Being in the leather business, we never see this end of the tannery process because all leathers are done when we receive them. So it’s fascinating to see the process
Another great video but it would have been great to have grant or someone from the tannery give a voice over with some explanation of what we were seeing.
I was gonna say the same thing. Pity my father couldn’t have seen this. He was the President of the Manasse-Block Tanning Company in Berkeley until they had to shut down in 1984. He started as a general laborer in 1947 and retired as President. I worked in the tannery a couple of times. Fond memories!
The Horween tannery In Chicago is absolutely amazing. The process in which they produce the highest grade of cordovan leather, is absolutely one of a kind
Or they have discounts that make them almost free for suppling the leather. Doesn’t mean anything against the quality but generally this is the case. Just saying.
When I was a kid, I made my own moccasins, and other leather objects. I was a huge Tandy's customer. This video is very interesting, visually, but it really doesn't explain anything.
I really appreciate you guys making these videos. Super informative and well made. I'm looking forward to buying a pair of your boots - hopefully sometime this year :)
My mother in law worked at SAS( SAN ANTONIO SHOES) FOR 40 Something years. And she can look at a pelt of leather and tell you how many right shoes and left shoes will come out...She was a cutter....and she is still alive and doesn't look 74..
😕 I'm starting to think I watched a different video than the people commenting on all the people wearing Nick's boots. The majority of the footwear worn in this video is tennis shoes. I must be missing something
I’m a leather hobbyist I would loved to have seen little info titles with each process Like each time it goes through the rollers what is happening sciving glasing??
Loved the shot with the hanging Culver's bag :P ha. This is super neat. Didn't know leather production was so much about feeding it through rolly things in different orientations.
Ive been watching tannery youtube for a while, and Im curious what makes this the worlds toughest leather. Can someone tell me like whats going on in the video, what the process is, or describe how the worlds toughest leather is tanned differently from the worlds weakest leather? Or is it just the cow? I bought a jacket that has really thick/heavy leather, and compared to most leather jackets, it is almost 2x as heavy, and it has a gorgeous brown texture with actual leather texture. Its so nice that its difficult to not rub with your hand, and I was curious how that happens when there are other leathers that look like a windbreaker with almost no substance.
There are multiple things that can affect the toughness. If it's chrome tanned cow hide vs chrome tanned cow hide then the number 1 thing that affects toughness is the thickness/how heavy it is. The 1964 leather is 7-8oz or whichs is rougly 3mm. That's very thick. Only PNW boot maker I know that goes higher is JK Boots and they use 8-9oz leather. Some of the thickest leather jackets are made from 3.5-4oz leather whichs is 1.4-1.6mm. Then there's tanning process. Chrome vs vegetable. Veg tan leather takes longer to produce and is much stiffer as a finished product. You should look up Rose Anvil and his videos about leathers.
The next video will be the exact same one with captions or a narrator explaining exactly what is happening here. It was lovely visually, but I got nothing from it.
Yeah ,the work leather is from Seidel I believe and the blue from the chromium salts is so off putting. I hope they treat the water used in the tanning process though.
