Ron, Sometimes you think way too much... Then there's the "swirl" found in all hides. Heck, let's sell the center of that stuff as the best of all possible worlds.<G> Actually, after I read your post I was dumb enough to go grab a hide I have, pull on it to find the stretchy direction and feel for nap. Someone walked by the door just then and gave me a weird look. Jim p.s. I was told that the stretchy direction of hide on knuckles must be perpendicular to the jack movement or the jack would stretch it out too much. That's in line with my experience, but the nap with the letoff argument makes sense, if it is indeed noticeable by mortals. I've only replaced a couple of sets of knuckles without new shanks, so I don't have realistic comparisons. New shanks, the knuckles are what they are, and there are plenty of other sources of aggravation to be had without splitting that hair. How about orienting the nap perpendicular to the shank? Why not? Something I've wondered a time or twelve, but never chased down (there've been other diversions), is how the surface nap relates to the stretch direction. Leather stretches in one direction. but not at 90° from that. Are knuckles covered "stretch" around the curve, or perpendicular? I know, I could (and will) look into this myself, but I'm tired at the moment, and curious what the state of the information is among the other worker bees, if any. This may be something everyone already knows, but I don't, and would like to fill in the hole. Any real information out there on this? Ron N
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