Hello fellow crafters,
The title is pretty self explanatory, but I will give some context. I will be working on some projects that will require me to have leather about 0.3 to 02mm thick. I am based in the US, I asked RMLS and they don't want to go below 0.4mm. I used to work with Europelle and they had no problem splitting leather at the requested 0.2mm but it seems they have gone bust.... and they weren't super reliable to start with. I took a look at some splitting services in the US like those offered by "heritageleather" but same thing as RMLS, they won't go below 0.4. I haven't found any other company that does, but if anyone knows of a reputable one, I'm interested. Ideally I'd like to not have to ship my leather to Europe, it'll cost me a fortune in shipping (and duties....) and I don't need to have huge quantites split, just a few panels. Does anyone know of a supplier that has both a good selection of leathers (preferably from reputable tanneries) AND that offers splitting below 0.4mm? I am pretty sure that somewhere in Asia some companies do that and I just don't know of them.
Hello,
From what I heard from friends, a very reliable and technical splitter operator is Vulture_premium on Instagram. I know he can split down to 0.4mm without issues, you will have to contact him for your specifics.
Phil asked in a respectable way, i will ask my way: what the hell are you making?
The problem is, very few machine opperators can split reliably to that thickness. Most will work to a 0.2mm tollerance, so ordering 0.6mm could get you 0.4 or even 0.8 and vary across the hide.
I don't know of anyone that can split to 0.4mm currently, or even attempt it. My recommendation would be to split on a bell knife skiving machine. If you don't have one, you may save money on the long term when splitting small pieces. This is what I did on the leather wrapped box course.
May I ask what these projects are?