Our daughter ( then 16 ) came home about ten years ago and declared she wasn't going to be a party to the murder of animals - in fact anything with a face, including fish. She started emptying her room of all animal-derived products, leather jackets, belts, shoes, gloves, pants - everything, and boxing it all up for me to take to the dump, she went apeshit when we suggested giving it to homeless people, saying it was perpetuating the holocaust. We let her just go for it. Then she refused to eat at the table because the meat smell from our meals was the smell of murder and death - she made herself some salad with foam earplugs stuffed in her nose and ate outside. After dinner, she came to the family room ( still with the fluro green plugs in her nose ) and stood with her arms folded and told us she wasn't going to live in a house that has the smell of death in it, lounge suite is leather, everybody has leather shoes, jackets, wallets, belts, gloves etc. it all had to go. She said the smell of death was tantamount to child abuse. We all looked at each other, with a stunned WTF ! look. The wife said, "Fair enough, go for a long walk and we'll discuss what to do. " We all had a quick discussion, went into the garage, got our family camping tent and set it up in the backyard, camp bed, portapotty, sleeping bag, extension cord, portable tv, little caravan fridge, camping table and folding chairs, set up the camp stove on my old drill press bench, pots and pans, tinned baked beans, tinned vegetables and fresh potatoes and vegetables. I set up a portable camping shower frame with a showerhead and curtain. We ( the wife and two sons ) set it all up inside half an hour. Daughter came home, stood at the door, with the green plugs up her nose, arms folded, all high and mighty and said, " Well ? " Wife took her by the arm, led her down the driveway to the back, pointed to the tent, outdoor stove, opened the tent flap and pointed to the suitcases full of all her clothes, tv, portapotty, shower and said, " Your new vegan home - enjoy. Oh, and you'll now have to bus it or bike it everywhere because the cars have leather seats, and you'll need to get a job to buy all new sporting gear 'cause your roller skates, rollerblade boots and softball stuff is all leather and we're boxing that all up as well and dumping it like you wanted. '' The next day we were having steaks - cooked inside, but we ate on the back deck, daughter called the cops on 911 and said she was being abused by the smell of cooked meat ! Cops and a social worker came to the house, checked out her new accommodation, while we were sitting there eating our meals. They came over to talk to us, with our daughter standing behind them - arms folded, smirking with the green plugs in her nose. The social worker had a look through our home, the daughters room and said that this matter would need to be investigated, turned to our daughter and said to pack some clothes, she was going to have to go to a shelter until the investigation was completed, then a court hearing - could take a week or two or three. She came home with the social worker the next day, balling her eyes out, begging to come home, after having got ONE overnight taste of shelter life. She spent ten days living outside, cooking her own meals, sleeping and showering outside. We could hear her crying herself to sleep. Eventually, she found out her bedroom window was 'mysteriously' left unlocked and would sneak in and sleep under her bed and get up before she thought anyone would notice. She came good in the end. But whenever she even looked like acting up, her mother would just point to a photo of the tent set up in the backyard - my wife had taken a photo of the tent, had it blown up, mounted and hung one in every room in the house, including the boys, as a reminder that she will not take any shit - she's looked at me and pointed to the photo in our bedroom (yeah, our bedroom) a couple of times, but I'm a quick study. Leather, how it's made ? Oh yeah, good video, thanks.
@ knut riis yep, mental illness indeed, sounds like a budding Karen too lol. It may not be funny as it is a serious matter for the parents, but people like her is just straight up hilarious, crazy people.
I was looking for a more natural boot option and contacted you about your vegetable tanned boots. I was basically told they still smelled just like the chemically tanned ones. Maybe from all being in the same building or something. Anyway, I went with another option but was disappointed to not be able to try your boots as I loath them chemical "leather" smell.
Great video. I scrolled down a bit and the answer is popping out for me if its already been answered, but can someone ID the boots at 7:50, please. And what is the height? 6 inches? Thank you.
My son wears size 22. We've been looking for boots they will fit him for years. Nobody we've contacted is even willing to try. Could you guys make him something like that? We are very serious. Thanks for any response.
geez, you have a giant warehouse full of animal skin and you can make a documentary about it, but i have a tiny spare bedroom with a bunch of human skin, and i have to keep it a secret. WTF
Boy it'd be nice to have some captions or something explaining what's going on in the video. Lots of really interesting stuff, but no clue what it all is. Not asking to learn the secrets, just some background.
@J Hemphill Once leather has been tanned, it cannot be used in animal foods, since many of the chemicals are poisonous As you mentioned, it can be used as a footbed, or ground and mixed with glues to manufacture bonded leather. It makes me laugh to think that bonded leather is ACTUALLY made from rubbish.
