The Official Leather Artisans Appreciation Thread

[TimH]

Great to hear and thanks

 

[yywwyy]

What are the qualities of horse hide leather jackets?

 

[nstarleather]

North Star Leather. Discovered them thru a great deal of research into American handmade leather artisan goods. Natural leather is not an option on any of their items but I emailed them and they happily obliged to produce a bracelet, card case/slim wallet, and long trucker wallet in an open grain natural leather for me at no additional charge. The quality is top notch. Here are the items brand new. I'll update with wear. The long wallet is already picking up some slight traces of indigo from my raw jeans. Love these guys stuff and the prices are BEYOND competitive!

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We're always happy to entertain custom requests when asked- it's hard to stock a crazy amount of variety but if we can do it, we will. If you want natural, English Bridle, Horween Chromexcel, or even some crazy combo of colors, we're happy help. Want a purple wallet? No problem. Mulit-colored inside pockets? Ok... Double ID Windows? Easy.
We really try to please.

 

[Distorbiant]

We're always happy to entertain custom requests when asked- it's hard to stock a crazy amount of variety but if we can do it, we will. If you want natural, English Bridle, Horween Chromexcel, or even some crazy combo of colors, we're happy help. Want a purple wallet? No problem. Mulit-colored inside pockets? Ok... Double ID Windows? Easy.
We really try to please.

Do you do gloves by any chance?

 

[nstarleather]

Unfortunately, glove are one of the areas I've never gotten into...

 

[SugaT]

Got a great belt from Scott at Don't Mourn, Organize. Thick harness leather with brown stitching, think it'll last me a good while, very sturdy. He was very helpful on sizing/general guidance, responded promptly, and was generally nice to deal with. Very pleased with the experience and the result.

 

[gaseousclay]



Quote:We're always happy to entertain custom requests when asked- it's hard to stock a crazy amount of variety but if we can do it, we will. If you want natural, English Bridle, Horween Chromexcel, or even some crazy combo of colors, we're happy help. Want a purple wallet? No problem. Mulit-colored inside pockets? Ok... Double ID Windows? Easy.
We really try to please.

Could u tell me how your CXL wallets are constructed? Do u use a single piece of leather or two pieces glued/stitched together? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nstarleather]

Could u tell me how your CXL wallets are constructed? Do u use a single piece of leather or two pieces glued/stitched together?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well it's impossible to make anything that will hold anything without stitching some.
Unless your talking about that Leffot "the fold" wallet" Which is just a cutout.
This leather was originally shoe/boot leather from Alden. Mostly from "Indy Boots", so that means to make a wallet that's not 3" thick when empty, I also have to split some of the pocket pieces to be thinner so it isn't too bulky.
You didn't specify which wallet.
I'll break down the pieces of a few items on the site:
The business card Case:
http://www.nstarleather.com/optimizer/product/119Horween.html
It's 3 pieces of leather one large front piece and 2 pocket pieces. It would be possible to make this one with one really long piece of leather folded at each end but it wouldn't give you a great yield of leather because of the really large piece. It would also be a little more bulky.

The window version is the same just with one side as a window.

The Trifold:
http://www.nstarleather.com/optimizer/product/135Horween.htm
Is 5 pieces of leather 3 small pocket pieces, one large front piece and one shaped middle piece the forms the other side of the bills section.

The Credit card sheath:
http://www.nstarleather.com/optimizer/product/154Horween.html
Just 2 pieces stitched together- pretty simple to see how it's put together.

The Bifold is the most complex of the bunch because it has 8 pockets not counting the bills section.
http://www.nstarleather.com/optimizer/product/148Horween.html
It has the big front piece, 6 small pocket pieces, 2 Large squarish pocket pieces of the pockets under the banks of pockets, plus the large inside piece that forms the other side of the bills section.

The thing about all these wallets that makes them last is that you only have 2 basic ingredients: Leather and Thread.
No liners fillers or stiffeners. Nothing to wear out.

 

[gaseousclay]

I was thinking of the leather ID wallet, without the ID slot. I basically wanted something basic and compact, so a credit card slot on each side.

The reason why I asked about construction is that Horween leather comes in varying degrees of thickness. I have a Mitchell money clip wallet that is essentially two thin pieces of Horween CXL glued/stitched together. If it were a single piece it would be useless as a wallet since CXL is thin and pliable in some cases. Rancourt uses a veg tan lining with their CXL belts as well to give it that added firmness. I also have a shell cordovan front pocket wallet by Ashland leather that is essentially a single piece of shell (because it's already thick).

I'm still thinking I might wanna try a navy CXL leather ID wallet but modified to have two credit card slots (one on each side), but I wanted to get an idea as to the thickness and durability. Also, would the price be different if it were modified?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gaseousclay]

Actually, the style of wallet I'm interested in is the business card case, not the one with the ID slot


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[nstarleather]

Yeah I was about to say that it looked like that was the case you were talking about. So to specifically answer you question about lining thin leather with something else...we don't line things like that except for the rattlesnake skin (because it's very thin). The CXL we use starts out 4.5oz to 5oz- sometimes we'd split the pockets on a case like that, but we don't always depending on how thick it ends up.

You can just order it online and then shoot me an email to change the color- it's going to be almost one-of-a-kind because I've only got a small piece of Navy CXL.

 

[gaseousclay]

Hey guys. Just wanted to show you my new navy CXL leather business card wallet from Northstar Leather which I took delivery of today. I have to say i'm impressed. Not only are the prices very nice but the quality is superb. The CXL on this wallet is much thicker than my Mitchell money clip wallet and just from looking at it I know it'll age beautifully. I highly recommend you guys check out Northstar Leather. The Horween CXL offerings are quite nice imo.

 

[handmadestuff]

I like the way it closes up. Very elegant.

 

[Salad]

I'm waiting on a veg tan belt and I'm looking for any suggestions on what kind of balms or conditioners to use. I'm looking at Fiebings Leather balm w/ atom wax, neutral color. Is that good choice?

 

[ghdvfddzgzdzg]

a veg tan belt probably can just get some Lexol conditioner every year and be fine for basically ever unless you're frequently soaking it in water.