Great Leather!

Got any great sources for leather? Tools? Machinery? Looking for sources?
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Re: Great Leather!

#351 Post by j_johansen »

Paul,
Mine came today!, and I'd definitely try the Warkov if you get a chance.
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Re: Great Leather!

#352 Post by romango »

I just received some black matte python from Columbia Impex. It's beautiful stuff! I will be making some women's zipper knee height boots for my lucky daughter.

It is quite thin, sort of like hefty cloth. Should I use a more stout liner or put a cloth (or other) backing on it?

The boots don't need to be as stiff as one might make a cowboy boot but I don't want them to blouse either.

Also, should I crimp the vamp just as I would with calf?

Any other warnings or cautions I should hear?

Thanks, as always.
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Re: Great Leather!

#353 Post by dw »

With python (I got mine from the same place), I like to back the skin with the lightest weight of leather I can find. Sometimes I get lucky and find something in the one to one and a half ounce range. I don't remember where I got the last skin of that weight of lining, but I'm always on the lookout for it.

Especially if you are going to crimp the vamps...very often (and perhaps counter-intuitively) the widest part of the skin is also the thinnest, or at least not the thickest. The black and cream coloured boots I posted--the vamp was backed with a 2 ounce veg.

Be dern careful you know what you're doing if you're going to back with cloth and especially when it comes to stretch and the direction you want the leather to give.

As far as tops, if you have a fairly firm top liner...such as an English lining kip...you may not need to back the python at all. Just be sure of the bond between the python and the liner.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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Re: Great Leather!

#354 Post by romango »

What kind of glue do you use to bond the python to the light weight leather?
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Re: Great Leather!

#355 Post by dw »

Duall 88 and yes, it probably seals the leather a bit and prevents "breathing" but it does "bond" the pieces together in a way that almost no other substance I know can do.

I might add that, in my humble opinion, no leather, but especially not the reptiles, breathes all that well anyway. It's not cloth. That said, even with the backing it will still wick moisture away from the foot...which is what people are generally thinking of and considering when they talk about leather "breathing."

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Re: Great Leather!

#356 Post by romango »

I'm not worried about breath-ability, particularly, just the mechanics. (hay, it's not for me!)

Do you make the bond wet or in the usual way of drying both surfaces first?
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Re: Great Leather!

#357 Post by dw »

Rick,

On tops I wet bond. On vamps where I want a reliably secure bond I will let both pieces dry, stick them together (the backing being bigger than the vamp) and iron them to secure the contact.

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Re: Great Leather!

#358 Post by dw »

I am posting this because I want to alert members of the Guild, in particular and the forum as well, to an exceptional deal. Silverstone Enterprises--a business selling on Ebay--has several remarkable leathers available right now at astonishing prices in "Buy Now" auctions. (and you might not see this repeated soon).

They have some very dark navy Russia calf from Edleman (one of the worlds premier leather manufacturers)on sale for $49.00 a hided--roughly 30 sq.ft.. This is a aniline dyed, veg tan leather of about three ounces. It would make a gorgeous casual shoe such as a chukka. The auction number is: 400041400715 Usually $18.00 a sq. ft.

They also have a splendid pitch brown aniline dyed veg calf, again from Edleman, called Luxe on sale. This is the leather Lance Pryor made one of his recent pairs of shoes from--an Adelaide, as I recall--and from the swatches I have seen it is without peer. It is again about three ounce but the temper and finish are just superb--it is firm (as you would expect of veg) firm enough to gimp and brogue without fear that the ornaments will stretch out of shape, yet not stiff or brittle. The auction number is: 400063811785 Usually $20.00 sq. ft.

These are both ostensibly upholstery leathers but being veg tan, they have a character that I believe will make them eminently suitable for high end bespoke shoes. That said, I am going out on a limb with this one...I have seen swatches, a respected member of the forum has used it and likes it, and my sense is that even if they disappoint, the price is so good that we could use it for sock liners and still come out ahead.

I hope that all of these go to Guild or forum members but either way I suspect that they won't last long...

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Re: Great Leather!

#359 Post by fishball »

DW,

Thank you for the sale imformation.
I ordered one sheet of the Russia calf. Let see how is it when it arrived.
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Re: Great Leather!

#360 Post by dw »

Alex,

Actually, Edleman--the manufacturer, not the seller--makes two versions of the Russia calf, both veg tanned. They have their Modernaya which is veg tanned with modern processes; and the Traditional which is an attempt to re-create the historic and legendary original...right down to being stuffed with birch oil.

They look identical to me, although the Modernaya comes in more colours, I believe. I'm sure someone who has more experience with the original Russia calf could see (and smell) the difference...and maybe even feel a certain disdain for this product. But at less than $2.00 sq.ft., it's pretty hard to beat.

Their box calf is very nice as well.

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Re: Great Leather!

#361 Post by dw »

Well, I got the Ebay leather.

The blue Modernaya Russia is a very nice colour--almost dark navy--without being so blue as to be cartoonish. The finish is a bit heavy---it looks a little too glossy on the table. But I have seen this before on shark and camel years ago and generally when the leather...in each case, heavily textured...is lasted this attribute disappears. In any case, it would be more suitable for a "country" style shoe than a dress shoe.

The pitch brown Luxe calf is gorgeous. There's at least a couple three pairs of dressy shoes in that hide and for the price, I came out way ahead. That's unusual...I never get that lucky--thanks to Lance Pryor.

