Very thick leather? (1/4 in thick)

Probably cow belly hide. It's a lot thicker than the skin on most of the animal.

-- Ed Huntress

My experience with making leatherbelts to go with the buckles Ive made is that this thickness leather comes from the larger bovine species larger Charolais cows, bullocks etc. If you have read the book about the leather boats called the Brendan voyage, this leather was up to 1/2in thick.. Also it comes from the back not the belly. Most leather you see is split, ie its cut to make 2 skins of 1 animal. Ive used the thicker unsplit forbelts, also 1/4in thick. My buckles and belt Will take a mans weight. This thickness of leather is used as traction engine drive belting Lovely stuff. Ted Dorset UK

I have an antique roll of "billet leather". It is 1/2" wide x 1/4" thick. Billet leather was once issued by the US Railroads for making cable or wire bundle clamps for use indoors. I suspect it's use goes far back into the early days of telegraph. As a WAG, leather may have been preferred over metal for cable clamps from the standpoint of eliminating possible inductive coupling between pairs, leading to cross-talk.

Three dots, four dots, 2 dots, a dash - if you can't read that, well "Kiss our ass"! Reportedly, this was the rallying cry of an early American Trade Union, Order of Railway Telegraphers. It would have been tapped out on the steam pipes of hotels at union conventions.

Bob Swinney

My experience with making leatherbelts to go with the buckles Ive made is that this thickness leather comes from the larger bovine species larger Charolais cows, bullocks etc. If you have read the book about the leather boats called the Brendan voyage, this leather was up to 1/2in thick.. Also it comes from the back not the belly. Most leather you see is split, ie its cut to make 2 skins of 1 animal. Ive used the thicker unsplit forbelts, also 1/4in thick. My buckles and belt Will take a mans weight. This thickness of leather is used as traction engine drive belting Lovely stuff. Ted Dorset UK

How old are they? Bison leather was preferred for drive belts in the late

Randal

Not that old, maybe from 1980s or some such.

That's why the sometimes specify-"top grain Cowhide"-'cause they can get

All I remember is that thick stuff has often been called "belly hide" in my experience, but after someone else commented about the back being thicker I looked it up. Apparently the back is thicker. So whatever I was remembering probably has nothing to do with belts or cow hides either, for that matter.

-- Ed Huntress

Naw, they've shut down the Nauga ranches all over the country. The last one was in Connecticut and was owned by Don Imus.

-- Ed Huntress

"I did it to help the cansher kids.....Dierdre wrote a book with all her Nauga meat recipes..."

Generally it is a "bonded" or laminated (glued) leather when that thick. Not too much Elephant or Rhino or Hippo hide in commercial use.

On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:55:55 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus705 quickly quoth:

Buffalo hide is really thick like that.

-- Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling. -- Margaret Lee Runbeck

On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:36:03 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, "Tom Gardner" quickly quoth:

Only Old Growth Naugas had thick hides, Tawm.

-- Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling. -- Margaret Lee Runbeck

It might be from Naugas

Strap sez:

"Only Old Growth Naugas had thick hides, Tawm."

Yeah, second that ! And, Naugas hides are TFE. That's why you seldom find recipes for cooking with naugas.

Bob Swinney