Johnson leather Horween 6oz cxl overdye D-pocket and 4.5 -5oz CXL natural LeatherTogs project

[Monitor]

According to all the information I got, it is almost impossible to make a jacket from any hide more than 4oz, and you have to skived the edge of each panel to 3.5 oz to make it workable.

So, as @navetsea already asked, what's the problem if they shave the edges where they'll stitch the panels, if the rest of the jacket is still going to be heavy? Let them skive the edges.

@Peacoat is right, though - It simply isn't possible to construct a leather jacket out of a 4 + oz leather, let alone 6oz. Even LW is exaggerating the thickness of their leather which is 3.5 oz at best - I don't mean that in a bad way, LW leather is still mega thick & one of the heaviest on the market but it's just clear that it's literally impossible to work with anything substantially thicker.
But yeah, you just cannot fold such heavy leather in a way that'd allow you to stitch in, I dunno, pocket piping, zippers, etc. It's not possible. Best you can hope for is for the large panels to have the middle intact, with the edges skived to a workable thickness.

My first Natal was made of a heaviest leather I've ever handled and even that jacket had to have been very soft and spongy for it to even exist.

 

[Brian.HH]

Yes, sewing machines can be very restrictive, that's why most companies will skive the edges.
I'm in the process of making my own leather jacket out of 5.5oz leather. It will be hand stitched, thus I could use any thickness of leather I wanted.

 

[handymike]

Please make a thread showing us every step!
I dream of making one, and love when others actually do it.

 

[Brian.HH]

Please make a thread showing us every step!
I dream of making one, and love when others actually do it.

Ok! I may do it it the next days. If I do, I'll let you know here.

 

[navetsea]

Yes, sewing machines can be very restrictive, that's why most companies will skive the edges.
I'm in the process of making my own leather jacket out of 5.5oz leather. It will be hand stitched, thus I could use any thickness of leather I wanted.

woww, that's sounds great, so you prick the holes with that fork like tool prior to sew right? how to aligned them correctly between panel? or do you only prick one panel and use the evenly spaced hole as a guide to prick the other panel directly when sewing?

my mom is a dressmaker all herlife. one day when I visited her she complained her maid/ assistant changed the setting on the machine she personally use, need to call someone from Singer to tweak it back to work with cloth she usually use, I know the machine, my grandma also own one and the tweak is just simple looking but what do I know, another time I went to order a special made bike seat from thick pleather for my bike, the guy also used the same machine style (but a Singer knock off) and he work on that thick sticky pleather on foot pedal machine.

 

[Jin431]

^^ I always thought @navetsea made your own jackets for some reason lol

 

[El Marro]

^^ I always thought @navetsea made your own jackets for some reason lol

He definitely designs his own jackets.

 

[navetsea]

^^ I always thought @navetsea made your own jackets for some reason lol

I only draw my jacket and bring it to a local leather jacket/ leather bag maker, like if you order custom jacket to fivestar.

 

[Jin431]

That makes sense to me now. That's cool to have your design come to life from start to finish.

 

[navetsea]

That makes sense to me now. That's cool to have your design come to life from start to finish.

lately new makers are getting more open with sharing their WIP photos like Field leather, and fivestar that is also make you able to try out your creativity, surely a nice phase this hobby.

 

[Brian.HH]

woww, that's sounds great, so you prick the holes with that fork like tool prior to sew right? how to aligned them correctly between panel? or do you only prick one panel and use the evenly spaced hole as a guide to prick the other panel directly when sewing?

my mom is a dressmaker all herlife. one day when I visited her she complained her maid/ assistant changed the setting on the machine she personally use, need to call someone from Singer to tweak it back to work with cloth she usually use, I know the machine, my grandma also own one and the tweak is just simple looking but what do I know, another time I went to order a special made bike seat from thick pleather for my bike, the guy also used the same machine style (but a Singer knock off) and he work on that thick sticky pleather on foot pedal machine.

