Super thick leather

[Vinces0583]

3 minutes ago, MikeRock said:

I mentioned the rawhide because I've made Indian shields up to 3/4" thick from Long Horn bulls and buffalo bull hump.  It just gets steamed to a soft state and shrinks in radially as it drys and thickens quite a lot.

You need a flexible hinge or something similar, so no joy with rawhide. 

Good luck.  The tannery folks might be on the lookout for old range bulls for you, we skinned some out that would probably have filled the bill.  They made good dog food!

Where the heck did you find leather that is 3/4" thick?  Do you have any scraps of it floating around that I might experiment with?  I'll happily pay for the material plus shipping.  Anything above 5/16 or so would probably work.  The thicker the better.  I plan on processing it to fit my needs once I get my mitts on it.

[MikeRock]

I told you, it was rawhide.  By wetting and steaming it swells.  Stake it to the ground over a fire that you buried in wet soil, steam is generated under it.  It shrinks in diameter and gets thicker as it dries.  Some museum Indian shields were over an inch thick.  That buffalo hump skin is damned thick to begin with.  I got the hides in Custer State Park during the butcher there.  The Mennonite butchers used air knives to skin the buffalo and thought what I was trying was cool.  I think it is talked about in Mystic Warriors of the Plains.......    I found more information at the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron, Nebraska.  I lived south of Keystone, where Mt. Rushmore is up on the hill.  I lived on the Iron Mountain road.....fun times. 

[Vinces0583]

6 minutes ago, MikeRock said:

I told you, it was rawhide.  By wetting and steaming it swells.  Stake it to the ground over a fire that you buried in wet soil, steam is generated under it.  It shrinks in diameter and gets thicker as it dries.  Some museum Indian shields were over an inch thick.  That buffalo hump skin is damned thick to begin with.  I got the hides in Custer State Park during the butcher there.  The Mennonite butchers used air knives to skin the buffalo and thought what I was trying was cool.  I think it is talked about in Mystic Warriors of the Plains.......    I found more information at the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron, Nebraska.  I lived south of Keystone, where Mt. Rushmore is up on the hill.  I lived on the Iron Mountain road.....fun times. 

So prior to steaming how thick was the rawhide?  And it was buffalo rawhide?  I'm assuming they skin the animal.....dry the hide naturally which makes it shrink and then steam it and make it puff back up?  Veryyyyyy interesting.  VERY interesting.  Do you have or know where I might find the exact material you started with?  I'd love to try a few things with that.  I live in Philadelphia so my access to such western skills is highly unlikely.

[Burkhardt]

If you need 20oz I would consider for instance at SLC they sell the splits from the hides they split. You could get a 12oz veg hide and get a 8oz split and glue them together and you'd hardly be able to tell. You can get a full side split for 30.00.  

[Vinces0583]

18 minutes ago, Burkhardt said:

If you need 20oz I would consider for instance at SLC they sell the splits from the hides they split. You could get a 12oz veg hide and get a 8oz split and glue them together and you'd hardly be able to tell. You can get a full side split for 30.00.  

SLC?  I've tried laminated pieces in the past.  Doesn't work for this application.  It's a very odd application to be honest.  If I can find the right material and get it to work it'll be patentable for me.

[Burkhardt]

1 minute ago, Vinces0583 said:

SLC?  I've tried laminated pieces in the past.  Doesn't work for this application.  It's a very odd application to be honest.  If I can find the right material and get it to work it'll be patentable for me.

Springfield Leather Com. You've tried using a split, don't know how it's any different than a if they made cows that thick. Unless you have glued split to split back before which I doubt you have.

[TomE]

You have 2 leather resources in PA.  Wickett and Craig of America, and Keystone Leather.  I would call them.  I previously mentioned Hermann Oak Leather Co, which is another well respected tannery in Saint Louis with good customer service.

[Vinces0583]

5 hours ago, TomE said:

You have 2 leather resources in PA.  Wickett and Craig of America, and Keystone Leather.  I would call them.  I previously mentioned Hermann Oak Leather Co, which is another well respected tannery in Saint Louis with good customer service.

Thank you for those resources.  They're roughly 4 hours away from where I live it seems.  I'll reach out to them and see what they say.  Thanks again.

[Vinces0583]

12 hours ago, Burkhardt said:

Springfield Leather Com. You've tried using a split, don't know how it's any different than a if they made cows that thick. Unless you have glued split to split back before which I doubt you have.

A question about the process that leads up to a ready-to-use material.......do the tanneries split the leather before it's tanned or after?  I'm thinking perhaps an unsplit hide would be the best IF they split the thing after it's tanned. Does anyone know the range of thicknesses cowhide is prior to splitting?  I see suede pieces that are in the medium ounce ranges.  So let's say the post-processed hide is 25 ounces do they split it to a piece of top grain that's 12.5 and a suede that's 12.5?

[chuck123wapati]

1 minute ago, Vinces0583 said:

A question about the process that leads up to a ready-to-use material.......do the tanneries split the leather before it's tanned or after?  I'm thinking perhaps an unsplit hide would be the best IF they split the thing after it's tanned. Does anyone know the range of thicknesses cowhide is prior to splitting?  I see suede pieces that are in the medium ounce ranges.  So let's say the post-processed hide is 25 ounces do they split it to a piece of top grain that's 12.5 and a suede that's 12.5?

you will be lucky if you can find one piece of 20 oz of any type let alone enough to make you a millionaire on your super secret patent. Animal hide is a natural product it only comes in certain thicknesses depending on the type of animal. But i wish you all the luck in the world