Am I Being Too Picky/particular?

[cem]

Sorry I haven't gotten back to this post in a while folks, it's been busy as heck lately. I did order a hide from Goliger and one from SLO and both of them were excellent quality worthy of A grade status. I meant to get pictures of them but orders required they get cut up pretty quick and 1 1/2 hides are already turned into tank bibs and out the door. I couldn't tell the difference between the two; the temper, color and clarity of both hides were equally nice and price was almost identical including shipping ($200 each for 22-24 sq. ft of 5/6oz. including shipping to L.A.)

Now the personal dilemma comes in...as it turns out HO is excellent for carving and I have literally had the best time carving, cutting, etc. on both hides. The problem came in with the temper being a touch too stiff for the type of wet forming I do. So I'll have to choose when doing projects, HO for the flatter projects and W&C or something similar for the large formed tank bibs.

Clair - that is not what my recent A grade hides looked like. Yours appears to have a lot more stretch marks in the belly area and definitely more marks/scars on the body. I'd guess that either that's an A grade from a lower tannery or someone grabbed a B/C off the pile by mistake.

Thanks Spinner, when I originally asked this place about Hermann Oak they said they only sell A grade so I'm not sure whats going on, whether they are keeping the best stuff for themselves as they manufacture as well or it's not Hermann Oak. In my emails to them I've specifically asked for a nice clean hide as it was my first time using it, sending this to a first time customer who was likely to become a repeat buyer doesn't really say much about their quality control which is annoying when we don't have a lot of choice for the stuff down here.

Is there any way to tell if it is actually Hermann Oak are they stamped on the back or anything, come with tags etc

I would love to use the places you and Hidepounder mentioned but I'm not selling enough to be able to afford that sort of postage at the moment. I think for now I'm going to go back to my local place and pick my hides out in person and be reserved by the fact I'm only going to get that sweet golden colour by trying to dye it.

I really wish there was a vegetable tannery in West Oz as my father in law said he could give me all the hides I wanted from some nice beef that wouldn't have gone anywhere near barb wire, somehow I don't think the local council would like it if I set up a tannery in my tiny backyard ha ha.

Cheers,

Clair

[reddevil76]

Hi Clair, being in Singapore, my interest was piqued when I read about this Morgan Oak as shipping from Oz to Singapore should be cheaper. But when I saw the prices, it seems quite high.

You and me share the same burden of postage. But with A grade HO at US$9+ and A grade W&C at US$7+, even with postage, it still works out cheaper than if I buy Morgan Oak from Oz.

The postage itself looks daunting (about $60-$70USD for a 24sq ft side for me), but when I even it out as a total cost per sq ft, it provides a better comparison.

[cem]

Hi Clair, being in Singapore, my interest was piqued when I read about this Morgan Oak as shipping from Oz to Singapore should be cheaper. But when I saw the prices, it seems quite high.

You and me share the same burden of postage. But with A grade HO at US$9+ and A grade W&C at US$7+, even with postage, it still works out cheaper than if I buy Morgan Oak from Oz.

The postage itself looks daunting (about $60-$70USD for a 24sq ft side for me), but when I even it out as a total cost per sq ft, it provides a better comparison.

If the postage was $60-70USD for me I would of jumped at it I could afford that but it was quoted at well over $200 USD from one place for one side, the other place was better but still in the $110-140USD for two sides and I can't justify that much on leather I haven't been able to try properly yet as I have a specific thing I need it to be able to do kind of like what Spinner has though not with such big pieces.

If I decide to go down the Hermann Oak path again in the future I might see if it would be easier to send a clicker knife over there and have them click the parts for me from A grade and then send them over. For that though I would have to weigh up their cost of labour and postage vs the full side postage.

Also I just watched the Hermann Oak video on you tube and although I can't be fully certain I don't think this side is Hermann Oak unless they have changed the way they hang their hides as there are too many hanging marks on it and it's not trimmed the way they do it. They also talk about using male steers and this side most definitely is female, I just don't know whether I should contact the company about it or let it go what would you guys do ?

Cheers,

Clair

Edited November 29, 2011 by cem

[reddevil76]

If the postage was $60-70USD for me I would of jumped at it I could afford that but it was quoted at well over $200 USD from one place for one side, the other place was better but still in the $110-140USD for two sides and I can't justify that much on leather I haven't been able to try properly yet as I have a specific thing I need it to be able to do kind of like what Spinner has though not with such big pieces.

If I decide to go down the Hermann Oak path again in the future I might see if it would be easier to send a clicker knife over there and have them click the parts for me from A grade and then send them over. For that though I would have to weigh up their cost of labour and postage vs the full side postage.

Also I just watched the Hermann Oak video on you tube and although I can't be fully certain I don't think this side is Hermann Oak unless they have changed the way they hang their hides as there are too many hanging marks on it and it's not trimmed the way they do it. They also talk about using male steers and this side most definitely is female, I just don't know whether I should contact the company about it or let it go what would you guys do ?

Cheers,

Clair

$200 USD for postage is too much.. I can't understand why is it so much for you. Singapore and Australia is almost the same distance from US.

I think it'd probably be better off for you to buy Morgan Oak if postage is so much.

There is an ebay seller, I forgot the id, who sells leather by the sq foot on ebay, It's alot more expensive to just buy a sq foot, but it allows you to try a variety.