Question on quality between cuts

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

Can someone explain to me why a back (double bend) would cost more than a side of the same tannery and grade? 

A quick search on Google states the back cut is a more consistent piece with less waste like the belt section of a side. Then proceeds to magically repeat that statement in a couple different ways. 

The bend is cut out of a side, so why would a side be less expensive or lower quality if they're graded the same? 

[chuck123wapati]

That's really the reason. They aren't lying. It's a better quality piece of leather than a whole side. A double bend is cut out of both sides, not just one, and is approximately the same size as a side; it takes more work to produce and is the best piece of the whole hide with much less waste. A guy can envision chicken at the store. Whole chickens are cheaper than boned breasts or any cuts for the same reasons. So an  A-grade belly or shoulder just isn't as good a cut as an A-grade bend; no one wants them, basically, so they won't sell at the same price.

Edited Monday at 12:40 PM by chuck123wapati

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

Chuck

I honestly thought the back cut was only one side not both. So that totally makes sense. I should have known, but this new distributor I'm using doesn't have great explanations on the site and it was too late to call when the question popped into my head. I can always count on the knowledge here. 

Thank you

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

Chuck,

I would love to meet you sometime. You are always one of the first to respond and you have a lot of useful knowledge. Thanks for being a great member here. I'm done sucking up lol

So here's what I found on what this company is calling a back. It's not the double bend like you had mentioned. My mistake is asking Google, which is only as smart ad a toddler sometimes. When I asked the question, Google stated that the back cut is also known as a double bend. 

In this diagram the company sent me with a bunch of samples, it shows the back section as B/D or C/E. This is where my confusion in pricing comes in. It's just a trimmed side, no belly, no neck (head.) So I'm trying to understand why I would pay more for less at this point. Sure the belly is a source of wasted material, but there's still usable leather. I get the double bend being more of a premium, since hind quarters are usually the better sections of a side. Which is what i originally thought until... Google lol. 

[JLSleather]

I generally buy BACKS,  because I aint much use fer tha belly leather. If you can use it, fine. But more than once I offered ON  HERE to let people HAVE the bellies just for the shipping cost, and never had any interest.  Just too stretchy for items needing strength, and too spongey for carving intricate designs.
Still, backs work out for us because we can make the belt out of the back and the holster from the shoulder, and they'll take dye and come out the same shade and texture, so the shoulder is useful.  And SOMETIMES I see a decent deal, somebody selling "double shoulders" (B+C) and that can make some nice items.  Single shoulders I take with the backs, but I wouldn't buy them, as there's too much wrinkle and sponge in the outer edges - not very efficient cutting.
Double bends are THE cut for a belt maker, perhaps, or others needing rectangular shapes of firm leather.  And Chucks analogy about the chicken is spot on.  Porterhouse is delicious, long as you understand that half the weight you're buying is BONE...

[JLSleather]

First pic is a "full side".  Removing the belly gives you a "back", which is a bend plus the single shoulder.  You can see from the last pic, the belly isn't worth SO much (I understand the saddle boys n girls find places to make use of it, though).  And that's from a GOOD side of leather .. lower grades will look even worse as a rule.
This isn't "new info".. Chuck covered this mostly.  I just thought it might make more sense seeing the actual piece of leather versus a graph...

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

Ya, I figured as much. As I mentioned, I googled the question only to get an answer from AI with the IQ of a 3rd grade student. I gess the extra cost is the cutting and consistency of the back vs the side. It's really a minimal difference in cost, but it got me thinking why? 

I always knew the bend was the premium cut. This is just the first time I've seen a bend and side of the same specs listed together as choices. I'm have only used Hermann oak strap or holster sides since starting my business. I have used other tanneries before but it's hard to beat how easy and smooth a swivel knife cuts and tooling HO is like butter. It's a dream to work with. 

I'm trying to find more affordable sources of high quality leather, especially since the last 4 or 5 sides I got from weaver were not the quality that HO is known for, and it's been very inconsistent since covid got is peak. I dunno if it's just Weaver because I also order HO from Montana leather when I need to get some bison or some of they're pitch blend oil (better than neatsfoot by ten fold) and had the same inconsistent results. I can't get enough capital at one time to order straight from HO because of their minimums. I'm a small time single person shop that's working on one or two orders at a time. Sometimes i dedicate my whole shop on one order that might take me two to the weeks to get finished. 100sq ft of madness when I'm pumping out 5 holsters a week during my busiest times. 50% or more of my work is one off custom. Maybe not the holsters but the artwork. The one off artwork patterns I come up with are either saved as a memory for me or handed over to the client if they want it.

I'm trying out a double shoulder of chahin that ALD had on special for $90 in grade 1. If it's a good as the weaver select (which is also chahin) I think it'll work out. They hooked me up aug a decent size and clean looking piece. Just over 21ft and I only saw one small area of concern when i checked it in.

Edited Wednesday at 04:02 AM by DoubleKCustomLeathercraft

[Digit]

A tannery takes full hides and produces full hides. When selling leather, intermediaries (or possibly the tannery themselves) cut those hides into manageable parts for different audiences.
Upholsterers typically need large surfaces and buy whole hides. They use as much as they can and maybe try to sell off the waste (sometimes very irregular cuts) as scrap for a price per weight unit. I have an upholsterer nearby and they sell small scraps per bag, medium scraps per kilo and larger pieces per sqm.
A business making only high-end bags, purses and other small items might pay a premium for a (double) back or (double) butt, which can be cheaper than buying a full hide or side and having to scrap necks and bellies.
Made-to-order businesses receiving a request for an item in a fancy (drum-dyed) color might do the same by buying a specific cut that matches the surface of their project; again to limit waste.

Resellers on the other hand will differentiate their prices according to what they can sell. They buy whole hides and need to recoup those costs plus earn their living. Selling a whole hide is the easiest and cheapest option for them.
If they sell a side, they'll charge a premium because they are left with a side in their stock (which still contains a good quality half-back).
If they need to make a more specific cut, such as cutting out the best bits (back/butt, double back/butt), they are left with more lower quality bits in their stock for which there is likely a smaller customer base; so they charge a larger premium for being left with hard-to-sell parts.

If I were a reseller I'd probably make sure that a double back cut of a hide at least covers the cost of the full hide.

[DoubleKCustomLeathercraft]

Digit

First I gotta say, I primarily work with nothing but natural veg tan with an occasional order for bison. Sometimes exotic leathers like snapping turtle and ostrich which are irrelevant to my inquiry. 

That completely makes sense. I know some suppliers that I deal with definitely cut some of the hides themselves and piece it out as you mentioned. I just started working with ALD (american leather direct) which is the main source for Chahin leather here in the states, and they definitely do just that offering several sizes and shapes.

I appreciate the response. It was something I didn't really consider. I still have a lot to learn lol

[chuck123wapati]

On 2/16/2026 at 7:23 PM, DoubleKCustomLeathercraft said:

Chuck,

I would love to meet you sometime.

I appreciate your kind words. That would be awesome, no doubt. I would love to make it up north again one of these days. Maybe if I played the lotto more lol. There are a few folks on here I would be tippin a beer with.