What Are The Different Parts Of A Leather Hide?
Below this picture gives you details of the most common parts of the leather hide and what they are called.
These cuts are from a leather hide that is cut into different sections, a full hide is left intact and sold as a full leather hide.
The butt area is commonly the toughest and most dense fibre structured leather of all the leather cuts, that from a horse, shell cordovan is the best known cut for handmade high quality leather shoes.
Skin Cut Names
Skins Horses
Depending on the animal will depend on the size of the hide, a bull is far bigger than a cow, some manufacturers will only ever use a bull.
Depending on where the skin comes from on the animal will also determine the quality of the hide and its natural markings.
It would also determine if the leather was a top grain, embossed or a split, or even a drop split, they all make a difference, with an embossed grain, you won’t see any natural markings on the skin.
With all the different leather sections, you also get different thicknesses in hides, you can get a hide from a cow thats 0.5mm thick and one that’s 1.5mm and they will both feel very different, both could be pigment finished and the thicker skin, someone would state its plastic, when its as genuine as the thinner skin.
But due to the thickness it will make the thinner skin feel softer and more supple and feel more luxurious when are just the same its all due to the thickness.
Skins can also be sanded, buffed, oiled and waxed to give a different feel and finish to each and every skin all from the same animal to be used in different trade and sectors.