@J Hemphill Don't worry, the leather used in dogfood is rawhide, trimmed off the leather before tanning. Chemical free, it is perfectly healthy and good for the dogs teeth. However, it does not provide much nutrition. 😃
WTF! I can clearly see that there are some processing going on. But what..? What's significant to a higher quality leather? Next video; describe process and highlight differences, please...
It would be nice if the video were narrated so that those of us who are completely ignorant about leather making could have a bit of a clue what's going on and why.
Being in the leather business, we never see this end of the tannery process because all leathers are done when we receive them. So it’s fascinating to see the process
Thanks! We find it fascinating as well. Really neat to see how it changes with each step.
Love you Steve.
Hey Steve, sharpen me a disposable blade, 😂😂😜
@@KenSilvers every day🤣🤣🤣
@@nicksboots You guys should do a collaboration with Bedo's
Another great video but it would have been great to have grant or someone from the tannery give a voice over with some explanation of what we were seeing.
Agreed. I was curious about the step where the hides were placed on those large plastic sheets and squeegee with blades
Brooks Moore for narrator!
Noted!
@@nicksboots Morgan Freeman for a narrator.
I was gonna say the same thing. Pity my father couldn’t have seen this. He was the President of the Manasse-Block Tanning Company in Berkeley until they had to shut down in 1984. He started as a general laborer in 1947 and retired as President. I worked in the tannery a couple of times. Fond memories!
Interesting process. Also interesting to note that every person in the video is wearing a NEW pair of Nicks boots!
I don’t fully understand all of the steps that I’m seeing here, but it makes me want to go to a tannery and ask and learn to be honest
The Horween tannery In Chicago is absolutely amazing. The process in which they produce the highest grade of cordovan leather, is absolutely one of a kind
I’ve been around cow critters everyday for the last 55 years. Texas rancher. This still fascinates me. Excellent!
People wonder why these boots are around $450. Here’s another reason why. I’ll gladly pay the money for handmade quality American products.
Me too.
Thanks for the video!
These workmen seem sincere and totally immersed in their work!
Wish them protection and good health!
You know it’s a good product when the companies employees are wearing a pair of Nick’s boots 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Or they have discounts that make them almost free for suppling the leather. Doesn’t mean anything against the quality but generally this is the case. Just saying.
I own a pair of Nick's. Trust me, they're good.
I’d be wearing some comfy keen hikers
Man this is so awesome. Rewatching this video again a year later and still amazed.
When I was a kid, I made my own moccasins, and other leather objects. I was a huge Tandy's customer. This video is very interesting, visually, but it really doesn't explain anything.
It's fascinating that all the leather is blue from the chrome tanning before it's dyed
I really appreciate you guys making these videos. Super informative and well made. I'm looking forward to buying a pair of your boots - hopefully sometime this year :)
A narration on what’s happening would’ve been nice!
Love to see new videos. One on how the tanker pros are made would be awesome!
Noted! 👀
This is going to sound crazy but the place at the end with all the finished hides has to smell amazing!
Where's Mike Rowe to walk us through the place?
My mother in law worked at SAS( SAN ANTONIO SHOES) FOR 40 Something years. And she can look at a pelt of leather and tell you how many right shoes and left shoes will come out...She was a cutter....and she is still alive and doesn't look 74..
The amount of work before you can even start working on making a boot. ❤️
Thank you for a rare look inside your tannery.....very much appreciated I'm impressed !
The Tannery is not owned by Nicks, but is one of our largest suppliers) Thank you to them for giving us a look inside their facility
I’ve owned a couple of pairs of nicks. Great boots! This is cool to see how the leather is made
Very amazing and educational video of the many processes the leather have to go through to its final product.
I can’t wait for my wife and I to go out west this year, .we’re gonna go to this factory 🏭 and we are going to buy ourselves some boots!
Great to see this stage of the process.
"Two Years Before the Mast" a must read ...the leather trade has been around for ever
I was just thinking about that book! The description of their steak feasting..... Dear Lord....
I'm sure I'm not the only one noticed that alot of if not all were wearing Nick's Boots. Might be a perk for working there. Very nice!
