Splitting

Looking to have some of your own leather split?

Splitting sounds simple. Set the magic dial on the magic machine, put the leather in and it comes out at the specified thickness, right?

I wish.

Every different leather, and frequently even different parts of the same hide, will split juuuuust a bit differently. The density and direction of the grain can play havoc with these "finely tuned" machines, and this introduces the dreaded term of "variance" to splitting.

Now, don't get me wrong, an operator can get pretty accurate and I like to think that I am. I try to produce splits within 0.05mm of the desired outcome and most of the time I get there, but there's always going to be some of that variance waiting to rear its ugly head.

Part of the way I get around this and deliver splits more accurately than the other guy is actually due to one of the limitations of my machine: it's small. I can only reliably split a 9-10" panel, meaning a full hide must be processed into smaller panels before they can be split. The upshot to this is that it allows me to take the less desirable pieces of hide (flanks and other non-prime real estate) and use them to calibrate the machine for each hide.

You still receive these offcuts. They are useful for hidden liner panels, watch straps, and other small areas where a perfect piece is not necessary.