tooling leather is changing?

[Mike Craw]

Is it just me, or has anybody else noticed a change in tooling leather? I think in recent years that the veg tanned leather we have been getting in saddle sides 13 -15 oz in the shop, commercial belt blanks, and leather in kits has changed dramatically. The new stuff looks and feels like paper. It looks whiter and has a papery feel to me. When it's tooled, the burnishing looks a copper/bronze sort of brown. It doesn't seem to make a whole lot of difference who the supplier is.

I was going through my scrap bin the other day and was struck by how much deeper and richer the color seemed on the older pieces, and how much more like leather it feels. I cased a piece and fooled around with a beveler. The leather took the impressions much easier and the burnish was more brown and shiney.

Any ideas?

Mike

[Zilla]

I do have to agree with you. Seeing the last time I tooled leather was 20+ years ago and just this month got myself the Deluxe starter kit from Tandy. I remember the kits being much thicker and the leather in them darker.

I just picked up the Roper Wallet yesterday and the leather was parchment paper color and if you ask me pretty dang thin.

[Dan Hammons]

You can still get good leather but it's not gonna come out of a Tandy kit right now........I don't know where Tandy is getting their kit leather but they need to change suppliers cuz the way it is now I don't care if it's even in the bag cuz I'm not gonna use it anyway. to me it looks and feels like a radish you should have pulled a month ago . It must be all their kits cuz the leather in these flasks are the same way as the leather in the ones you two got ,