Stupid Question Time

[Itaricans]

Hello again guys, Ok, like I mentioned before I`m new to all this, so I want to know, when you mention that you you use leather # 4 or 5 or 7, is that weigh or thickness ( ounces or Inches ) . Also, can I improvise with some household items to dye leather? just in case I run out of some specific color? Thanks for all your help. Latter. Louie.

[dirtclod]

Most of the time when somebody says weight / thickness it's in ounces in the U.S. Folks from other parts of the world may say Milli Meters when their talking about weight / thickness. If they say number 1 2 or 3 or A B C or D their probley talking about the grade of the leather. Number 1's and A's being the best grade.

[Julius]

Never a stupid question here. Basically as mentioned before, the weight of leather is measured in ounces per square foot. So the heavier the leather, the thicker it will be. As far as coloring, I would use dye thats meant for leather such as Fiebing's etc. There are homemade dyes that work well such as Vinegaroon if you're looking for black, crushed walnut shells, coffee and so forth. Using the search function on this forum will give you plenty of info on what you're looking for. Cheers!

[TwinOaks]

Yep, no stupid questions.

Leather "weight" is measurement in 64ths of an inch. 1oz leather is 1/64th, 8oz leather is 8/64ths (or 1/8 if you prefer), and so on and so forth.

Julius, that's the first time I've heard that description for the "ounces". I'm curious, where'd you hear that?

[Casey Jordan]

The easiest way to tell how thick a certain weight is to cheat a little. In the front of lets say Tandy leather catalog is a weight / thickness chart. It shows a side view of how thick a 2-3oz. or a 8-9oz. leather is.

Hope this helps.

[Julius]

thank you for the clarification TwinOaks! When I first became interested in leatherworking, before I even touched a tool, I did some reading up on everything and found a glossary online about some terms. Bookmarked this link http://www.natanning.com/natcorpleather_glossary.htm . I took that definiton for weight as true and never questioned it. So to the original poster, see there is never a dumb question because there are people who either want to know the same thing, or people who are misinformed like me hehe. TwinOaks

Yep, no stupid questions.

Leather "weight" is measurement in 64ths of an inch. 1oz leather is 1/64th, 8oz leather is 8/64ths (or 1/8 if you prefer), and so on and so forth.

Julius, that's the first time I've heard that description for the "ounces". I'm curious, where'd you hear that?

[Itaricans]

Thanks guys, you`ve been very helpful, one other thing I forgot to mention (ask), I have a big piece of soft leather that`ll be great to use for lining, the only thing is that it`s very meaty, curly or rough on the back, I don`t really know right term to use, how do I make it smooth, so that it`ll be ready and easy to glue in order to use as lining? I would like to remove all that stuff. Again thanks for all your help. Thanks. Latter. Louie.

[Kevin]

Julius is correct, 64ths is just what it happens to measure out at coincidentally.

Kevin

PS a quarter (.25$) is 4 oz.

[Sparks]

I think your roughness is on the side opposite where the hair was when the animal was alive. The hair side is called "the hair side." I think people also call that the grain side. Opposite that is the side that was inside the animal, this is caused the flesh side. I'm not sure if it is the skinning job (with stray cuts that went through the fat into the hide) or if the roughness is caused by the tanning process, but for some reason it is there. Some pieces have more of it than others. If you need to make leather thinner--for sewing or whatever--thin from the flesh side because the hair side provides the strength. Having said that, tonight I thinned a piece of leather that had two surfaces glued flesh side to flesh side--I ended up thinning the hair side from the side not showing. That side will be glued to another piece and sewed.

Sparks

Thanks guys, you`ve been very helpful, one other thing I forgot to mention (ask), I have a big piece of soft leather that`ll be great to use for lining, the only thing is that it`s very meaty, curly or rough on the back, I don`t really know right term to use, how do I make it smooth, so that it`ll be ready and easy to glue in order to use as lining? I would like to remove all that stuff. Again thanks for all your help. Thanks. Latter. Louie.