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21-25
April 2008 and 15-19 September 2008
This
training course is suitable for all product sectors –
footwear, upholstery, garments, leathergoods etc. and is designed
for anyone who wants a fuller understanding of leather, its
manufacture and the characteristics of leather that influence
its use in leather products.
Appreciation
of Leather Making - Five Day Programme
The
intention is not to try and turn our delegates into tanners
in just five days! An appreciation of what is behind the practical
leather making processes will give a fuller understanding
of some of the technical difficulties experienced when trying
to make leather for a specific end use.
DAY
1
Welcome to the British School of Leather Technology and Leather
Wise
A chance to learn a little about each other and what we will
be doing for the next five days.
Where
does it all begin - sourcing from farm to tanner?
The skins and hides we use are sourced from many places globally.
We will look at some of the facts and figures relating to
the international industry and the issues facing the supply
chain.
Why
do we inherit problems?
Depending on source, and welfare conditions, hides and skins
can be subject to natural and manmade damage. We will look
at typical problems and the impact these have on leather quality.
Practical
Sessions
During the five days we will also have a chance to get our
hands dirty as we have a go at making leather! We will try
and produce leather using a footwear/leathergoods process
and also garment and upholstery leather (which we can then
test for suitability later!).
We
will also try using different tannages so that we can investigate
how the tanning processes influence the final characteristics
of leather. The tannages we will use are:
- Chrome
tannage (wet blue)
-
Vegetable tannage (veg crust)
-
Aldehyde tannage (wet white)
The
leather will also need to be dyed, retanned and fatliquored
to impart colour, softness and specific handle characteristics.
Finally, we will see how leathers are finished and the effect
this has on how you describe the leather and what impact it
has on the performance in use of the leather.
Practical
Session 1
Investigating different Raw Materials – salted, dry
Soaking, Fleshing (machine and hand), Liming
DAY
2
Why do we make leather from cowhide
(… and other animals)?
There are many reasons for choosing certain hides and skins
for making different types of leather. In this session we
will look at the components of skin and explain how different
animals have different skin structures.
We
will then be able to understand the various attributes and
limitations of using a particular skin or hide in relation
to the end product. For example, the reasons why pigskin is
commonly used for making shoe linings or garment suede but
is not generally used in upholstery.
Getting
to grips with the jargon (a touchy feely session!)
One really confusing aspect of using leather is the variety
of names and descriptions that are commonplace in the industry.
We will look at some of the more popular terms and explain
what characteristics the leather will have. Some of the terms
we will look at are: Aniline, Semi-aniline, Pigmented, Finished
Split, Bi-cast, Suede, Nubuck, Pull-up, Full Grain, Corrected
Grain….and more.
Practical
Session 2
Deliming, Bating, Pickling, Start the different Tannages,
Splitting and Shaving, Start Retanning
DAY 3
Introduction to the leather making process
The leathermaking process is broken down into a number of
key stages. We will introduce these stages and explain the
importance of them:
- Beamhouse
- Tanning
-
Post Tanning
- Finishing
The
science of leather making for the non-scientist!
The intention is not to try and turn our delegates into tanners
in the course of five days! An appreciation of what is behind
the practical processes that we are carrying out will give a
fuller understanding of some of the technical difficulties experienced
when trying to make leather for a specific end use.
Practical
Session 3
Dye, Retan, Fatliquor, Samm/Set, Dry – hang, toggle
and vacuum
DAY
4
Ensuring a cleaner future rather than
the CATNAP approach (Cheapest Available Technology Narrowly
Avoiding Prosecution!)
Despite the unfortunate reputation that leather producers
seem to have in regard to the environment, the industry is
very proactive in trying to meet ever-increasing legislation
and requirements to work ‘cleaner and greener’.
We will look at what is considered to be commercial best practice.
This will help you to understand what questions to ask your
leather supplier.
What
do we officially mean by the term ‘Leather’?
We all take leather for granted and use it everyday, but do
we really know what it is and what characteristics it has?
For anyone using and supplying leather and leather products
it is important to understand what you can (and can’t)
do legally. Within this session we will also look at the issue
of labelling.
Practical Session 4
Stake, Buff, Commence Finishing
DAY
5
Practical Session 5
Completion of the Finishing Processes
Tour
of the testing laboratories and testing the leather we have
made to see how we ensure ‘fitness for purpose’
We will look at the physical testing of leather and microscopy
techniques used for quality assurance and solving problems
that occur. Then we will put it all into practice and see
if we have been successful in producing commercially acceptable
leathers. We will carry out some standard tests such as wet
and dry rub, flex and tear strength.
Testing
and specifying leather for a product
Following on from our testing we will discuss why we have
Specifications. The reasons include needing to ensure that
chemical ‘nasties’ are not present in our consumer
goods and that the goods perform satisfactorily in use. We
will look at the typical aspects of a Specification.
How
can we look after leather and what issues are there for those
involved in Quality Assurance and Customer Services?
Now we know what leather is it leads us to consider what happens
when it all goes wrong? We will use examples to illustrate
typical problems that you might encounter – and how
we can help you to resolve the problems.
Completion of course – time to go home for a rest!
Things you need to know:
- This
course is suitable for all product sectors – footwear,
upholstery, garments, leathergoods etc
-
Held at the British School of Leather Technology, The University
of Northampton, Boughton Green Road, Northampton, NN2 7AL,
UK
-
Course starts 09.30 and finishes 16.30 (unless we talk a
lot!)
-
Lunches and refreshments included
- Please
let us know foot and chest size for protective boots and
coats
-
Let us know if you have any special needs – dietary/access
etc.
-
Delegates are responsible for their own accommodation but
we can supply a list of local hotels.
Booking Form
Contact
Chris Powley-Williams if you need any help, direct tel: 01604
497569, mobile: 07737 196660, email: chris@leatherwise.co.uk
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