Veg Tan Hide Suppliers In Uk?

[lightningad]

other than LePrevo and Tandy, can anyone recommend anywhere that sells leather in the UK?

i'm surprised i'm finding it so difficult to find any!

adam

[fivewayswelshcobs]

Hi Adam, There are quite a few but some sell to trade only ie Abbey England , but there is also Midgeleys, Metropolitan, Marcus Gear, Sedgewicks, Claytons, Bakers, Grade, Pittards, Batchelors it depends what sort of leather you are after and no doubt there are more that I have forgotten at the moment. Most have web sites so are easy to find.

[Horrrk]

Hi Adam.. I'm looking around at the moment too.. I enquired at a couple of places over the weekend and I've just got my second reply.

The first was from Neumann and they didn't have veg tan cos it's too expensive for their customers at £6sq/ft..

The second, I got this morning was from MW Leathers and they've suggested Batchelors.

I will say that my one and only example of tooling I've put up here is done on a sample I was kindly sent by Metroploitan Leathers over in Lancashire.. I think it comes in just under £6, but don't quote me on that. They ever so generously sent me the envelope sized sample, after I did the traditional Yorkshire battle cry of 'Ow Much!?!' followed by some well honed teeth sucking.. :rofl:

Anyway, it's a lot better quality than the Grade 2 Columbo side leather I have a bit of.

If you come across anywhere that does some pigskin or quality thin leather for making linings, can you give me a holler? So far I'm looking thru Le Prevo's clearance list for something, but the quantities throw things out of my reach, pricewise..

I'll post again if I come across anything for you in my search..

Happy hunting.!!

Regards

Phil

[Horrrk]

Back again Adam..

Try these people if you haven't already..just came across their site whilst searching for some lining materials and bookmarked it..

They seem to have a wide variety of different leathers or even offcuts.. I'll be having a proper search thru their pages when I get back from shopping..

http://www.jwoodleathers.co.uk/home.html

They're over in the Keighley area..

Hope that helps..

Regards

Phil

[gary]

I've been using Abbey for years now and they never objected to me not being 'trade'. In fact, I went to them first and then stayed with them (mostly) as they didn't mind me putting in small orders and have always been really helpful on the 'phone. They do veg tan and I have seen them list tooling leather as well. It's usually shoulder but they sometimes have butt as well. They are worth calling.

Gary

[bikerbri]

Hi everyone, I find that le prevo are very slow to dispatch goods, the Identity store is much quicker and I have had a lot of good quality leather from this ebay seller http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Leather-and-Stuff-UK?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 they will also cut leather to size if they are able to

Hope this helps, cheers Bri

[celticleather]

There's another supplier on eBay at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leather-Shoulder-Tooling-Hide-Full-Grain-for-Crafts-/261112570647?pt=UK_Crafts_Leathercraft_LE&hash=item3ccb85a317. Their leather is good quality, and their prices are quite competitive. You need to state the weight of leather that you require.

[Horrrk]

Hi everyone, I find that le prevo are very slow to dispatch goods, the Identity store is much quicker and I have had a lot of good quality leather from this ebay seller http://stores.ebay.c...=p2047675.l2563 they will also cut leather to size if they are able to

Hope this helps, cheers Bri

Thanks Bri.. Its good to know..

I'm getting an order list for Le Prevo at the mo, but mainly cos they're competetive on tool prices and one or two other bits..I'll have to suffer the delivery times, for the cost I'll save..

I've seen these people on my eBay searches for leather and tools, but not used them as of yet.. Now bookmarked to my fave sellers for a look, later..

There's another supplier on eBay at http://www.ebay.co.u...item3ccb85a317. Their leather is good quality, and their prices are quite competitive. You need to state the weight of leather that you require.

Cheers Celtic.. Funnily enough I put one or two of their hides on my watch list the other day, to keep them on my radar. They're not too bad on prices from what I can see, but we really need a Springfield over here I reckon..LOL

Thanks again for the info..it helps to know that people have had good service or goods from these.

Take it easy..

Regards

Phil

[immiketoo]

Phil, you should look into German tanneries. I've heard they have some of the finest leather available. Might be worth a look. I have zero specifics but supposedly they make good leather.

[Horrrk]

Phil, you should look into German tanneries. I've heard they have some of the finest leather available. Might be worth a look. I have zero specifics but supposedly they make good leather.

Yeah, I've not really thought about looking towards Europe..I'll have a good look around, cheers Mike..it seems that we have a void in this country for some top quality leather store..

Tandy came here, but I think they've gone again, going by their website. We have to root around a little sometimes and the prices aren't cheap for leather, going by US prices..

I'll see what I come across..

Thanks again..

Regards

Phil

[Shamenlong]

I brought a delux starter kit from Tandy the projects were terrible nothing lined up but what I paid for it I have enough tools to get me started so for tools alone it was ok.

