Which Leather Supplier?

TN Mongo · July 16, 2011, 06:57:55 PM

I'm about to run out of 8-9oz and 6-7oz leather. My last batch was #1 sides from Wickett & Craig. It was good clean leather, but I think I made a mistake by agreeing to have it "holstered" (this process, used by W&C, compresses the regular sides). It was hard to cut and I feel that my tooling faded if I got it wet at all.

I had thought of trying Siegel of California's California Double Tanned Skirting. Yes, I know they are now closed, but the leather is still available from Wickett & Craig. It had some good recommendations on the Siegel emails, but I don't personally know of anyone using it.

I am intrigued by the RJF leather that Chuck Burrows has mentioned several times. I would be willing to give it a try. Especially if it was more economical than W&C leather. I would appreciate any opinions.

outrider · July 17, 2011, 08:05:20 AM

Mongo

I think there are only a few actual tanneries operating here in the states...the rest of the listed suppliers are distributors or retail sales....others may chime in on this

Kid Terico · July 17, 2011, 11:32:18 AM

As far as I,m concerned there is no better leather to work with than Wicket and Cragg. I use only skirting in the standard grade which is the best they have and have never found any thing better by other companies. They handle other grades but standard is there best. Only my 2 cents worth. KT

Cliff Fendley · July 17, 2011, 04:44:32 PM

If you line all your products Wicket and Craig is fine but I can't for the life of me get them to send me any with clean flesh nowadays.

I've wondered if I bought heavy skirting and paid to have them split to 8-9 oz if I would be able to get clean flesh and an entire side that was close to a usable thickness.

The last side I had split to 4-5 oz still had some areas so thin it didn't get split.

What percentage of a side do you guys feel should be usable. I used to get probably 50-70 percent use on W&C specials, now I feel like I'm using maybe 50% of a standard.

This has all happened in the last year or so.

Kid Terico · July 17, 2011, 06:08:25 PM

Cliff I agree with you on specials so I dont buy them. I use 95% plus on my standard. I feel I dont save any money on specials. Even the pieces I dont use I send to Dave cole and he makes small knife sheaths , etc out of it.I order 10 sides at a time and never get one with a hole in it. KT

Cliff Fendley · July 17, 2011, 08:44:11 PM

I agree on their specials, no money to be saved there but I'm going to be honest, the standards they send me nowadays arent as good as their specials used to be. The standards on my last order I'll be lucky to use 50% of them for holsters and only got a couple belts out of three sides. The percentage will go up to maybe 75% after finally using it on small knife sheaths but I don't make a lot of small knives. The belly area is complete waste because it's not more than 6-7 oz and the flesh is just nasty. I've sent leather back three times in the last year so I decided this time just keep it and find another supplier.

I ordered three 8-9 oz and also ordered one split to 4-5 oz and that the split one be inspected for a perfect grain side since I would be cutting 7 inch wide strips for money belts out of it and could not work around bad places. It came with some nasty places on it. Was able to cut one belt length and then just basically cut the rest in strips for bullet loops and welt pieces for saddle bags.

Is getting more than one belt out of a side too much to ask?

I used to be like you and with very little waste since the little pieces wound up making small knife sheaths. I've now got a several year supply of small knife sheath leather because of not being able to cut large patterns out of what I have been receiving from them in the last year.

One thing about it if I order Herman Oak from Weaver I may pay a little more but if I request it be a good side for unlined holsters and belts I can pretty much be guaranteed that I'll receive some good material. The last I got from them I had as close to zero waste as you could ever get from a side of leather.

The Herman Oak is a little harder to cut, hand sew and work with but it's a great product when finished.

LoneRider · July 18, 2011, 12:42:01 AM

Yep, I stopped using W&C about a year ago. I get most of mine from Tandy! Before y'all start with "It's all Mexican Leather" no, it's not all! I'm good friends with the manager of the Dallas store and he hand picks my leather for me. Haven't gotten any bad pieces in a long while.

Kid Terico · July 18, 2011, 12:53:10 AM

Cliff I dont make small sheaths at all thats why I give it away. Sorry to hear about your bad luck. That sucks. I must just be lucky. I live near Tandy and dont like working with Herman Oak especially on the sewing . I do all hand sewing. I pick out my own leather and still dont care for it. Our locally dealers have quit selling it and have started selling a new brand which they say is better . I dont know because I havent seen it yet. Cliff hope you have better luck. The bad leather hasnt effected you rigs. THERE Great.. KT

Cliff Fendley · July 18, 2011, 01:14:29 PM

Lonerider, I hate it since it was so good but I'm kinda glad to know I'm not the only one getting bad stuff from W&C. I was wondering if it was just my dumb luck.

Regarding Tandy, I've gotten my worse and some of my best leather from them, just depends on what your willing to pay for. Also helps to be in good with the local rep and informed when a shipment arrives.

We have a Tandy in Louisville, after being gone for many years they opened a store back up 4 or 5 years ago. There is nothing better than picking it out yourself.

I'm going to be trying RJF, if it's good enough for Chuck then it's good enough for me.

TN Mongo · July 18, 2011, 05:30:18 PM

Has Chuck said how RFJ compares to W&C as far as price?

Cliff Fendley · July 18, 2011, 08:52:11 PM

I haven't seen anything on price, I plan to contact them to find out. I'll pay a little more for usable stuff and I like the fact they sell backs, bends and shoulders. I hate belly leather but by the time you pay extra for Wicket and Craig to cut off the belly leather I figure you get it for free anyway.

East_TN_Patriot · July 18, 2011, 09:10:47 PM

Quote from: Cliff Fendley on July 17, 2011, 04:44:32 PM
If you line all your products Wicket and Craig is fine but I can't for the life of me get them to send me any with clean flesh nowadays.

I've wondered if I bought heavy skirting and paid to have them split to 8-9 oz if I would be able to get clean flesh and an entire side that was close to a usable thickness.

The last side I had split to 4-5 oz still had some areas so thin it didn't get split.

What percentage of a side do you guys feel should be usable. I used to get probably 50-70 percent use on W&C specials, now I feel like I'm using maybe 50% of a standard. This has all happened in the last year or so.

I ran into the same problem about a year ago and was very upset until I learned that I had ordered the "special" grade instead of my usual "utility" grade. I specify that I need a side with a clean flesh side and so far they have been good. I do agree that their quality doesn't seem to be quite as good as when I started using them back in the early 2000s, but their quality is far better overall than Tandy. I've looked through entire stacks of double shoulders at Tandy and not find a single one worth taking home. I recently looked for some lightweight sides for some small pocket holsters, and out of about a dozen sides, I found one that was barely passable. I'm considering a couple of other sources for leather, but it's tough to find one that is reasonably priced, has good quality, and allows orders of single sides.