It does its job extremely well, so we figure there’s no need to replace it.”Īs America’s largest side leather tannery, the S.B. “It’s the only one of its kind and at least 50 years old. “The oldest piece of equipment in use is a spraying machine we call the ‘one-armed bandit,’” Pomeroy said. Waxes, prints, tumble mills and specialty materials are also used to make leathers with a unique look, feel and performance characteristics. More than 100 dyes used during coloring and finishing can produce leathers in thousands of different colors at the S.B. He started out removing the hairs off hides with a hand sander, before doing color mixing for 20 years and ultimately ending up at his current role in finishing. His father worked in the color mills, and Rollie worked in the lower tannery during the summer when he was growing up. Pomeroy has worked at the tannery for 55 years. It’s an art that takes years of experience to master.” “Everyone who color matches has to pass an eye test. Foot Tannery, color matching of the leather is still done with the naked eye. “For example, there are more than 50 steps to coloring alone, which uses a combination of specialty ingredients to achieve a very specific tone.”Īccording to Rollie Pomeroy, Technical Manager of Finishing at the S.B. Foot tannery who started as Process Chemist and is now Technical Manager. “No matter how much the technology advances, leather will always be a somewhat labor-intensive process, especially if you’re driven by quality,” said Brandon Yoemans, a 28-year employee at the S.B. From start to finish, every side of leather takes between two and five weeks to move through the tannery, with more than 50 people contributing to the process along the way. Hides are also cut lengthwise into two equal halves for handling, each of which is referred to as a side. As the hides come out of the drums, they are rolled, dried and stretched prior to being delivered to customers for cutting and crafting. The longer the leather soaks in the drums, the more the chemicals and oils penetrate the leather to help conceal scuffs and maintain color consistency. Although many tanneries have switched to steel and aluminum drums, wooden drums tend to yield better dying results. ![]() The wooden drums are similar to those used by Silas Buck Foot and his team when the tannery was built in 1872. To get to a finished state, the wet blue hides are rewetted, shaved by hand to get the correct thickness, and placed into giant wooden drums to soak in specialty tree oils, tanning agents and dyes. The tanned hides are known as “wet blue” hides because the hides take on a bluish tone after being subjected to the tanning process. ![]() The leather can be finished in several ways after initial conversion to achieve the desired pliability, water resistance, and texture. Properly tanned leather is critical to ensuring a long life of the final product - be it a boot, wallet, bag, or otherwise. Foot facility, the tanning process begins converting animal proteins into a more stable material that won’t easily break down, which ultimately creates leather that is built to perform. Once the carefully chosen hides reach the S.B.
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