Geting Into Leather Working

[KyCountryBoy]

Can anyone give me any ideals on how to get into leather working? My goal is to one day get into building horse saddles and horse tack.

[Sylvia]

Can anyone give me any ideals on how to get into leather working? My goal is to one day get into building horse saddles and horse tack.

Ideally, the idea is to get some scrap leather and start building a tool and reference book collection. Then start practicing

Buy the best tools you can afford... and try to practice your swivel knife cuts daily.

Other than that it's just a matter of finding suppliers.

I'm sure the saddlers will jump in and recommend tools and suppliers.

[Art]

Jessie Smith,

Bob Klenda,

Pete Gorrell,

Al Gould,

Don Butler

Are all saddlemaking teachers. I would call each of them and see if they would take a raw beginner as a student for a week or two. It won't be cheap and given your level of experience you might not get a saddle made, but you will learn a lot, even that maybe this isn't what you want to do. Then work with that knowledge for a year and go back for another week or two, maybe with a different teacher, maybe not. That is for Western saddlemaking, English is different. I would also mention to my teacher that I wanted to do repair also, because that's the kind of work you will get a lot of starting out.

Art

Can anyone give me any ideals on how to get into leather working? My goal is to one day get into building horse saddles and horse tack.

[Bob Blea]

Tandy Leather has many online videos and electronic books available on the basics of leathercraft, including some information on saddle making. You can find them at leathercraftlibrary.com. If you are not near a leather supplier or saddle maker, these on line resources could be very helpful.

Bob