing: if people want it fine! if they don't it's not like it's how you're feeding the family. I appreciate the discussion anyway because it's something we all have to think about.

I'm met zero people and one dog with any of those names...I've known a lot of Joel's (Prada is a cute puppy). Op asked about improving it and if his niece had a point...

Yeah just anything...and I not saying "no one" will understand it's a brand as but if his niece and a few of us on here think it could be confusion, then that's the advice I'm giving.

I guess that's my point, a name especially just your first name makes it look like a personalized wallet. No no one would think someone's name was North Star...if fact if a person's name was North Star, someone seeing that stamped might think it was a brand. I'm a factory, mostly private label so no I don't generally put my stamp on things. I don't say I never do but I'm producing hundreds of wallets for a company, they generally want their name on it...a few credit me as the manufacturer but it still gets their logo.

Back to the Future taught us the dangers of having a logo that's a name when no one knows your brand.

Maybe I'm in the minority but if the difference between your mark and a Fossil brand (and most others) is no waitress or cashier is going to see you open a wallet and say "Oh your name's Fossil"...whereas anyone who sees a wallet that has a somewhat common first name stamped on it is going to think someone just has a personalized wallet with the name Joel. IMO you need to go more stylized to make it clear it's your mark. I think the mark would be better if you actually had your last name or initial in a stylized way that makes it looks less like it looks when someone has me stamp a name on a wallet. Even adding a small "made in USA" below or just "USA" will make it clear that it's a brand/maker's mark... I like the simplicity of your logo but I do see what your niece saw but it's easily fixed with a small change or two. As far as maker's marks in general go, I think they're simply a point of pride and maybe a bit of exercise in ego...I've never owned an item where I was happier because it had a prominent brand. Some people argue for them as a way of promotion, but unless someone can quickly type a description of your mark into Google and have you pop up, then it's not promotion. This leaves you making a mark that's basically your entire business name if you actually want someone to see something you made and come to you. Just my two cents.

Awesome! Glad you liked it!

Hi Folks! In a boot deal I picked up I have some excess leathers I'm not currently using. Cognac Grizzly leather is a 6.5-7oz brown with a printed grain. It feels very waxy. The color is a dark brown/burgundy similar to Red Wing's Briar Oil slick. Temper is medium to firm. I have about 450 feet available $3 per foot. I also have just over 200 Feet of Raging Bull which is also 6.5oz but has a slightly softer leather and the color is more of a green-based brown. Also asking $3 a foot Will consider price if anyone is interested in all of it at once.

For sure...what I was alluding to is that fact that leather is split before tanning too...just to get it to a uniform thickness. Just like my skin is thicker on my elbow than my eyelid, in a cow you'll have parts that would naturally thicker if they didn't split for uniformity first.

I would guess you’re talking about “dry slitting” in that they are tanning at their highest “stock” thickness and reducing to order. If I understand correctly every tannery splits the raw hides first for uniformity as hide thickness would vary depending on each section of the hide. You can imagine how hard leather would be to work with if it wasn’t uniform in thickness.

I agree with most people here that 20oz isn't going to be a standard product for anyone... My feeling is that to produce this you'll need to contact a tannery a directly that gets hides in their raw state (not wet blue)... for Some reason Veg Tan tends to be thicker so I'd contact the big ones in the USA: Herman Oak and Wickett and Craig. You might also have success contacting European tanneries as, generally they keep animals longer before slaughter and therefor you might get thicker hides (just a guess). The next step after that would be to contact people that work with Exotics like Bison, Water Buffalo, Hippo or Elephant. Bison and water buffalo are both reasonably priced. Here in the USA Tasman, Law and Horween deal in Bison. I'm not sure where to start with Waterbuffalo.

Canoe Utica has sold. We still have Tan and Carolina Brown

In my experience, I don’t smell anything or have any burning at anything under 500, but obviously I’ve not done tests.

Yeah I got stuff I’d let go under $2 a foot or scrap by the pound if OP would like.

Distressed roughout have sold

I have a few hides of Horween Utica it's 4-5oz More info on the tannage here and here. It's a really nice feeling soft-tempered leather great for anything "baggy". I have one hide of Canoe and maybe a little more than 100 feet each tan and Carolina Brown. I also have a couple of heavy Distressed brown hides that I'm guessing were made to be used as roughout as the tannery stamp is on the grain side. Roughly 6-7oz also from Horween. I also have a couple hides of a natural colored Nubuck leather from Horween it's a little wrinkled. All at the low price of $3 per foot plus shipping from SC. Email: nstarleather@shtc.net Canoe Carolina Brown and Tan Tan Distressed brown Nubuck Nubuck

Hi Folks bought out a bootmaker and have some hides to sell all of these are usually $10+ per foot and I'm asking $5 per foot plus shipping (from SC). All of these hides are somewhat small so full sides only ( may have a few loose pieces of Kudu but not promises). All of these have a somewhat soft/medium temper. For some reason I don't have access to messages on the site so please email: nstarleather@shtc.net First Hides are CF Steads "Unicorn" tannage, but fear not, no mystical animals were killed in the making of this leather (hopefully). This tannage is a very soft tempered leather made with Scandinavian Moos or Elk (apparently which is a translation thing I have yet to figure out). More info on the leather here and here. The color is "Polo Brown" it gauge at 3-4oz (1.2mm-1.6mm) Next up is CF Stead Waxy Kudu (African Antelope). More info here: http://www.cfstead.com/antelope-elk-deer/waxed-kudu/ These hides have lots of character natural scratches and scars. Gauges at 4-5oz I have a few colors: Gaucho, Tumeric, Cloud (limited) and Spruce: Gaucho Tumeric Spruce Cloud: