English Bridle Leather from Wickett & Craig - Unboxing & First Impressions
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- čas přidán 29. 08. 2017
- This is the first time I've bought leather online so I was a bit nervous to drop that amount of cash on leather I couldn't put in my hands first. I had a sample pack from Wickett & Craig and trusted they wouldn't steer me wrong.
- Jak na to + styl
Great, great vid.
Thank you, Julia. That means a lot to me.
I bought a 1 sq foot panel out that. Love it. I made a wallet. The feel and look is amazing.
Since that first order, I've been through multiple hides of other varieties from W&C. Most have been perfection. I always come back to the English Bridle for the best pieces.
I appreciate such a well done video. Also, new to leather working, it is enlightening to hear pricing included. I think that Wickett and Craig will be getting my order soon.
Thank you for the nice comment Terry. Be aware that this is from 2017 and there have been a few price increases since then.
This company has been around for 150 yrs. They are a premium leather source.
Tanneries grade their sides based on what’s on hand. Today’s C grade could be tomorrow’s A grade, all depending on what’s on hand or the the batch of sides that day. It could also depend on the grader that day. They also have tannery run sides which is basically,you get what they have. You shouldn’t get too hung up on grades.
Absolutely. W&C calls the best stuff 'Standard' and the tannery runs 'Special'. I dont care what anyone calls it, I just want to get what I expect to get when I pay a certain price per square foot.
I never ordered Wicket and Craig, but have used Hermann Oak and had mixed results. Actually had two sides I could not use for belts and belts are why I order 9-10 oz sides because I'd rather not have to line the belt. One had a butcher's cut right in the middle about 14 inches long and the other one had a freaking hole in the center and was all dried out, it was D leather all across. I doubt if I could have gotten 3-4 sq. feet out of it. I called the company I ordered from and they sent me a shipping label to send it back. My first order, then about 6 months later is when I got the side with the butcher's cut in it. This time they didn't offer to send me a shipping label and I told them fine, I'm emptying my cart with about $200 worth of orders in it and you've lost a customer for good. A butcher's cut for those who don't know is where the butcher who was skinning the steer slips up and doesn't notice he's cutting into the hide. That hide should have been cut up or discounted. Bottom line is I found Hermann Oak a hit or miss proposition and won't order it online.
I moved a few years ago and am now an hours drive from a Tandy store. I use their Oak Leaf sides or shoulders and hand pick them myself, never get a bad hide. Someone below said he had a bunch of waste with Tandy hides, he either was buying their cheapest stuff or doesn't know how to inspect a hide. I've picked through some of their $50 double shoulders they mark as 7-8 oz and they are really like 6-7 oz, but if you're careful you can get some good pieces that I use for satchels or small sheaths and sometimes as a liner, but I have a splitter too so knocking out wallet sized strips to 3 oz is no problem. I never had 35% waste with any Tandy hide, I wouldn't buy a piece like that.
I see videos of people showing how to smooth down the hairy flesh side of their leather when the solution is don't buy hairy backed leather! Tandy has some crummy leather for sure, but they have some very good leather too. If you only buy cheap leather expect cheap leather and the problems that come with it.
I looked at some reviews of some nicely priced double shoulders and 10 out of 11 gave the leather 5 stars. I should've listened to the guy who gave it one star, he said it was dry and barely usable even though it did look great. I ordered one and to cut it I needed to wet it, no kidding. I strapped it out and made a bunch of discounted belts. People asked why are they discounted and I'd show them places where I screwed up the tooling on the border or something. They snatched them up. If I sanded the edges it kept getting hairier, only cheap leather does that, the backs were pasted a little bit. Used trag gum on the edges like there was no tomorrow, burnished and dyed them. The belts are ok and certainly better than a belt made from chinesium sprayed on leather slurry over cloth, but not as good as a $130 belt should be.
By the way you can tool and carve the leather, if it's waxed and oiled you don't use water.
