I’m not Morgan but if you put a thin strip of the leather into boiling water, veggie tanned will curl up right away, chrome tanned will stay flat and usually float.
Oh, and you can burn it too (but it smells 
) Chrome tanned leaves a blueish/green ash, veggie tanned is black or gray ash.
Thanks!
Another golden tip that justifies my constant checking of the forum all day long. Thanks for that!
That’s a good tip to keep in mind, bookmarked.
Thanks! 
@jamesdhatch, that’s a great tip! I didn’t know that one.
@ian, keep in mind that there are a lot of different tannages, not just chrome and veg. You might take a look at this thread for lots more information about buying and using leather. All about leather
I read that post when you first made it but somehow failed to bookmark it at the time, so thanks for the link!
I think as regards laser cutting, you need a scrap and try it. If it cuts well, then I say cut it. The better question is whether it is real leather or a synthetic. The just try cutting it approach, if it is a synthetic, may not be the best move.
Yeah, I played around a bit with brain-tanning when I was a bit younger. It was the way native Americans tanned their hides and I was trying to replicate a teepee 
(my family used to hunt so deer hides were available)
I tried this exactly once … or rather, I helped some friends who knew what they were doing. The process is labor intensive, not to mention smelly and gross. It attracted every critter for miles and miles.
These days, they have a mechanized (and presumably tidier) process that replicates the effect, but it’s just not the same. True/traditional brain tan is wonderful to work with - exceptionally soft, with a nice smoky smell. It’s relatively rare, and usually fairly expensive … but after trying it once, I’d rather pay a premium for someone else to do the tanning!
Yep - on both counts. Outstanding results but an awful process (by hand). It’s one of those things I’m more than happy to pay someone else to do
I hear that every animal comes with enough brains to tan its own hide.
I Google it, and realized that brain tanning uses real brains… mind blowing.
except an Emu
Yes. I think that should be right only for mammals.
Thanks, that’s just what I needed.
I will, thank you
Uh oh, laser induced mad cow disease? Lmao