[Coodeville]

I received a leather hide today from Global Upholstery. It's 55 sq ft. It has a cut in it about 2 ft long and 2 inches wide located near the end center. ?????? Is this where it's genitalia or anus was located or did someone just cut a piece out? I'm going to post a picture later.

[BOBCRMAN@aol.com]

One of the faults of natural leather. Along with scars, scrapes, brands and Grub holes.

[Coodeville]

Originally Posted by BOBCRMAN@aol.com

One of the faults of natural leather. Along with scars, scrapes, brands and Grub holes.

So is it possible that someone cut out a really bad part? You can tell it was done with a blade. Here is the picture

[Old Fool]

In all the hides I have looked at at the leather warehouse I have never seen a hide with a hole like that cut in the center.
I'd be sending that one back and getting one that isn't cut up like that.

[Coodeville]

Originally Posted by Old Fool

In all the hides I have looked at at the leather warehouse I have never seen a hide with a hole like that cut in the center.
I'd be sending that one back and getting one that isn't cut up like that.

Yeah, I get the feeling this hide has an unpleasant story behind it. When I unrolled it, I said " ***?"

[DanTwoLakes]

All hides have imperfections, but that's way over the top. I'd send it back. Why is it so shiny?

[Coodeville]

Originally Posted by DanTwoLakes

All hides have imperfections, but that's way over the top. I'd send it back. Why is it so shiny?

The leather is shiny because it's an exact match to my original stuff. It took me a while to find this stuff. I have been handed all sorts of bull****en about what the original stuff looked like. I am an expert on this particular car and have owned my current one for about 20 years. i also have a few sets of seats laying around specifically for that car and all have the factory leather that looks just like this stuff. So when I judge at the national show, it better look like this or you'll get a point deduction. But keep in mind that it's probably shiner in the picture than in real life. I'm going to call these guys up and tell them they have a problem. But what do you think they did? Cut out an imperfection? I'll tell ya, I know nothing about leather. But this is the first one I ever saw with something like this.

[DanTwoLakes]

Upon further reflection..........This blemish would have been in the middle of the cow's back, along the spine from the way it looks. If the leather on both sides is solid, there isn't any reason you can't use the leather. They use automated measuring devices now days, so you wouldn't have been charged for the bad spot. If you look on the hide, somewhere there will be a number or a tag from the measuring. This hide came from Austria, so I don't know what the numbers are for. They could be measuring numbers or inventory numbers or inspector's numbers. Here's another hide that was measured with a machine, that has 55.9 sq.ft. it is reasonable to expect 10 to 15% waste depending on how large the pieces need to be.

You're right about the shine, the '86 Caddy seat I did had smooth,shiny leather on it, but I thought it had gotten polished with age.

[Coodeville]

I just called Global Upholstery. The rep asked me if the cutout was located on the head end and not the butt end. I replied "Yes". He responded by telling me that this is not an uncommon thing and that it was done by the tanners for different reasons. He said it could have been some sort of natural blemish that would have been useless and they took the liberty of cutting it out. He said that as long as I don't cut it, I can return it for a different hide. Global does not tan the hides and have no control over things like this. The rest of it looks fine.