Recommended Source for Hermann Oak Tooling.

[Latigo Smith]

I just noticed that my preferred source for Hermann Oak sides, Maverick Leather Company, has recently raised their prices on the HO B Grade tooling sides from $268.99 to $299. This increased price plus their $19.99 shipping for sides makes the price more than I care to spend for B Grade sides. I looked at Springfield Leather Co., and they raised their prices on the B Grade recently too, but only by $10 per side, and I can add a side to an existing order without any increase in shipping cost. Do any of you recommend ordering Hermann Oak sides from Springfield Leather Co., and if so, do any of you recommend requesting that a particular customer service representative pick out good sides for me? Thank you for any guidance.

 

 

A secondary question; Do you guys find that it's worth spending the extra $35 to bump up to the A Grade? I've been pretty happy with B Grade, but I'm considering going for the A Grade if it'll give me a noticeable difference in the number of blemishes. 

[bruce johnson]

Have you looked at Panhandle Leather? That's another source and good feedback. 

Personally I have been dealing with Matt at Maverick for at least 25 years (before it was Maverick). They knew what I liked and I never had an issue with any side being misrepresented that I bought from them. If I said "I need clean" it was clean. If it was going to be fully stamped I told them and got a probably B. If I said I need the crappiest side of 8/9 you have to test splitter blades and tools - it was crappy or had some test pieces cut out of prime areas. There is something to be said for that kind of a relationship. Since I transitioned to leather tools, my wife started doing leather work. Her source? Maverick. Good people, fast shipping, and no surprises for her either. 

 

 

[JLSleather]

Order your leather FROM HERMANN OAK.  IF you don't need or don't want 10 sides, see if somebody in your area wants to split an order with you.  THE ONLY exception I've seen Hermann Oak leather appropriately graded was AT GOLIGER LEATHER.

SO MANY suppliers are passing off the bottom of the barrel as "A" or "B". 

Springfield actually had a video a couple years ago claiming that because "SPOTS" of a hide were free of blemishes, then it was 'B" in THAT SPOT (though the rest of the hide clearly was not).  I did get a couple sides from them I didn't return, but that was the exception with them.  I used to order a side from them here and there when I needed a weight I don't usually carry.  One side of 5/6 was so stretchy I could pull a 1 1/2" wide strap about 2" longer without wetting it.  Over and over, I'd call and order.  Then I'd get the leather, look at it, and call to complain about it.  HOW MANY times did I tell them I don't mind paying top dollar as long as I'm getting top leather.  But no avail - I returned more sides than I kept.  Only thing I can give them is they DID accept the returns, but it just became too much of a time suck sending packages back and forth.  Maybe if you're close enough to them to go there and PICK IT?

I ordered leather from Weaver ONCE.  Never again.  Either those folks DONT KNOW leather, or they knew they were sending me garbage and didn't care.

Me and another guy who used to come on here also tried American Leather Direct - another BUST.

Tandy Leather Factory (used to be the Leather Factory) sometimes has decent tooling leather, but I absolutely recommend picking out the hides yourself if you're in Des Moines Iowa or MInneapolis/Bloomington MN.  I see the Des Moines store has a new manager since I was down there.  Good call - that previous guy was... well, nevermind.
Or if you have somebody you can trust in another store.

[Randy Cornelius]

I agree with Bruce that Panhandle Leather always seem to have the best prices on HO. That being said they have also went up in price, a year ago I was paying 225.00 a side and if I remember correctly my last side was 245.00. But that still beats 299.00

[chuck123wapati]

I think they accept crappy leather from the tannerys and just don't do their diligence and send it back to them. Instead, they know they can sell it onlione, and if it's returned, they just sell it again to some other dummy online. If you order online, be prepared to get second best at best.

[Darren8306]

ya, same with ordering food from the ubereats or deliveroo. 

 

I have a source in Edmonton, called Buckskin Leather. Found the store in the 1990's in my neighbourhood, then found it again when I sought out a supplier of HO leather. The lady there listens carefully, and takes the time to understand what I'm asking. 

Being less experienced, I'm sure I couldn't tell between A, B and undergrades, but there isn't another source near me, so I guess I haven't compared it to much aside from Tandy's offerings.

[JDFred]

I’ve been pleased with Panhandle Leather.  I ordered 4 sides from them a 5/6, and a 8/9 oz Hermann Oak skirting, a Hermann Oak heavy harness side, and a Thoroughbred Latigo side. I was quite pleased with all of them.  I ordered over the phone and they asked what I was going to do with the leather so they could send something that would work for me.  They even followed up the next day as they were filling the order to make sure they were sending the correct leather. Their shipping was also fast, my order showed up about 2 days faster than I thought it would. As a side note as a company they donate to our county livestock show and our county fair, which I think is pretty nice of them since we live about 5 1/2 hrs away from them. Hope this helps and good luck on your search.