We used to have a Tandy outlet here, and even if prices were a little high, it was nice to be able to take a pattern down and sort through the chunks of vegetable tan to find a good piece. Looks now like I'm going to have to buy over the Net, or on out-of-town trips.
I get mine from Golliger Leather. They're a good outfit and their leather is top quality.
Golliger Leather Co, Inc.
1580 Saratoga Ave., Unit A
Ventura, CA 93003
800-423-2329
888-44-HIDES
Fax: 805-650-1742
They'll ship it right to you.
I'm also going to "sticky" this so as pards put their contact information in, it will be available for quick reference.
Wickett & Craig - www.wickett-craig.com - IMO the best of the best
Demers Leather - www.demersleather.com
Colorado Leather - 719-633-8722
Siegel of Ca - www.siegelofca.com
Mid-Continent Leather Sales Company (800) 926-2061 www.midcontinentleather.com/
I buy most of my leather from Siegels also.
Oregon Bill, I just found this place in Eugene and bought alot of stuff. They have more than Huff's ever did. Does your interest in leather mean your getting ready to start Cowboy Action Shooting in Ashland? ;D
http://www.oregonleatherco.com/
Tandy Leather has a pretty good sale on right now for 8-10oz stuff. I bought 15.6ssq-ft of shoulders for $3.99/sq-ft.
The local shop I go to has a pretty good assortment and will order up what they don't have. They also give me internet prices on the spot if I bring in a printout from the website.
Hola Guano: Sorry to take so long to see your post. Yes, I hope to show up at the Ashland club heeled here before too long. That's assuming the Ashland club ain't so full of floodwater that we'll have to make it a bass club instead!
I too prefer Wickett & Craig.
I almost always use Weaver. Good selection .... nice double bends in 8/9 oz. Good quality custom strap cutting.
I've heard a lot of good things about Weaver. have not bought from them yet, but probably will in the future. The variances in the hides from Tandy is signifgant, some carves like butter and in 6" you can barely scratch it. And if you don't prepare for dying there is no telling what color it will come out, very inconsistent.
The down side is I really like to put my hands on the hides and make my choice.
Quote from: Klondike on February 21, 2006, 10:26:08 PMThe down side is I really like to put my hands on the hides and make my choice.
I'm with you. I like to feel the leather for consistency, especially on the flesh side. I don't have any suppliers close by, so I have to rely on them to send me good hides. At that, I still end up with some hides that leave a lot of scrap.
Here in Vegas, we have a Tandy Leather store here, also there is a guy who has a permanent set up at one of the local Swap Meets and is there every weekend. There is also a LeatherCraft store, or should I say, a guy who sells/repairs commercial sewing machines also sells some of the LeatherCraft items...his selection is small but when I can't get it at the Tandy store I go there...
Will,
I know what you mean about scrap. Some of the "good leather" has so much loose material on the underside that if I start with 9-10 oz, and skive or sand all the crap away I'm lucky to have 3-4 oz. I'm considering just using double shoulders, they seem to be cleaner and more consistent, but much higher. Trouble with shoulders is when you have a fellow that needs a 60" + belt, you have to have a side, Oh well what's a little more leather inventory? ;D I go into the leather shops and see a hide I just have to have (you know one of those Brindle hair on's or some real good color in a split), no clue what I'm going to use it for yet, but it just calls my name, kinda like a new gun. ;D
Quote from: Klondike on March 07, 2006, 08:53:08 PMI go into the leather shops and see a hide I just have to have (you know one of those Brindle hair on's or some real good color in a split), no clue what I'm going to use it for yet, but it just calls my name, kinda like a new gun. ;D
LOL, you're not the only one, there. ;D
New source for good leather.
http://www.thoroughbredleather.com/home.html (http://www.thoroughbredleather.com/home.html)
Good quality and looks good.
Very comperable to Wickett and Craig, but a little cheaper.
Ask for inspected hides to avoid a lot of fat wrinkles, scars etc...
Thought I'd pass it on.