The only thing worse than cheap hairy leather is trying to edge bevel soft, thin leather that keeps moving around on you. I've never seen an easier more pleasurable edge bevel glide through leather with one consistent motion than with this English bridle.
Thank you for the video. Just getting started myself.
Glad this helped, Keith. W&C makes some great leather. Welcome to the craft.
The backsides are like that from the splitter. Industrial splitters are razor sharp and leave that clean finish. Just helping 🙂
I paid extra to have the backs refinished otherwise the flesh side would look as you'd expect from non dyed veg tan.
I exclusively use Wickett and Craig for veg, bridle, harness, latigo, etc. Their worst grade is miles better than the best Tandy has ever sold, and is often cheaper per sq ft. W&C leather is tight, and gives me very little waste. Tandy leather is rough, and usually has random soft spots. I've had as much as 50% waste on a Tandy hide, and never less than 25% waste.
I've had decent luck with some hides from Tandy because my local store knows me and what I do so I can cherry pick when I need something a bit different. Overall, I love this first purchase from W&C, even though it was by far the largest sum of money I ever laid out in one shot for leather.
Since this video, I ordered one more hide from W&C - it was a Tan color Special grade 10-12 oz. I had to say my first impression of this individual hide was not so great. It had a lot of dry spots and spots I'd have to cut out in the center of the field. Generally I get Special because I like character in my pieces but when you cut a belt that is mostly clear and then has an unavoidable dark scar in the center, it kind of looks like a mistake rather than intentionally designed feature.
I think I'm going to order their double bends for belt and dog collar/harness stock from now on. It comes out to cost more per square foot but yields go up. Also, the bellies they sell for $11-$13 a piece have some quality usable strap material to them. I'll always throw a few in with an order and I get enough from the bellies to offset the cost of shipping.
Hi Michael
please call me 347 582 4513
David
Michael Sheldon
What grade of leather was this? Special, Utility, or Standard?
These were both Standard.
What was the total price?
TOBIAS Henley Before shipping it came to $495 for all the pieces together. Shipping was another $40.
We’re these sides or bends what cut were they trying to decide what I might need
These were full sides. The double bends W&C offer cost more per square inch but also yield good leather for strap work.
If you can use the extra belly leather and small pieces from the irregular edges, go for the sides.
Wow
What can you make out of the belly strips?? Could you do wallets out of the belly
The belly's are good for just about anything except where stretching is a problem. I used these for dog collars and knife sheaths if I remember correctly. I've bought many since then and have them split to 5 oz. for more versatility for what I build. Belt layers, dog collars, knife sheaths, holsters, etc.
OMG Leatherworks Ol ok gotcha could you make a wallet out of the belly if you got it cut down to 4-5 oz ?? Or would it be too stretchy for a wallet like a simple bifold
@@75thteaster54 It would be fine but for wallets, I would split it to 2-3 oz.
OMG Leatherworks and that won’t be too thin?? You think
@@75thteaster54 Not at all. With good leather, 2-3 oz. Is appropriate for wallets. Most wallets are multiple stacks of leather to make card slots and other types of pockets and dividers. It all adds up quickly to make for a thick piece.
If you want to go slightly thicker for the exterior, yes, I'll go there depending on the design but I'll always use the thinner for the interior pieces.
Looks like you’ve got the Spyderco Delica 4
The orange handled knife? Yea, I forgot the model name but it's one of my favorites.
اريد مثله ياليت ترسل لي واحد.. 😂
Belts? Out of 8 oz leather? Eesh
What? Too thin? This is only the top layer. I fuse the English Bridle to an undyed veg tan layer. My finished belts come out to 10-11 oz. They are extremely comfortable and very durable.
Understandable. I know I personally like a really stiff belt with a lot of heft to it. I'm a concealed carrier so gun belts are all I really wear. Id say the one I'm wearing currently is about 16oz or so. 12oz or so seems reasonable for most though. 8oz seemed a little thin. Not that it wouldn't work, but would stretch quite a bit.