Leather Supplier and Type

[cavscout]

I've never found blanks wider than 1.75" By blanks I mean, prepped for a buckle.

You will have to plan to rip your own or have your leather supplier do it for you if you want to be able to get over 1.75"

[A Hay]

I've never found blanks wider than 1.75" By blanks I mean, prepped for a buckle.

You will have to plan to rip your own or have your leather supplier do it for you if you want to be able to get over 1.75"

I did find a 3" wide blank in a Tandy Leather store in St. Louis last year, but it was outrageously expensive. About $22. I cut it down to 2 1/4 " and had a 3/4" strap left over for a sporran strap.

Haven't seen anything that wide in the Tandy Catalog.

Tom

[CameronTaylor]

Aye, Tandy is the place. I told them I wanted a few sides for a leather kilt and they showed me exactly what I needed. I really should wear it down there to show them what their efforts yielded. Excellent, knowledgable staff.
That's where SK gets his leather now too (I told him).


CT - maybe they ship overseas

[A Hay]

CT - maybe they ship overseas

I don't know this for a fact, but there might be a problem shipping leather hides from USA to Germany. Customs duties for example. Although you might get away with it if shipping through to an APO address.
That's one reason I buy my tanned leather over here.

Tom

[RossCroft]

i buy most of my leather from tandy, not all though. i don't like to have it shipped to me - i like to personally look at the leather i'm buying. i have a small leather shop so i don't need the large quantities of leather some folks would. if i'm making a regular belt i use belt blanks. the time involved in cutting the belt from the hide and doing the punching and skiving makes it more expensive than buying the blanks. over 2 inches wide and i cut it from the hide. again, because it winds up cheaper. then again, i have uses for the extra leather after cutting it from the hide. most of the scrap even gets used.

side notes: if you decide to cut from the hide, invest in a strap cutter. it's faster and more accurate than cutting that long, straight edge by hand. and if you're cutting 9-10 oz hide (or heavier) you are really going to need more than a knife and a pair of scissors. which means a cutting surface too. i have a cutting table i built for $300, but for occasional work that's a bit extreme. a kitchen cutting board will work for small areas. long straight lines won't cut well that way though.

fwiw