Leatherwork Studio
Traditional English Leatherwork.
Manufacturers of fine hand made leather goods
Commissions, Restoration and Repair
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The Oak Bark Leather Belt is our best seller. The hides that we cut the belts from come from our local tannery in Colyton, East Devon where they still use an organic oak bark process to preserve the cowhide. The process is long and slow - these hides stay in pits in the ground steeping in a liquor of oak bark and the soft waters of the River Coly for almost 2 years. Oak bark tanning produces a superb leather, tough yet supple, ideal for the finest belts and bridles.
The buckles are made from solid brass in a Walsall foundry. This lorinerary was established many years ago to manufacture the brass fittings used by the saddlers and bridle makers in the town. Still, today their buckles are made in the traditional way, cast in sand then finished, filed and polished, all by hand.
We hammer rivet and hand-stitch the buckle to the belt with 5 cord linen thread.
Hand made leather accessories
Laptop Messenger Satchel more info ....
Tanner Bates have created a range of original hand made mens accessories. They are made in the old way with each part individually cut out of a hide. The buckles and fastening used are cast from solid brass.
About our Leather
We have an environmental conscience and are very particular about the leather we use. If it contains harmful toxic residues or toxic waste is created in its manufacture we don’t use it. We choose leather tanned (a method of preserving animal skin) in the old fashioned way where hides are steeped in plant extracts and tree barks for months or sometimes years. This process has been used for many thousands of years but has largely been replaced by a chromium tanning method, which is fast and profitable but produces a leather that has neither the quality nor the environmental credentials of leather tanned with natural plant extracts
Leather tanned with plant extracts is known as vegetable tanned and is still used widely for saddles, bridles and the best quality hand made accessories. Our Swedish leather from Tarnsjo www.tarnsjogarveri.se is accredited by a German certification (TUV) to be non allergenic, containing no harmful products and producing no harmful waste in its manufacture. This seems to be as close as we can get to an organic certification.
Slideshow:
click on the images below to view the products:
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12 Riverside, Totnes, Devon,
01803 866257 / 07738 634136