😕 I'm starting to think I watched a different video than the people commenting on all the people wearing Nick's boots. The majority of the footwear worn in this video is tennis shoes. I must be missing something
I’m a leather hobbyist
I would loved to have seen little info titles with each process
Like each time it goes through the rollers what is happening sciving glasing??
This is exactly what I was thinking while watching the video… I still enjoyed it nonetheless!
It all makes so much more sense to me now.
I bet this place smells amazing
So the 1964 leather is chrome tanned first? Interesting 💚
Nicks is just awwwwsome!
Very cool , looks like you could make a lot of boots with the amount of leather being prepped
Either voice over or some text would be helpful for us noobs who know not what we see. Really did enjoy it, though!
I’d love to have just one of those hides! Such beautiful leather.
cool to see. a voiceover of more details would be cool too.
Interesting video ,nice camera work!
Amazing video 📹 👏
My next boots would be a Nicks. It just out of my price range right now.
Fascinating! The changes it took in every process.
Loved the shot with the hanging Culver's bag :P ha. This is super neat. Didn't know leather production was so much about feeding it through rolly things in different orientations.
I'm happy to know your opinion about the video below
ua-cam.com/video/-o9kUMIyCOM/v-deo.html
some nice leather there, WOW
Oh Wow, now I know why my feet feel amazing in my Nicks boots.
Great video. Never knew so much went into leather prep.
Starts to paint a picture of why real high quality leather goods are so expensive
@@F0XD1E definitely agree
That is beautiful leather
A narrative of what’s happening would have made this much more interesting.
Sometimes you just need to shut up and watch a process.
I saw the culvers bag and wondered where in Wisconsin this factory was lol
3:31 Wisconsin Culvers represent!
This is hypnotizing!
When are the new colors coming out?
This is good stuff!
Imagine how many bunnies had to die for all those hides!
It's funny how water ruins leather, but cattle can be outside in the rain and their skin is just fine.
I wonder if there is a way to make a tan 1964 leather
Pretty cool only 90 miles away from me
How do these Boots NOT cost thousands of dollars per pair?
The amount of effort and craftsmanship that is plied to the process is alarming.
How many times is this sheet rolled!
Would have been much better if there had been descriptive captioning of the various stages...
Ive been watching tannery youtube for a while, and Im curious what makes this the worlds toughest leather. Can someone tell me like whats going on in the video, what the process is, or describe how the worlds toughest leather is tanned differently from the worlds weakest leather? Or is it just the cow? I bought a jacket that has really thick/heavy leather, and compared to most leather jackets, it is almost 2x as heavy, and it has a gorgeous brown texture with actual leather texture. Its so nice that its difficult to not rub with your hand, and I was curious how that happens when there are other leathers that look like a windbreaker with almost no substance.
There are multiple things that can affect the toughness. If it's chrome tanned cow hide vs chrome tanned cow hide then the number 1 thing that affects toughness is the thickness/how heavy it is. The 1964 leather is 7-8oz or whichs is rougly 3mm. That's very thick. Only PNW boot maker I know that goes higher is JK Boots and they use 8-9oz leather. Some of the thickest leather jackets are made from 3.5-4oz leather whichs is 1.4-1.6mm. Then there's tanning process. Chrome vs vegetable. Veg tan leather takes longer to produce and is much stiffer as a finished product. You should look up Rose Anvil and his videos about leathers.
Actually veg tan leather is the toughest. This is chrome tan and it’s just ok.
In which step is it given its final color?
The next video will be the exact same one with captions or a narrator explaining exactly what is happening here.
It was lovely visually, but I got nothing from it.
What facility is this? And who supplies the in-the-blue hides?
This was filmed at the Seidel Tanning Corp. in Milwaukee Wisconsin
Wish your videos had some overlayed explanations or discussions
They left out the actual cows. Thank you for your service. 🐂
some explanation on what they are doing would be nice. cool to see but no clue what the machines are doing.
Interesting video but it would have been much better with some narration.
