Leather Types

[rjqhall]

Hello all!

I have a few questions lined up that may have very basic and straight forward answers but to the novice they are quite confusing!

What part of the tanning process makes a finished hide soft and luxurious to touch compared to hard?

What part of the tanning process makes the flesh side rough or smooth (like the top side)?

What part of the tanning process makes the leather firm or flexible and floppy.

I have asked some people in the past but have never had a suitable answer, some have said it depends on the thickness of the leather but some leathers can be very thick and very soft to touch and vice versa with thin leathers, or very thick but still floppy or very thin and very firm.

Also, what is the difference between bridle leather and harness leather, and do that both have smooth bottom sides?

And does anyone have any suggestions for a waxy feel of shell Cordovan from either Horween or Clayton but from a cowhide rather than just the small horse shells?

I am making leather wallets and purses and have found that 1.5-2mm or around 3oz is the perfect thickness for what I want to produce without the wallets becoming too bulky, what recommendations would anyone have for leather having the above mentioned waxy feel but with a bridle type flesh side, to avoid bulking up even more with lining.

And if I were to line the wallets is pig skin or goats skin the best option, or is it just down to preference? From reading the posts on this forum I've become accustomed to there being no wrong answer but just many individual preferences.

I am based in the UK so as well as this long list of queries if anyone had recommendations for suppliers that would be perfect too!

Many thanks in advance!

Ross

[Michael Guest]

That is a whole lot of questions.

Unfortunately, I don't have any answers. I'm responding, because now that I've seen the questions, I want to know the answers as well.

[Hi Im Joe]

It is easy to think of thin leather as soft and thick leather as firm but it really depends on how the leather is processed. Milled or buffed leather or tumbled leather will always have a softer temper. They basically just beat up the leather in a controlled manner (at least for tumbled leather) and that results in a soft feel. On the other hand straight veg tan tooling leather will have a very firm temper no matter what thickness it is.

Really, its just the quality of the leather (also known as the grade of the leather) that will help determine the quality of the flesh side. Crappy leather will have really hairy flesh sides. That's not to say you can't find cheap quality leather. Its out there you just gotta be diligent in your search.

I don't know of any cow hide equivalent to shell cordovan.

For UK leather suppliers I would use A. and A. Crack if I lived in the UK (http://www.aacrack.co.uk/catalogue.asp?page=home). Their selection is just insane.

Or for some very nice oak bark tanned leather there is J&FJ Baker & Co (http://www.jfjbaker.co.uk/).

Hope that helps!

-- Joe

[DavidL]

Tumbled leather will be soft like chrome leather which is good for bags where you don't want the frame to be too rigid. Analine, semi aniline is also like tumbled. There are variations of tumbled like veg tanned tumbled or tumbled bison.

different leathers are softer than others - goat (stiffer than calf but is highly resistant), calf ( mostly only low and high quality) - low quality - 4 dollars a sq and high quality 12-30 a square foot) almost plastic feel not as resistant as goat. Pig is tough. Cow - every stiffness depending on the way it was tanned.

It comes down to how much your willing to spend where the quality of your leather will be. Anything below 6 dollars is mostly craft type leather designed for classes or the non concerning leather crafts man. 7-10 dollars is where the medium and high quality leathers are - which come from North America, Italy. Difference in price come from the type of cattle (USA cattle, or brazilian cattle), quality of the tannery.

vegetable tanned leathers will be stiff, chrome will not be stiff.

Chromexcel from horweens is a popular choice in that size range. If your able japanese leathers from leathertoolcraft.com look to be high quality, they are overpriced at 15+ a sq foot. Cxl is like shell but I believe is horse front, also from Horweens.

Bridle leather is the highest grade of leather - the original from england, not the HO and WC type.

Harness leather uses the larger cows (length) for its selection and is waxy like Bridle.

Pig skin is cheaper and more economical. Goats is tough and can be found in higher grades than pig. Calf is also an option as its thin and cheap.