Super thick leather

[Vinces0583]

3 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

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

Not looking to become a millionaire. Simply trying to build a better mousetrap based upon an idea I had 20 some odd years ago. What I'm seeking is that animal hide that exceeds the average hide thickness.  Surely there's a "thickest" hide in the animal kingdom.  I know mouse hides are out of the question and T-Rex hides are scarce but surely there's a "thickest" between those two parameters.  But, thanks for the well-wishes.

[nstarleather]

2 hours ago, Vinces0583 said:

Not looking to become a millionaire. Simply trying to build a better mousetrap based upon an idea I had 20 some odd years ago. What I'm seeking is that animal hide that exceeds the average hide thickness.  Surely there's a "thickest" hide in the animal kingdom.  I know mouse hides are out of the question and T-Rex hides are scarce but surely there's a "thickest" between those two parameters.  But, thanks for the well-wishes.

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. 

 

[Vinces0583]

52 minutes ago, nstarleather said:

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. 

 

Fantastic leads.  Thanks very much.

[Burkhardt]

11 hours 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?

SLC has Herman Oaks old splitter so during busy times like currently they get the hides in full thickness and split to order. I have a hide now that I had split the lower belly area to 6oz and the rest is natural. 8-9oz up to 12-14oz in areas from shoulders to the butt.

[Vinces0583]

9 hours ago, Burkhardt said:

SLC has Herman Oaks old splitter so during busy times like currently they get the hides in full thickness and split to order. I have a hide now that I had split the lower belly area to 6oz and the rest is natural. 8-9oz up to 12-14oz in areas from shoulders to the butt.

That Sir, is very interesting.  I'll try to give them a call on Monday.  Thank you.

[Tugadude]

On 12/16/2022 at 10:46 PM, 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.

You say you've used laminated pieces, but how were they laminated?  If I took two pieces of 10 oz. veg tan that had unfinished flesh sides and glued them together with a quality contact adhesive I would defy anyone to tear them apart without literally destroying the leather.  If you laminate by gluing a finished back to a smooth outer layer of leather with a so-so glue, then maybe you might be able to separate them.  

Even you indicated that others have tried laminated leather with mixed results... "I  have considered most options including laminated pieces but believe it or not that's already being tried by many others with mixed degrees of success. "

Also, is there a reason it HAS to be leather?  Surely there is another material out there that might substitute, and maybe even do a better job?

[jcuk]

You might want to take a look at sole leather i know of some companies this side of the pond that will get near 20 oz leather but they won't be cheap so take a look your side of the pond.

Hope this helps

JCUK

 

[nstarleather]

10 hours ago, Burkhardt said:

SLC has Herman Oaks old splitter so during busy times like currently they get the hides in full thickness and split to order. I have a hide now that I had split the lower belly area to 6oz and the rest is natural. 8-9oz up to 12-14oz in areas from shoulders to the butt.

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.

[billybopp]

2 minutes ago, nstarleather said:

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.

W&C will split to your requested thickness, and offers pasting the back if you wish as well.  Unfortunately, the will not cut a full hide and split parts to different thickness anymore.  They used to do that.

- Bill

[nstarleather]

2 hours ago, billybopp said:

W&C will split to your requested thickness, and offers pasting the back if you wish as well.  Unfortunately, the will not cut a full hide and split parts to different thickness anymore.  They used to do that.

- Bill

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.