Good video hope of more 😁
Thank you!
I from indonesia, amazing video good job👏👏👏
Everybody is from somewhere - why do people from Indonesia have the urge to tell us where they're from?
I saw the blue initial product and immediately thought chrome-tanned leather. Can’t tell if this is Horween or W&C but I do love the final product.
I think it's Seidel
1964!
It says Seidel at the end of the video.
At least one dude was wearing a Seidel shirt, and I know they buy a lot from them, so I say Seidel
Yeah ,the work leather is from Seidel I believe and the blue from the chromium salts is so off putting. I hope they treat the water used in the tanning process though.
Do you guys sell the leather by itself?
No, this is a video tour of a tannery that Nicks works with. We do not sell full hides. Cheers)
Our daughter ( then 16 ) came home about ten years ago and declared she wasn't going to be a party to the murder of animals - in fact anything with a face, including fish. She started emptying her room of all animal-derived products, leather jackets, belts, shoes, gloves, pants - everything, and boxing it all up for me to take to the dump, she went apeshit when we suggested giving it to homeless people, saying it was perpetuating the holocaust. We let her just go for it. Then she refused to eat at the table because the meat smell from our meals was the smell of murder and death - she made herself some salad with foam earplugs stuffed in her nose and ate outside.
After dinner, she came to the family room ( still with the fluro green plugs in her nose ) and stood with her arms folded and told us she wasn't going to live in a house that has the smell of death in it, lounge suite is leather, everybody has leather shoes, jackets, wallets, belts, gloves etc. it all had to go. She said the smell of death was tantamount to child abuse. We all looked at each other, with a stunned WTF ! look. The wife said, "Fair enough, go for a long walk and we'll discuss what to do. "
We all had a quick discussion, went into the garage, got our family camping tent and set it up in the backyard, camp bed, portapotty, sleeping bag, extension cord, portable tv, little caravan fridge, camping table and folding chairs, set up the camp stove on my old drill press bench, pots and pans, tinned baked beans, tinned vegetables and fresh potatoes and vegetables. I set up a portable camping shower frame with a showerhead and curtain. We ( the wife and two sons ) set it all up inside half an hour. Daughter came home, stood at the door, with the green plugs up her nose, arms folded, all high and mighty and said, " Well ? "
Wife took her by the arm, led her down the driveway to the back, pointed to the tent, outdoor stove, opened the tent flap and pointed to the suitcases full of all her clothes, tv, portapotty, shower and said, " Your new vegan home - enjoy. Oh, and you'll now have to bus it or bike it everywhere because the cars have leather seats, and you'll need to get a job to buy all new sporting gear 'cause your roller skates, rollerblade boots and softball stuff is all leather and we're boxing that all up as well and dumping it like you wanted. '' The next day we were having steaks - cooked inside, but we ate on the back deck, daughter called the cops on 911 and said she was being abused by the smell of cooked meat ! Cops and a social worker came to the house, checked out her new accommodation, while we were sitting there eating our meals. They came over to talk to us, with our daughter standing behind them - arms folded, smirking with the green plugs in her nose. The social worker had a look through our home, the daughters room and said that this matter would need to be investigated, turned to our daughter and said to pack some clothes, she was going to have to go to a shelter until the investigation was completed, then a court hearing - could take a week or two or three.
She came home with the social worker the next day, balling her eyes out, begging to come home, after having got ONE overnight taste of shelter life. She spent ten days living outside, cooking her own meals, sleeping and showering outside. We could hear her crying herself to sleep. Eventually, she found out her bedroom window was 'mysteriously' left unlocked and would sneak in and sleep under her bed and get up before she thought anyone would notice.
She came good in the end. But whenever she even looked like acting up, her mother would just point to a photo of the tent set up in the backyard - my wife had taken a photo of the tent, had it blown up, mounted and hung one in every room in the house, including the boys, as a reminder that she will not take any shit - she's looked at me and pointed to the photo in our bedroom (yeah, our bedroom) a couple of times, but I'm a quick study.
