2019 Catalog

springfieldleather.com

Leather 20 th Anniversary Edition

Semi-Aniline: Also called aniline-plus or protected aniline. Leather that is aniline dyed and coated with matching pigment and/or topical finishes to even out the color and add protection. Shearling: Natural lamb/sheep pelts with the leather side often dyed and the hair typically cropped (sheared) to some uniform length. Splitting: The process of decreasing the thickness or weight of the leather generally with a large machine.

Skiving: similar to splitting, skiving is reducing the weight of the leather. Most often, thinning leather by hand is referred to as skiving, while splitting is mostly done with a machine. Skiving is also generally done on a smaller scale - you’ll skive a project but you’ll split a full hide or side. Projects are often skived to shape or even out leather. The two can be considered as interchangeable terms, but each comes with its own connotation. Side (or Side Leather): Half of a full cowhide, cut right up the backbone. In general, sides run about 18 to 22 square feet of total surface area. Snuffed: Leather hat has had the grain surface abraded

with brushes, emery wheel or sandpaper. It is done to remove defective grain or for sueding the surface of leather. Splits: The bottom layers of the hide that have been split off from the top layer, then pigmented. The result looks like suede, but isn’t as soft. Splits are generally stiffer, but less durable than leather made from the Top Grain layer of the hide. Splits can be made into excellent leathers. Suede: Split leather that has been buffed and brushed to create a fuzzy, velvet like surface feel. Tooling : Tooling is the art of carving patterns in leather using stamps and other tools. Tooling is typically done on vegetable tanned leather and can take a lot of practice Top Coat: A transparent, protective coating applied to the leather surface. May also impart luster to the surface. Top Grain: Leather whose top (outermost) layers have been left intact, in contrast to split leather. This leather is more durable than split leather. Two-Tone (tone-on-tone): An effect created by applying layers of similar or contrasting dyes to a piece of leather in order to create a mottled or aged appearance. Antiqued and Sauvaged leathers are examples of two-tone leather. Upholstery Leather: Leather (usually chrome tanned) created from a whole hide and intended for use in furniture, automobiles, airplanes, etc. Because of the versatility of this leather, it can be used in many, many applications other than upholstery purposes such as handbags, etc. Often embossed or printed and commonly found in lighter weights.

Weight: A term which describes the heaviness or thickness of leather. The weight of leather is measured in ounces per square foot.The standard term for the “thickness” of leather is ounces, but the thickness can be referred to in millimeters as well.

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