Problem sewing Tandy Skirting leather, Any ideas?

[Vaquero]

I bought some Tandy Sale skirting leather for a budget saddle for a customer and can't sew it with my Toro 3000. The leather flags and pulls up and chatters even with the presser foot tensioned as far down as it will adjust. The needle won't go thru the leather or immediately shreads and breaks the thread. I called Artisan and talked to Jerry, he said it was because it was dry leather. Possibly because Tandy has their hides tanned in a Mexican tannery. Has anyone ever encountered this problem? I did pull out some Herman Oaks skirting from the scrap bin and stacked it up to the same thickness as the flat plate rigging I'm trying to sew, and had no problem sewing thru it. So it must be the leather. I thought about casing the leather and then trying to sew it. Does anyone have any better ideas or words of wisdom?

Phil

[Kevinjohnson]

Sounds like there might be a little rawhide in the middle of the leather your trying to sew. Casing might work, however, plan on spending lots of time rubbing-out machine foot marks. Also, you run the risk of pulling your needle out depending on the moisture content of the leather. Your stitch won't look as good but try using the biggest needle you have. This might be an example of stepping over a dime to pick up a penny. Eventhough the Tandy leather is cheaper, it still will cost you more in time and money than Herman Oak would of. I don't mean to sound brash and I'm sure Tandy leather has it's place, just not in a top shelf product. Kevin J

[Luke Hatley]

The same thing happened to me, last week sewing a holster.

I did use some thicker leather than i should have, but i was not going to re make it.

i recased the holster and used some thread lube and put a new needle in the machine

finished sewing and did have to smoothe the tracks up.

and yes this was Tandy leather also...

[Vaquero]

Lesson learned! Normally I do only use Herman Oaks leather. This was one of those situations of do I pass on the order or try to work in the customers budget. But you are right, stepping over a dime to pick up a penny. The casing idea didn't work, so I've resigned to hand sew this one. I'll still probably save time not fiddling around with this dang machine. Another good reason to "Buy American". Thanks for your comments.

[pete]

an easy way to tell if the leather was poorly tanned or tanned in Mexico....wet it a little and smell it

if it smell rancid like cat pee it was.

I was told this a long time ago from someone who knows..tandy "affiliate"

[bruce johnson]

Not to divert this into a discussion of whose leather is best but here is my experience. Usually I have a pretty good idea if there is rawhide in it when I cut it and the round knife rises up out of the cut or the draw gauge hits the wall. I guess I have cut more rawhide in domestic leather than the imports I've cut. Some I have salvaged by oiling it before I go to sewing.

As far as the urine smell, he did a series of articles in ShopTalk on some of the Mexican and Argentine tanneries a few years ago. Apparently there is a tree in central America that imparts this odor into the leather, and some tanneries use it and some don't. Whether someone is really using urine, don't know. I don't really lump all the import vegtans together. I have not had that smell in anything I have used. I had some really great tooling sides from Teneria for a while. Some fell off in the heavier weights though. I have likewise had some outstanding Argentine sides too. I liked leather from two US tanneries that closed, and what I am getting now is closest to either of them that I can find.

[Saddlebag]

When I first started out with no list of suppliers I tried some strap goods from Tandy. After cutting out a teardropped shaped headstall and stamping a border trim, the leather spider-cracked, not when dampening the end for the buckle, but the end going thro the buckle. The cheap headstalls from India do this. PS I have a Union Shoe machine that will go thro almost anything. It is hand or treadle powered and a wonderful machine because of the infinite control. It enables me to reuse the original holes in a saddle when replacing the fleece as it has a finite dial for stitch spacing.

Edited March 21, 2009 by Saddlebag

[neelsaddlery]

Hello:

Might want to try using some thread lube, as it may be needed to keep the needle greasy enough to go through without the chatter.

Kindest Regards,

Ryan O. Neel

Neel's Saddlery and Harness

Cowboy Sewing Machines

[kevinhopkins]

I think everyone has had a similar experience with leather from tandy. But in all fairness, in todays leather world, the mexicans and folks in argentina produce leather that's pretty much as good as anything in our country. (I'm a Hermann Oak fan) the days of urine tanning are pretty much done. And I think, (if I remember correctly) that it's Teneria that has the old Bona Allen live oak formula. It was pretty hard to beat that leather for tooling and dyeing. The reason that so many have an issue with the tandy stuff, is that, well, they're like the rest of us. They want to make absolutely for sure and certain that they're paying the least amount possible for their leather. And mostly, we get what we pay for.

Kevin

[Sharpshooter]

We do a lot of sewing VERY thick stacks of leather.

In my most recent job we're sewing through two layers of 10 ounce, two layers of 6 ounce and a .030 thick piece of vulcanized fiber sheet. I doubt that a bit of rawhide is going to be tougher than the vulcanized fiber sheet.

We're sewing this on a Toro 3000 with success.

Here's what I've learned on this job...

I generally use 346 on top and 277 on the bottom with a #25 Needle.

The needle isn't big enough for me to use 346 on top you can actually feel the thread binding in the fiber sheet. I stepped down to 277 top and bottom which is a lot better.

I also found problems starting to show up with sticking and such as the needle dulls.

Like my good friend Steve told me a long time ago.... the first step in diagnosing a sewing problem is "CHANGE THE NEEDLE!"

Needles are relatively cheap and while they're tough as nails (pun intended) they're also very fragile.

I've seen bent points that acted just like barbs on a fish hook they go in very easy and snag on the way back out.

[colttrainer]

Use a lot of that leather for fill in projects between custom orders, also to try new designs. I was having problems spliiting it so tried a little pro carve ( diluted 50/50 ) seemed to help alot with splitting never have to many problems with sewing.

Al