leather quality Quality grading veg tan leather,

[KittenThrasher]

Hi everyone, 

I've always bought my leather from the same place pretty much forever (feels like it anyway) and thought it was time to look around a bit and see if I was missing out on anything. I quickly realized that one persons 'A' grade was another persons sack of S****e. 

I'm curious if or how people assess their leather for quality especially if you're buying online?

I got some from Tandy which was very good - exactly what I would describe as 'A' grade, then some from a small supplier which was 'pretty much ok' but nothing to shout about and I got some from an leather online specialist in Italy and the quality was utter crap. I questioned them about it and they said "expensive 'A' grade veg tan calf  is better than cheap 'A' grade veg tan calf". obviously to them 'A' grade is an entirely movable feast presumably depending what they have in stock at the time. Obviously won't ever buy from them again,,

Anyone got any thoughts?

I'll probably buy from Tandy for the moment at least.

Cheers,,

[Mattsbagger]

I was gonna say Wicket and Craig. But since you are in the Peak District that don't help probably. Off topic I like Peak Ale, Debra is a nice lady, wife and I have friends in Bakewell and we stayed in Little Longston for Christmas a few yrs ago. Did a Christmas day ramble at Chatsworth Estate. Beautiful area,nice pubs,and good ale.

Edited January 12, 2018 by Mattsbagger

[KittenThrasher]

20 hours ago, Mattsbagger said:

I was gonna say Wicket and Craig. But since you are in the Peak District that don't help probably. Off topic I like Peak Ale, Debra is a nice lady, wife and I have friends in Bakewell and we stayed in Little Longston for Christmas a few yrs ago. Did a Christmas day ramble at Chatsworth Estate. Beautiful area,nice pubs,and good ale.

Peak Ale is the good stuff, it is a nice area round here for sure, sadly quite far from Wicket and Craig although wouldn't mind going over there for a visit someday.

My main interest in this thread is just to see how people grade or choose leather, if they have any method at all, I generally fiddle with it a bit, shake my head and frown, and go; "Yeah, that'll do I guess,"

[Mattsbagger]

Every supplier has their own idea of "A" grade. I only use veg tan and I like W/C so that's what I stick with. Tandy has some Sedwick i woukd like to try but no splitter and the cost of it staggers me.lol 

[bikermutt07]

It's kind of a crap shoot online unless you know who you are buying from. I don't buy many sides, since I'm just "hobbying" about. I buy smaller quantities from @nstarleather when I can. He always overstuffs the package and sends out quality stuff at a huge savings. But, he's only shipping domestically in the States and a little to Canada (I think).

Surely there is someone like him across the pond that buys lots in bulk and sells off what they don't need. I can't imagine him being the only company in that bracket.

Good luck in your search.

[bikermutt07]

On 1/12/2018 at 3:44 PM, KittenThrasher said:

Hi everyone, 

I've always bought my leather from the same place pretty much forever (feels like it anyway) and thought it was time to look around a bit and see if I was missing out on anything. I quickly realized that one persons 'A' grade was another persons sack of S****e. 

I'm curious if or how people assess their leather for quality especially if you're buying online?

I got some from Tandy which was very good - exactly what I would describe as 'A' grade, then some from a small supplier which was 'pretty much ok' but nothing to shout about and I got some from an leather online specialist in Italy and the quality was utter crap. I questioned them about it and they said "expensive 'A' grade veg tan calf  is better than cheap 'A' grade veg tan calf". obviously to them 'A' grade is an entirely movable feast presumably depending what they have in stock at the time. Obviously won't ever buy from them again,,

Anyone got any thoughts?

I'll probably buy from Tandy for the moment at least.

Cheers,,

 

Just now, nstarleather said:

I'm happy to ship anywhere, some things like the W & C Bridle and such are worth it if you can't get them in your country.    The "scrap by the pound gets a bit more expensive" when you gotta pay international shipping but I can do that as well. 

Well, this might be an option, Kitty. This guy has great stuff.

[KittenThrasher]

Thanks for the replies folks, I may try getting some shipped from across the water if I can make the money work out. 

I guess the bottom line is that there isn't a 'standard' grading and we all do it our own way. That's fine by me as I usually know what I want, I was just curious after a bad experience (my first ever) with a large  leatheronline company in Italy.

Ps. I enjoy moking around these forums and I'm surprised there aren't more people involved, I've seen a few post about the inevitable trollish types but haven't seen or heard anything bad here at all.

One of the nice things about working with leather is that you meet or get in touch with such a wide variety of people. Long may it continue!!  

[bikermutt07]

I have ordered 6 times from NStarleather and everything he has sent me was great stuff, and well represented.

Just letting you know he has great stuff. 

[Matt S]

KT I don't know where you are in the Peaks but Abbey England is in Knutsford, which is probably a comparable journey to Manchester. They do tooling shoulders. I've not bought any off them but I've always been impressed with the quality of their bridle and service generally.

[bikermutt07]

1 hour ago, nstarleather said:

Thank you!

It's the least I could do.

[KingsCountyLeather]

On 22/1/2018 at 7:23 PM, KittenThrasher said:

Thanks for the replies folks, I may try getting some shipped from across the water if I can make the money work out. 

I guess the bottom line is that there isn't a 'standard' grading and we all do it our own way. That's fine by me as I usually know what I want, I was just curious after a bad experience (my first ever) with a large  leatheronline company in Italy.

Ps. I enjoy moking around these forums and I'm surprised there aren't more people involved, I've seen a few post about the inevitable trollish types but haven't seen or heard anything bad here at all.

One of the nice things about working with leather is that you meet or get in touch with such a wide variety of people. Long may it continue!!  

I’ve bought leather from Tandy, Metropolitan from Uk, Buyleatheronline from Italy and some from a small shop in Dublin Ireland.

What I bought in Ireland I was happy with because I was able to handle the product before buying. The leather from Tandy wasn’t finished very well at all. I bought black dyed bridle leather in two thicknesses from Metropolitan and both thicknesses were wrong and the black dye never stops rubbing off. I received my second purchase from buyleatheronline today and each time I was completely happy with the leather. 

I also purchased a lot of different types of leather from a shoe factory a few months ago and was able to see what I was buying first so I am very happy with that also.

By the sounds of it... you bought from buyleatheronline and weren’t happy?