Leather would first arrive in the beam house where it was washed and soaked to remove all dirt and grime and to
loosen the hide from the folded positions prior to being put into the lime pits. It was then ran through a fleshing
machine to remove any flesh that was left and then it was placed in the pits once it was fairly cleaned up. There were a
series of lime pits with more forceful solutions of lime and sulphide in each as the hides were rotated from pit to pit on a
5 - 7 day cycle. Once the hides reached the last set of pits and were finished there they were removed. Then the hair
was removed by hand, usually using a porous rock like a brick to help scud the hair off. Later a machine was
purchased to forcibly remove the hair which made things a lot easier and sped up productions greatly. The hides were
then washed again to remove excess lime and then some were ran through a shaving machine to thin them down to a
weight that they needed to be tanned at. Moser usually never split in the lime so to speak but would shave to a desired
weight. What this did was to leave as much weight on the hide as possible and to clean them up as much and not
sacrifice the strength of the hide. Basically leaving the leather to as much of its natural weight as possible unless they
were making strap weight leathers. Once the leather was de-limed then it was bated and pickled which made it ready
for tanning. Bating and pickling restores PH to the leather which will make the tanning agents adhere to the core of the
leather (in laymens terms). The extracts that were used in the tanyard were a mix of Quebracho and other bark
tannings that were actually ground on site and then heated with a hot water solution and pumped into the tanyard which
was heated and kept at a 72 degree temperature year round. The leather was hung on rockers vertically with approx.
70+ sides per pit. These rockers would move slowly but steadily for approx. 4 - 6 weeks until the leather was tanned to
its core. Some leathers were tanned in drums using a quicker tanning method which could be done within a week.
Rawhide was done in approx. 3 days where the hair was taken off and then the hides were basically non tanned hides
and used for making drums and braided horns and cantles on saddles. It is basically raw hides that have not been
finished out. The whiteness to them is because they were bleached in the drum. Lace Leathers that were made at
Moser were done on chrome tanned stock that was chrome tanned elsewhere and then re-tanned in house at Moser
with various colors, etc. then cut into lace. Alum tanned lace was done in house. Auburn Leather purchased the
Caldwell portion of the tannery and continues to manufacture the lace leathers at their plant. When Caldwell/Moser
closed the New Albany Plant we moved the operation we purchased to Hamilton, Ohio. We also purchased a lace
company in Bonne Terre, Mo from Wilson Leather Company which was called Custom Made Lace. Around 2006
Auburn Leather Company purchased that department from us and we stayed on as their sales reps continuing to
represent the lace leather customers that we acquired from Wilson Leather and the loyal customers that stayed with
Moser and anyone new that calls us for information on lace leathers. We can cut lace leather today but the way we do
it now is like we do all of our leathers - we sell you the leather and then we do a stripping charge for cutting it for you.
There is no such thing as pre-cut bundles of laces here. That is Auburn's specialty. We are simply providing a cutting
service to your specs on your entire piece of leather. They sell you bundles of exact widths and lengths in your color,
We are more of a finisher now and we do specialize in saddle leathers. We leave the lace leathers up to Auburn! We
are concentrating more on making Harness Bridle and Latigo Leathers in our shop as well as strip cutting, die cutting
and some assembly for the horse industry and other industries. See our saddle maker supplies section for details on
those items. Auburn is taking chrome tanned hides and making chrome tanned laces at their Franklin Kentucky
location and also alum tanned laces. Auburn is the original Caldwell Lace Company and they know what they are
doing! You can use your original lace numbers and we will convert it to their number system that they are using. Some
colors have been discontinued but may be made again if you order enough quantity. Moser still makes some specialty
leathers such as white alum and mechanical leather that Auburn does not produce. Please inquire.
loosen the hide from the folded positions prior to being put into the lime pits. It was then ran through a fleshing
machine to remove any flesh that was left and then it was placed in the pits once it was fairly cleaned up. There were a
series of lime pits with more forceful solutions of lime and sulphide in each as the hides were rotated from pit to pit on a
5 - 7 day cycle. Once the hides reached the last set of pits and were finished there they were removed. Then the hair
was removed by hand, usually using a porous rock like a brick to help scud the hair off. Later a machine was
purchased to forcibly remove the hair which made things a lot easier and sped up productions greatly. The hides were
then washed again to remove excess lime and then some were ran through a shaving machine to thin them down to a
weight that they needed to be tanned at. Moser usually never split in the lime so to speak but would shave to a desired
weight. What this did was to leave as much weight on the hide as possible and to clean them up as much and not
sacrifice the strength of the hide. Basically leaving the leather to as much of its natural weight as possible unless they
were making strap weight leathers. Once the leather was de-limed then it was bated and pickled which made it ready
for tanning. Bating and pickling restores PH to the leather which will make the tanning agents adhere to the core of the
leather (in laymens terms). The extracts that were used in the tanyard were a mix of Quebracho and other bark
tannings that were actually ground on site and then heated with a hot water solution and pumped into the tanyard which
was heated and kept at a 72 degree temperature year round. The leather was hung on rockers vertically with approx.
70+ sides per pit. These rockers would move slowly but steadily for approx. 4 - 6 weeks until the leather was tanned to
its core. Some leathers were tanned in drums using a quicker tanning method which could be done within a week.
