Leather

A number of rock groups, particularly Heavy Metal groups such as the Scorpions and Judas Priest, are well-known for wearing leather clothing. See also Webpage (Graphics), PDF (Layers), Mapquest, Google Maps, Google Earth or Yahoo! Maps. Leather fetishism is the name popularly used to describe a fetishistic attraction to people wearing leather, or in certain cases, to the garments themselves. Navy SEALs and Counter-Strike, that players choose to compete on, as a synonym for level. As leather can also be a metonymical term for things made from it, the term leathering is as logical as tanning in the sense of a physical punishment (such as a severe spanking) applied with a leather whip. The word "map" has also been used to describe places within video games, such as SOCOM II: U.S. When motorcycles were invented, some riders took to wearing heavy leather jackets to protect from road rash and wind blast; some also wear chaps or full leather pants to protect the lower body. For example:.

The enduring image of a cowboy in leather chaps gave way to the leather-jacketed and leather-helmeted aviator. From the computer scientist's standpoint, zooming in entails one or a combination of:. Leather, due to its excellent abrasion and wind resistance, found a use in rugged occupations. In-car satellite navigation systems are computerised maps with route-planning and advice facilities which monitor by satellite the position of the user. Leather can be decorated by a variety of methods, including:. Interactive, computerised maps are commercially available, allowing users to zoom in or zoom out (respectively meaning to increase or decrease the scale), sometimes by replacing one map with another of different scale, centred where possible on the same point. Various treatments are available:. Even when GIS is not involved, most cartographers now use a variety of computer graphics programs to generate new maps.

The natural fibers of leather will break down as time goes by. Much of cartography, especially at the data-gathering survey level, has been subsumed by Geographic Information Systems (GIS). These bumps are then usually dyed white to highlight the decoration. From the last quarter of the 20th century, the indispensable tool of the cartographer has been the computer. The leather is often dyed black and covered with tiny round bumps in the natural pattern of the back ridge of an animal. This allows the pilots to plot a great-circle route approximation on a flat, two-dimensional chart. Sting ray leather is as tough and durable as hard plastic. The cone intersects the sphere (the earth) at one or two parallels which are chosen as standard lines.

In Thailand, sting ray leather is used in wallets and belts in the same way as regular cow leather. Airplane pilots use aeronautical charts based on a Lambert conformal conic projection, in which a cone is laid over the section of the earth to be mapped. Ostrich leather has a characteristic "goose bump" look because of the large follicles from which the feathers grew. Perhaps the best-known world-map projection is the Mercator Projection, originally designed as a form of nautical chart. As a side product, ostrich leather became available and is currently used by all the big fashion houses like Hermès, Prada and Gucci. Maps that depict the surface of the Earth also use a projection, a way of translating the three-dimensional real surface of the geoid to a two-dimensional picture. In the 1970s, farming of ostriches for their feathers became popular. Geological maps show not only the physical surface, but characteristics of the underlying rock, fault lines, and subsurface structures.

For this reason certain snakes and crocodiles have been hunted to near extinction. The most important purpose of the political map is to show territorial borders; the purpose of the physical is to show features of geography such as mountains, soil type or land use. Leather made from more exotic skins has at different times in history been considered very beautiful. Maps of the world or large areas are often either 'political' or 'physical'. Kangaroo leather is favored by motorcyclists specifically because of its lighter weight and higher abrasion resistance as compared to cowhide. For example, a road map may or may not show railroads, and if it does, it may show them less clearly than highways. Kangaroo leather is used to make items which need to be strong but flexible, such as motorcycle gloves. With the end-user similarly in mind, cartographers will censor the content of the space depicted by a map in order provide a useful tool to that user.

Lamb and deer skin are used for soft leather in more expensive apparels. In fact, most commercial navigational maps, such as road maps and town plans, sacrifice an amount of accuracy in scale to deliver a greater visual usefulness to its user, for example by exaggerating the width of roads. Today, most leather is made of cow hides, but many exceptions exist. The simple maps shown on some directional road signs are further examples of this kind. Other leather manufacturers state the thickness directly in millimetres. This is not a cartogram (since there is no consistent measure of distance) but a topological map that also depicts approximate bearings. The weight is usually given as a range because the inherent variability of the material makes ensuring a precise thickness very difficult. A famous example of a map without scale is the London Underground map, which best fulfils its purpose by being less physically accurate and more visually communicative to the hurried glance of the commuter.

Hence leather described as 7 to 8 oz is 7/64 to 8/64 inches (2.8 to 3.2 mm) thick. Maps which use some quality other than physical area to determine relative size are called cartograms. The thickness value can be obtained by the conversion:. For example, maps designed for the hiker are often scaled at the ratio 1:24,000, meaning that 1 of any unit of measurement on the map corresponds to 24,000 of that same unit in reality; while maps designed for the motorist are often scaled at 1:250,000. Although the statement is in ounces only, it is an abbreviation of ounces per square foot. A larger scale shows more detail, thus requiring a larger map to show the same area. In some parts of the world top-grain thicknesses are described using weight units of ounces. Many but not all maps are drawn to a scale, allowing the reader to infer the actual sizes of, and distances between, depicted objects.

