Cordovan Leather Question

[TaterHill Archer]

I have quite a bit of unfinished horse butt (aka cordovan) leather.  Does it matter how its finished?  Is simply dying and sealing with an acrylic finish good enough for use on bows and for armguards, etc...?

[dino]

Contact Earl Bateman and EW Bateman.  Their website is  www.ewbateman.com.   They make archery related items out of cordovan and he might know the best of how it needs to be finished or point you in the right direction at the very least.  dino

[mike g]

Cordovan leather is from a small town in Spain....Part of what makes it Cordovan is the special process in the Tanning that makes Cordovan leather....

[8th Dwarf]

I only buy the stuff from Spain.  There is nothing like it on earth.  I had one shooting tab that had to be 20-25 years old.  It was still like new, but got burned up in a fire, along with all my gear and me!

Don't put leather treatment on the shiny side!!!  Use ONLY Pitch Blend leather dressing and put it on the buff side.  Set it in the sun until fully soaked in.  It will make the shiny side slicker and waterproof.  I do this about three times on a new tab and then only once a year.  Awesome tabs...the best on earth!

Too Short

[Buemaker]

Marvelous stuff, I have been using one tab for 15 years, still good as new.  http://www.horween.com/
I am not sure, but I think they make it in Argentina also.  Bue--.

[2fletch]

A company called "Horween" makes it in Chicago. Forget about trying to get any though. I was told that they are not taking any new business.

Real cordovan is in short supply. There's only a small area on the horse's rump that can be used and supposedly it goes through an extensive process. I'm sure that there is also a lot of leather sold as cordovan that probably isn't. You can easily pay $100.00 or more for less then 4 square feet.

[Mike Lee]

I bought some cordovan from Siegel. It was stamped Horween on the rough side.  www.siegelofca.com

[Steve P]

Consider what mike g and 8th Dwarf say in their posts above. I am not a leather expert, but if that is the stuff 8th Dwarf was selling 20 or 25 years ago, that's what you want(for tab anyway). Smooth, slick, and no curl. Misplaced it once and had to use a "cordovan" spare I picked up elsewhere and it just wasn't the same. Got lucky and found the lost one a few weeks later. I'm a little more careful where I put it these days.


Steve

[TaterHill Archer]

8th Dwarf,
How do I get the stuff from Spain?  I bought some from Breuttens Village last year, but I don't see it on their website now.

[Buemaker]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordovan

[Buemaker]

http://www.bensilver.com/style04/styleguide_link4.html
They say only one tannery still produces Cordovan and that is Horween Leather of Chicago, so I guess no more production in Spain.  Bue--.

[dino]

That was the same thing I found too and it is in short supply right now.  Not enough horse butt to go around.    dino

[ber643]

So - are any of the Tabs being sold by (whoever) as Cordovan these days really Cordovan? I'd love to have a good, simple one (I always use a tab - (mostly Neat with the felt pad between the fingers) but I've not found one yet that I thought was really Cordovan (except ones that already belong to someone else - Dad-gum it!). I have a box of tabs from various sources (some are darned expensive) but there isn't a good "slick" Cordovan one in the bunch.

[Bob Miller]

Alaska Bow Hunting Supply carries them

[Buemaker]

Bernie, I sent you a PM.
Bue--.

[8th Dwarf]

I don't know how to get the stuff directly from Spain.

Try contacting Roy Taylor, who is still making Screaming Eagle Tree Stands.                 www.e-screamingeagle.com
The gal that used to make them for us may still some of the leather and the cutters.

Too Short

[2fletch]

Bernie, I believe that you are going to be at the Hickory shoot this weekend aren't you? Stop by the Eagle's Flight Archery booth. We have a limited supply of tabs that are genuine Horween cordovan. Are you a split fingers or 3 under shooter? We have a few of both. We also have arrow rest/side plates made of the same material.

[Dave Bulla]

Part of the problem with cordovan is that the name has been around so long that it has taken on additional meaning.  That is, it's not just a tanning proces from Cordova Spain, it's now also a color.  Kinda like Coke went from being a brand to being a flavor.

I'm not sure if I've ever owned a tab made with the stuff from Spain or not but I've been using either the basic Neet cordovan tab or another one (can't remember the brand) with a small rubber spacer and an elastic finger loop ever since I started.  I have an old Neet tab that is as slick as glass, has no crease and has shot thousands upon thousands of arrows.  I think the longer you shoot them, the better they get.  

I have noticed though that when I have the chance to handle before I buy it pays to check each one to see how slick it is.  Some of them feel softer but not as slick (more like regular leather) and some of them are real slick and feel almost like plastic.  The slick ones seem to be the ones to get.

It's also a "buyer beware" thing.  Due to the confusion about color vs. tanning process some cordovan is not REALLY cordovan.  I once even asked an archery dealer if he had cordovan tabs and his answer was "I can make any tab cordovan with a bottle of dye".  Thing was, he wasn't trying to rip me off or be a jerk, he honestly thought that cordovan was just the color.

[Smilingg]

I bought 2 cordovan tabs from Paul when he was running Screaming Eagle in 1988. They are both still in great shape.

I got worried about not being able to get any more so I bought another one from the current owner of S.E. back around 2000. It was still the same stuff then. I bought another for a buddy who lives in London about a year later and that, too, was the genuine article.

If you want one, see if Roy still has 'em. I seem to recall that they hadn't even gone up in price...

You might want to order more than 1 because if you drop the only 1 you have from 20 feet, it gets tiresome going up and down to retrieve it, searching in the leaves, etc.

[mike g]

Alaskan Bowhunting supply
Also carries them and thet are a sponsor here....
When ever possiable always buy from one of our sponsors....