Tandy Oak Leaf Vs Hermann Oak

[Busterradar]

Yes there is a big difference in quality. Everyone as there personal favorite. Tandy is a great place to start with. When you want to start producing better quality looking project.....then you will start looking for better quality leather. Working with better quality leather really does make a difference. Each person needs to look at what type of projects you want to do like wallets, holsters, bags or etc. Are you tooling or stamping? Are you ok with scars or marks? Different qualities of leather will also make a difference in how it sews, burnishing, forming, and in dyeing. There are places that will sell Herman Oak in small pieces......my suggestion would be to find a small project and do it using a poor quality leather then try the same project in a better quality leather and compare them. There are some good places out there to buy quality leather from. Just my 2 cents

[BDAZ]

There seem to be two completely different approaches purchasing leather on this forum. The hobby craft approach, where costs, time and profit is unimportant compared to the quality of the final product. I have seen really beautiful, artistically hand tooled products, on consignment, in leather shops where they may sit for years but the price is prohibitive.

Then there is the business approach where costs and time are a compromise to produce quality products at an affordable price. When I started I assumed I would be producing mostly hand tooled custom products but I was wrong and my current demand is for high quality hand made items at affordable prices, not cheap, but affordable. I have also discovered that both my wholesale and my end user customers couldn't tell the difference between Herman Oak and a good piece of Tandy leather once decorated, dyed and stitched. If I were getting $200--$300 for a belt or strap, I would definitely be using one of the top leather producers.

Of course there are the leather artists and they are in a separate category and price is no object for the fine items they produce.

My current project is using drum dyed leather from RJ. I just finished cutting my current order which used 3 sides and my leather costs are around 25% of the wholesale price. Hardware, time,. consumables and other overheads are another 35%. The balance is margin which is just acceptable as a manufacturer. If I used more expensive leather my margins would fall and if I raised my wholesale costs, my orders would drop. Economics 101.

In my opinion, if you are not making at least 40% markup as a manufacturer, including reasonable costs ($25 an hour minimum) for time, it's a hobby. Nothing wrong with a hobby, but that's not what I do so I will continue to buy the best quality leather I can afford to keep my margins intact, invest in the most cost effective production methods and use the good stuff for gifts, and custom work.

I am so busy with my day to day orders, I haven't picked up a swivel knife in months and Christmas is coming!

So it's different strokes... Quality is in the eye of the beholder or the customer.

Cya!

Bob

[ftnpenlvr2]

Resurrecting an old post, it appears.  I am relatively new to leatherworking.  I got some leather from the local craft store (ReaLeather), a pair of shoulders from Tandy, and some various bits n pieces - belt blanks, etc, from European Leather Works on Amazon.  Nothing high end, but, I have churned out a purse for my wife, recovered a footstool, and made a checkbook cover for myself, a few belts, and have started churning out some cast iron pot holders. 

I have been relatively satisfied by the leather I have gotten from Tandy, as being far superior to the ReaLeather and ELW stuff, from a tooling perspective.  It has taken impressions well, stamped well, and, when I have kept my tools sharp, carved relatively easily - occasionally a little "draggy," but not anything I have been unable to control.  I have never tried Hermann Oak.  That's next on the list, and I am looking forward to it!

With all that said, I stopped by the Tandy store, this week, and picked up a small piece of the 5-6 oz Oak Leaf, to make the checkbook cover.  Maybe because it was already stained, I found it pretty miserable to work with.  When I sprayed it, to case and start tooling, the water just beaded up, so, I assume it had been "finished" in the store.  I ended up spraying the back side to get it dampened.  Once I had, it took impressions reasonably well (when hit with a heavy mallet), but did not carve nicely at all.  Once I was done tooling it, I had a checkbook cover I was not too dismayed by.  I used my airbrush to fade to black on the edges, and sealed the edges with Fiebings black Edge Kote, and it looks pretty decent.  That said, I would not offer it up for sale.  I don't intend to buy more; the plain shoulders I bought tooled much nicer.

The way I see things at this point, I can use the remainder of the shoulders I bought from Tandy to make some things for around the house, and make tap offs.  I will look forward to seeing how those transfer to a premium leather, and am eager to try making some pieces to sell in the near future...

[JayEhl]

Probably not adding much at this point but since the post was resurrected....

After going through a few of the starter kits from Tandy, I purchased a several of their craftsman shoulders and even a side as I've been afraid of buying leather unseen.  Fortunately, I live in Houston with three Tandy stores, two about equal distance for me to drive.   Not an inconvenient drive time (about 35 min one way) but an annoyance to pick up just one thing.    I then bit the bullet and bought an HO side from Springfield and was very pleased.  It did tool better and seemed...well.... worth it.   I am only a hobbyist, only built a few things for myself and use it for mostly 'art work -- and you should be laughing at that "art" statement!    I'll probably order more again from them, shortly but I am a hobbyist and like what @BDAZ said most people probably can't tell what was used after the end product has been tooled up, dyed and stitched up.  

[JLSleather]

I have found some VERY nice leather at Tandy stores.  Past few years, it's been hit or miss, luck of the draw kind of thing.  I thought it was maybe what I said at that manager (who's gone now) but it's not just that one store   Can't remember if it was the "Oak leaf" or the "live oak" brand, but I know in the Iowa store its on the back east wall   Anyway, these days I want to SEE before I buy.

That said, I have also purchased "hermann oak" from Weaver Leather and Springfield Leather got some leather that would be acceptable for a doormat for people to wipe their feet on, and that's about all it was good for.  SLC also has sent me some doable leather, though you should order ahead of schedule, as you wont want to assume what you're getting.  I'll let them tell you WHY that is, should they care to.  Weaver sent me leather so bad I never gave them a chance to send me a second batch.  Seriously, I think many of these "retailers" are RELYING ON the new guy not knowing the difference, and since i had never ordered there before, they likely assumed that I was 'the new guy'.

If you're ordering Hermann Oak Leather, I can't stress enough - get it FROM HERMANN OAK LEATHER.  Next best option, if you only need 1 or 2 sides, call Cheryl or Carlos at Goliger Leather.  A bit more money than you'd pay per foot from the source, but when they say it's GRADE A, it really is... not some bottom shelf stuff that they're passing off for something more than it is.  Costs me a bit more in freight (ships from CA) but always worth the extra two bits. Call Cheryl, tell her Jeff sent ya.  She'll say "jeff who?" but she'll send you good leather