Leather, how it's made ? Oh yeah, good video, thanks.
I'm not sure why you wanted to share your daughter's mental illness here but I hope she gets the help she needs.
@ knut riis yep, mental illness indeed, sounds like a budding Karen too lol. It may not be funny as it is a serious matter for the parents, but people like her is just straight up hilarious, crazy people.
@@hankatmaggies8819 Our son refused to eat his birthday cake when he discovered that the red dye in the icing was made from boiled ants, 😃
Is the power sliker necessary?
An exceptional product needs to master the quality of the materials... It's increasingly rare to see this attention to details.
Amazing 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻❤️
Why do people post these "how it's made" videos without any narration?
Bahaha, Culvers bag spotted. Love it.
Does Nicks still have the goofy owner that walked around eating garlic cloves all day? (I worked there in the late 90's)
I love the fact that everyone is wearing Nick's boots. Lol 😆😁
That would be cool if they were...but they aren't 😕 more tennis shoes than anything else being worn.
Need some commentary of what they're doing
I was looking for a more natural boot option and contacted you about your vegetable tanned boots. I was basically told they still smelled just like the chemically tanned ones. Maybe from all being in the same building or something. Anyway, I went with another option but was disappointed to not be able to try your boots as I loath them chemical "leather" smell.
Then don't sniff them 😭😂
Great video. I scrolled down a bit and the answer is popping out for me if its already been answered, but can someone ID the boots at 7:50, please. And what is the height? 6 inches? Thank you.
Where is this factory?
Milwaukee WI, Seidel
What process are the machines doing at :10 sec and :50 sec? Skiving machine?
Is that tannery in the USA?
Yes.
Thicker than 1mm is a different story, but up to 1mm thickness I would bet that kangaroo is the toughest. You reckon I'd lose that bet?
Thanks for explaining what all those machines did.
I actually fell asleep watching this.
Was that British tan they were running that day? It looked like it at the end but in person and in camera they don’t look anything alike.
It was 1964
My son wears size 22. We've been looking for boots they will fit him for years. Nobody we've contacted is even willing to try. Could you guys make him something like that? We are very serious. Thanks for any response.
contact them on the website for a faster response..
geez, you have a giant warehouse full of animal skin and you can make a documentary about it, but i have a tiny spare bedroom with a bunch of human skin, and i have to keep it a secret. WTF
Very nice… made in USA!
This is what aliens will be doing to our hides
Boy it'd be nice to have some captions or something explaining what's going on in the video. Lots of really interesting stuff, but no clue what it all is. Not asking to learn the secrets, just some background.
Need to explain what is being done.
Is that a 6" Overlander or?
Yup a 6 inch Overlander or a 6 inch Builder pro with a moderate arch. Same ,same but no really different.
For no particular reason I want a whole sheet of leather
What do they do with the scraps and trimmings throughout the process?
@J Hemphill Once leather has been tanned, it cannot be used in animal foods, since many of the chemicals are poisonous
As you mentioned, it can be used as a footbed, or ground and mixed with glues to manufacture bonded leather.
It makes me laugh to think that bonded leather is ACTUALLY made from rubbish.
@J Hemphill Don't worry, the leather used in dogfood is rawhide, trimmed off the leather before tanning. Chemical free, it is perfectly healthy and good for the dogs teeth. However, it does not provide much nutrition. 😃
Where do the pieces come from and why aren’t they bigger? 😅
They’re working with half hides, also called sides… working with a full cowhide is a heavy god-awful pain-in-the-butt chore.
I bet the Final room smells good.....
WTF! I can clearly see that there are some processing going on. But what..? What's significant to a higher quality leather?
Next video; describe process and highlight differences, please...
It’s like if Willy Wonka went more of the Percival C. McLeach sort of approach.
It would be nice if the video were narrated so that those of us who are completely ignorant about leather making could have a bit of a clue what's going on and why.
Is this the SB Foot Tannery...
Seidel Tanning Corp.