Leather help?

[Daniel Macina]

I ordered 5 sq ft of Herman oak leather the other day and got a call from Springfield leather today that they where all out but had a belly that is the same weight and roughly the same size. Do y’all think this will work alright or is the belly no good for what we do?

 

[mike miller]

I would not. Wait for full side or take double shoulder if possible.

 

[Daniel Macina]

I would not. Wait for full side or take double shoulder if possible.

Ok. Thank you very much sir!

 

[Dennis Morland]

Bellies are cheap. Subject to stretching. Stick with shoulders. Much better leather.

 

[Casey Brown]

Take a look at Wicketts & Craig for orders also. I bought a side of leather from them on special and it was really good quality and fairly economical.

 

[mike miller]

I think economical is a misnomer. If you buy cheap with scars, holes, bad areas compared to more expensive that you can totally use. I buy #2 which are cheaper but have never got a piece that I could not totally use. Wicketts and Craig is top line. There are several tanneries that have closed and your options are narrowing.

 

[Casey Brown]

I agree. It's all relative. I think that my last side was a class C, and there are some areas that have little spots. I can avoid those areas for the main pieces of leather. I use them for the weld piece. Even at that, the quality of the leather is excellent. However, for the $150ish that I spent on the side of leather, I can get an untold number of sheaths out of it, so that's why I say economical.

 

[Gliden07]

I bought a Double Shoulder from Tandy on sale for 60 bucks! It was 8-9 oz. I need to find a resonable splitter though, for some projects 8-9 oz is to heavy.