Rawhide was done in approx. 3 days where the hair was taken off and then the hides were basically non tanned hides
and used for making drums and braided horns and cantles on saddles. It is basically raw hides that have not been
finished out. The whiteness to them is because they were bleached in the drum. Lace Leathers that were made at
Moser were done on chrome tanned stock that was chrome tanned elsewhere and then re-tanned in house at Moser
with various colors, etc. then cut into lace. Alum tanned lace was done in house. Auburn Leather purchased the
Caldwell portion of the tannery and continues to manufacture the lace leathers at their plant. When Caldwell/Moser
closed the New Albany Plant we moved the operation we purchased to Hamilton, Ohio. We also purchased a lace
company in Bonne Terre, Mo from Wilson Leather Company which was called Custom Made Lace. Around 2006
Auburn Leather Company purchased that department from us and we stayed on as their sales reps continuing to
represent the lace leather customers that we acquired from Wilson Leather and the loyal customers that stayed with
Moser and anyone new that calls us for information on lace leathers. We can cut lace leather today but the way we do
it now is like we do all of our leathers - we sell you the leather and then we do a stripping charge for cutting it for you.
There is no such thing as pre-cut bundles of laces here. That is Auburn's specialty. We are simply providing a cutting
service to your specs on your entire piece of leather. They sell you bundles of exact widths and lengths in your color,
We are more of a finisher now and we do specialize in saddle leathers. We leave the lace leathers up to Auburn! We
are concentrating more on making Harness Bridle and Latigo Leathers in our shop as well as strip cutting, die cutting
and some assembly for the horse industry and other industries. See our saddle maker supplies section for details on
those items. Auburn is taking chrome tanned hides and making chrome tanned laces at their Franklin Kentucky
location and also alum tanned laces. Auburn is the original Caldwell Lace Company and they know what they are
doing! You can use your original lace numbers and we will convert it to their number system that they are using. Some
colors have been discontinued but may be made again if you order enough quantity. Moser still makes some specialty
leathers such as white alum and mechanical leather that Auburn does not produce. Please inquire.
Note the overhead rail type system that was used to help pick up the hides to move them from pit to pit in the lime yard.
These hides were heavy when they were filled with lime and water!!! Imagine the work that was done in the old days
before the overhead system was developed.
These hides were heavy when they were filled with lime and water!!! Imagine the work that was done in the old days
before the overhead system was developed.
This is showing where the leather was being buffed on the back side to snuff the back.
Some of the saddle makers like to use the back side of the leather to make roughout
saddles and buffing the back side is done to accomplish this. Also this is done to clean
the leather up a bit if there is a little too much flesh left on the leather.
Some of the saddle makers like to use the back side of the leather to make roughout
saddles and buffing the back side is done to accomplish this. Also this is done to clean
the leather up a bit if there is a little too much flesh left on the leather.
This is a view down wash row as it was called. Many things were done in these drums from coloring to tanning
depending upon the project and what phase of the tanning process the particular item was in. Most of the plant was laid
out in an orderly fashion but there were some operations that criss crossed the plant. We have a small drum in our
Hamilton plant as well as the original dipping tanks for making harness and bridle leathers of which we still use today for
making those leathers for our customers. We do a lot of hand stuffing similar to what Tenn Tann used to do in their
plant for their customers, making hand stuffed bridle and latigo leathers. We can convert regular vegetable tanned
leather into these leathers just like the big tanners do because basically that is the foundation that you start with.
Everything we are doing, including some tanning is just on a very small scale. We are doing a lot of contract tanning
with other tanneries here in the United States and abroad using our formulas to get the results we want and then doing
finishing work in our plant / and or distributing or drop shipping from those locations. We do some tanning at a plant in
Mexico on U.S. hides. We especially have a niche using Bull and Extra Large Continental Hides - they have an
extremely large yield that many harness makers like for check lines, etc.and the weight is extremely heavy. They are
also very long and the tack people like them for long reins. Our Mexican affiliates do not mind working with such large
hides where the American tanneries have problems running them through the system.
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depending upon the project and what phase of the tanning process the particular item was in. Most of the plant was laid
out in an orderly fashion but there were some operations that criss crossed the plant. We have a small drum in our
Hamilton plant as well as the original dipping tanks for making harness and bridle leathers of which we still use today for
making those leathers for our customers. We do a lot of hand stuffing similar to what Tenn Tann used to do in their
plant for their customers, making hand stuffed bridle and latigo leathers. We can convert regular vegetable tanned
leather into these leathers just like the big tanners do because basically that is the foundation that you start with.
Everything we are doing, including some tanning is just on a very small scale. We are doing a lot of contract tanning
with other tanneries here in the United States and abroad using our formulas to get the results we want and then doing
finishing work in our plant / and or distributing or drop shipping from those locations. We do some tanning at a plant in
Mexico on U.S. hides. We especially have a niche using Bull and Extra Large Continental Hides - they have an
extremely large yield that many harness makers like for check lines, etc.and the weight is extremely heavy. They are
also very long and the tack people like them for long reins. Our Mexican affiliates do not mind working with such large
hides where the American tanneries have problems running them through the system.
Please hit the Back Button on your Browser to Return to the last page.