Kid
My brother or I have made the majority of my Rigs as No One makes them for my Remington, M,H&Co., Webley, Le Mat, Tranter, etc. Pistoles.
I've some originals that I use upon occasion, I've also some Rigs from River Junction, a custome Rig for my Remington from Bachman of Bozeman, Montana
I either pick it up at Tandy( tandy Store or the Leather Factory) when I am in Abq or El Paso or if I am noth going out of town and need some for a project I will either call the ABQ store or use Hidecrafters depending on who has the best price on it.
I went to the leather store today. Handled and plowed through about 40-45 chap and trim hides and woundup with 12. Some were beautiful till you opened them up all the way, lots of blems, both natural and manmade. If I had bought them sight unseen, I would have a 40% waste factor.
Hey Will, there was two that just kept calling me by name. One was a real nice hair on black and white, the other is a beautiful Euro Upholstery, Black, grained. It has that feel and a bananna smell, absolutely beautiful leather, almost too nice to cut into. ;D you know the kind I'm talking about. ;D LOL
Quote from: Klondike on April 04, 2006, 03:01:05 PMHey Will, there was two that just kept calling me by name. One was a real nice hair on black and white, the other is a beautiful Euro Upholstery, Black, grained. It has that feel and a bananna smell, absolutely beautiful leather, almost too nice to cut into. ;D you know the kind I'm talking about. ;D LOL
Yeah, I picked up a few of those in the past. Got one that begged to be felt so I made a chair. Came out great.
;)Good thing I saw this question...it reminded me of a bunch o' danged hide I been storin' up. I bought at auction, about ten years ago, twelve tanned deer hides. At a rummage sale, six already processed buffalo hides that came from a shoe factory, (high gloss black) and a 'Taxidermied' Mountain Lion hide from about forty-fifty year ago! Think I'll run 'em over to Iowa, there's a young Native American couple, husband and wife, that custom make Indian clothing and accessories, scabbards, knife sheaths, etc; may as well git it all used up before it ain't no good! 8)
Try Zack White Leather
Here is a link right to their leather selector page :
http://www.eleatherworks.com/home.php?cat=260 (http://www.eleatherworks.com/home.php?cat=260)
Howdy All.
Does anyone know what happened to Tioga Oak from the Eberle Tanning Co. in PA? The last time I called the phone was disconnected and that was THE best leather I have ever worked with. Their 10/12 oz. cut like 8-9 oz!!
Panhead Pete
Panhead:
According to the PA. Dept. of State (corporation search) the status for Eberle Tanning Co., is listed as "withdrawn". So they evidently have shut down operations.
Hermann Oak Leather, St Louis. They have been in business since 1881 and supplied many of the old time saddle shops with the highest quality skirting leather. When I started my business in 1978, I tried leather from every tannery in the U.S. Hermann Oak leather is easy to work with, it's the best for tooling and the quality of my finished product is a testimony to the quality of their leather. I buy ten backs at a time every month, which averages out to about 190 square feet in every order. Tandy used to handle Hermann Oak Leather but I'm not sure if they do anymore.
Adios,
Buck
Howdy
To buy from H/O you have to buy 10 at a time of the same weight. That makes it hard on crafters.
For those that can't buy that much, Stonehedge leather in San Diego sells H/O.
For those with a resale no. Goligers Leather in Ventura Ca, carries it.
WC
Tandy no longer catalogs HO leather but lists a Live Oak Brand as their American tannage top line product. For the most part I now prefer to use double shoulders and bends rather than sides and have found this to be offered by very few in the HO line. Lately more and more of my leather purchases are coming from Weaver leather in lots of ten. They allow mix-matching of leather to get the reduced price. This is most often leather out of Mexico BUT I have found it to be about equivalent to the Tandy Live Oak brand. With most bundles of leather, from everyone I have tried from, there seems to be a fair amount of quality spread between the best piece and the worst in their highest grade. Weaver quality, in the pieces I use, tends to be fairly consistent within a bundle and it is usually about a pretty good mid-grade(stay with Sandesso for best quality in the Mexican stuff). They also offer HO but it is only in full sides, this can also be mix-match for discount pricing.
