need to process/organize 20lb's of Springfield upholstery leather

[tater1337]

Hi


I got a 20 pound box of uhposldtery leather from Springfield yesterday

some pieces are really nice, but then I have some pieces that are 20ft long and range in width from 1/4 inch to 6 inches

what's some good guidelines to cut up these hard-to-store pieces into useable and easy to handle scrap sizes

I am very new

how new?

2 months ago the local makerspace gave away a lot of random leather...(I should have grabbed more) for non-leatherworking utility (gaskets, seals, vice soft jaws)
then I got a stitch awl from harbor freight and made a pocket for my laptop mouse to keep the cord tangling with the power supply in my laptop bag
then made another pocket for the laptop power supply
thick leather so I used a dremel with drill bit for stitch lines, crooked as heck
THEN I got stitching punch
THEN I looked at twitch streams for leather and found a coupon code for....
THEN I got the 20lb box of upholstery leather
currently working on a tool pouch for the punches and sorting out this box o  leather

and I might not even continue in this hobby, but my brain is on this

just adding new skills to my vast array of skills

 

I am guessing I need to determine the smallest panel size and smallest strap size and go from there. I have no end use, so matching the scraps to a finished product is not feasible 

[RockyAussie]

5 hours ago, tater1337 said:

what's some good guidelines to cut up these hard-to-store pieces into useable and easy to handle scrap sizes

If you have no idea what they could become then I think the logical answer would be whatever size box will store well in the area you have available to store it. The bigger the better and as far as boxes go them plastic ones that can stack on top of each other may be worth thinking about. Anything that looks not very useful keep in a smaller box for skiving and stitching and stamping practice etc.

[tater1337]

let see if I can get pictures to work
yardstick for scale, red lines seem obvious, but what about the blue lines?
that narrow strip, how thin before one can just turn it into sawdust instead of saving for watchbands?


 

[tater1337]

5 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

the logical answer would be whatever size box will store well in the area you have available to store it.

but I might look at it backwards, what are the common sizes I can expect so I know what storage devices to buy, and that will determine their location

fredK offered a good suggestion, he determines that pieces roughly in sizes of A3, A4 & A5 should be grouped that way and stored as such. but I am looking for other suggestions 

[fredk]

2 hours ago, tater1337 said:

. . . 
fredK offered a good suggestion, he determines that pieces roughly in sizes of A3, A4 & A5 should be grouped that way and stored as such. but I am looking for other suggestions 

I should have added; that is for the small pieces. Pieces which could make light weight cheap shoulder bags and such.

I have two, [ 2 ], plastic boxes, each 80 litre size [we measure plastic boxes by the litre sizing, but they are about 24 inches high by 14 inches front to back and about 20 inches across] stuffed full of the bigger pieces. One piece was so big I made a tabard from it just by cutting a hole to go over the head and adding straps & buckles to the sides!

2 hours ago, tater1337 said:

but I might look at it backwards, what are the common sizes I can expect so I know what storage devices to buy, and that will determine their location

Note down the things you'd like to make. Then browse around and look at things already made and at patterns. Things can be made to suit your leather

I'd advise you to NOT cut that leather down just for storage. You never know that when you are making something that you can cut a piece out of a larger piece, which you have.

Get a good memory, not that I have, and try to remember what you have. Get used to searching thru your supply for that piece that you can use

Nice thing about leather is you can make something out of pieces and if its done tidily it will look good. eg a shoulder bag; 9 x 7 inches = a front panel, a back panel, a flap and gussets. Front panel, back panel both about 10 x 8 inches, flap about 6 x 8 inches, gusset, about 23inches long  by ? inches, in one piece, or two or three pieces joined

[zuludog]

As already mentioned, and no doubt will be in future Posts, as a general rule sort the pieces according to their size/thickness/colour depending on how keen you are, and store in plastic boxes - or old cardboard boxes  if you're on the cheap

Only cut up the pieces if you need to

Have you any ideas what you'd like to make? If not Search YouTube for smaller items - wallets, card holders, slip covers for folding knives, small possibles bags, belt pouches, bookmarks, key rings. You can get cutters & templates to make belts from smaller links

Could make patchwork bags & handbags......or a stacked leather knife handle, Search YT

[tater1337]

4 hours ago, zuludog said:

Have you any ideas what you'd like to make? If not Search YouTube

I've been searching all of google for such things...nothing has really popped out at me

I also have hobbies including 3d printing, woodworking, metal working and machining, lasercutting, and some CNC things.

so I do have a lot of hammers, and have gotten to the point of not thinking of everything being a nail for one type hammer

I am also learning about injection molding and latex/resin casting, so my plate gets full

 

[tater1337]

8 hours ago, fredk said:

I should have added; that is for the small pieces. Pieces which could make light weight cheap shoulder bags and such.

yeah, this is a box of upholstery scraps, I think the biggest piece was a 18x18 panel, maybe another one 12x2

most of it is like the picture I posted, parts 12-20  ft long that vary from 1/2 to 6 inches wide. so not easy to store flat or roll as single pieces

trying to store them flat  would require a shelf that is larger than my queen bed, and I like the idea of storing them flat. some of the makerspace stuff I had stored curved (not big enough to roll) and dried to that shape(drying out is another issue I need to research for this scrap makerspace leather of unknown origin)

note, if I really need a piece for something, I'll go buy it. I just am wanting to have a good gesalt of lather to start with

and yeah, I think the stuff I want to work on will always be small pieces, if I want bigger I might look at my other hobby disciplines for solutions

[tater1337]

one other option I thought of

but I think I am just going to trim these into 36" sections, as I think I got a storage area that might be better for that size

 

[tater1337]

finished, images too big and I didn't want to fight with resizing

for everyone in the future
here is my advice
please note that I  am NOT an expert, but I'll explain my reasoning

first, this is a box of leather you got cheap, if you screw it up trimming to store, just go get more

second, I underestimated the panel sizes I mentioned, this [package is a fairly good deal, but caveat emptor

third, any place that where the leather narrows, cut there, look for places where the narrow bits are already damaging your leather due to stress loads, this will help you get them into somewhat more manageable pieces. you might sacrifice some bits to make larger panels at the cost of scavenging stuff that could make straps

https://imgur.com/a/PXnMJzz