Oh yes, every hole has to be considered individually. With leather, if you punch a hole too close to the edge it becomes very weak (with fabric that is not as big of a problem). I'm drawing the template in Solidworks, in which I'm going to position every single stitch hole. Then the template gets printed and the holes punched. I've done this process in a backpack project with a few hundred stitch holes, in this jacket it is going to be more than a thounsand.
I do really like sewing machines, for sewing fabric. I have enherited a sewing machine from my grandmother, she received the machine as a present from her mother in the 1940's. All my fabric projects get done in this machine, it wors beautifully.

 

[Hh121]

Here is the conclusion of this project, fivestar was able to finishing this project for me and they did fantastic job!
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/five-star-leather-jackets.101762/page-146#post-2798742
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/five-star-leather-jackets.101762/page-147#post-2798763

 

[photo2u]

It is interesting that when I asked Horween if I can get heavy CXL horsehide, they said CXL horsehide only comes with no more than 3 oz.

That makes lots of sense. Their steer hide is always much thicker.

 

[photo2u]

Sounds great double h. I figured it would be easier to ship directly to the maker. Your jacket should easily weigh in the double digits. I THINK a Vanson model "E" starts out with 12lbs of raw material. Seems like they usually end up being between 7 and 8 pounds when finished.

When completed, this will make you the Undesputed, Undefeated, Heavyweight Champion of the fedora lounge!

My j23 size 46 is 1.5 pounds heavier than my size 44 model E. They both fit the same.

 

[Canuck Panda]

That makes lots of sense. Their steer hide is always much thicker.

The Horween CXL FQHH is generally around 3 to 3.5oz thick, there are off batches where it goes down to 2.75 or 4.25 but in general they are always about 3.25oz. I've got quite a few of these now and that seems to be the norm, from any maker, as long as the leather is from Horween.

There are "milled" or "tumbled" ones, but I prefer to do the break in myself. Nothing wrong with those I just like to personalize my grains. The milled/tumble ones does the break in job 75% for you out the box. And less chance of mismatched panels because if the leather is grainy or not it will show from the start, where as non milled/tumbled ones can be a mystery - which I like, quite exciting.

The CXL steer is always 4.5oz or thicker. The 3.5oz steer is very rare, I have them too, they don't feel like horsehide at all in the hand. They look similar but in the hand they feel totally different.

I like the CXL steer temper but they only come in basic colors, where as CXL horse comes in wider range of colors and I am a sucker for that. But as far as a black leather jacket goes, CXL steer is definitely better than CXL horse in wears. And would be my go to choice for a motorcycle jacket too - CXL steer that is.

Black CXL generally teacores, but the thing with Horween is that I never really know. Some are dyed from the flesh side too so kinda greyish core mixed in tea core. No matter what, all very cool.

I'll report back on the Masaye. I believe that one is lighter horsehide than CXL and no wax so no stiff and is dyed through so blacked all the way through.

 

[f2002q]

I can't believe I just read 24 pages !!! This thread read like a Mexican telenovela!! It had everything, including the devastating break-up!
I like heavy leather, but that jacket must be a monster. Just lifting your arms requires a protein shake. I need to work on the boss so she doesn't divorce me when I bring up the idea of a heavy for me.

 

[El Marro]

I can't believe I just read 24 pages !!! This thread read like a Mexican telenovela!! It had everything, including the devastating break-up!
I like heavy leather, but that jacket must be a monster. Just lifting your arms requires a protein shake. I need to work on the boss so she doesn't divorce me when I bring up the idea of a heavy for me.

This thread is the Don Quijote of TFL. Cool to see it brought back from the dead after a long hibernation.

 

[ton312]

This thread is the Don Quijote of TFL. Cool to see it brought back from the dead after a long hibernation.

LOL...I had the opposite reaction

 

[Modified_last_call]

This was like a fairy tale story as I wound up purchasing the jacket in question

 

[f2002q]

This was like a fairy tale story as I wound up purchasing the jacket in question

Got to ask, how's it wearing after one year? Please, please, please, please, post pics... Don't leave me HANGING !!!!