I fill in my needs with hand picked products from Tandy. Weavers selection of weights does leave a few holes in my regular shopping list.
Hi all,
I'm another one sold on Hermann Oak leather. It works wonderfully and carves like butter. I buy it here in Portland from Oregon Leather Co. MacPhersons in Seattle carries it, as well as Montana Leather in Billings.
Jim
Indeed : Hermann Oak is heads and "shoulders" ::) above the rest. Here in Texas, there are two suppliers that handle it: I buy mine from Panhandle Leather. A 7/8oz. side is $145.00 and ten bucks to ship it. No sales tax for you people outside Texas.
http://www.panhandleleather.com/ (http://www.panhandleleather.com/)
Hermann Oak's website:
http://www.hermannoakleather.com/ (http://www.hermannoakleather.com/)
"we use only Prime Grade Heavy U.S. Native Steer Hides in our St. Louis tannery."
(reason enough right there!)
"Our tanning process has changed little since Louis Charles Hermann originally formulated it in 1881. We still use the finest natural tree bark in our tanning liquors for wonderful richness and texture. The leather is tanned until it is firm, strong, and tight-fibred. Our technicians then hand-work each side for a smooth, consistent, even-colored piece of leather."
I took a Saddlery/Bridlery class at the Cumbria school of Saddlery in England and you would be amazed at the quality of the leather available over there. My absolute favorite is JE Sedgwick. The only place that carries it in the US is Siegels and it's comparatively pricey. The stirrup butts are 5mm and tough as iron. I made a belt out of some last year and it still looks brand new. If you want good flexibility and strength, the 4mm bridle backs can't be beat. I just bought some 2mm bridle back for a money belt...should only take 8 weeks to get it. :'(
The wax content is so high you don't need anything else to burnish the edges. The London Tan color is my fave, along with Australian Nut.
Howdy Pards,
As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for! I guess since I live in the middle of no where, where the wages are low, people won't spend the money on good hand crafted Holsters and Belts. they go to the local gun shows and there will be some one there, selling the mexican made holsters and belts. they don't know that there buying urune tanned leather that is run thew a machine to get those floral Patterns, all they see is $69.95!!
For people like me, that just do it for a hobby, can't buy to many sides at $240.00 at Tandy! I have been lucky to find places that i can buy scrap that I can make slim jims, and once in awhile get a couple peices big enough to make a skirt holster! i set up at a gun show a month or so ago, i just had some reloading stuff to sell, but I took my personal leather goods, just so I could fill my table. Acrossed the isle from me was a guy man & his wife and father in law. The first day he and his wife came over several times and looked at my leather goods, and the young man, ask me if I could make him and his father in law a couple Real heavy rifle scabbors for the scoped high Power rifles, and he wanted real heavy sheep wool lined to protect there guns, i said that I could do that, and he wanted to know how much? I told him I would have to figure that out at home that night and give him a price the next day! When I got home, I had just got a flyer from tandy and they had one of there better grades of leather on sale.
So I took that with me, and the next day he came over and ask if i had came up with a price, I opened up the flyer and showed him what the leather would cost, not counting the sheep wool lining.And he said he would have to talked it over with his father in law, and that was the end of that!!
If a person is getting orders, then he can pay the price for good leaher, but around here, people want Top Notch stuff for Mexican price!
So I am glad that Marshall Will is going to sticky this, maybe someone will post where there is some bargin leather!
You all have a good day!
ACE
We have some more information that I'm copying from another thread. Thanks for the input, Stitch.
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Title: Re: How come leather is so high?
Post by: Stitch on March 19, 2009, 06:07:10 PM
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Take heed though ... There is a HUGE diference between USA OAK tanned leather
and "Other Countries" Veg tanned leather ....
Myself I use only Wickett & Craig Oak skirting ..Always have, Always will
The quality is worth the price.
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Title: Re: How come leather is so high?
