I have only done leathercraft for about 2 years, but am I completely off on this one?
Amongst many things, I bought Taurillon from Rocky Mountain Leather Supply. The leather is gorgeous, and I had planned to make a nice bag, but the instructions of the pattern I am using, and what I requested was this to be split to 1.8-2mm.
According to my personal measurements, squeezing to snug/tight fit on my tool, it is measuring at 2.2-2.4mm. I have attached a small film to show my "technique" (RMLeathersupply pointed out I am probably doing it all wrong). In the film I also demonstrate my tool to be calibrated by squeezing it with no leather, and it showing 0.0mm. I have also measured the Taurillon using a normal ruler, which clearly states its beyond 0.2mm, closer to 0.25.
Having communicated with RMLeathersupply, I am being told that to correctly measure leather thickness you HAVE to compress, almost as hard as you can. As shown in video I manage to get to 1.8 if I really squeeze, but I find this incredebly odd and hard to believe.
I can only measure the sides with my tool, and RMLS also tells me it is likely slimmer in the middle, and they are unable to get an even split all across the complete leather piece. But, they advertise to be able to split leather in 0.2mm intervals, as I chose 1.8-2.0mm in this case. Is not this misleading as well?
Please feel free to call me an idiot if I am indeed mistaken. Thanks in advance.
Sven
Hey Sven,
I honestly never had a single issue with RMLS splitting services. I rarely order anything from them without splitting and they even split a lamb skin down to 0.4mm once for me flawlessly.
What is happening with the Taurillion (And here, it is an assumption from my part based on my knowledge of leather properties and of how machines work) is that in order for the machine to properly and cleanly split the leather, the roller has to completely compress it and push it against the blade. So when they set their machine to 1.8mm split, the final exact thickness will depend on the leather being split. I have never worked with Taurillion and do not know how "fluffy" it is, so maybe this is what caused that.
Something that does not make sense to me though, from RMLS's side, is that they obviously do not use the same gauge you do. They use "professional grade" gauges which do not require you to press them to give the thickness. The closing mechanism is driven by a spring that has almost no compression force compared to your finger. So I highly doubt that they got a 1.8mm thickness reading on their gauge.
In theory, when using a gauge that requires you to exert a force to close the mechanism that measures, you will never ever get an exact reading because it all depends on how much you are pressing. Like you demonstrated in your video, you were able to go down 0.4mm of thickness just by pressing harder. That is why you should always get a gauge that closes by itself. No need to get the pro ones like the above, I got mine for maybe $20 to 25$ online. Similar to yours, just with a spring.
Back to our subject, another issue that could be happening is that you are measuring at the extremity of the hide. The only way to properly test whether the split is within the requested range is to measure it in the middle. If there is some blemish somewhere on your hide that is fairly close to the center, you could cut it off and measure it.
I am sorry to say that your current problem will probably only be solved by sending the leather back to RMLS for custom splitting again.
I would like to stress again that this is very unusual from RMLS who have a top notch customer service.
Life has a way to move focus away from hobbies, but I wanted to give an update.
Conceria Walpier - Buttero belly (1-1.2mm) were a bit stiff, but worked great for me as piping, and I finished my bags. This is my magnum opus at this point.
(Bison, blue kid skin, handles in english bridle, black pig suade, red goatskin not in picture, 0.8mm ritza, Riri zippers)
Will post a proper photoshoot at some point.
Thanks for the help!
As @Fadi mentioned, tanneries and suppliers generally use the dial thickness gauge illustrated in his reply. Some only use the pressure exerted by the return spring, and some like myself, lift the lever from underneath with their thumbs (lightly). But that's it.
However I wouldn't be surprised if the centre was a fraction thinner, but we'll have to see.
What kind of bag are you making?
Thank you very much for a very thorough answer, Fadi. Your comments make alot of sense, and I really appreciate it.
RMLS ensured me they skived it again when I sent it back, and here is their response after I complained for a second time:
"I know when our team measures leather with the gauges they tend to use a good amount of pressure. "
Just to test some more leather I pulled out a small bag I have with: "1-2oz veg tan piping leather" from Tandy, which I am measuring at 1.1mm (unable to compress below 1mm)
1oz = 0.4mm which means 1-1.1mm = 2.5-2.75oz??
It has worked perfectly fine for piping and lining, so I am not complaining. Maybe I should rather blame Phillip after taking his classes for 6 months and becoming too focused on 0.2mm?? Or get a better measuring tool.
After reading your input and doing some thinking I have concluded I will take my chances and make my project, trusting RMLS more than my own novice skills. It will be interesting to see if the leather is slimmer at the middle. I am skiving down the sides to do inverted edges, so I guess it will mostly matter for the fullness/stiffness of the body anyway. Worst case it might might become slightly more structured than intended, but that should really not be an issue. Better too much structure than too little in my opinion.
I have found RMLS to have, by a country mile, the best selection of high end leather and leather tools in the US. Always very quick to respond as well, so I will stick to them as my primary supplier.
Will post an update once product is finished.
Sven