CURRYING OF LEATHER

( Corroyer , Fr.; Zurichten , Germ.) is the art of dre ing skins after they are tanned, for the purposes of the shoe-maker, coach and harne maker, ., or of giving them the nece ary smoothne , lustre, colour, and supplene . The currier’s shop has no resemblance to the tanner’s premises, having a quite different set of tools and manipulations. The currier employs a strong hurdle about a yard square, made either of basket twigs, or of wooden spars, fixed rectangularly like trellis work, with holes 3 inches square, upon which he treads the leather, or beats it with a mallet or hammer, in order to soften it, and render it flexible. The head knife , called in French couteau a revers , on account of the form of its edge, which is much turned over, is a tool 5 or 6 inches broad, and 15 or 16 long; with two handles, one in the direction of the blade, and the other perpendicular to it, for the purpose of guiding the edge more truly upon the skin. The pommel ( paumelle ) is so called because it clothes the palm of the hand, and performs its functions. It is made of hard wood, and of a rectangular shape, 1 foot long, 5 inches broad, flat above and rounded below. It is furrowed over the rounded surface with transverse parallel straight grooves. These grooves are in section sharp-edged isosceles triangles. Fig. 354. and 355. , represent the pommel in an upper and under view. The flat surface is provided with a leather strap for securing it to the hand of the workman. Pommels are made of different sizes, and with grooves of various degrees of finene . Cork pommels are also used, but they are not grooved. Pommels serve to give grain and pliancy to the skins. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0377a.png:Currier The stretching iron , fig. 356. , is a flat plate of iron or copper, fully a fourth of an inch thick at top, and thinning off at bottom in a blunt edge, shaped like the arc of a circle of large diameter, having the angles a and b rounded, lest in working they should penetrate the leather. The top c is mounted with leather to prevent it from hurting the hands. A copper stretching knife is used for delicate skins. The workman holds this tool nearly perpendicular, and scrapes the thick places powerfully with his two hands, especially those where some tan or flesh remains. He thus equalizes the thickne of the skin, and renders it at the same time more dense and uniform in texture. This tool is of very general use in currying. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0378a.png:Round knife The round knife, fig. 357. and 358. ( lunette in French), is a circular knife from 10 to 12 inches in diameter, with a round 4 or 5 inch hole in its centre, for introducing the hands and working it. It is concave, as shown in the section fig. 358. , presenting the form of a spherical zone. The concave part is that applied to the skin. Its edge is not perfectly straight; but is a little turned over on the side opposite to the skin, to prevent it from entering too far into the leather. The currier first slopes off with the head knife from the edges, a portion equal to what he afterwards removes with the round one. By this division the work is done sooner and more exactly. All the oiled or greased skins are dre ed with the round knife. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0378b.png:Cleaner The cleaner is a straight two-handled knife two inches broad, of which there are two kinds, a sharp-edged and a blunt one. Fig. 359. The mace is made of wood, having a handle 30 inches long, with a cubical head or mallet; upon the two faces of which, parallel to the line of the handle, there are 4 pegs of hard wood turned of an egg-shape, and well polished, so as not to tear the moistened leather when it is strongly beat and softened with the mace. IMG:4147767755307473660_illo0377b.png:Trestle The horse or trestle, fig. 360. , consists of a strong wooden frame, A B C D , which serves as a leg or foot. Upon the middle of this frame there are two uprights, E F , and a strong cro beam, G , for supporting the thick plank H , upon which the skins are worked. This plank may be set at a greater or le slope, according as its lower end is engaged in one or other of the cro bars, I I I I , of the frame. In the figure, a skin K is represented upon the plank with the head knife upon it, in the act of being pared. A cylindrical bar fixed horizontally at its ends to two buttre es projecting from the wall, serves by means of a parallel stretched cord, to fix a skin by a coil or two in order to dre it. This is accordingly called the dre er . The tallow cloth is merely a mop made of stout rags, without the long handle; of which there are several, one for wax, another for oil, . Strong-toothed pincers with hook-end handles, drawn together by an endle cord, are employed to stretch the leather in any direction, while it is being dre ed. The currier uses clamps like the letter U, to fix the edges of the leather to his table. His polisher is a round piece of hard wood, slightly convex below, with a handle standing upright in its upper surface, for seizing it firmly. He first rubs with sour beer, and finishes with barberry juice. Every kind of tanned leather not intended for soles or such coarse purposes, is generally curried before being delivered to the workmen who fashion it, such as shoemakers, coach makers, saddlers, . The chief operations of the currier are four :— 1. Dipping the leather, which consists in moistening it with water, and beating it with the mace , or a mallet upon the hurdle. He next applies the cleaners , both blunt and sharp, as well as the head knife, to remove or thin down all inequalities. After the leather is shaved, it is thrown once more into water, and well scoured by rubbing the grain side with pumice stone, or a piece of slaty grit, whereby it parts with the bloom, a whitish matter, derived from the oak bark in the tan pit. 2. Applying the pommel to give the leather a granular appearance, and correspondent flexibility. The leather is first folded with its grain side in contact, and rubbed strongly with the pommel, then rubbed simply upon its grain side; whereby it becomes extremely flexible. 3. Scraping the leather. This makes it of uniform thickne . The workman holds the tool nearly perpendicular upon the leather, and forcibly scrapes the thick places with both his hands. 4. Dre ing it by the round knife. For this purpose he stretches the leather upon the wooden cylinder, lays hold of the pendent under edge with the pincers attached to his girdle, and then with both hands applies the edge of the knife to the surface of the leather, slantingly from above downwards, and thus pares off the coarser fleshy parts of the skin. This operation requires great experience and dexterity; and when well performed improves greatly the look of the leather. The hide or skin being rendered flexible and uniform, is conveyed to the shed or drying house, where the greasy substances are applied, which is called dubbing (daubing), or stuffing. The oil used for this purpose is prepared by boiling sheep-skins or doe-skins, in cod oil. This application of grease is often made before the graining board or pommel is employed. Before waxing, the leather is commonly coloured by rubbing it with a brush dipped into a composition of oil and lamp black on the flesh side, till it be thoroughly black; it is then black-sized with a brush or sponge, dried, tallowed with the proper cloth, and slicked upon the flesh with a broad smooth lump of gla ; sized again with a sponge; and when dry, again curried as above described. Currying leather on the hair or grain side, termed black on the grain, is the same in the first operation with that drest on the flesh, till it is scoured. Then the first black is applied to it while wet, by a solution of copperas put upon the grain, after this has been rubbed with a stone; a brush dipped in stale urine is next rubbed on, then an iron slicker is used to make the grain come out as fine as po ible. It is now stuffed with oil. When dry, it is seasoned; that is, rubbed over with a brush dipped in copperas water, on the grain, till it be perfectly black. It is next slicked with a good grit-stone, to take out the wrinkles, and smooth the coarse grain. The grain is finally raised with the pommel or graining board, by applying it to the leather in different directions. When thoroughly dry, it is grained again in two or three ways. Hides intended for covering coaches are shaved nearly as thin as shoe hides, and blacked upon the grain.