Making "raggy" leather?

[Happycrow]

Hi, y'all. New to Leatherworker, and loving it... especially being inspired/intimidated by what you folks are able to produce!

I have a question... I LOVE the really thick but super-supple leathers... and you never really see chrometans in better than 8 oz... and nowadays, nobody will even sell you a hide that's been softened to the point where there are deep and obvious grain imperfections like this:

http://tinyurl.com/55qgo9

(You can zoom in to see the grain...) Is there any way to get this effect on a nice thick (unsplit) veg-tan?

tnx,

Russ

[TwinOaks]

Hi Happycrow, and welcome to Leatherworker.net, Best place on the entire internet!

I'm not up to par on the garment side of leather, but I think what you're seeing is wrinkles in the leather. Have you checked out the possibility of using some thicker grade upholstery leather? It's available 'distressed', and has a similar look.

Here's a link to the Tandy catalog showing the leather :Click Here

[Drac]

I've seen bullhide that looks a lot like that.

[Happycrow]

@TwinOaks: I'd love it if I could get upholstery leather that hadn't been split, but in this case, that's not what we're looking at. If you zoom in all the way to the shoulder of the buff coat, you'll see how the grain is actually standing up, having been opened to the point where it has no stiffness at all. So, wrinkled, YES, but not merely creased... wrinkled to the point where it alters the flow of the material entirely.

@Drac: Wow. Was is boardy, or did it flop around like a garment leather should?

[Drac]

it was quite soft and I thought about making other goodies, but stuck with the goodies I usually make and used several hides. you should also check out buffalo hides.