Buffalo?

O

Omega Leather Works

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Jun 13, 2007
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Anyone use buffalo?

I'd like to hear about leathers used to make sheaths other than cow hide for the main body of the sheath (baring inlays, overlays etc).

Anyone tried horse? What about elephant?

I've seen some buffalo that I'd like to use, the tanning is a question mark as they don't usually list the tanning method.

Can anyone tell me what keywords to look for in regards to sheath making? For instance, I look at "tooling leather" as a rule, but is there a difference between tooling and harness? What about orthopedic? What else? I find lots of guides that speak briefly about what they are, but our needs are pretty focused since some leathers are harmful to steel.
 
I believe veg. tanned leather is the optimal choice in various weights according to what you are doing. This can come in back, shoulders, butts, sides and what have you. With regard to Buffalo, if it is veg tanned it might be just fine, but generally these hides are tanned to be more supple so probably chrome tanned or oil tanned. I have used quite a lot of Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Shark and other exotics, but it is always as a thin split for a full overlay giving the impression that it is completely made of the exotic. You get the best of both worlds using the full overlay method. You need the "substance" of the veg tan for the base sheath to support the more supple covering.

Horse, butts if veg. tanned are just fine for sheath construction if the weight is acceptable. It tools and oils much like cowhide. It is used a lot in holster making.

Paul
 
I have used veg tan buffalo and it was great. Tough as heck. I made a martingale out of it for a brush poppin cowboy and he couldn't wear it out. But I havn't seen it tanned that way in years. I bought it from a local saddle maker that was making some saddles for folks that had a buffalo ranch. He said at that time it was kind of a one off time. Its used a lot in the custom boots but it is a sfter tannage as Paul said. In fact a buddy ordered a pair from a boot maker that had a booth at that roping. Nichole almost got a pair in camel and that was a cool piece of leather as he had the whole side there to show. I have used horse butts alot and would darn near use them exclusively if I could get em reliably. Butts are the almost always the piece that is availalbe in veg tan. It does not continue to stretch like cowhide does once molded and that is why it is so popular for holsters. Occasionally you'll see a hide in a soft tannage and they work great for leggings. I once spoke with some folks at Siegel Leather trying to get veg tan horse by the side. According to them it simply wasn't available becuase the footwear industry bought it all. They said look down, its horse. (I was wearing custom boots and they were water buffalo and shark but they didn't know that I got their point though). The same molding characteristic and then not stretching further is what makes it so popular for that app. Horween makes most of the horse butts that are out there regardless of who you get them from. Problem is they are here and then not. Tried to get some from Springfield to make some headstalls and they were out.
 
No but would sure make a nice pair of boots! You're gonna have to learn to do that in your spare time. Yeah had a great time. My son and I just missed the finals (top 30 teams) by 9 points. On his other team he came in 4th over all. Made a pretty good paycheck. Cool pics on facebook click on the link in my sig line. I'm in the dark blue green plaid shirt and Logan my son is in the light blue shirt with the white leggins. This was the largest $$ ranch roping competition in the world. It is called The Brannaman Pro Am. We were roping for $50,000. The top 8 teams took home a check. This was the real deal, the wolves came to town for this one.
 
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Dave, thanks for the links!!! I had to smile when I thought back over recent my "youth" competing in similar equine events. $15,000 to $20,000 for a well trained horse (from foal to 5 year old) $15,000 to $20,000 for a 3 or 4 horse slant LQ trailer, $3000/$4000 average for a good saddle and reliable tack, $20 for a pair of Wranglers, $800 to $1000 for some good custom boots, and $1500 to $2000 in entry fees………………………… and when you win that $1000 check it all came into focus and was worth every penny. Yep, been there and done that and wish I could do it again.

Paul
 
Super cool FB page Dave. :thumbup:

Glad to hear you guys had a great time. Wish I coulda been there.

Speaking of there, FB says you are just over 1.7k miles from me. I know it feels like it driving through Bakersfield, but I think it's still off by a mile or two. ;)
 
You're welcome Paul! I know what you mean. But no living quarter trailer here just a 20" stock trailer and thats where the horse lived for 4 days. Me I have a range teepee and a canvas bed roll. Strig, yeah there were things you would of loved. For instance Colleen Watt was there as a vendor so she brought a huge selection of her husbands, Jeramiah's tools (Horseshoe Brand from Weaver) including all their edgers, knives , headknives, stamps etc and a wide selection of the JWP hardware too. As well as a drop dead fully carved saddle Jeramiah did for $13,000! Greg Gomersall was there too and besides being a world class saddle maker he had a couple of shelves of used vintage tools in his booth. Lots of different leather crafstmen there too. Great show and the roping too! Yeah 1.7 klicks? wow.
 
I used some buffalo for straps. Material I have is 2 mm. Not stiff. I need to use a backing leather thats a little denser for added stiffness

Don't touch elephant. Did sell some rhino leather straps back in 05. Also a touch soft

Here's a strap I did to test out. Simple stitching to check overall wear strength. Working on another with full stitching

buffalowild.jpg


DON
 
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