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Full grain or top grain
- Thread starter TrainDriver
- Start date
2BM2K
Well-Known Member
I would say that this article is wrong.Good article.
Understanding Leather Grains: Top Grain, Full Grain vs Corrected Grain Leather | The Tannery Row | Leather Distributor
Find out the difference between top grain leather vs. full grain leather vs corrected grain leather. See which is the best quality for various uses.www.thetanneryrow.com
As I understand it Full Grain is the full width of the skin, that is to say the skin is not split, which makes it tougher than the other types.
In the Eastman manual, page 38, there is a cattle hide specification which lists the three types of leather;
Type 1 full grain
Type 2 split
Type 3 top grain.
If the skin is split then effectly there are two skins to make leather from (top grain and split), hence cheaper.
Thickness of leather is determined by processing it to the required thickness, I believe by rollering.
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mulceber
Moderator
That's not the understanding I've used and seen used. From my understanding, Full grain means that the surface, which is the toughest part of the leather, has not been sanded or in any way "corrected." You can still removed material from the underside, and this is regularly done. This graphic is helpful:
2BM2K
Well-Known Member
I guess I must have gotten different search results to you.
Full grain leather is not split.
Chandler
Well-Known Member
Guess @mulceber did too.
Don't know what to tell you -- I wish we had a shrug emoji.
Full grain = the outermost layer of leather that hasn't been modified. Maybe some full grain hides haven't been split, but most have because it's a way to even out the thickness and weight of a hide.
Silver Surfer
Well-Known Member
I know what the aaf specs called for, chrome tanning, but I am convinced that many of the pre and early war a-2s were veg aniline tanned. most notably the first three rw contracts, and pre war aeros.
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mulceber
Moderator
I confess I'm not very well versed in the different dying techniques - is it impossible to aniline dye chrome-tanned leather?
Skyhawk
Well-Known Member
No. Many aniline dyed leathers are Chrome tanned.
Smithy
Well-Known Member
Don't forget Jan that Horween CXL FQHH was (and I'm pretty sure still is) Aero's biggest selling leather option for it's jackets.
I can't add much more apart from the fact that the tradition of chrome tanned leather for flying jackets/coats dates back to 1912 and the introduction of the RFC's first flying coat pattern when chrome tanned leather was specified. This was probably due to chrome tanned leather having better water resistant properties. British motoring and flying coats of the era were also made from chrome tanned hides, presumably for the same reason.
Juanito
Well-Known Member
No. Tanning (vegetable or chrome) is what is done to an animal skin to prevent it from decomposing naturally. A tanned skin is leather.
The aniline, semi-aniline, or pigment finish is what is applied to the outside of the leather; in the case of jackets--nothing more than paint. It doesn’t matter if the jacket was vegetable tanned or chrome tanned.
Your typical WWII is a chrome tanned, drum dyed leather, with a pigment finish.
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mulceber
Moderator
Yeah, I knew that much. Vic's post seemed (to me at least) to imply that it being veg-tanned meant it couldn't be aniline dyed, which sounded wrong to me.
Silver Surfer
Well-Known Member
sorry, meant veg aniline dyed, not tanned.
mulceber
Moderator
No worries - I should have read more closely. When I looked at it again, your meaning was clear.
2BM2K
Well-Known Member
I have found where I was going wrong, there are two types of full grain leather both called full-grain, one is the whole skin and the other is mainly just the grain. As in this diagram;
I was under the impression that there was just the whole width variant.
Chandler
Well-Known Member
FWIW -- my continuing research has yielded 50/50 results on information -- some websites even report both definitions in the same essay (without explanation).
I guess it's one of those "depends on who you ask" questions.
Pa12
Well-Known Member
Internet
Chandler
Well-Known Member
The "depends on who you ask" questions pre-date the internet. But the Internet probably exacerbates the trouble.Internet