Post by: Ace Lungger on March 19, 2009, 07:40:26 PM
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Stitch,
If I ever get good enough to put things on the market and sell them, I will try the good stuff. But my lifes sisutation won't allow me to pay for the Best.
thank you so much for the Reply!
ACE
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Title: Re: How come leather is so high?
Post by: Stitch on March 19, 2009, 08:12:58 PM
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Ace,
We all start out small, Never sell yourself short, Never limit yourself
Reach for the sky, it's there to be grasped ... don't say "If I get to the point"
Think "WHEN I get to the point"
One thing I've learned in 20+ years in this trade is that some stuff I absolutly hate..
My customers absolutly love.
A full side of good Oak tanned skirting in any weight you want can be gotten from Wickett & Craig
for around $135. or so ... It's a good investment.
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Title: Re: How come leather is so high?
Post by: Ace Lungger on March 20, 2009, 07:21:46 AM
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I went yo the Wickett & Craig web site, they state on small orders to go to The Tannery Warehouse,
does this place have a web site? I looked but I did not find it!
If anyone has this info, I would like to have it!
Thanks ACE
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Title: Re: How come leather is so high?
Post by: Stitch on March 20, 2009, 07:47:14 AM
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PM Sent with contact info
1-800-826-6379
Ask for Glenn at Ext.222
1-800-826-6379
Ask for Glenn at Ext.222 at W & C
yep and until the end of the month they have their tooling/holster sides (avg 24-27 sq ft) for a flat $90.00 and their tooling/holster double shoulders (avg 12-14 sq ft) for a flat $50.00 bucks - both are plus shipping which runs about $10-15.00 depending on weight and distance..............
I just "discovered" The Hide House, 870 W. Cienega Ave #7, San Dimas, CA 91773, (866) 527-5467.
It's better that anyplace I've found around here. LOTS of stuff; Hides, hair on hides, tools, hardware, conchos, chemicals, every thing you can imagine. Lots of biker and kitchen crafts stuff, too. Full tanned buffalo hides, full buff robes with the hair on, things I never heard of.
Their catalog is like a Christmas wish book.
Between them and Crazy Crow I may never lack for anything again.
Ask For Rich Phelps and tell him I sent you. He says if they don't have it they can try to get it for you.
I only use Wickett and Cragg. Glen is great to deal with. KT
Howdy Forty
I only sell leather from Hide House in my store.
WC
I have had a lot of luck with Tandy, never a bad piece, like Klondike, I like to hand pick my goods.
I have some leather in stock, gotta get a project going.
MS
I have used Wickett & Craig almost exclusively for almost 10 years. Their quality is fantastic, their customer service is just as good, and their prices are very competitive especially considering they will sell single sides unlike other companies. I have not gotten a single complaint from a customer on the quality of the leather. I use their middle grade and it is more than suitable for small leather goods like holsters.
I am suprised that no one has mentioned www.springfieldleather.com (maybe somebody did and I just missed it)
Springfield has Herman oak and always has a excellent special purchase section. their prices most always beat TLF prices and
Springfield honors TLF gold club memberships just go to their website and call the number to give the operator your gold club membership info.
the only time TLF beats SLC on pricing is when tandy is running a sale.
Quote from: St8LineLeatherSmith on January 29, 2014, 09:27:36 PM
I am suprised that no one has mentioned www.springfieldleather.com (maybe somebody did and I just missed it)
Springfield has Herman oak and always has a excellent special purchase section. their prices most always beat TLF prices and
Springfield honors TLF gold club memberships just go to their website and call the number to give the operator your gold club membership info.
the only time TLF beats SLC on pricing is when tandy is running a sale.
This thread is nearly ten years old.
Things change and I can tell you some of the posts on here don't reflect what supplier that person currently uses.
I couldn't have been happy with my supplier ten years ago but have moved on as their quality suffered.
Ya it was in need of an update
iif any of you fellas live near and around Chattanooga, TN the best place to buy top quality leather around this area is American Saddlery they have select sides and shoulders and the best harness leather i have found anywhere. they do sell to the public BTW.
call and ask for a tour of their shop they have some amazing craftsmen and women working there.