Manufacturing
Since 1826, C.S. Osborne has been manufacturing the highest quality leather tools designed exclusively for professional leather crafters.
In the 1800s, Newark, New Jersey was home to one of the largest tannery centers in the United States. Thus it makes perfect sense to learn that the manufacturing of leather tools would also take root in what was then New Jersey’s most populous city.
In the early days, the company focused exclusively on producing hand tools for the harness, saddlery, shoe and leather craft trades.
Just after the turn of the century, in 1906, the company moved a few miles from its Newark location to the town of Harrison where the factory operates today.
C.S. Osborne & Co. prides itself on the quality of its tools and it is not uncommon to find tools marked ‘Newark, NJ’ still in use today. Many of the tools have not changed all that much over time and the company continues to use the same time honored techniques and practices to produce its products today.
Most of the tools start off as raw bars of steel which are either forged into shape or machined on sophisticated CNC machines. Virtually all steps in the manufacturing process take place at the factory from stamping to heat treating to finishing. The final touch for most of Osborne’s leather tools consists of hand sharpening in order to produce the proper cutting edge.
By controlling the manufacturing process, CS Osborne not only controls the quality, but it also controls production as the company strives to have all items in stock at any given moment for immediate delivery.
C.S. Osborne insists on the using the best grades of steel and proper manufacturing processes that result in putting the best tools in the hands of the professional. We take as much pride in our tools as our customers take in their leather craft.