Leather is sold in a variety of thicknesses. If the map is prepared on a table, to be attached to the ceiling, then on the table it is a mirror image of a normal map. There are two other descriptions of leather commonly used in speciality products, such as briefcases, wallets, and luggage. Occasionally a map is on a ceiling, correctly showing directions; in that case, looking up we have in clockwise direction forward, left, backward, and right. Other less-common leathers include:. For a vertically positioned map representing a horizontal area true orientation is not possible, of course, but it is sometimes approximated by putting the forward direction up. In general, leather is sold in three forms:. The practice of navigating in this way is orienteering.

For further information on the production of leather see tanning. If a person is located at an identifiable point within the area of such a map, then the map can be oriented in such a way that every point on the map lies in the same direction as the corresponding point in reality. Frequent oiling of leather, with mink oil, neatsfoot oil or a similar material, keeps it supple and improves its lifespan dramatically. Maps that don't put north at the top:. This supplements the natural oils remaining in the leather itself, which can be washed out through repeated exposure to water. Conventionally, on most geometrically accurate maps text is upright when the map is oriented with the north up, hence north is identified with the top of a sheet. Leather—usually vegetable-tanned leather—can be oiled to improve its water resistance. .

There are a number of processes whereby the skin of a dead animal can be formed into a supple, strong material commonly called leather. Many national surveying projects have been carried out by the military, such as the British Ordnance Survey (now a civilian government agency internationally renowned for its comprehensively detailed work). . In terms of quantity, the largest number of drawn map sheets is probably made up by local surveys, carried out by municipalities, utilities, tax assessors, emergency services providers, and other local agencies. Leather with the fur still attached is simply called fur. Community maps, including GreenMaps, are growing in importance. Together with wood, leather formed the basis of much ancient technology. Road maps are perhaps the most widely used maps today, and form a subset of navigational maps, which also include aeronautical and nautical charts, railroad network maps, and hiking and bicycling maps.

Leather was a very important clothing material, and its other uses were legion. This conceit is elaborated in a one-paragraph story by Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares, generally known in English as "On Exactitude in Science". Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides, pelts and skins of animals, primarily cows. A character notes some practical difficulties with this map and states that "we now use the country itself, as its own map, and I assure you it does nearly as well". beading. Lewis Carroll made this point humorously in Sylvie and Bruno with his mention of a fictional map that had "the scale of a mile to the mile". pyrography. It is, of course, this abstraction that makes them useful.

leather embossing. Because maps are abstract representations of the world, they are not neutral documents and must be carefully interpreted. leather stamping. Harley, Mark Monmonier, and Denis Wood. leather carving. Even today, maps can be powerful rhetorical tools beyond their purely practical value, and this has been the source of much fruitful map criticism over the last twenty years, notably in the works of J.B. leather painting. By contrast, navigational (or "Portolan") charts of the Mediterranean from the same period are remarkably accurate.

leather dying. Medieval "T-O" maps, for example, show Jerusalem at the centre of the world, and in some cases related the "body" of the Earth to the body of Christ. Conditioners. Pre-modern maps, and mapping traditions outside the Western tradition, often merge geography with non-scientific cosmography, showing the relationship of the viewer to the universe. 1 oz/ft² = 1/64 inch (0.4 mm). While we tend to think of maps today as products of a rationalistic, scientific world-view, maps also have a mythic quality. Napa leather, or Nappa leather, is extremely soft and supple, and is commonly found in higher quality wallets, toiletry kits, and other personal leather goods. 142].

Belting leather is the only kind of leather used in luxury products that can retain its shape without the need for a separate frame; it is generally a heavy weight of full-grain, vegetable-tanned leather. [Harvey 2000, p. It is often found on the surface of briefcases, portfolios, and wallets, and can be identified by its thick, firm feel and smooth finish. One of the oldest surviving maps is painted on a wall of the Catal Huyuk settlement in south-central Anatolia (now Turkey); it dates from about 6200 BC. Belting leather is a full grain leather that was originally used in driving pulley belts and other machinery. Map-making dates back to the Stone Age and appears to predate written language by several millennia. The resulting supple suede-like hide is usually smoked heavily to prevent it from rotting. The science and art of map-making is cartography.

Buckskin or brained leather is a tawing process that uses animal brains or other fatty materials to alter the leather. Most usually a map is a two-dimensional, geometrically accurate representation of a three-dimensional space. Shagreen is now commonly made of the skins of sharks and rays. A map is a simplified depiction of a space, a navigational aid which highlights relations between objects within that space. Shagreen is a rough and grainy type of untanned leather, formerly made from a horse's back, or that of a wild ass, and typically dyed green. http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Cartography.html. Modern patent leather usually has a plastic coating. Andrews University, 2002.

The original process was developed in Newark, New Jersey by inventor Seth Boyden in 1818. Scotland : St. Patent leather is leather that has been given a high gloss finish. Robertson, The History of Cartography. Latigo is one of the trade names for this product. and E.F. For example, in one process, glue is mixed with one side of the suede, which is then pressed through rollers; these flatten and even out one side of the material, giving it the smooth appearance of full-grain. O'Connor, J.J.

