[Completed] Buy Quality Leather Cheap and Support the DMS Leatherworking SIG

UPDATE: All Time Slots for This Weekend Are Full.

After Sunday I’ll reassess and set up another round.

The Short Version

I have a bunch of very nice chrome-tanned leather hides I’m selling this Sunday (7 June 2020) for very cheap. Proceeds will benefit the Leatherworking SIG.

Here’s a sample (water bottle for scale - forgot to bring a banana):

All the proceeds (less the cost of the storage unit) will be donated to CA for use by the Leatherworking SIG for new tools for the group.

  • Cash only
  • Exact change only
  • No checks
  • No credit cards
  • No IOU’s
  • No credit
  • No barter
  • No “dibs”
  • No drama
  • No exceptions

I’m trying to keep the money side as simple as possible.

No change given, so come prepared. Instead, surplus cash (if any) will benefit the Leatherworking SIG as well.

Where did the leather come from?

Thanks to a fellow DMS member with connections I diverted a large amount of surplus aircraft-quality upholstery leather destined for liquidation. This is surplus leather from fulfilled contracts to construct custom aircraft seating, bulkheads, etc.

There are likely 50+ rolls. Each roll has from 1 to 7+ whole hides in it.

How Do I Get Me Some Of That?

Sign up for a time to come see the leather Sunday morning and buy some for cheap.

To sign up, PM me @hankcowdog to set up a time. Include your cell number and real name for coordination the morning of Sunday 7 June 2020.

Specs:

+/- 3 oz premium upholstery leather
Chrome tanned
Fire-block treated for fire resistance (a requirement in the airline industry).
Whole hides (probably) with the ragged bits trimmed off.

This is a soft leather like you might find on a couch or car seat. Think “elf or ranger costume” not “Roman legion armor”. Chrome tanned and drum dyed in a variety of colors. Each roll has hides coming from the same dye lot so colors should match across multiple hides.

Note:
Chrome-tanned leather is NOT suitable for tooling.

Chrome-tanned leather is NOT approved for use in the lasers at DMS.

You can cut out a master pattern from acrylic or even posterboard, trace, and then cut the leather with a snap blade knife, round knife, or leather scissors.

The rolls contain anywhere from one to 7+ whole hides and are large hides. Aircraft quality leather typically has few/no blemishes, etc. (no guarantees though).

The colors range from a putty grey to dark charcoal, several shades of tan and brown, etc. Many rolls are still wrapped up so the color is TBD for those.

Here are some rolls which were already at least partially open. You can see that the colors are various earth tones: putty, tan, various browns and greys. I’m not ruling out the possibility of a hot pink or neon green - there’s no accounting for taste.

I also have a handful of rolls of Naugahyde style vinyl fabric. These are free with any purchase.

The Deal

I have the leather in a storage unit at Luna and Valley View (a different unit in the prior off-site storage location).

I plan to be there Sunday morning (7 June 2020) starting at 10am. If you are interested in looking at/buying some leather, PM me by Saturday and I’ll work out a 15 minute slot for you to come to the storage and look it over. I’m limiting the number of people per slot so I’m not overwhelmed. If you are late, you might miss out as others will have slots behind you.

We can peel back the ends of the roll determine the color and to verify it’s actually leather (there was a small amount of vinyl and carpeting in the mix). That being said, I don’t want folks completely unrolling a roll and then saying “nope”. What you do after the purchase is up to you.

Consider that EACH hide is probably worth at least $100 at retail when on sale - possibly twice that. As a price point, while designer hides are $120 each at Tandy. I suspect these are of a higher quality.

The Price?

I’m selling the small rolls for $30. Might have one hide, might have a handful - you can guess by the heft of it.

I’m selling the large rolls for $60. I believe the large rolls have 7+ hides in them. If you buy one and it has less than seven too bad :).

I told you that they are cheap.

Limitations

I don’t want a single person buying up the whole lot - I’d like multiple DMS leatherworkers, steampunk’ers, cosplayers, et al to benefit from this boon.

As such, at the moment I am limiting purchase to three rolls per person (large or small). There is a LOT of leather here, so you can also swap among friends - after you leave.

12 Likes

I interested in your leather. Going to reupholster my car seats. How do I meet to purchase some.
Brian

Details are in the original post:

Darn, you snooze you lose. I would be interested in the next round.

I’m the other DMS member with “connections”. The donation comes from Gulf Stream Air. They buy only the highest quality leather for their aircraft remodels. They have donated samples in the past and many of you have seen the leather. These came from a warehouse that they are closing. They are awesome hides and Mike and I moved them this week from the warehouse in my pickup and his trailer.

The prices Mike is asking are really a give away price. Our intent is to make money for DMS while providing our members with a great resource for their leatherwork. The lady at Gulf Stream told me that the leather we loaded was probably $100,000 worth of leather. I don’t think it was that high, but it is a lot of leather.

Please do take Mike up on his offer. I also have a key and live a little closer to the storage unit than Mike so I can meet you in the evening also.

Just DM me. This leather is perfect for your upholstery needs as well as making cosplay or even leather masks. Do compare the price at places like Tandy and you’ll see the amazing deal Mike is offering.

If anyone knows how, I would love to see a class walking through how to remove an item like a console lid, and reupholster it. I would love to one day do a full car in fabric/leather.

1 Like

Same here.

Ugh!!! How did I miss this thread???

If anyone cancels a time slot, please let me know. I would love some leather to work on!!!

Note that this is very thin chrome tanned leather.

  • Good for furniture coverings (What it’s designed for)
  • Good show chaps, but not working chaps
  • perhaps good for PC tablet covers
  • perhaps good for cosplay costumes
  • would be good for tote bags, slip covers, etc.

It’s flexible like heavy canvas, so NOT suitable for some types of leather projects:

  • Not good for cutting with the laser
  • Not good for tooling (chrome tanning and too thin)
  • Not good for knife sheaths (too floppy)
  • Not good for belts (too floppy)
  • Not good for horse tack (not beefy enough)
1 Like

why did someone react with a banana? Is that a subtle hidden, politically incorrect insult?

1 Like

I’ve never done any of the stuff it’s not suitable for, so that’s not an issue. :joy: I was thinking for more like totes, bags, or coverings. Just something to practice with.

2 Likes

Good for sewing practice for sure. Would make lovely, supple tote bags. The light color leather could even be painted on with acrylics/fabric paints.

I’ll post an update after tomorrow’s meetups.

Anyone who’s reached out to me (like yourself) will be at the top of the list if I have enough leather left for another round. We might also be able to get more leather at a later date and will do this again.

2 Likes

It’s because these prices are absolutely bananas :crazy_face:

4 Likes

Previously, I hadn’t thought about this leather’s suitably for tool dust covers (for which it would likely be awesome).

If any committee chairs want dust covers made for tools at DMS, reach out to me and I’ll see if we can work something out. I’m thinking specifically of smaller but permanently placed tools like those used by @Team_Jewelry and perhaps @Team_Printmaking.

Preference on payment? Cash, Square, Venmo?

Because :blankspace:

1 Like

@Hardsuit cash only

1 Like

Sigh. I’m blind. I scrolled back up to look for that in the original post and still missed it…

2 Likes

I’ll be crossing my fingers that’s there’s at least enough left for me to get one. :crossed_fingers:

1 Like

Paying homidge to the Standard Banana…

4 Likes