Splitting Shell Cordovan

[scrapyarddog]

Have a request to make a wallet out of a whiskey shell. The leather seems to 3-4 oz and might get too thick if it's made into a bifold with 3 card slots on each side.

Anyone has any experience splitting these? I have a Cobra 14" splitter that works great on cow hide, but not sure what it would do to shell. Kind of expensive to "experiment" with shell.

[bikermutt07]

(pulls up a chair and starts eating popcorn).

[scrapyarddog]

8 minutes ago, bikermutt07 said:

(pulls up a chair and starts eating popcorn).

Lol! Seat beside you taken?

 

Waiting to get schooled.

[thefanninator]

What leather do you plan on for interior?

Send it out to be split. A couple places have band knife splitters now.

Ask these if they'll split it...

Rocky Mountain Leather Supply (Utah)

District Leather Supply (Georgia)

The Hide Shop (Canada)

Edited May 8, 2018 by thefanninator

[scrapyarddog]

3 minutes ago, thefanninator said:

What leather do you plan on for interior?

Send it out to be split. A couple places have band knife splitters now.

Ask these if they'll split it...

Rocky Mountain Leather Supply (Utah)

District Leather Supply (Georgia)

The Hide Shop (Canada)

Wondering if the Cobra I have would do the job. It's fine splitting to 2-3 oz for veg tanned cow hide.

 

Interior? That's the thing. The request is to make it with shell. I'm wondering if shell is suitable for this?

[sheathmaker]

Your Cobra 14 will probably do the job......BUT I would first remove the blade and strop it to make sure it has a sharp "new" edge and then take a small piece and do a test split to be sure the temper of your leather is going to run through smoothly and give about the required thickness.  If all goes well, hold your breath and split the oversize wallet pieces.  Good Luck! I have successfully split many different exotic leathers other than veg tan on my C14, but there is always the chance for a screw up.

Edited May 8, 2018 by sheathmaker

[scrapyarddog]

6 minutes ago, sheathmaker said:

Your Cobra 14 will probably do the job......BUT I would first remove the blade and strop it to make sure it has a sharp "new" edge and then take a small piece and do a test split to be sure the temper of your leather is going to run through smoothly and give about the required thickness.  If all goes well, hold your breath and split the oversize wallet pieces.  Good Luck! I have successfully split many different exotic leathers other than veg tan on my C14, but there is always the chance for a screw up.

I just got the C14 a month ago and ran a limited amount of leather for practice and production. The blad should still be quite sharp but doesn't hurt to strop it.

Going to hold my breath. Hope no stroke.

[chrisash]

Whats a whiskey shell?

[bikermutt07]

@chrisash    Shell cordovan, whiskey color. High end leather that comes from only the rump of horses. Each horse only yields 2 shells. Very expensive stuff.

[TonySFLDLTHR]

1 hour ago, chrisash said:

Whats a whiskey shell?

Here is a write up that we did on the process of Shell.

http://springfieldleather.com/shell-cordovan

[chrisash]

Many thanks to you both, but i doubt i will use much, I thought £6-7 per square ft was expensive

Mention Horse leather to many girls around here and they will bust out crying and put curses on you (learnt from Hogwarts)

[Matt S]

6 hours ago, chrisash said:

Many thanks to you both, but i doubt i will use much, I thought £6-7 per square ft was expensive

Mention Horse leather to many girls around here and they will bust out crying and put curses on you (learnt from Hogwarts)

One of my dealers has some really beautiful hair-on pony that I've been tempted by, but I fear the same reaction. Spose I could describe it as nag hide...

[scrapyarddog]

In case anyone was still wondering, I split it with no problem with Cobra. Do not recommend splitting thinner than 3 oz b/c shell is very impressionable and the bottom roller might leave horizontal marks if you split it too thin.

[bikermutt07]

Thanks for sharing.

[scrapyarddog]

On 2018/5/9 at 2:32 AM, chrisash said:

Many thanks to you both, but i doubt i will use much, I thought £6-7 per square ft was expensive

Mention Horse leather to many girls around here and they will bust out crying and put curses on you (learnt from Hogwarts)

It's too expensive for me too. Took a deep breath before marking. Beautiful leather, and you can see how dense it is after you split it.

I did not split the pieces for the main body of the wallet. 

[TxLeather]

On 5/7/2018 at 9:52 PM, bikermutt07 said:

(pulls up a chair and starts eating popcorn).

I'm here too ;-)

[TxLeather]

16 hours ago, scrapyarddog said:

In case anyone was still wondering, I split it with no problem with Cobra. Do not recommend splitting thinner than 3 oz b/c shell is very impressionable and the bottom roller might leave horizontal marks if you split it too thin.

Thanks for sharing scrapyarddog.

[MG513]

On 5/16/2018 at 12:03 PM, scrapyarddog said:

It's too expensive for me too. Took a deep breath before marking. Beautiful leather, and you can see how dense it is after you split it.

I did not split the pieces for the main body of the wallet. 

So you went full thickness for the outer body but 3oz on the pockets? How’s it turn out? That’s still pretty thick.

I see many makers overseas get their shell thinned quite a bit and it just makes for a much sleeker look. I’m looking to do my first wallet too but have no way of splitting without send it out 

[mike02130]

I read somewhere (maybe Horween?) that horse leather comes from Canada and Europe (UK?) and is a byproduct of the food industry.  Americans don't eat horses.

[Rahere]

I'm good for any chevaline filet d'anvers going.

[scrapyarddog]

On 1/15/2021 at 5:02 AM, MG513 said:

So you went full thickness for the outer body but 3oz on the pockets? How’s it turn out? That’s still pretty thick.

I see many makers overseas get their shell thinned quite a bit and it just makes for a much sleeker look. I’m looking to do my first wallet too but have no way of splitting without send it out 

It's been 2 years almost 3, and you reminded me of an embarrassing comment I made back then.

It turned out less than stellar.

Now, I think 2 oz is the thickest one should go, and depending on the technique you use, you might want to consider skiving further.