However, as the look of full-grain is in demand, manufacturers use a variety of techniques to make suede appear to be full-grain. Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps, [ISBN 0226534219]. Suede is cheaper because many pieces of suede can be split from a single thickness of hide, whereas only one piece of top-grain can be made. [ISBN 0767908260, cited above; also ISBN 0375501517]. Suede is less durable than top-grain. New York : Random House, 2000. It is "fuzzy" on both sides. Miles Harvey, The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime.

Suede is the interior split of the hide. David Buisseret, ed., Monarchs, Ministers and Maps: The Emergence of Cartography as a Tool of Government in Early Modern Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992, [ISBN 0226079872]. Top grain leather generally must be heavily painted to cover up the sanding and stamping process. For a single raster graphics image (2) applies until the pixels in the image file correspond to the pixels of the display, thereafter (3) applies. The hides, which are made from inferior quality raw materials, have all of the natural grain sanded off, and an artificial grain applied. The map may also have layers which are partly raster graphics and partly vector graphics. The smooth side is the side where the hair and natural grain used to be. Similarly, a road represented by a double line may or may not become wider when one zooms in.

Corrected Leather is fuzzy on one side and smooth on the other. Text is not necessarily enlarged when zooming in. Corrected-Grain Leather. (1) may apply to the text (displaying labels for more features), while (2) applies to the rest of the image. The finest furniture, and footwear, are made from Full Grain leather. (2) may apply to text and (3) to the outline of a map feature such as a forest or building. Rather than wearing out, it will develop a natural "Patina" and grow more beautiful over time. The increase in detail is, of course, limited to the information contained in the file: enlargement of a curve may eventually result in a series of standard geometric figures such as straight lines or arcs of circles.

The natural Full-Grain surface will wear better than other leather. Typically (2) applies to a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The natural grain also has natural breathability, resulting in greater comfort. A variation of this method is that interpolation is performed. The grain remains in its natural state which will allow the best fiber strength, resulting in greater durability. enlarging the same map with the pixels enlarged (replaced by rectangles of pixels); no additional detail is shown, but, depending on the quality of one's vision, possibly more detail can be seen; if a computer display does not show adjacent pixels really separate, but overlapping instead (this does not apply for an LCD, but may apply for a cathode ray tube), then replacing a pixel by a rectangle of pixels does show more detail. Only the hair has been removed. enlarging the same map without enlarging the pixels, hence show more detail.

Full-Grain leather, made from the finest raw material, are clean natural hides which have not been sanded to remove imperfections. replacing the map by a more detailed one. They are known for their exceptional softness and their ability to be washed. Medieval European T and O maps such as the Hereford Mappa Mundi were centred on Jerusalem, with East at the top. They are made by a labor-intensive process which uses emulsified oils (often those of animal brains) and which has not been industralized. Labels on the map are oriented in such a way that you cannot read them properly unless you put the imperial palace above your head. Brain-tanned leathers are exceptionaly absorbent of water. Old maps of Edo show the Japanese imperial palace as the "top," but also at the centre, of the map.

More esoteric colors are possible using chrome tanning. Other modern maps put south on top, generally either out of a sense of playful confusion or to make a political statement about the North-South divide. It is more supple and pliable than vegetable-tanned leather, and does not discolor or lose shape as drastically in water as vegetable-tanned. These are primarily intended as novelty and tourist maps. Chrome-tanned leather, invented in 1858, is tanned using chromium sulfate and other salts of chromium. To someone used to seeing the map the other way around, this map may appear to be "upside down". Historically, it was used as armour due to its hardness and light weight, but it has also been used for book binding. Some rectangular maps produced in Australia show the south pole at the top.

Boiled leather is a hide product (vegetable-tanned leather) that has been hardened by being immersed in hot water, or in boiled wax or similar substances. Dymaxion maps. Rawhide is stiffer and more brittle than other forms of leather, and is primarily found in uses such as drum heads where it does not need to flex significantly; it is also cut up into cords for use in lacing or stitching. Polar maps. Like alum-tanning, rawhide is not technically "leather", but is usually lumped in with the other forms. Rawhide is made by scraping the skin thin, soaking it in lime, and then stretching it while it dries.

Very light shades of leather are possible using this process, but the resulting material is not as supple as vegetable-tanned leather. Purists argue that alum-tanned leather is technically "tawed" and not tanned, as the resulting material will rot in water. Alum-tanned leather is tanned using aluminum salts mixed with a variety of binders and protein sources, such as flour, egg yolk, etc. In hot water, it will shrink drastically and plasticize, becoming rigid and eventually becoming brittle.

Vegetable-tanned leather is not stable in water; it tends to discolor, and if left to soak and then dry it will shrink and become less supple and harder. It is supple and brown in color, with the exact shade depending on the mix of chemicals and the color of the flesh. Vegetable-tanned leather is tanned using tannin (hence the name "tanning") and other ingredients found in vegetable matter, tree bark, and other such sources.