Buying Leather

[frank207]

I'm a newbie and have been buying Tandy's 8-9 oz. Oak Leaf Double Shoulders @ $4.99 sq. for my belts,wristbands and dog collars. I want to try something else and I was talking with someone from Zack White Leather and they recommended Bull Hide Double Shoulder @ $5.60 per sq. for their 8-9 oz. Unfortunetly they are out of the 8-9 oz. They have 7-8 and 9-10 oz.

My questions are: 1) Is there much of a quality difference between the Tandy's Oak Leaf

and the Bull Hide from Zack White?

2) Can I use The 7-8 or the 9-10 oz. instead? Basically I just do Stamping

3) Does anyone have any other suggestions on veg. tanned leather I

could use re: thickness & cuts?

Thanks

Frank

[Johanna]

For belts, wristbands and collars, wouldn't it be more cost effective to buy sides rather than double shoulders?

Johanna

[frank207]

Johanna,

I really don't know. I was told that the double sides were best for belts & collars and so far have only purchased the double shoulders twice. Besides any dollar advantages with buying a side, what other advantages would there be?

Thanks

Frank

[MADMAX22]

Im not sure about the bull hide.

One thing I have noticed is the tandy oak leaf if you can pick thru it is ok leather but once you try a decent wickett and craig or herman oak or even a good import you will be very happy.

You could very easily use the 7/8 or 9/10. For your projects I would go for double shoulders, culattas, or even double back which is really good for straps. Zack whites carries them.

Sides are nice but thats if you do alot of different stuff then you can use the bellie portions, if all your doing is belts and such the bellies are a waste really.

Kevin hpkins has a really good deal on herman oak right now.

[rdb]

I've always used shoulders, or double shoulders, butts and double butts for general all purpose belts. The double butts are more economical because of their size, generally the 8/9 doublebutts are about 60" in length, and about 60" wide. Theres not so much waste that way, and they're good for stamping, or embossing. The 6/7-7/8 are much lighter than what people are used to, so unless you are going to sew a backing on, probably don't buy that weight for belts.

If you do serious carving, though, you probably want veg tan sides. It's a better tooling quality than the shoulders or butts. If you just want good leather that you will not be tooling, I suggest the bridle leather sides. There's 4 colors.

If you buy sides, you can cut them about 2/3 down at 60" or so, that way you won't have 72"+ straps cut for a 30" waist, and have plenty for other types of products. Maybe cut some straps long for the "big boys", first then cut the side to 60.

Comparing Tandy to any of the suppliers, really can't be done. Each supplier buys for their own market. Zack's and others are more geared to the wholesale user. Generally, the quality of leather is better, though.

[RMB Custom Leather]

I'm a newbie and have been buying Tandy's 8-9 oz. Oak Leaf Double Shoulders @ $4.99 sq. for my belts,wristbands and dog collars. I want to try something else and I was talking with someone from Zack White Leather and they recommended Bull Hide Double Shoulder @ $5.60 per sq. for their 8-9 oz. Unfortunetly they are out of the 8-9 oz. They have 7-8 and 9-10 oz.

My questions are: 1) Is there much of a quality difference between the Tandy's Oak Leaf

and the Bull Hide from Zack White?

2) Can I use The 7-8 or the 9-10 oz. instead? Basically I just do Stamping

3) Does anyone have any other suggestions on veg. tanned leather I

could use re: thickness & cuts?

Thanks

Frank

Think about bellies because Zach has tooling bellies which are the bellies of the good leather they have at 2.16 wholesale or around 4 retail.

[10x]

I have been very happy with ZW's strap leather. Never used Tandy. I have always been told to just bite the bullet and use the good stuff.