Leatherworking: it puts the lotion on its skin

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Leatherworking: it puts the lotion on its skin

edmund745: Jun 5, 2010

angrytech posted:

So once I burn through the starter kit, how would I actually go about ordering more leather? I see that the Tandy website has an entire "Leather" section, but it looks like they're selling whole cows in there, and I'd only be looking for something a few square feet.

First off you should really look around in your area and see if there's any leathercraft stores that run classes (many do). These places usually have a BIG scrap pile of leather that they sell cheap--usually by the pound or 'grab-bag' or whatever. It will be usually just mixed cowhide, but if you're just making small stuff or just practicing something it is still useful.

Also,,,,,,, Tandy is nice for a number of reasons, but their selection of hides (that is, different kinds of animals) isn't real good. It's not bad for the price, but its pretty much just cowhide, goat-hide and little furs like rabbit. Local shops tend to carry more interesting stuff, and to have sources to order exotics that they don't have on hand.

Some examples of what else there is:
http://www.exoticleather.biz/

....??? and oddly enough, I see that kangaroo is not on that page? (-well it does say "from Tailand",,, but they have peccary?... oh well)

Anyway, I got into this for whip-making, and kangaroo is the traditional (exotic) leather used for that. It is expensive and looks rather plain, but it is very thin yet very strong--it is about 4X stronger than any other leather of the same thickness. Good lace is usually cut from kangaroo hide.

edmund745 fucked around with this message at 11:34 on Aug 21, 2012

# ¿ Aug 21, 2012 11:32

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edmund745: Jun 5, 2010

ZarathustraFollower posted:

So I have a weird leather care/possible replacement question. My gf is restoring an old belt driven printing press. ...

FWIW, McMaster-Carr still sells leather belting in a few different sizes. Some of it is nylon-core stuff but most is just plain leather, that wouldn't *appear* to be too difficult to make yourself.

The main issue is joining the ends.... Sometimes they had these things that looked like little metal staples, that fit into holes in each end. So you could unhook the ends, but only if the belt wasn't under tension.

The McMaster page implies that you skive the ends off and glue them together. They don't appear to sell any hardware that is vintage-styled.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2013 11:31

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