Best Leather Thickness Gauges for Leather Working

Working with leather often involves choosing what thickness of material will be used for a project. A Leather thickness gauge makes it easy to know the heaviness of the material being worked with. Some recommendations include paid links to products that I trust.

The Neoteck Digital Thickness Gauge Electronic Micrometer with LCD Display is a solid and easy to use gauge, click here to see it on Amazon. It is made from alunimum alloy, has a large display, and measurment range from 0″-0.5″ (12.7mm), with a tolerance of less tha 0.001″ (0.02mm). This will work well for most leather thickness measurement needs.

Let’s take a look at the types of gauges available, and which can be most handy depending on project need and personal preference.

Types of Leather Thickness Gauges

Since leather hides are natural, coming from animals, they might not be a consistent thickness all the way across the skin. Having a leather thickness gauge can help to measure how thick leather is at different points to know how even the material is. Also, they can be used to know how thick leather material is when choosing for a project.

Sometimes thinner leathers work better, other times thicker. A leather thickness gauge can make it easy to know how thick the leather one is working with is. Let’s look at the different types of leather thickness gauges available.

Calipers

Calipers us a mechanism where leather is placed between two flat surfaces, and the offset (space between the two points made by the thickness of the leather) between those two points is measured. That results in a thickness measurement corresponding to the thickness of the leather.

Most of these are hand-held capilers using metal surfaces, while others are laser-calipers that use light to measure the leather thickness. Laser thickness tools are more commonly found in large production facilities. Most crafters will be very comfortable using hand calipers.

Leather Thickness and Weight - Liberty Leather Goods — Leather Thickness Gauge – Caliper

Template

A leather thickness template is a tool that is cut out from a hard substance, and has a series of measured slots cut out of it. The leather to be measured can be placed into the slots until it just about equals the thickness, at which point the measurement on that slot indicates the thickness of the leather.

These are less precise than calipers, though can be efficient and helpful when looking to know general leather thickness, for example to know if a piece 3-4oz or 7-8oz, etc.

Swatch Ring

A leather thickness swatch ring is a collection of small leather pieces, cut to a similar shape, and attached via a metal ring. Each piece is cut from a larger leather piece of a known thickness, and marked. Thus, on the ring, is a range of leather pieces each of a different, marked, thickness.

This makes it easy to put a piece of leather next to the different swatches, match on up, and know how thick the piece of leather is.

Leather Thickness Weight and Cuts — Leather Pieces & Swatch Ring

Best Leather Thickness Gauges

Choice of a leather thickness gauge generally comes down to how precise a measurement is needed. Usually, having a more precise tool will allow it to be used for most any leather thickness measuring needs.

Best Overall Leather Thickness Gauge

The Neoteck Digital Thickness Gauge Electronic Micrometer with LCD Display is a great choice, click here to see it on Amazon. It has a large display, measurment range from 0″-0.5″ (12.7mm), a tolerance of less tha 0.001″ (0.02mm), and is made from alunimum alloy. This is a sturdy, accurate tool that looks great too.

Best Template Leather Thickness Gauge

The SLC plastic leather gauge is a nice option for a tamplate gauge, click here to see it on Springfield Leather. It’s less than 3″ long, and measures leather from 2-3oz. to 10-11oz. If one is looking for a quick to use and cost-efficient way to measure leather, this is a great choice.

Best Swatch Ring Leather Thickness Gauge

The Hermann Oak Vegetable Tanned swatch ring is fun and helpful, click here to see it on Springfield Leather. This ring includes leather samples ranging from 2-3oz. to 10-11oz., covering the most common leather thicknesses. Also, Hermann Oak makes incredible leathers, so it’s always fun to have some on hand to compare quality to (even if they’re just small swatches 🙂 )

In Closing

A leather thickness gauge can be a handy tool to have around the shop. With a few options available depending on prereference of accuracy and cost, there’s likely one that will catch the eye and find use when making leather selections for projects.