Thin Kit Leather Vs What I Have To Practice With

[bkingery]

Hey All, Ok here is my problem, i have a ton of Tandy kits that have really thin leather, BUT the only leather that I have I have to practice tooling with is anywhere from 5-6 clear up to saddle thickness and i can do pretty good on the thicker stuff but when i try to do the thin stuff in the kits it all looks like **** and its driving me totally bonkers and really frustrating. Any ideas or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks B.

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[JLSleather]

I personally never understood the "practice" leather thing. Here's the deal ...

If you tool bad leather, you'll get used to tooling bad leather. Just like if you're going to learn to play the piano, you wouldn't "practice" on a piece of junk, because your fingers will get used to the cheap keys and your ears will get used to the cheap sound. When you hear the real thing, doesn't sound right.

Use a decent piece of leather to "practice". If it works out well, you have a good start on a finished product. If you don't like it, then you're out - what ' $1.50??? And you can still "practice" your coloring on this "ruinied" piece.

Example: One side of 3/4 oz runs $125, and cuts roughly 70 men's wallets (the size most craftaids are made). Do the math and ya got less than $2 apiece in it. Say you don't like it. But now you have THAT experience, and you can try to color it. Don't like that either? Then color it again ... darker color(s). Or maybe you re-color one side, and try a finish you're wanting to try out on the other end. STILL out less than $2.

Once yo get 'up n running', you'll most likely realize that those kits really aren't the way to go anyway.

[electrathon]

Probibly most of your trouble is not the thin leather but the crappy leather. Kits usually have the worst leather available. I usually toss it and use a real piece of leather when I am doing a kit.

[bkingery]

Thanks for for the replies, I was thinking the same things. The only reason that i have so much thick leather is that it was free from a couple of saddle maker friends i have and your right about the kit leather being crappy so i'll probably just use it up and start making my own kits as i can afford to buy more leather. The only problem I have is the only place I have to buy my leather is from so far is Tandy in Salt lake and its usually a crap shoot with what they have. Guess I just need to bite the bullet and find a good supplier with good shipping prices. Any suggestions? I did start adding some glycerin to my casing water and that seems to help with the drying out problem that and i think i just work to slow. Thanks Again B

[TwinOaks]

check out the suppliers at the top of the page. If they were sub-par, there'd be plenty of discussion about it. These suppliers have earned the trust of our community.

My personal experience is with Springfield, and is second to none. Good prices, and very quick service. The leather is exactly as it was described.

[JLSleather]

Free is good, and friends are even better My experience with suppliers, for what it's worth ...

I ordered from Springfield exactly 3 times ... it wasn't good. I had paid for two orders I wasn't happy with, shipping on all of it, and a "membership". I called them up, got a lady who actually laughed (and then caught herself) when I told her we need some other plan than me spending money on stuff I can't use and spending my time on the phone. I ordered one more time. No improvement, and I figured 3 times and 2 calls was enough opportunity for them to get it right.

I have purchased leather from Tandy, but I ALWAYS go to the store. One recent trip, in a stack of 20 hides I found ONE I would use. So, I just go pick it out myself.

The folks at S-T Leather have been good, though, never any problems. I don't know how they are about returns, because in 25 years I've never had to return anything. In St. Louis, MO, on the web here, '800' phone number top of the first page. They're the only one I've found so far with REAL service. Shipping is never cheap these days, and it's the same at S-T, but at least you know you're not paying $15-20 shipping to get some stuff you won't be happy with.

One more note about that ... I've never cared for "kits", but if you use them S-T has them at FAR less money than Tandy.

[Dwight]

S-T has always been good to me too, . . . but since I found Weaver's in Ohio, . . . they are my source of leather I can't pick out myself. And of course, . . . sometimes I can pick it out as I drive there (over an hour away) twice a year or so.

But the others are right, . . . most kit leather is truly less than optimal has been my experience too.

May God bless,

Dwight

[JLSleather]

Thanks, Dwight ... you're not the first to recommend Weaver. Might have to give them a try ... always good to have another source. I've got a dozen belts coming up, would you recommend the shoulders or the sides (I need about 50")?

[billymac814]

I have always had good results ordering supplies from Springfield. They are always helpful and ship quickly. They have made a few mistakes but always resolved them quickly and painlessly. I don't order leather from them because at this point I exclusively use Wickett& Craig (they are close and I've never had a reason to try anything else, the leather is always flawless)

The people at springfield never try to sell me things I don't need either. I have a gold membership at Tandy that is an hour away and usually find that Sprinfields prices are about the same and I don't have a membership there, although I may look into it.

I agree with practicing on good stuff, you can get a special grade side for 100.00, that is a whole lot of practicing and you'd be able to know exactly how the leather is going to react. I paid 70.00 for a shoulder from Tandy that was way smaller than a side and not near the quality when I first started, I still have some of it because I won't use it on anything, it doesn't color right.

[JLSleather]

Ordered ONE side of the W & C, we'll see what we get. As I explained to that very personable lady, I'm really more interested in a very BLEACHED natural color more than worried about an occasional scar or brand. I like to keep the color options WAY open.

[dragonspit]

interesting conversation. As a newb, I was in the same boat. Just due to the availability and name, I bought a kit from tandy to start. but they had a sale on some heavy stuff. the grain seemed nice (this coming from someone who doesnt know what he's looking at), but it was like 8oz. I would use this heavy stuff to make some small projects and learn. I struggled casing it, but the tooling looked decent, but not quite deep enough. then I put one of the kits together, and it looks really nice, just like it should. so I had more trouble with the heavy stuff than the lighter stuff. Now I realize some of the tools are not as good as I will need. but till I got going and decided on direction and methods, it didnt matter much to me yet. but also being new, its kinda hard to justify buying a side and shipping from something you have never seen, to do some projects that arent anything more than learning experiences. of course, its all learning experiences. so I just bought a small shoulder of 4oz at tandy to do something with, along with I still have the heavy stuff. but it would be interesting to see what the differences is in what ever one calls a better quality leather, vs what Tandy carries. on the positive side, although tandy isnt super close to me. it is on my way into a travel town almost weekly. its nice to be able to touch and feel what your buyin. thanx for all the info here, I just found it an interesting post.

[JLSleather]

its nice to be able to touch and feel what your buyin.

Yes, it is. This one I couldn't do that, but I thought I'd pop in to say that I received that hide from W & C - very nice and more than reasonably priced ($125 to the door).

Edited November 23, 2010 by JLSleather