20LB of remnants at $40 - a good deal?

[Armaniak]

Hello everyone and thank you for having this great forum!

I want to make some simple wallets for me and friends and I found out this deal:

https://www.springfieldleather.com/Big-Box-Upholstery-20-Pounds

This deal looks too good to be true. It's about $40 including shipping in the US. This is the wallet I'm looking to make - it seems like 3-4oz leather with suede on the outside and I was wandering if the Springfield remnants will fit the job:

 

[Klara]

Whether there's leather you like for your wallets in the box is a gamble. Maybe, maybe not, I couldn't begin to guess.

BUT: How many wallets do you want to make? 20 lbs is a lot more than you need for "some". What had you planned to do with the rest?

Also, chrome-tanned leather is not expensive, I think you should be able to find a more appropriate quantity for much less money (because shipping cost will be lower).

(I've had a hard time learning this and still have not fully integrated it, but do as I say and not as I do: Buying materials just because it seems like a good buy and one day it might be useful for something is a slippery slope to clutter and chaos. Have at least a vague plan for what to do with things before ordering. Often enough the plans won't work out and you'll still get a nice stock of materials - knitters call it "sable", stash acquisition beyond life expectancy -, but the mess will accumulate slower.)

[fredk]

I say go for it. The leather will last you a while and you can make other things from it. Almost 20 years on I'm still using some of 50kg upholstery leather I got in a deal

[Armaniak]

1 hour ago, Klara said:

Whether there's leather you like for your wallets in the box is a gamble. Maybe, maybe not, I couldn't begin to guess.

BUT: How many wallets do you want to make? 20 lbs is a lot more than you need for "some". What had you planned to do with the rest?

Also, chrome-tanned leather is not expensive, I think you should be able to find a more appropriate quantity for much less money (because shipping cost will be lower).

(I've had a hard time learning this and still have not fully integrated it, but do as I say and not as I do: Buying materials just because it seems like a good buy and one day it might be useful for something is a slippery slope to clutter and chaos. Have at least a vague plan for what to do with things before ordering. Often enough the plans won't work out and you'll still get a nice stock of materials - knitters call it "sable", stash acquisition beyond life expectancy -, but the mess will accumulate slower.)

Thanks for the tips! I can always sell the rest as it's not very available where I live (outside the US). I haven't found any better deal per pound and the leather is $15 and the shipping is $23 so total 38 dollar.

life is a gamble so worst case scenario I've lost 38 dollars... but if it works out it could be fun!

 

42 minutes ago, fredk said:

I say go for it. The leather will last you a while and you can make other things from it. Almost 20 years on I'm still using some of 50kg upholstery leather I got in a deal

YOLO! Thanks.

[Klara]

Where do you live? The way I see it, there's a lot more leather around than I once would have thought. Ideally you would find a local store where you could see and touch the leather before buying...

Price per pound is not important, as you need pieces of a certain size to be able to make certain things. Springfield promise "pieces ranging from small and scrappy to pieces big enough to make handbags, approx. 2 sq. ft" - but they don't say how many pounds will be big and how many scrappy...

(I still haven't used any of my surprise package of leather cords - what I have is always too thick, too thin, the wrong colour or too short...)

Edited June 11, 2021 by Klara

[fredk]

51 minutes ago, Klara said:

. . .Price per pound is not important, as you need pieces of a certain size to be able to make certain things . . . 

True, but its also very much fun taking odd pieces of 'scrap' and turning them into something

These were made from my upholstery 'scrap'

I've made maybe 30 - 40 wee hats like this, this is a 4-panel type, some have 8-panels because of the size of scrap pieces;

Maybe 20 book covers like this;

I used to make this 'Robin Hood' hat for children. I reckon I made about 20 or 30

Numerous draw-string money bags, odd pouches for my (old) medieval team. Once I had a very large piece and made it into a tabard for one of the 'knights' in my group. Using some of my scrap #3 son glued the scrap to some canvas in patchwork fashion and made a tote bag for his girlfriend. 

I find the thinking out a design to fit what stock I have is part of the fun of leatherwork

 

[Klara]

2 hours ago, fredk said:

...

I find the thinking out a design to fit what stock I have is part of the fun of leatherwork

 

It certainly can be if one enjoys that kind of work. And there's nothing wrong with buying 20 lbs of leather scraps if one has the money and storage space. I'm just trying to point out that for "some wallets" 20 lbs might be overkill. 

Says the lady who bought D-Rings in packs of 50 in three colours to make a few dog collars... (in my defense, the 30 I'll need would have cost the same as 50)

[Tugadude]

16 hours ago, Armaniak said:

Hello everyone and thank you for having this great forum!

I want to make some simple wallets for me and friends and I found out this deal:

https://www.springfieldleather.com/Big-Box-Upholstery-20-Pounds

This deal looks too good to be true. It's about $40 including shipping in the US. This is the wallet I'm looking to make - it seems like 3-4oz leather with suede on the outside and I was wandering if the Springfield remnants will fit the job:

 

I do business with Springfield Leather Co. and have never found any of their "deals" to be a disappointment.  Usually I find that what they offer is beyond expectations.  I'm sure the box will have a lot of nice, usable leather.  All of the comments/reviews on the 20 lb. box were very favorable, except for one, and I think that person is probably a troll.  I doubt seriously that SLC would send out a box of "quarter" sized pieces of leather.  If you are going to intentionally make a negative review at least make it believable.  Some have way too much time on their hands.

[JohnnyLongpants]

The deal is a good price. 

The main concern I have is that it is upholstery leather.  The wallets shown in the original post work well when made out of veg-tan or out of shoe/boot/bag leather.  Those types of leathers tend to be firmer.  I would suggest 3-4 oz or a little thicker or thinner.

Upholstery leather tends to be quite thin and also quite floppy.  Used for wallets, it would be fine when it had cards in it, but when empty would be limp.  For making drawstring bags, garments, or other soft stuff, that leather would be great.

[Armaniak]

2 hours ago, JohnnyLongpants said:

The deal is a good price. 

The main concern I have is that it is upholstery leather.  The wallets shown in the original post work well when made out of veg-tan or out of shoe/boot/bag leather.  Those types of leathers tend to be firmer.  I would suggest 3-4 oz or a little thicker or thinner.

Upholstery leather tends to be quite thin and also quite floppy.  Used for wallets, it would be fine when it had cards in it, but when empty would be limp.  For making drawstring bags, garments, or other soft stuff, that leather would be great.

Thanks for the tips! The range of leather in the box is said to be 2-4 so I hope there will be enough 3-4 pieces.