I'm going to look at these company's that have been suggested by others as I'm in the uk as well

[narrowsuch]

I have been struggling to find any local suppliers until now phil, Im going to call into JWoodleats though as they arent too far from me! You are right though, it seems like we dont have a great choice in the UK... Tandy are ok but when I have ordered from them the quality isnt always there even from the "Oak" range. I would like to go and choose my hide and have a look around and see what else I could pick up : )

[Dangerous Beans]

The German leather is indeed excellent but very difficult to source in the UK. Metropolitan are one of the cheapest for decent full shoulders. 60 for 14ft +VAT and about 12 postage. It works out to 86 which is 6.17 a foot. Abbey are not far off.

You can get cheaper... By a little but I will add that both Metropolitan and Abbey do decent leather. It has a good clean grain and the back is even and tight, not fluffy of raggy as many veg tan shoulders can be.

Both will send out samples and take small orders.

The shoulder im using in this is from Abbey,

it's not a great view but about 4 mins in you can see it in the clamp. It stitches well and takes a stamp nicely. You don't have to line it to hide the back.

Hope that helps.

The pound sign seems to be playing up.

Nige

Edited January 20, 2013 by Dangerous Beans

[Half Goat]

thanks for the info dangerous beans reckon i will check them out! I always use leprevo as i can usually get what i need in the sales and therfore save myself a fortune

[narrowsuch]

The German leather is indeed excellent but very difficult to source in the UK. Metropolitan are one of the cheapest for decent full shoulders. 60 for 14ft +VAT and about 12 postage. It works out to 86 which is 6.17 a foot. Abbey are not far off.

You can get cheaper... By a little but I will add that both Metropolitan and Abbey do decent leather. It has a good clean grain and the back is even and tight, not fluffy of raggy as many veg tan shoulders can be.

Both will send out samples and take small orders.

The shoulder im using in this is from Abbey,

it's not a great view but about 4 mins in you can see it in the clamp. It stitches well and takes a stamp nicely. You don't have to line it to hide the back.

Hope that helps.

The pound sign seems to be playing up.

Nige

Cheers Nige, will give abbey and metropolitan a try...good video too!

[lightningad]

weird - 4 months after starting this thread, the forum has told me i've had a a reply! Thanks to all for their suggestions.

Hopefully i'm visiting JWoods tomorrow so can have a proper rummage through the offcuts!

[humperdingle]

With regard to suppliers... If it's a smaller quantity, try local saddlers' workshops. I found one very close to me, and they were willing to supply the odd hide here and there, and can also order me pretty much anything I need from catalogues without paying excessive shipping charges.

Plus, being an established (very old!) workshop, they have some lovely old hardware in solid brass, etc, that they're also willing to sell bits of here and there.

[Barristan]

Only just seen this topic :D

In London I would highly recommend JT Batchelors in Islington. Ive had countless shoulders of veg tan off them for a very reasonable price.

If you can go there all the better so you can spend an hour wandering through the warehouse packed with every type of leather you can imagine. They also do tools, fittings and dyes at an incredibly cheap price too.

http://jtbatchelor.co.uk/

[Matt S]

I will add my recommendation for Batchelors. They have a full range of Ivan tools (much better than Tandy prices), about any buckle you can imagine and all sorts of hides at very reasonable prices. No Fiebings 'oil' dyes though.

[lightningad]

Finally managed to visit J Woods nr Keighley.

Well worth the trip - i managed to get two really nice pieces from the offcuts pile. approx 45sqft at £2 a sqft - bargain!

Now i have some lovely thick red stuff for making a couple of traditional satchels, and then i have a waxy finished chrome full grain cowside which is perfect for the flight bag i have been wanting to make myself for ages!

[Black Orchard Books]

I know I'm a bit late to the party here but I use a great leather supplier in Northampton called Dickens Brothers. They're happy to sell by the single hide and they always send within a couple of days if it's in stock.

http://www.dickensbrothers.co.uk/

[eternoui]

Very helpful

[alexitbe]

Woul be interested to hear if anyone has ordered from the German tannaries an if so can they recommend any?

Cheers

Alex

[gmace99]

I am in the trade and buy from Sedgewick's and Pittards direct. They will only supply the trade. However if you want their leather Abbey will sell you it at a premium. I rarely buy from Abbey as there prices are not the best I have found.

I used to use Andrew Midgeley and sons and found them to be a really helpful company. Midgeleys will sell small amounts and carry several types of leather, If they don't sell what you are after I am sure they will point you in the right direction.

If you are after some light brown 4.5 mil thick saddle/bridle leather (if I remember correctly it is more a new market type brown good for making belts also) I was offered some the other day from a guy in Walsall for around £40/45 a butt. it looked like sedgewicks leather and if it was it would normally cost about £110. Message me on this if you want more details. I made a bag out of this leather and if you look at my other post in show off you can see it..it was a wood and leather bag. the colour is lighter than it is in the photo.

[Nishino]

Just started in leatherwork and been to http://jtbatchelor.co.uk/ very helpful, nothing on their website but they will email you a catalogue and I visited their site and they were happy for me to just wander around tehir shels and look and feel at all tey leather to choose. Bought some veg tan shoulder for about £5 a foot which I am very happy with