Has anyone tried a "leather" turntable mat?

I once knew this guy that got raw pigskin from the local slaughterhouse. He would make platter pads from it- his idea was that hands held instruments- why shouldn't skin hold the LP too?

His LPs got greasy, he had to keep the pad in a mayonnaise jar in the refrigerator until flesh-eating bacteria started eating it, finally when the people at the slaughterhouse found up what he was doing with all the pigskins they got weirded out and stopped selling to him.

Top that :)

Sbrownnw, I do. Csontos is right. Each bit of leather that you work with is always different from the one before.

We've not mentioned brain-tanning yet but that technique (which involves a lot more labor) yields a much softer and more supple material.