Both of these are veg tanned leathers but have a suppleness seldom associated with veg. The Luxe has an aniline finish that would do justice to a fine piece of Italian calf or kangaroo. I have tried both pieces for tensile strength and have even experimented with grain holing...as if I were going to round close...with small cricket awls. While I would not think of round closing the Luxe (which is only three ounce), I have yet to break the grain pushing the awl in further than would be necessary for making the stitch. Encouraging results all the way around.

I would welcome the impressions of anyone else who took advantage of this buying opportunity.

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Re: Great Leather!

#362 Post by romango »

I recently posted a pair of shoes in The Gallery using Pitch Brown Edelman Luxe Calf Leather Upholstery Hide which I got off eBay at an incredibly good price.

They now have a Medium Brown Edelman Luxe Calf Leather Upholstery Hide avaliable here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390106498226&ssPageName=ADME: B:EOIBSA:US:1123

which I have ordered too. This is very nice stuff for boot or shoes IMHO. Check it out!
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Re: Great Leather!

#363 Post by dw »

Your pardon (again, this morning) Rick but the better link would be:

http://tinyurl.com/yzhpjj5

This takes you to the second page of the Edleman listings.

You made your fine shoes out of Edleman's Pitch Brown Luxe...this Ebay company still has several of these listed (first page of the listing) as well as a Vino (burgundy) and several Nougat (a medium reddish brown). All of these are Luxe and all of them are $3.00 a ft². Which is about 1/5 the retail price.

The Luxe is a aniline dyed veg tanned calf in about three ounces.

I hope that helps...


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Re: Great Leather!

#364 Post by 1947redhed »

Is this Edelman leather struck through?

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Re: Great Leather!

#365 Post by romango »

The pitch brown that I got certainly appeared to be.
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Re: Great Leather!

#366 Post by dw »

Georgene,

I got a whole slew of swatches from Edleman...including close to the full gamut of colours they offer in the Luxe. Every single swatch was struck through. I know that's no guarantee if only because the margins of a hide may absorb dye better than denser areas. But usually you'll see at at least one swatch in a bunch that is at odds with the rest if that were going to be the case.

Edleman manufactures upholstery leather. Aside from having a very (ahem) good opinion of themselves, most of it is unusable for shoes, in my opinion, more because of finish issues than the actual quality of the leather. the Luxe is veg tanned and aniline dyed and very beautiful. They also have a Scotch Grain that I like and their vintage Russia calf looks promising (the Modernaya has a rubbery, "upholstery" finish).

But all lines appear to be struck through.

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Re: Great Leather!

#367 Post by kieran_ionescu »

Does anyone know who carries veg-tan calfskin? I checked with Hardtke and GN. Thanks in advance.

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Re: Great Leather!

#368 Post by dw »

Kieran,

Waterhouse Leather 1.800.322.1177. Ask for Peter, tell him DW sent you.

He carries veg-tanned calf for lining and for uppers.

I like both.

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Re: Great Leather!

#369 Post by corvin »

Anyone have suggestions on where I might be able to find calf that has a pewter/silver finish but not a reflective metallic?

Thanks,
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Re: Great Leather!

#370 Post by jon_g »

Does it have to be calf?
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Re: Great Leather!

#371 Post by jon_g »

The reason I ask is that Shrut and Ashe sell a metallic kid skin that is a little thicker and a little stiffer than their regular kid skins. The options for colours are huge too, gold, silver, pewter, bronze, copper avaliable in gloss or matte. We also recieved a metallic kid skin from Garlin Neumann (from their specials list) that was even beefier than the S and A stuff. I don't know if any of this will help.

Good Luck,

(Message edited by Jon G on October 31, 2009)
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Re: Great Leather!

#372 Post by corvin »

Thanks Jon for the leads.

My concern with the S&A kid is that it's a bit too delicate.

Thanks,
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Re: Great Leather!

#373 Post by romango »

After the AGM meeting this year, I went on a little side trip to visit Waterhouse Leather in Littleton MA and Lewis Sales in Lawrence MA.

Lewis Sales is a company that buys up the inventory of bankrupt shoe manufacturers and resells it to other businesses. In their heyday, this was a big business. Now with only a handful of shoe manufacturers in the US, it's a bit ghostly at Lewis.

At any rate, Lewis recently bought out Foot Joy Shoes, a golf shoe manufacturer. So they have pallet upon pallet of white and black leather. Not particularly nice stuff. While roaming through their 300,000 foot warehouse I came across a few pallets of some very nice looking pebble grain leather. I was informed by Paul, the owner, that this was the French Calf that Foot Joy used to make their high end shoes.

I had been looking for some box calf. I have seen at least 6 definitions of what "box calf" means but I had come to think of it as having a pebble grain such as the stuff at Lewis. At $1.60/sq ft, which is cheaper that the stuff I buy to make fitters, it seems a pretty good deal. So, I bought way too much of it.

I think this kind of patterned leather is generally out of style these days, but I like it and I think it will work out well for some full brogues and maybe some dance shoes as well.

This one is my favorite:
10384.jpg

10385.jpg

10386.jpg

10387.jpg


At Waterhouse, Peter has a new veg calf that seems promising too. I think this was $2.50/sq ft but don't quote me. I haven't got the invoice yet.
10388.jpg
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Re: Great Leather!

#374 Post by romango »

Lewis Sales: (978) 682-3587 (Paul)
Waterhouse: (800) 233-1177 (Peter)
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Re: Great Leather!

#375 Post by jon_g »

Rick, thanks for the tip. Can you give us an idea of the qualities of the pebble grain leather, thickness softness etc. I too have been looking for some of this traditional style leather, I'm always a little unsure ordering unseen.

Thanks,

Jon
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