white buff leather supplier (amended title)

[mordreth]

The search continues

[Russ Mitchell]

I may have stumbled onto a means of breaking hides with a lot less effort. I don't have the funds to test at the moment, but if it worked, that would let me produce this stuff (though in deference to my wife I'd probably have to start with a commercial rawhide, as I'm on 1/16 acre with no drainage, and she's, how do I say this, more sensitive to cadaverene than I am).

[Russ Mitchell]

I grained part of the samples that were sent to me, and if the outside were smoked a bit, I have to say that the result would be really darned close to what you'd expect from a cod-oiled or braintanned cowhide that was actually flexible. I don't know if I'd trust it (or ANY hide) without the grain layer for strapping, but for a cheap(er) buff coat or jerkin that handled a TON closer to the original stuff than a chrome hide does while still having the right nap, you could consider it. Any campfire smoke you hang out around is going to brown your leather anyway.

[Kel Rekuta]

I grained part of the samples that were sent to me, and if the outside were smoked a bit, I have to say that the result would be really darned close to what you'd expect from a cod-oiled or braintanned cowhide that was actually flexible. I don't know if I'd trust it (or ANY hide) without the grain layer for strapping, but for a cheap(er) buff coat or jerkin that handled a TON closer to the original stuff than a chrome hide does while still having the right nap, you could consider it. Any campfire smoke you hang out around is going to brown your leather anyway.

One of the peculiar things about the buff samples I got years ago was the lack of stretch for such supple leather. The thicker piece has most of the grain intact but somewhat abraided. The other is literally a split. By comparison the white bandsman recently obtained, which looks identical to the white buff which Mordreth showed earlier, has the full grain and a tiny bit of stretch. More like well dressed veg harness leather than any chrome retan, IMHO. If it were dressed with neatsfoot or cod liver oil in a warm environment, I think it will perform admirably. I will find out as that's what I'm doing with this stuff.

[Russ Mitchell]

That's interesting. The other gent I showed my stuff to considered the "hungarian tan's" lack of stretch to be *different* than the buff he was used to.

[Kel Rekuta]

Then he was accustomed to the leavings after Clayton's annual run had been picked over or he has never seen new or antique buff. The properties of good movement (soft "hand") for a given thickness and minimal stretch seem to be the most notable properties of buff.

I've got some (200+ft!) light buff coloured chrome tan that would pass for buff once it was sewn into a buff coat or fencing doublet. Useless for straps, utterly useless. A bunch of drinking money tied up on the shelf. Maybe it will make a fair jack of plates someday...

[Russ Mitchell]

Ow. And here I could probably sell hungary-tan for a hundred a side with all the mechanical properties but no greasy fish-oils involved.

[Vermillion]

I haven't had a chance to test the "buff" leather I got from the Civil War (US) supplier last fall. Real life has really interfered with my armor life. But it had a distinct strong chemical smell to it (sulfuric acidy maybe? not rotten egg like).

I will send Russ a sample of it here in a couple of days for his testing.

[Russ Mitchell]

That's a bad sign. Kel may know more than me (okay, he almost certainly does), but marine-oil tannages *might* result in such a smell, but you usually get that on syntans and other taxidermy-related stuff using modern compounds. Unless somehow the guy did a hideously strong acid bate for some reason.. but that's not "authentic" to the period -- when they bothered to bate at all, it was still using dogshit or bran.

[Vermillion]

Russ, your much more of a leather expert than I am. But I do remember some website that described the original buff method in detail and I thought it talked about a distinctive odor. I could be wrong.

Maybe the odor is more like a gunpowder type smell.... some kind of nitrate?

[Russ Mitchell]

dunno about original stuff, but mineral oil tanned hides shouldn't have a sulfuric acid type smell unless the bating used was very strong. Or, I'm missing something in an old recipe.

[Tom B.]

I just stumbled across a guy who will sell buff leather from Claytons in small amounts, including pre-cut straps.
Najecki's American Revolutionary War Reproductions Home Page

Buff leather I use is approx 7 to 10 ounce (an ounce being 1/64" thick) from the Clayton of Chesterfield tannery in England. Rather than being tanned in chrome salts as used in modern garments and upholstery leather; or tree bark extracts as used in saddle, harnesss, and vegetable tanned leather; buff leather uses oil and sulfur. This oil tanning method produces a leather that is a dark cream to yellowish color. What makes this leather "Buff" besides the oil tanning method, is that the top grain is scrapped off leaving a rough texture. Buff leather will also stretch a bit when supporting a heavy load, such as cartridge pouch with ball ammunition or a sword.

Buff leather straps and pieces are priced at $35 per square foot. For example a strap 2" x 50" long is $24.30, and a piece 5" x 10" is $12.15 . Black leather straps and pieces are $15 per square foot. For example a strap 2" x 50" long is $10.40, and a piece 5" x 10" is $5.20 . For either leather other widths and lengths can be made upon request. If you need an odd shaped piece of leather, such as the frog for a bayonet or sword carriage, I can cut leather to the approximate shape if you provide the full size pattern.