Saddle skirting question

[Stetson912]

I have some light weight saddle skirting (10-12oz) and I'm going to use it for a few belts. I made some gunbelts with it already and this stuff is stiff and near impossible to cut. I'm wonderin' if all saddle skirting is so dense and hard to cut or if it's just this particular shameful Tandy skirting. I've never had anything so tough from Tandy before and I can deal with it till it's gone.. but it's seriously like trying to saw through a board with a plastic spoon. I pretty much have to use a utility knife and wet it a bit to cut it. Then I have to soak it a minute to split it if I need too. Thanks for your thoughts!

[Halitech]

I've used 3 pieces of it so far and while it is tough, a new blade each time in my strap cutter when I start a side and it cuts fine without wetting or doing anything else to it

[Stetson912]

I put a new blade in and still could hardly run the strap cutter through it. Maybe it's just this side?

[Halitech]

might be, I literally just cut 2 1.5" belt lengths off the one I have here right now and I just had it laying on my bed and it cut fine

[Stetson912]

It has to be this side then. I don't have thinner leather either so I have to cut two blanks then split one and the whole process is a pain. Even just getting a straight edge on it. Oh well. Win some and lose some. I just have to get better leather from now on. Haha

I've noticed too I'd have to split it anyway because the center of the hide is like 9 oz and the ends are closer to 12. So I have to split it down to even the thickness. Such a pain. 

[Ed in Tx]

Sound like typical Tandy junk leather. No vegetable tanned leather that is properly tanned should take that sort of effort to cut. If I were to guess, the hide you have probably has a lot of "rawhide" at the center as a result of not being fully tanned. If you look at a cross section of the hide is the center a different color than the outer sections that usually means the tanning process wasn't done long enough for the hide to be properly tanned.

[Stetson912]

Yup I think so. It isn't part rawhide though it appears fully tanned. I wonder if it was old stock or something.. or if age even matters. 

It took me 2 hrs to cut two blanks. I couldn't use a strap cutter because it wouldn't cut through it and the gauge moved so I had to use a straight edge. Just rediculous. And it had to be wet to split it. I may just toss it since it's so hard to work with. Idj

[Northmount]

If your strap cutter guide and blade are not parallel, the strap may be wedging in tight and making it hard or impossible to pull through.  I recently bought a draw gauge from Tandy.  It wedged the strap in so tight I couldn't pull it through at all.  Took it back and ordered a good old Osborne from Bruce Johnson.  Cuts the same leather like a dream.  I could have done some filing and trued up the Tandy one, but figured why should I have to fix a brand new draw gauge. 

Tom

[YinTx]

Don't toss it.  I have some sole bend leather, really stiff and tough and difficult to cut as well.  Works great as a backing for work such as punching holes in other pieces of leather, marking stitch lines, etc. without worrying about damaging tools as you might using a piece of wood on it's side (not end grain) or just flat on your granite.  It has become one of my "most useful tools."

YinTx

[Stetson912]

@northmount I didn't think of that. I am using one of the basic wooden strap cutters and it does seem to wedge in there sometimes. I'll have to invest in a better tool. 

@YinTx that isn't a bad idea. It would be great for a cutting punching board kinda thing. Thanks for the idea

[TomG]

Take it back to them and make them replace it.

I had to do that with a piece of Latigo a while back.  It had a strip of rawhide about 2 wide that ran from belly to backbone. I literally had to saw through it.

I had no problem exchanging it.