Leather working

[KnrS510]

Hello all, so recently I fell into a large roll of cow hide leather. It’s basically an entire cow hide. A relative of mine used to be a barber and made his own strops out of it among a few other things. I’ve made a few of my own out of it, but still have a huge amount of this stuff left. I’ve been really curious on trying to make me a few tabs out of it, but have never done anything like that.

Was curious if anyone here does any leather working and could point a guy in the right direction on maybe making a leather tab?

[DRT]

I've read you just trace one you like, cut it, and put some leather treatment of sorts on it and go.

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[Bisch]

That looks way too thick for a tab!!!!

Bisch


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[Leon County Slayer]

Yup. That’s gonna be too thick and too much skiving to get it done. You’d be better off grabbing a 2 oz piece at Tandy foe the tabs

For reference, that’s probably about 10 - 12 oz

[KnrS510]

Yup. That’s gonna be too thick and too much skiving to get it done. You’d be better off grabbing a 2 oz piece at Tandy foe the tabs

For reference, that’s probably about 10 - 12 oz

Got it, thanks for the input! I know nothing about leather working, so I wasn’t sure. Any way to thin it out by sanding or something? I sanded the backside of a small piece for a waxing pad for bow strings which worked out pretty well.

[tonyt79]

Let me know where to pick it up and I’ll take it off your hands[emoji23]


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[Leon County Slayer]

Got it, thanks for the input! I know nothing about leather working, so I wasn’t sure. Any way to thin it out by sanding or something? I sanded the backside of a small piece for a waxing pad for bow strings which worked out pretty well.

You can probably make that work on a spindle type sander but not a task I’d venture into if you have access to buying a smaller piece....and I’ve made a lot of leather items. Just saying you might kick yourself later for going through that much of a hassle is all. Post up what you make!

[Leon County Slayer]

You might consider selling that to a saddle maker or someone and getting what you can use too

[TheBeekeeper]

A general rule of thumb for tabs I learned: Use 1mm leather per 10lb of bow. If you use less you begin damaging nerves on the fingertips. I use a 5mm leather for my 45# bow.

[Aggie13]

Got it, thanks for the input! I know nothing about leather working, so I wasn’t sure. Any way to thin it out by sanding or something? I sanded the backside of a small piece for a waxing pad for bow strings which worked out pretty well.

While I don't know anything about Tabs or shooting with them (let alone how thick they should be) for your own reference from a leatherworking standpoint

1/64" = 1 ounce relative to Leather thickness

so 10-12 oz leather is roughly 5/32" to 1/4" or 4-5mm

This is a rough approximation, so you may just put a pair of calipers on a tab that you like and use and then go from there.

Good Luck!!

[donpablo]

Rick makes a really nice tab. Idk if he would offer pointers but if he does, listen close.

[4dog]

you can run that leather on a sander to thin it down